Mandra shifted the laser rifle he was carrying so that if fit snugly against his shoulder and stepped over some fallen material from the ceiling. He glanced up and saw several fighters streaking by. Explosions rocked the ground as the fighting outside continued. He waved his hand toward Zebulon who nodded and muttered something to the two men next to him. They moved, spreading out to his right. Precious suddenly snarled and launched itself over the debris. The strangled gurgle was the only sound the mercenary made before Precious tossed his limp body aside. Several other symbiots found hidden mercenaries and killed them.

A sense of warning caused Mandra to roll suddenly. "Look out!"

Zebulon and several of the men dove for cover as a mercenary hidden by the door tossed an explosive. The flash followed by the concussion of the explosion shook the building. Debris rained down showering the men with broken pieces of metal and stone. Mandra rose up at the same time as Zebulon and fired at the last location of the mercenary. The sound of their laser fire hitting flesh was loud and they watched as he collapsed back against the door.

"Is everyone alright?" Mandra called out.

"I have a man down. His symbiot is with him but he needs to be lifted out," Zebulon called back.

"Get him out of here," Mandra ordered. "You two, follow me."

The two warriors nodded and moved in behind Mandra. "Zebulon, cover my back and make sure no one enters or leaves here alive."

"Affirmative," Zebulon called out as he and several other warriors worked to remove two warriors trapped under a fallen beam.

Mandra and Precious, followed by the two warriors and their symbiots, moved with determination toward the doorway. Moving through the opening, Mandra saw it was clear. He jumped down to the next level. Motioning for the two warriors to clear the second level, he continued down to the third. Wrenching the door open, he entered a dim corridor. The air was free of smoke as the filtering system was working here. Removing his mask, he let his dragon move closer to the surface so he could see and smell better. Moving with skilled precision, he made his way carefully down the corridor. It was time to end this.

Ariel clenched her fist and counted to one hundred in slow steady numbers. It was one method she used to focus her mind and clear it of unwanted emotions. Taking deep, cleansing breaths, she loosened her shoulders. She needed to get out of here. Searching the walls and door for any vents or access panels, she focused on keeping her head clear. She bit back a curse when she found the vent was way too small for her to squeeze through and there were no visible access panels to tear apart. She was about to give up when the sound of the door opening caused her to turn. The warrior positioned outside of it fell limply to the floor. Ariel's startled gaze jerked up. She fought back a grin as she saw her half of Precious raise a limb and lick it as if to say, 'you called'.

"You are amazing!" Ariel said rushing forward and giving a light kiss to the top of its golden head.

Warmth filled her as Precious responded. Ariel reached down and quickly removed the laser pistols the guard was wearing. Moving past Precious, Ariel took off down the corridor at a run.

"We need to get to the surface and find Mandra. Do you have any ideas?" Ariel asked as she moved into the lift.

Images invaded her mind as she saw the fighter bay filled with warriors and their symbiot fighters. Precious showed Ariel how they would leave from there. Using the connection between its other half, Precious would take Ariel straight to where Mandra was.

"I am so going to kick his a.s.s when this is over," Ariel said as the ship shook.

It would appear Raffvin's forces were trying to attack the D'stroyer in their effort to escape. Ariel pulled on her military training to give her that level of calm she would need. She moved quickly once the lift opened. Running down the corridor, she pa.s.sed warriors and their symbiots moving in both directions but no one tried to stop her.

The doors to the fighter bay opened and Ariel walked through it like she belonged there. Precious quickly moved ahead, shifting at the same time into a compact gold fighter. The side opened for Ariel as she approached and she slid inside. A gold seat molded around her and a control console formed in front of her. Ariel didn't even bother with trying to understand how everything worked. She was still stumped on the whole dragon-transformation thing. She had moved from trying to understand how things worked to just accept the things she couldn't explain as being a part of her new world.

"Let's go help our mates," Ariel ordered as Precious lifted off the flight deck.

Bright lights flashed as they pa.s.sed through the shield protecting the inside of the flight deck from the outside atmosphere. Within moments, Precious had joined a group of fighters heading to the surface. Several enemy fighters came toward them as they prepared to enter the atmosphere but Precious quickly took them out with pulses of energy bursts.

