A Touch of Fate Read online

  Task Force Omega.

  Obliterating it would not bring Ash back to them, but it would wipe a blackness from the Universe away. Losing Ash’s light in their lives made everything seem dark.

  Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference at all. But, it gave Dunn an outlet for the rage burning through him. Taking out the organization that had taken advantage of her, used her, yes, that was fitting.

  Or it was an easy target. Dunn didn’t care.

  He’d lost his soul today. It was either destroy or be destroyed now.

  The seething inside fueled them both and they pushed well beyond the exhaustion they’d sought and headed back to Magic and their ship.

  The interstellar vehicle was the pride of the Star Coalition. Fastest ships in the galaxy, powered by a singularity drive, which also operated as the final failsafe, a self-destruct mode that could take out a small moon if it had to.

  This time, they only needed it to take out the TFO compound. Maybe the two of them with it.

  They avoided the garden when they got close to town and made a beeline straight for their ship. There would be no goodbyes. A tiny twinge of guilt over leaving Black behind, the last of the Barrett line, niggled at the edge of Dunn’s consciousness.

  Black had Kady. His soul mate. Together they would start a new family to replace the one Black had lost. They would be wonderful parents. Hopefully twins were not in their future.

  As they approached their ship, they could see a second Star Ranger fighter parked next to them. Fuck. Titian was back.

  He knew nothing of what had happened this day. Didn’t know they had found and lost their mate. Fallen in love, given their souls, and had it all taken away.

  As they approached both Dunn and Russet shifted back into their human forms. Maybe Titian would have new intel on what the fuck was going on with Star Command and the Coalition. More importantly, they needed the schematics Titian had on the TFO compound, so they could find the most vulnerable spot they could to destroy it all.

  Black and Titian stood next to the ship talking. As they got closer they saw that the other ship had taken damage. The humans here on Earth didn’t have weapons that could even break though their shield, much less leave scorch marks on the hull.

  Titian spoke first, Black using only his bear’s senses to study them.

  “Boys, Black filled me in. I’m sorry for your loss.” The fox meant what he said, but the words still felt hollow. “And I hate to ask this now but shit it about to go down and we’re going to need both of you.”

  Dunn’s bear growled, still near to the surface, so he let Russet speak for them both. “Sorry. We have plans of our own. The TFO will pay for what they have wrought on this world.”

  “They have Fed.”

  “Then we will do our best to get him out before we destroy their compound.”

  “No, you don’t understand. It’s not just the TFO. Star Rangers are working with them. The Coalition has joined forces with them and the spectrals. They hear to take us in or eliminate us. On Passion’s orders.”

  Sweet Fates above. The galaxy was going to shit right before their eyes.

  Dunn didn’t care. His world had ended with Ash. “Then using our singularity drive’s self-destruct to obliterate them will work into your plans just fine.”

  Titian’s eyes went wide with the news of their suicide mission, but the stalwart look on Black’s face showed that their older brother understood. He might be the only one who could.

  “I’m not going to try and stop you. But, before you do, there’s something I want you to see.”

  “You can’t stop us.”

  “I know. I said I wouldn’t try. But, if you’re bent on ending everything, I think this will help your souls rest in peace.”

  Without Ash nothing could do that. But, Black was about to lose what was left of his family and even Dunn, still overcome with rage could give his brother a moment first.

  Russet nodded, and they followed Black through the garden, now deserted, to the home he shared with Kady.

  The went in and saw Kady sitting at the table talking to a woman who had her back to them. A rush of disbelief tore over Dunn. His skin prickled and the tingaling of a tinny ring blocked up his hearing.

  The woman turned. It couldn’t be.

  “Mom?”

  Her face was haggard, her skin hung off of her like she’d been starved for years. But it was her. Alive, her soul restored.

  She stood and opened her arms. “Boys.”

  Russet and Dunn rushed across the little space and hauled their mother, miraculously returned to them, and crushed her between them in a deep bear hug.

