Jenya has spent days leading one hundred prisoners to freedom through a tunnel of her own making. She succeeds in her task and is ready to rest, but the arrival of the Sector Guard throws a wrench in her plans to fade away. Green flames pull her back into the living world and the silver eyes of a Kozue Guardsman are the first things she sees when she wakes. As Digger, she is offered a place in the Sector Guard and put through her paces with Flame and Guardian watching carefully. What possible use could her talent for burrowing through rock be to the Sector Guard?

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Resurrecting Flame

  Copyright © 2010 Viola Grace ISBN: 978-1-55487-728-7

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies Books An imprint of eXtasy Books

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  Resurrecting Flame

  Sector Guard book 14

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  he tunnel was pressing on her, but she couldn’t stop to enjoy the sensation of blind panic tha T

  t it

  was engendering. Jenya sent her talent forward, inch by inch, eating away at the rock and dirt of the walls of her prison.

  The prisoners who had followed her into the tunnel were now her prime concern. They trusted her to deliver them from the persecution of the Lekark regime and she was going to die trying.

  Teachers, doctors, musicians—there were close to one hundred who agreed to follow her if she could bore a hole through the rock.

  She inched forward and drew on her inner reserves to evaporate the rock. Jenya knew that her power was failing, but she couldn’t trap them in here with her. She had to give everything she had if they were to make it out alive.

  Jenya shoved herself right to the edge of the stone and blasted forward with furious intensity.

  She rode the adrenaline and did the same shockwave of power over and over until finally, after what felt like six hours of crawling, they 1

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  struck daylight.

  She fell out of the hole and tumbled to the ground. Hands grabbed her and pulled her aside.

  The light of day blinded her and she couldn’t see who had a grip on her. If it was the polizai again, she was just going to let herself die.

  A voice called to her, but it was far away. In the sun, finally free of the oppression that had almost taken her life, she looked into the daylight and let her mind relax.

  A face blocked the sunlight. If she was dreaming of an escort to the afterlife, this face would not be the one she would pick. Braids banded with metal swung and clashed around his face. Silver eyes in a bronze face were the only celestial markers. The rest of him was all warrior and firmly grounded to the earth.

  A light slap to her face got her to focus. “What?”

  “Are you all right? Can you sit up?” The man seemed angry.

  She sat up and her head spun. “I am up. But if you want me to dance, you are going to have to buy me a drink.”

  Jenya’s eyes were shielded by the scowling wall of muscle at her side. She saw the endless dispensing of the escapees from the narrow hole in the side of the rock face. “We made it.”

  He looked down at her and kind warmth with a touch of pride filled his gaze. “Yes, Digger, you 2

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  did.”

  “Can I sleep now?” She sighed. It would not be a sleep she wanted to return from. She had depleted herself entirely digging them out.

  He nodded absently as someone caught his attention for the emerging folk.

  She scooted so that she was leaning against the wall and relaxed. Just a little rest and it would all be over.

  * * * *

  The staging area was going nuts with the influx of ninety-four refugees and Vornan was trying to make sure that they all got the attention they needed.

  Razer and Tech were in the process of attacking the totalitarian government that had taken over this minimally populated world, and the rebels that they were rescuing were already free.

  “Razer, this is Flame. The majority of the rebels have been freed and are receiving medical attention.” He waited for the double click that acknowledged and returned to attending the medical needs of those who had fallen out of the wall.

  He went from cot to cot until finally a woman grabbed his arm. “How is Jenya?”

  He checked the roster. There was no Jenya in the 3

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  medical tent. “Who?”

  “Jenya. She led us through the darkness. She made that tunnel as we went. It took so long.” The woman’s face was oddly clean. As what she had said sunk in, a chill ran through him. He looked around the room and noted that aside from some grass stains and dirt on hands and knees, their faces were clean.

  “How long did you crawl through the tunnels?”

  He checked her vitals and the bandage on her wrist that seemed to be the most common injury.

  “It was a dark forever, but I think it was somewhere between six and twelve hours.”

  “Was the tunnel already there?”

  “No. I told you, Jenya made it as we went.” She lay back and looked up at him with exhausted eyes, “Is she all right?”

  He didn’t answer, Helsin was on this assignment and he checked with the physician.

  “How long were they underground?”

  “Based on pupil response and dehydration, two days. The investigations have shown that the tunnel is over six miles long.”