"Nice shooting, sweetheart," Ariel said as she watched the fighters burst apart. "Can you connect with your other half and show me what is happening with Mandra?"

Images came into focus. He was in some type of dark corridor. Ariel's breath caught as she saw several men step out from around a corner and fire at him. Pain burst through her shoulder and leg as several of the laser charges. .h.i.t Mandra. He dropped and rolled while firing at the same time. The men dropped but they didn't move again. The pain faded as the part of Precious with him moved quickly to heal his wounds.

Ariel remained focused on what was happening even as her Precious began to circle for a landing over the smoking dome structure below. Mandra was moving down the corridor. He turned the corner. There was a set of huge double doors standing open. She watched as her mate and his Precious moved cautiously into the room. It was a type of control room of some sort. There were numerous control panel stations set in a semi-circle with a huge holovid screen in the center with an image of the planet. She could actually see the lights of the fighters in the air and on the ground in the video image.

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood when she saw three men rise up from behind a console and begin firing at Mandra. His Precious moved in front of him absorbing the fire. Mandra shifted to his dragon and breathed streams of dragon fire at the men who frantically tried to get out of the way. The flames were too intense and two of the men let out a short scream before they turned to ash. The third man continued firing his laser pistol at Mandra. Ariel flinched as she felt the heat of the laser's charge as it cut along Mandra's chest and thigh. His Precious moved, trapping the male from behind with its huge body and snapping his neck.

Ariel was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she felt her Precious suddenly lurch to the side and shudder violently. A flash hit her before she was disconnected with what was happening to Mandra. Ariel shook her head to clear her mind. She gasped as she realized her Precious was coming in too fast and low.

"Precious, what's wrong?" Ariel cried out in alarm. "Pull up, pull up!"

Precious shuddered again and groaned. Ariel felt the chill go through to her bones and knew whatever weapon Raffvin used to destroy the other symbiots he had used on the other Precious. Her Precious howled in pain as it felt the waves from its other half. Ariel braced for impact as the golden fighter hit the ground hard and rolled over and over before coming to a stop against the side of one of the buildings in a cloud of dust.

Ariel fought back a moan as she felt her shoulder being wrenched. She tried to move her arm but it hurt too much. She wasn't sure if her arm was broken or just dislocated. She had a feeling it was the latter.

"Precious, we have to help them. We can't give in to the pain," Ariel called out stiffly. "You have to do this. I can't do it alone. Release the straps holding me."

Ariel cried out as she fell over sideways onto her hurt shoulder as the straps dissolved. Rolling over onto her knees, she fought back against the nausea. She struggled to her feet and held onto the side of the fighter.

"Open up, sweetheart. I need to get out so you can change shape. I need you to help me," Ariel ordered in a tight, calm voice.

Precious shivered but responded to Ariel's command. A door formed and Ariel moved out cautiously making sure she wasn't about to be fired upon. She moved up against the side of the building where the golden fighter rested and leaned her head back. Using her good arm, she moved carefully up the one that didn't want to work. She grimaced when she got to her shoulder. It was dislocated. It was going to hurt like a son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h when she popped it back in. Sweat beaded on her brow just at the thought but she gripped her arm firmly and pulled. Ariel bent over double, throwing up as the joint popped back into place. She remained that way until the worse of the pain faded before looking up at Precious with tears in her eyes.

"That hurt," she croaked out with a harsh chuckle.

Forcing herself back up, she looked carefully at Precious who seemed a little dimmer than before. "Are you going to be okay, sweetheart?"

A light wave of warmth touched her briefly before fading. "Let's go get our mates. We'll deal with whatever happens when we get there."

Ariel watched as Precious stood up, wobbled, then straightened. It took off with a stumbling run for a building across from where they crashed. Ariel moved in behind the golden symbiot trying to focus on what was ahead instead of the pain. She kept her left arm tucked in close to her body while her right hand clenched around the laser pistol she took from the guard on board the D'stroyer. Two fighters flew overhead forcing her to duck down under a fallen slab. She watched as one fired on the other. The second exploded into a flaming ball before crashing further down. Ariel wiped her forearm across her brow and nodded at Precious to keep going.