  Dunn had never been closer to tears in his life.

  Because if his mother had come back, maybe Ash could to.

  A laugh he never thought he’d hear again washed over him. “Boys, boys. You’re squishing me.”

  They stepped back, but only enough to set her on her feet again. She smiled up at them, glowing with life, a sparkle to her eyes that Dunn hadn’t realized until now how much he’d missed.

  She grabbed both of them by the beards and tugged. “What are these? I go away for a few years and you boys forget to shave?”

  “Mom.”

  “Don’t you mom me. I just hope your mate likes them.”

  The short-lived moment of joy crashed down around them. She knew they’d been mated. A mother could tell. What she didn’t know was that the fate of all bear twins had already befallen them and their mate.

  “She’s gone, mom. Her poor little soul was overwhelmed by ours within hours. She’d dead.” The words creaked out, cracking his voice as he said them.

  She placed a hand on each of their cheeks, imbuing only the comfort a mother could. “I’m sorry you boys had to go through all this pain. I had hoped the death of your uncles and that witch they chose hadn’t scarred you. Your father and I always meant to talk to you about it when you were older.”

  Dunn leaned in to her touch and wished he were still a cub with all the trust and belief in the Fates.

  “You two listen to your mother now, do you hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” They replied in unison.

  She reached into the pocket on her shirt and pulled out a necklace. Not any necklace, but the one they had created with Ash when they’d claimed her and given her their souls.

  The light inside of it glowed bright.

  “Your mate is not dead. In fact, she and another witch are the ones who restored my soul and saved my life. That was the explosion of power you saw, not her demise.”

  If anything exploded, it was Dunn’s heart.

  She was alive.

  He knew it.

  He fucking knew it.

  “What are you two standing around for. Go. She’d going to need your help getting out of that hellhole. Shoo.”

  They each kissed their mother on the cheek and bolted for the front door. Black held it open for them. Dunn hadn’t noticed before that Black was back in uniform. The first time since he’d crashed on this planet, found his mate, had his soul stolen and then restored.

  Seem to run in the family.

  “I still stay we blow up the TFO facility. I hate to take out any Star Rangers.”

  Russet finished that thought. “But, if they’ve been corrupted by the spectral warriors it’s too late for them anyway.”

  Black and Kady were right there with them. “Kady is going to help us take down some of the spectrals with her cages. Titian and I will be beside you. He’s fucking pissed that Passion would betray us all, and we need to go in after Fedelis. Once we get our people out of there. Let’s blow the place to shit.”

  When they got back to the ships, a third had joined them. Former Star Ranger Frost and his very pregnant mate, Lacey stood by.

  Lacey handed them each bottles of multi-colored spells. “Everyone in town has been working to make these wards and spells for you.” She handed out the bottles. “The pink ones are wards that should hold the spectrals b
ack, the blue ones will melt bullets. I have no idea what the purple ones Topper made do, but she said you’d know when to use it. Joseph and Jonah even made you a shrinking spell.”

  Those two were going to make great Star Rangers someday. Assuming there was still a Star Corps when they grew up.

  Titian handed them each a tablet, including one to Frost. Guess he was rejoining the team.

  “Now that you boys have your mommy issues sorted out. Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got my own revenge to seek.”

  The battle plan was all laid out, ready to roll. This was no spontaneous thing either. Planning like this took weeks. They’d only been on Earth barely that long.

  Sneaky fucking fox.

  Their part of the mission was two-fold. Find their mate, the other witch, and Fed and evacuate them. Part two, leave behind clusters of photon bombs remotely wired in strategic locations on their exit route.

  “Alright. Let’s lock and load, boys. We’ve got a rescue-revenge mission to complete before sundown. I have every intention of being back here for Kady’s potluck and movie night. Wouldn’t want to disappoint our mate by missing her first family get together.”