  Helsin may have said something else, but Flame was running.

  She was slumped against the wall where he had left her, her body quiet and smudged with dirt. He had called her Digger as a joke, but as he searched her body for signs of life, he came to the conclusion 4

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  he hadn’t bothered to look for.

  She had offered her life to free her people, and he had left her here to die.

  * * * *

  Green pain wrapped around her and she fought it, screaming out of the warm, light cocoon of fluff that had ensconced her consciousness. Jenya struck out with her hands to fend off her attacker and the flames followed, burning her nerves and bringing tears to her eyes. A silver gaze held hers through the flames and when she struck out at him, he laughed.

  The owner of the silver eyes lifted her and carried her to the large tent that housed so many of the escapees. She was breathing through her teeth in a hissing spasm, panting as the pain slowly receded.

  “Helsin! She needs help.”

  She was handed from the man with silver eyes to a creature of bright primary colours. He looked down at her with kind eyes and started a regimen of sprays and liquid drips that soon had her looking like a science experiment.

  The silver-eyed man stood at her side after a while. He held her hand. “I am sorry, Digger. I didn’t realize what it took to get you here.”

  “It’s okay. It’s the reason that they locked me up 5

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  to start with. No freaks in the new utopia.” She smiled.

  “I happen to like freaks. My name is Flame, by the way.”

  She looked him over. Thickly muscled thighs, knives strapped to each hip and fastened with bands around those thighs. A narrow waist, a wide plane of a chest and shoulders that led to a neck that seemed to defy the collar of the uniform around it. His braids were Kozue, as was his skin tone. She had read about the nomads in school, but never thought she would meet one.

  “There is nothing that looks like fire around you.”

  “Do you remember the green fire that pulled you back?”

  She scowled. “That was you?”

  He sighed. “It was. I am sorry for the pain, but it is the way my talent works.”

  “Talent?” Her head was spinning. He caused my pain? Why did he haul me back?

  “Yes. My people do not care for talents either.”

  He still held her hand. Their gazes locked and she simply let herself get lost in his silver eyes, so different from the midnight black of her own.

  Flame held her hand throughout the day and until the physician removed her drips.

  She tried to ignore the fact that she held his hand right back.

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  Resurrecting Flame

  Chapter Two

  he was finally asleep. Vornan walked over to Sspeak with Helsin.

  “Helsin. I believe she is the one.”

  He was reading some of the medic al reports,

  “The one what?”

  “My one. She feels like mine.”

  The doctor finally looked at him and his eyes widened. “Oh. Well, her talent is very impressive.

  She not only disintegrated the stone and dirt, but she transformed it into oxygen for those in the tunnel. Her talent also supported the tunnel while it was occupied, but just as she fell asleep, it began to collapse. If she had that much power at her disposal and that much control, she could truly be a force to be reckoned with.”

  “Good. I will run it past Guardian and if he agrees, I will offer her the post of Guardsman.”

  With a spring in his step, he walked out to the shuttle and past the couple on the bunk.

  “Geez, Flame. Can’t you give some warning?”

  Tech was on top of his twin and she was scowling 7

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  at him.

  “No. I need to make a call before she wakes up.”

  That got his brother’s attention. Razer sat up and dumped his wife to the floor. “She?”

  “Yes, she. I have to ask Guardian if I can take a partner.” He avoided using the word mate. It was too soon to use the word mate, no matter what he felt in his mind and body.

  He sent the codes and entered the data for the communication, ignoring his brother and sister-in-law. “This is Flame calling for Guardian.”

  “Guardian here, go ahead, Flame.”

  “I have found a talent that would be a welcome addition to the Udell base.”

  “Bring him along.”

  “Her. I wish to take her on as my partner.”

  The pause in the speech was telling. “You are asking my permission to bring a girl home?”

  The snort from behind him was going to demand retribution. “This woman dissolves rock and turns it into oxygen, she can support six miles of tunnel as long as she is conscious and she has used her talent for two days straight to save her people. I believe she is a good candidate.”

  Guardian’s voice lost its teasing edge. “Then she is indeed a worthy candidate. If she will come, we will be happy to have her. Does she have a name?”

  “Her first name is Jenya.” Flame paused, “I call her Digger.”

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  The grin in their commander’s voice was obvious. “Digger it is. See you in a few days, Flame.”