They moved as a team. One would move forward and check before the other followed covering the rear. With a nod, Precious sank sharp claws into a metal door and ripped it loose from the frame. The inside of the building was dim and smoky forcing Ariel to cover her nose and mouth. Stepping through, she followed the faint connection Precious had to its other half and Mandra. She was royally p.i.s.sed and ready to kill someone.

"So nephew, it looks like you will be the first of my brother's sons to die. I had hoped it would be Zoran followed by your two younger brothers. It doesn't matter. You will all soon die. I care less in which order," Raffvin snarled out.

Mandra looked at his symbiot which lay motionless on the cold floor of the control room. His uncle's symbiot had attacked it. While it was not destroyed like those of the guards back home, it was greatly weakened. Since he split it, it was smaller than his uncle's symbiot and not as powerful. Mandra focused on the threads of gold on him. He ordered them to return to its larger form. At first, it fought but eventually the call of its wounded form was too much for it to resist.

Mandra shifted the weight of his symbiot so it was better protected. "You are a coward, Raffvin. You have no honor."

"Who wants honor when they can have power, nephew? It is a shame you will not live long enough to see what true power can really do," Raffvin called out.

Mandra could tell Raffvin was moving closer. He rolled away from his symbiot behind another console. Laser fire followed his movement. He hissed as another shot burned a path through his vest into his side. He ignored the pain as it sliced through him.

He rose up and returned fire hitting one of his uncle's men before ducking down again. "I am no nephew to you anymore. You lost the privilege of calling me family when you killed my father. How could you kill your own blood?" Mandra asked loudly as he slid another energy cell into his pistol.

"I should have been king! I was the oldest. The G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses were wrong to push me aside and choose your father. I will return and when I do, I will take your mother as my bride as she should have been in the first place. She will bow to me just like the rest of our people," Raffvin angrily responded.

Mandra rolled to the side and fired at where his uncle's voice came from. He was rewarded with a harsh cry of pain. He rolled back as his uncle's symbiot snarled in rage. He felt the force of the energy blast as it hit the console knocking it and him backwards several feet. He rolled just as another burst exploded through the console.

"Enough! It is time to finish this," Raffvin bit out. "Kill his symbiot then kill him. I want him to feel it as his essence dies!"

"No!" Mandra roared out rising up and firing the rest of his charge at his uncle. Two shots. .h.i.t Raffvin before the black symbiot moved in front to absorb the energy bursts. A piercing wave of energy hit Mandra in the chest throwing him back against the far wall. He hit hard and collapsed, gasping as he tried to draw in a breath. His head rose as his symbiot moved toward him protectively. He tried to call out but couldn't get enough air into his lungs to make them work. A burst of energy hit his symbiot knocking it to the side. Two more bursts. .h.i.t it, knocking it over several times before it lay still. Mandra raised his head. Tears burned the back of his eyes as he watched his symbiot, a part of him, struggle to rise again. The black symbiot of his uncle moved closer preparing to send the last burst of energy that would destroy it. Mandra watched helplessly as his symbiot struggled to stand. The huge black symbiot rose up, shifting into pure negative energy. A burst of pure black power poured out of it in a deadly wave heading for the smaller, golden creature. Before it could hit, a small form jumped in front of it taking the brunt of the pulse.

Mandra's hoa.r.s.e cried of horror echoed throughout the hanger as he watched Ariel's small body jerk as the powerful blast hit her in the chest. Her body began to glow, first black, than gold, than a brilliant red as the energy continued to flow into her. The smaller symbiot with her absorbed itself with Mandra's half. The gold shimmered dimly before becoming brighter. The larger gold symbiot moved with deadly speed slicing through the black symbiot, cutting it in half. The part that was still flowing the negative energy into Ariel seemed to expand suddenly before swirling in bands until it disappeared into his mate. Mandra struggled to his feet even as he watched his mate collapse lifeless on the floor. He stumbled forward ignoring everything but Ariel's unmoving figure.

