Star Fire by Buffi BeCraft Page A

him to glimpse the long knife covered in Kiev’s blood. Damn, but he hated being gutted. It ranked fourth on his list of bad deaths.
    He fumbled at his belt, searching his emergency pouch for the special adrenaline-stimulant cocktail he’d invented. The single dose was designed for a desperate, hopeless situation like this. Out the corner of his eye, the alien scrambled to its feet, weaving while Kiev sucked in the gas from his ‘last-chance’ inhaler.
    The drugs hit his system in a rush, speeding up his heart rate, clearing his thoughts. He was going to die, but he’d take the bastard with him. Sasha would have her chance to save Aros.
    Kiev roared, grabbing his sword. Adrenaline and fury aided his swing, perfected by twelve hundred years of warriors’ training and knowledge and thirty years of practice in this body. The sharp edge sliced into shoulder meat. Kiev spun, angling down to cut across the alien’s thigh. It went down to one knee as he pressed the advantage. He barely noticed the knife plunging into him again. It was an insect’s bite beside the swing that took the furred alien’s head from its shoulders.
    Kiev paused to breathe. He turned, tugging the knife from his side, and ran to Sasha. The hologram was gone. He didn’t understand the language the alien strangers screamed, but he knew she’d won as her kick crushed the bigger man’s knee. She yelled her order again, tears streaming down her cheeks, as the man held out both hands in surrender.
    “Kiev, no!” Her sudden glance his way made him turn.
    Blisters on the face of the pepper-sprayed man twisted his expression into a grotesque mask.
    The drugs in Kiev’s system still made him light on his feet, even as he could feel the blood loss. “For Aros!” The sword raised, he ran, ducking the man’s ill-aimed laser weapon. The next shot was absorbed by the suit as Kiev reached his enemy. He swung, noting the wide-eyed horror as the man realised he was about to die by a primitive sword. The blade struck, slicing a deep track—front shoulder to hip. For a half-second more, the man wavered, then fell in the widening pool of blood.
    Behind him, he could hear Sasha. Her cries faded as the world distorted and the drugs began to wear off. He slid down to one knee, then that one crumpled. Soft hands caught him and lowered him down. Sasha’s red halo of hair and her pale, tear-tracked face filled his vision.
    “No, no, no. Oh, God. What have you done?” She began to tear at the suit fastenings, then at her pack. “Oh, fuck.”
    Kiev held a hand over hers and tried to smile. “Did you stop the machine?”
    Sasha started tumbling items from the pack. “Yes. It was… It’s okay. I’ll explain later.” Her gaze hardened as he started to struggle for breath.
    Kiev-Dirrel had died so many times, he knew the signs. It wasn’t as bad as falling down a cliff or being chewed and digested by the draco-lizard. But damn , he hated to die by gutting.
    She leant down, fresh tears brightening her ocean eyes to stars. “Don’t you die on me. Fuck you. Don’t you dare die on me.”
    “Searched for my heart for an aeon of night. A flame at twilight, my Star Fire.” He breathed the words. “Twined in life, part…” Pain consumed his vision.
    “Damn you, Dirrellen. Bad poetry is not going to get you out of marrying me.” Whatever she was doing burned at his wounds.
    “Dirrellen loved NaTashamarilla. He—I searched. No other woman would do.” He blinked, taking slow breaths. He tried to touch her face and brushed against her shoulder instead. Kiev didn’t have the strength to try again. “Life would have been an adventure with you, Sasha-Tasha.” The familiar darkness swept over him, parting him from her again.

Chapter Six
    Julian Horoscope, day forty-four—
    Sometimes opportunity is right under your nose.
    Dying for someone is easy. Living is so much harder.
    The door whooshed open and she pointed the laser gun she’d confiscated at the