  He turned and faced his brother. With a lunge, they were battling and Tech moved out of the way.

  “I am going to check on your lady friend and see if my uniform would fit her.”

  Flame looked at her helplessly as he got his brother in a headlock. “I do not appreciate laughter while I haven’t even gotten the woman to trust me yet.”

  Razer choked out, “Trust you? You brought her back from the edge of death!”

  “She doesn’t know that. She woke up to green flames and pain. I have to get her to look beyond that.” His brother tapped him on his forearm and he released him.

  Razer rubbed his throat. “You are right, it’s tricky. You had better get over there before Ilsa does. She doesn’t have a lot of decorum for this kind of thing.”

  A trickle of unease ran through Vornan. “You don’t think she would…”

  “Yes, I do. Go.” Kennan clapped his twin on the shoulder, shoving him out the door.

  Vornan looked back at his brother and then broke into a run to beat his sister-in-law to the woman who just might be the woman he had been waiting for.

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  Viola Grace

  * * * *

  A low argument woke her. She opened bleary eyes to see a couple standing a few meters away. The woman was unknown, but Flame’s mood was hostile. He grabbed the woman’s arm and directed her out of the tent and the woman in the bodysuit went with a grumble.

  Jenya’s heart sank as she took in the casual intimacy between the two. Even after their argument, there was no tension in either one as they went their separate ways. Her parents had had a relationship like that. They might still have one if they had stayed safe in her hometown. The tiny village was hopefully far enough off the beaten path to have avoided the scourge of the new arrivals.

  Flame approached her with hesitancy in his step that hadn’t been there before. He sat next to her and took her hand. “How are you feeling?”

  “Still tired. Did they all make it?”

  “Every single person you led out is safe. Out of those who stayed behind, seven died in the fire that the invaders set to destroy the facility. They were trying to cover their tracks.”

  She shuddered. “They did love burning.”

  “I can now understand your extreme reaction to the healing flames. You must have thought they 10

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  had caught up with you.”

  “It was a surprise to go from floating weightlessly to being wracked with awakening nerves on fire.” She tried to smile, but knew it was a feeble attempt.

  “I have a question for you.” He swallowed carefully. “Are you aware of the Sector Guard?”

  “Of course. It was announced on a global transmission a few years ago. Specially, talented people who go quickly to assist people and planets in emergencies.” She looked to his uniform. “You are a member of the Guard?”

  “I am. The question I am here to ask is would you like to join the Udell Base Sector Guard detachment?”

  She looked into his serious face, studying him for any traces of amusement. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course.”

  “In what capacity? I have never left my home world.”

  “As my partner.”

  That surprised her. “What about the woman you were arguing with? You seem to have a partnership of sorts with her.”

  “She is my twin brother’s wife and partner.

  Tech. My brother is Razer. They liberated the population of Cinder and saved a number of the prisoners who had chosen to not follow you to what they classified as certain death.”

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  “It could have been. I didn’t really know what I was doing.” She scrubbed at her forehead.

  “You need a little training and finesse. Your talent holds a lot of promise and you could save a lot of lives.” He seemed endearingly unsure. “So, will you be my partner?”

  His glittering gaze held her frozen in place. She thought about it, her talent used at the side of this man with the healing green fire. “I will.”

  Delight filled his face and she had to stifle a chuckle. What she remembered of the Kozue was that they were stoic and silent. What she was seeing were far more intense emotions than she would have expected.

  She extended her hand to him. “Jenya Norquil.

  At your service.”

  “Tech is getting you a spare uniform and I think I will call you Digger.”

  She sighed. “That isn’t flattering.”

  “No, but it makes for a nice team name dynamic. Flame and Digger. Digger and Flame. It sounds good.” He winked and helped her sit up.

  The cots were mostly empty. “Where did they all go?”

  “With the aliens arrested, it was safe for them to return to their homes. This particular cult has been infecting the Sector and we have been running behind them, digging them out.”

  She sat forward and examined the grime on her 12

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  hands. “I would like to help you dig.”

  The brightly coloured physician returned to her side when Flame raised his hand. “Helsin, is she well enough to transport?”

  “She is still weak, but if you keep her hydrated and allow her to rest, she will be fine. What are you thinking?”

  “I wish to take her to Udell base for assessment and training. Nich can probably offer environmental training.”

 

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