{Lacceirus-Capra}

Green blood and orange mud clung to Tameka as she surfaced from the underground lake. The knife in her teeth was sharp and sliced through the throat of her nacre-less opponent. After narrowly dodging several of the Caprent’s acid attacks on land, she tackled him into the unclean water. This eliminated his acid-spitting advantage as much as removing his nacre eliminated her ability to drain his life from it.

The Caprent lost.

Tameka swam for the lake’s lofty banks, pulling roots from mud, trying to climb her way out. Entire trunks slipped easily from the slimy, stratified sludge.

Great.

Defeated her enemy, only to find herself trapped in this shit forever—

“I got you.” A gray hand with slender fingers reached for her. The arm attached to it was bound in muscle, displayed by his trademark black tank.

When she gazed up, Tameka wasn’t surprised to find his signature grin. Only this was the first time she saw it on a battlefield. “Thanks.”

Xelan easily lifted her from the muck. “Nice move, by the way. We should fight the Caprent soldiers underwater more often.”

“They’re pawns. Not soldiers.” Tameka’s voice sounded harsh even to her, but she was disgusted with how Imminent discarded lives so casually. “Only cannon fodder for their masters, sent to distract us from our mission. And—” She glimpsed some slimy swamp plant entangled in her short red curls. “Oh… oh no. How is my hair?!”

For the first time in two months, Xelan laughed so hard he held his ribs.

Tameka wanted to glare, but the relief overrode her personal hygienic crisis.

“Your face is priceless. It’s only Rentroot. Here.” With those dark eyes sparkling, he stepped into her personal space and removed the offending flora. His warm fingers brushed her chilled and sensitive neck. She shivered, and his hand lingered on the skin left exposed by the plunging neckline of her combat suit.

Time slowed down. The swampy cavern of Lacceirus-Capra melted away. Her pulse skyrocketed, and her breath caught in her lungs. This close, she gazed at the midnight ring surrounding his black eyes. They stopped shining with humor and ignited with a familiar longing. One they both endured over the last two months.

Of course, for Tameka, almost three years passed since they last—

“Yo, you two okay in here—Oh. Sorry.” Bones, well-meaning and a solid teammate, stomped all over the moment. Ruined it, in fact, marked by Xelan stepping away. The good-natured Icarus left as quickly as he entered, but the damage was already done.

Swallowing hard, the love of Tameka’s life—her soul mate—turned his back on her before stating the obvious. “We’d better head back. The mission is nearly finished.” Xelan disappeared into the next tunnel.

Tameka looked to the cavern ceiling. Pink minerals veined the pale blue, almost translucent rock. Moisture sweat from the swamp’s humidity and left a sheen on every surface.

What was she hoping to find by looking at the rock? The key to good timing? A permanent solution for Imminent? A guilt-free babysitter who could liberate both parents for some X-rated exercise?

The thought of Pax, their sweet son, returned the smile to Tameka’s lips. Safe back at the Villa, she hoped he gave Iuo, Lamassau, Twenty-One, and Andrew a run for their money. She offered a prayer to Elden that they’d tire each other out before the A-team returned.

Holding onto that positive thinking, Tameka left the cavern to join the others. The mouth of the connecting tunnel opened at the top of an impossible chamber. She detracted her wings while marveling at the subterranean city below. Dissolved by Caprent acid, the people basically barfed their city out of pale blue rock. A rainbow of minerals scattered along every surface in a beautiful display of determination.

“Thank Elden for Kombuchi,” Tameka muttered to herself. A Caprent warrior and friend located this ancient hideaway for them. The Shadow would never find it without him. There he was, in the acropolis’ center, with the spectacle of his joints bent backward as he waved for Xelan. On magnificent wings, her soul mate joined the Caprent for the last phase of their plan.

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“Time to go.”

With a deep breath, Tameka dove into the humid air. The mist collected in tendrils of her dirty hair as she plummeted near half a mile deeper into the planet. It smelled earthy and alive. A second from hitting the rock floor, she batted her wings and let them carry her to the acropolis where her people waited. The A-team was comprised of her, Xelan, Kombuchi, Bones, Lynn, and Devis. The remaining Shadow were scattered across the Vast Collective doing Elden’s work. That is, uniting the heroes against the villains to protect the people caught in the middle.

Amen.

Massive pillars of the pale rock supported the miles of sediment above from collapsing on their skulls. Tameka alighted between two of them where Xelan, Kombuchi, and Lynn waited. Off to the side, Bones stood like a muscled wall over Devis and their target. A Mr. Bort Les.

Lynn waved as her deep brown eyes scanned their perimeter. Nothing would get by her, evidenced by the viridian blood coating her umber skin and combat suit.