Zebulon and several guards moved in, shooting at Raffvin's retreating back. They systematically killed the men protecting him as they followed. Zebulon ordered the warriors to follow him as he went after Raffvin. Mandra fell next to Ariel. He still couldn't catch his breath from the energy burst he took to his chest. Looking down, he saw blood pouring from a gaping wound and realized it was his. He looked back at his mate. Her body was still surrounded in swirling colors of red. Her long white-gold hair had come undone from the tight bun she had it in so it was splayed around her like silk. Her face was peaceful, an almost serene expression on it in its stillness. Mandra reached out a hand and ran the back of his fingers gently along her cold cheek. He looked up as Zebulon came toward him. He watched as his friend's face twisted in pain and grief as he stared down at Ariel's still form. Looking down again, Mandra closed his eyes and let the peace of darkness take him.

Chapter 23.

"The answer is no. Just like the first time you asked me, the second time, the hundredth time. It was no then and it will still be no. I think you are really cute but I am not interested in becoming your lover, your mate, your whatever you call it," Ariel said with a sigh of exasperation.

"My bound," came the deep, amused voice.

"Whatever," Ariel muttered in her best 'valley girl' voice. "I have a mate."

"Yes, but he doesn't seem to want to wake up. I think it's only fair to say I would never resist waking up to you," the voice responded.

"I am really going to have to hurt you to get rid of you, aren't I?" Ariel laughed.

"I can think of less painful ways to convince me to leave," the voice flirted.

"I am going to kill your a.s.s as soon as I can get out of this bed," Mandra growled out forcing his eyes open where he stared at Bahadur with murder reflecting from them.

"I was merely trying to entertain your mate while you recovered," Bahadur said smoothly shooting Ariel a hot look that said he would like to have been doing more.

Mandra forced his body to obey as he sat up and reached for the covers. "You are a dead Curizan admiral. Tell Ha'ven and Adalard they need a new one."

"Oh no you don't, you big oaf! You have been on death's door for several days! You are not going to scare me like that ever again," Ariel said grabbing Mandra's bare shoulders and pushing on him to lie back down. She gave a squeak of surprise when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down on top of him.

"Go away, Bahadur. You can find your own d.a.m.n female. Just leave mine the h.e.l.l alone," Mandra growled out darkly as he pulled Ariel even closer.

Bahadur laughed. "I will as soon as you tell me where the female's planet is. I might have to take some time off and go check it out. I would like to see if I can find me one just like your mate. I find her species... exciting," Bahadur said letting his eyes roam freely over Ariel's soft curves.

Ariel turned her head and glared at the big Curizan. "I hope you do. Make sure you make a comment like that to one of them as well. I'd like to see how excited you get when they beat your a.s.s into the ground," she replied hotly.

"Bahadur, get the h.e.l.l out of my sleeping quarters before I let my mate show you just what the women on her planet can do," Mandra said in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Bahadur laughed and bowed to both of them before excusing himself. He promised to return ignoring Mandra's hot response he could get off his d.a.m.n warship. Both of them listened as the door shut behind him. Neither one of them said anything for a while. They were just enjoying being together again.

Mandra chuckled as he thought about the fire in his mate's eyes. He threaded her long tresses around his fingers enjoying their silky strands. Letting his head fall back, he closed his eyes savoring the feel of her lying on top of him. His arms tightened when he felt her shift but she was merely getting more comfortable. Burying his nose in her hair, he breathed in her warm scent with pleasure.

"Tell me what happened," Mandra asked quietly without opening his eyes. "Start with how the h.e.l.l you got out of the detention cell."

Ariel sighed as she relaxed against Mandra's hard, warm body. "Precious busted me out. I stole the guard's laser pistols and Precious brought me to where you were."

"I thought I lost you again," Mandra murmured looking down at Ariel. "I love you so much, mi elila."

Ariel lifted her head up enough to look into Mandra's golden eyes. "I love you, too," she whispered.

