Armored Hearts by Angela Knight

fighting together. In knowing someone else always had your back.”
    Zara nodded, remembering her brief, sad time with Andre. “I can understand that.”
    “Unfortunately, my unit broke up when our commander decided to retire. Then there was the lack of warfare going on across the Interstellar Union, so most of the other vampires started looking around for something else to do with their lives. I was sitting in a bar getting loaded when this G.A.E. recruiter came in looking for mercs. I didn’t know a damn thing about the Godssonists, and I didn’t take the time to do my research.” He curled a lip in disgust. “And it bit me on the ass. Hell, it didn’t just bite my ass, it took a huge chunk out of it. Two years I’ve spent fighting this war and training the people who’ve been brutally raping Falara.” He turned to her and reached for her hand. She gave it to him, her chest aching. “I know how you feel about your people. Do you think you can forgive me for what I’ve done?”
    Zara smiled. “Rand, you and your mother have saved my people. Or at least given us the first real chance we’ve had in two years. And you took a hell of a risk to do it. Your mother could have died killing Godsson, and Lordsvengeance will kill you if given the chance.” She brushed her fingertips against his cheek. “The way I see it, you saw evil and had the guts to do something about it. If more people had that kind of courage, the human race would be a hell of a lot better off.”
    Rand grinned in obvious relief. “I did what I had to, baby. Otherwise my mirror and I would have come to a parting of the ways.” He paused, his gaze searching her face. “My mother and I have been talking. She’s planning to create a new philanthropic organization on Falara to help your people recover from the war. And she’s asked me to run it. I’ve got more experience killing people than helping them, so I’m going to need a lot of on-the-job training. Mom says she’s got some experts lined up to help, so I shouldn’t fuck it up too badly.”
    Zara smiled slightly. “Knowing your compulsive perfectionism, you’ll be the best thing that ever happened to Falara. Besides, I’ve heard a lot about your mother’s charities. She does good work.”
    Rand leaned toward her, his gaze intense. “Would you stay with me, help me? You’d make a great liaison between the charity and the Falarans. They might be more inclined to cooperate if you’re involved.”
    She grinned, warmth expanding in her chest at the request. He wants me to stay with him ! “It would be my honor.”
    “And you’ll do a damned good job -- assuming we actually win this thing. A hell of a lot can go wrong. I…” He broke off, and his head snapped around toward the landing zone’s opening. “Oh, fuck.”
    She followed his gaze and swore, seeing a pair of bright, slim shapes in the distance.
    “Team transports,” he told her grimly, rising to his feet in a powerful rush of mech servos and vampire muscle. “They’re coming this way.”
    Her mouth went dry as she scrambled up to stand next to him, peering at the horizon. “Maybe they’ll pass by. Could be headed to the spaceport.”
    “They’re going in the wrong direction. The spaceport is east. Fortunately they’re not flying very fast -- probably worried about taking fire.”
    “How the hell did they know we’re here? We could have gone anywhere after we left the base.”
    “It’s like they’ve got some kind of…” Rand turned to her, his gaze flicking up and down her body. He froze, staring hard at her belly as if he could see right through her flesh. Which, given his sensors, he probably could. He started to swear in an impressive roll of profanity.
    “What?” she demanded, alarmed.
    “There’s a nanotracker stuck to your stomach wall. It’s broadcasting on a frequency we don’t normally use, so I never noticed it.”
    Horrified, Zara looked down at herself. “When the hell did they do that? I