Tameka returned the gesture before whispering, “Does he have the information we need?”

Kombuchi nodded at the dark—almost blue-complected—Progeny interrogating the dazed Caprent with glowing purple eyes. “Devis is still searching his memory. This ability, how many other Progeny possess it?”

Suppressing a flinch at his direct question proved more difficult than Tameka wanted to admit. They kept their secrets closer these days after learning no small percent of their initial Shadow were traitors all along. Technically, three Progeny—ancient and recent—shared the ability to access nacre memory banks. Sadly, Tameka wasn’t about to volunteer that information. Kombuchi established his trustworthiness on the battlefield.

But so did R, Smith, and Lucas.

“A few.” She eventually minced the words out before changing the subject. “Anything else of note in this impressive citadel?”

Stuffing a black loc behind her ear, Lynn earnestly looked to Xelan for permission to share. She smiled warmly at his encouraging wave. Must be good news.

“We found a geological site where slaves mined soil deposits for Imminent the old-fashioned way. The site is roughly two million years old.”

Two million… Well, that would put it around the same time as—

Tameka’s eyes flared. “Umbra’s atmospheric disturbance?” The one the Tritans made him detonate during Korac and Nox’s first mission forever ago. It ruined L. Capra’s atmosphere. “It’s still obtainable?”

Pride flickered in Xelan’s eyes at her correct assumption. “That’s right. Deep in the soil bed, and they supply it twice a Collective year to Imminent.”

Holding out a small, sealed container, Lynn elaborated, “Because it doesn’t take well to blasting, it’s difficult to excavate.”

Tameka peered through the glass with narrowed eyes until they met with glowing purple rock. “Is it radioactive?”

Xelan explained, “Highly toxic.”

“That’s why they only deliver it twice a year.” Lynn preened a bit in her role as the current exposition expert.

Tameka smiled at her, but Kombuchi’s frown gave her pause. “What is it?”

He pointed at the container with his elbow bent backward. “Every Caprent knows that stuff is highly volatile. If mined incorrectly, it reenters the atmosphere and risks a new disturbance. I’m ashamed of any member of my species willing to endanger us all for Imminent favors—”

“Those favors promised me a life beyond the existence of time and confined reality.”

The three turned and faced the clustered group of men. Bort, the enemy, glared at them with seething eyes that matched the soil sample. Devis’ true-green eyes flared as he stepped away and went to Lynn’s side. He trusted her the most after they survived the attacks on Iona’s Arsenal together. Dutifully, Bones stepped beside Xelan, his Prince and the Shadow’s leader, for all intents and purposes.

Tameka wondered why the men left the villainous Caprent unattended until she noticed the hole in his gaping chest. Violet, luminescent blood poured from the throbbing wound.

It was done.

Bort coughed and gargled. Blood sprayed through his teeth as he grinned. “You think… you’ve gained anything?” More heaving breaths between coughs. “Imminent will never cease… you ensure only your end—”

Tameka’s blade went through his skull, and she left it in his brain. Dead. When she turned and faced her friends again, she expected shock or disdain.

Instead, Xelan offered her his hand with a pained expression. “That was the right thing.” Understanding framed his features.

Learning from her unrelated sisters’ experiences—Sagan’s and Rayne’s—Tameka refused to give their enemy time to spill their poison. No talking. Ever.

Shaking off the cold-blooded murder nerves, Tameka took Xelan’s hand and peered between the faces of her Shadow.

Kombuchi pointed at the dead man’s blood. “Mutated by the mineral deposits. Volatile stuff. Be careful with it, Xelan.”

“I’m familiar with it, and thank you. I will.” The Icarean genius held his hand out to Bones. “His nacre?”

After the exchange, Bones stood and walked over to Devis. “Are we ready to head home?”

Devis tied his long locs back with a frown. “Are we certain Imminent never planned for us to confiscate his nacre? His memories may be tampered with.”

Xelan held the amber pearl in his index finger and thumb against the artificial lights. “I’m almost sure of it, but that’s why we have Pablo and the Mrs. here.” He winked at Lynn.

She beamed. “With your help, Devis, along with Ross and Kyle—We can do anything—”

Thunder echoed throughout the underground city.

They peered around and at each other before Lynn pointed and cried out, “A pillar! It’s—”

It happened in an instant.

One second the pillar was solid and firm, ancient and reverent.

The next second, it slipped.

Maybe an inch or six, but it was enough.

“A dead man’s switch.” Xelan’s voice was already triplicated in pitch, and his eyes solid midnight blue in Atramentous. “BANANA!”

A million years of dirt sighed and shifted, ready to collapse. On them.

Well, screw that. There was no way Tameka would let them die so soon after resurrecting Xelan.