She had been afraid she had lost him. She told him about what happened when she and her Precious entered the control room where he was. She saw Raffvin's symbiot about to destroy Precious' other half while Mandra was gravely wounded. She didn't stop to think when she threw herself in front of the injured symbiot. She remembered feeling the power behind the energy burst as it hit her but everything got blurry after that. She remembered feeling the necklace Tia gave her heating up and glowing. The wave of energy was attracted to it. She felt it absorbing the dark energy from the black symbiot, pulling it from the creature who fought to break away but couldn't. The force of the energy flowing through the red crystal also pulled at her.

"I remember feeling the deep sadness and despair within Raffvin's symbiot, as if it was being forced to do things against its will. It was hurting so badly I could feel its pain," Ariel said staring into Mandra's warm eyes.

"What did you do?" He asked quietly.

"What I always do when an animal is hurt or scared. I talked to it and rea.s.sured it that everything would be alright... to trust me," she replied with a contented sigh and laid her head back down on his chest. "I could feel the moment it did. All that negative energy was just sucked right out of it."

"What of Raffvin?" Mandra asked rubbing Ariel's back gently.

"He escaped," Adalard said as he and Zebulon walked into the room. "But not with his symbiot. It is safe with the others on board. He will be much weaker."

Mandra sighed as Ariel rolled over to lie next to him. He refused to let her go, though, curling his arm around her to keep her close. He looked at the two men standing in his sleeping quarters.

"How long have I been out and what do you mean, he escaped?" Mandra asked darkly.

"You've been out almost a week. Your symbiot was too weakened to heal you. You had to be healed the old fashion way in the regenerator and with healing accelerators. Raffvin escaped. He slipped out after stealing a Curizan fighter. We are tracking him. We think he is going to go after Vox. If he can kill the Sarafin King it will be blamed on the Valdier. He has him locked up at a mining operation the Antrox are running but we are not sure where. Creon is following leads but so far none of them have proven useful," Zebulon said sitting down in the chair Ariel had been using.

"Have you talked to Creon or any of my other brothers?" Mandra asked as he scooted so he could sit up.

"Zoran says Abby delivered a healthy boy youngling a week ago. She and the babe are doing well. I am not so sure about Zoran. He looked pretty rough. Trelon doesn't look much better. I guess his mate is due any time now. Your brother Kelan and his mate are on their way back from her planet. They have retrieved Trisha's father. I heard they also have a few extra females aboard that are causing some problems. Kelan said he was finished with any more Earth women. They were too difficult to control," Adalard said with an amused laugh. "I was able to get the location of her planet from him. He just warned me that I was to use the information at my own risk."

Mandra chuckled when he heard his mate snort. "Serves them right if they kidnapped those other poor women the way we were kidnapped. I hope they give whoever took them holy h.e.l.l!"

All three men laughed causing Ariel to struggle as her temper flared. "Might I remind you, you are still on my s.h.i.t list for locking me up!" She growled out pointing a finger at Mandra.

"I think that is our signal that it is time to leave you two alone. I'll make sure the healer knows you are not to be disturbed," Zebulon said getting up and moving toward the door.

"We will meet later to discuss pursuing Raffvin. Until then, rest... or not," Adalard said with an amused grin as he followed Zebulon out of the room.

Mandra waited until he heard the outer door seal before looking at his mate. "So, I am on your s.h.i.t list," Mandra said pulling Ariel back down to him. "What happens when you are on someone's s.h.i.t list?" He whispered as he nuzzled her jaw.

"You have to do everything they tell you. No questions asked," Ariel breathed out as she felt a wave of desire building.

Stretching her neck to the side so Mandra had better access to it, she shivered as she felt his lips moving along her slender column. "And what is the first thing on this list?" He asked softly.

Ariel turned her head to look at him. Her dark brown eyes glittered with tiny flames as she thought of all the things she wanted to put on the list. She decided it needed to be a really long one considering how scared she had been.

"The first thing is to bite me," she whispered as she leaned forward and pressed delicate kisses along his jaw.

"And the... second?" He asked huskily as he felt her teeth sc.r.a.ped along his throat.

"... is to f.u.c.k me. All... night... long," she breathed out.

"I think I am going to like being on your s.h.i.t list," Mandra said with a groan as he turned her head to the side and sunk his teeth into her.

To be continued...Cornering Carmen.