  Although, Dunn and Russet had other plans for their mate tonight. Just as soon as they rescued her.

  Twelve: Ash Smash

  “Did you hear that?” The pain and agony in the lion’s roar tore at Ash’s heart. What if that lion had been her bears.

  Tia had thrown up what she called a ward to avoid being seen by any of the spectrals. She yanked on the door to the stairwell, but it didn’t budge.

  Somehow the roar of a lion hadn’t phased Ash even a little bit. Not after the day she’d had.

  Tia on the other hand wanted to get the hell out of there. “Yeah, but I was more worried about the screeching of spectrals on the loose. This is my one chance to escape Omega. Come on.”

  She pulled up a ball of magic and tossed it at the door, disintegrating it.

  “We have to help him,” Ash said. “Tia, wait.”

  Too late, she was already scurrying up the stairs. The lion roared again, and Ash was sure it was on the floor they were climbing toward.

  She was right, and they saw the lion, panting and injured, and surrounded by spectrals. One dove for him and he swiped his big paw with razor looking claws at it.

  Ash and Tia both gasped as it shuttered into his body. It should have emerged with a second newly born spectral from the lion’s soul.

  Instead the lion roared in pain as just the one dark soul re-emerged from his body. That’s was not how Ash had learned that worked.

  Tia stood frozen, her face flushed and tears streaking her face.

  “Ash, help me. I don’t know where these soul stealers are from or where their bodies are, I can’t do anything to stop them by myself.”

  Now they were talking. “We can try to replicate what we did back at Magic, with that explosion. I put some of Kady’s magic into that too.”

  “Yes, please, Ashmiza. I...he’s...”

  “Okay, get ready then, we’ll hit them with everything we’ve got.” The lion roared as another spectral attacked it.

  Ash wanted to end this, to get back to Russet and Dunn. If they would have her back.

  If she had to destroy every spectral in the place get to them, she would.

  Tia grabbed her hand a clap of energy surged through the two of them. Ash closed her eyes and focused on pulling up the faces of the men she loved. Dunn with his big heart, so much more tender and fragile than he wanted her to know. Russet with his wise mind, that she wanted to protect from getting hurt ever again.

  Her magic shimmered across her skin, joining Tia’s in a ball of light.

  “Now,” Tia whispered.

  The pushed the light forward through the hallway like a blockade in front of them. Several spectrals screeched and dove for them. The first one to hit the magic froze in mid-flight and then disintegrated into a million little pieces. Another took a stab at them and the same thing happened to it.

  So far so good. Two others attacked the lion again and Tia shot a burst at them, not injuring either, but making them miss their mark. One of those turned its attention on them. But, it didn’t mindlessly attack like the others. It tested their defense, poking and prodding it, looking for a weakness.

  In another few steps they reached the lion and absorbed him into their shield. Tia fell to her knees beside him, letting the magic fade.

  That’s when the spectral attacked. Ash pushed her magic out, but it swooped and circled avoiding her attempts to block it. A millisecond before it struck her, the ceiling exploded above them and a golden light shot down into the debris.

  Kady’s magic.

  Ash looked up and saw a ship hovering above them. Kady hanging out the door capturing all the spectrals in her magic cages. Ash added her power and just like they practiced, the spectrals froze in time in the cages.

  Tia had tears streaming down her face and screamed into the sky. “You killed him, you bastards.”

  She threw bolts of her magic at the frozen spectrals. Two, three, five, seven, exploded. But, two turned from the silvery black to a dusty white. The traps fell away, but they didn’t attack.

  They drifted down, like snow and over to Tia and the lion. Tia struck out, but her magic had no effect.

  One of the spectrals reached through her, dragging a bit of magic from inside of Tia and into the lion.

  It gasped, taking in a deep breath.

  Had their magic done that? Taken the darkness from a spectral warrior?

  A second spaceship flew overhead, jetting away, and then a third landed in the debris. The door whooshed open and Russet and Dunn stood at the ready.

  Ash ran to them hoping against hope they would forgive her.

  “Ashmiza. Stop.” Russet held out his hand. Dunn pointed a weapon directly at her.

  That answered that question.

  The looks on their faces wasn’t anger though. It was fear.

  Of her?

  “Don’t move.” A woman’s voice stopped Ash dead in her tracks. A weapon pressed against her temple. “You and your Star Rangers are my ride out of here. I am not going down for this.”

  Ash caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye. Red.

  “Passion. That is our mate. Let her go.”

  “Give me your ship.” Red’s voice was harsher and shaky than before.

  Dunn lowered his weapon. “We can’t do that, commander. This whole place is rigged to blow. Come with us. We’ll get you a fair trial.”

  She laughed harshly. “Like that’s going to happen. No one will believe anything I have to say after this.”

  A third ship swooped in, but this one she didn’t recognize. How many aliens were here at Area 51 anyway?

  It’s hatch whooshed open and Red stuck her head out. Wait. If Red was flying the ship, who was this?

  “Commander, come on, I’m here to rescue you,” Red shouted down.

  “Scarlet? I thought you’d—”

  “We don’t have much time. Come on. Bring the witch. We’ll need a bargaining chip.”

  No way was Ash getting in that ship. Russet and Dunn agreed. She looked at them both, trying her best to communicate. There was no way of knowing in the moment if they got her message or not. She sure as Steve Spangler wasn’t going to get on that ship.

  She could use her magic, or she could use some good ole self-defense techniques she’d learned at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class she took online on Pottermore.

  Ash elbowed the woman in the solar-plexus, stomped on her instep, smacked her in the nose with the back of her fist, and booted her in the groin.

  All you have to do is SING.

  Russet and Dunn’s mouths dropped open as this Passion character fell to the floor. Ash blew them each a kiss. That did the trick, because they opened fire on the little ship.

  Red, or rather Scarlet ducked inside and must not have been that dedicated to saving Passion, becaus
e the ship zipped away.

  The coast clear, Russet and Dunn ran across the remains of the building and scooped Ash up into their arms, one in front and one behind. They peppered her with kisses and growls and more kisses.

  “Ash-ling. We thought you were dead. That you’d killed yourself to end the misery our souls combined were inflicting on your heart and mind.” Russet’s words were gruff and hoarse.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for saying what I did.” She wrapped her arms around their necks and held them tight to her.

  Dunn pressed his forehead to her temple. “You do love us?”

  “Forever.”

  “Thank the—” Russet began, and Dunn finished, “Fates.”

  Tablets at their belts beeped and a voice she didn’t recognize came through. “Get your butts out of there, ya dumb bunch of bears. T-minus ten until it blows, and not in the fun way.”

  “Tia and the lion,” Ash gasped.

  “Frost and Lacey grabbed them. Let’s move.” The three of them ran the couple of yards to the ship and Dunn took off as fast as he could get them out of there.

  Ash watched out the small view window, kind of wanting to see the day end in an epic explosion. “Oh, what about your commander, Passion?”

  “Fuck her. Working with the spectrals is a crime punishable by death. She’s getting what she deserves,” Russet said.

  The explosions started at the far end of the compound and worked their way across the buildings. Ash knew exactly the second her old lab exploded.

  A ship that looked similar to Russet and Dunn’s but with scorch marks on it swooped across the sky in front of the explosions. It stopped around the area they had all just left and then flew away, getting an extra push from the detonation chasing its tail.

  “Who was that?”

  Russet muttered some swear words that didn’t quite translate. “Fucking sneaky fox. But, don’t worry about him. Come here, mate. Let me see that you are okay.”

  She was fine but went into his arms anyway. Russet rubbed his hands up and down her back, holding her tight. “It almost killed me to think that we’d hurt you with our claiming, mah wah.”