The Eclipse of Power Read Free Page A

body and wrapped his arms around
my back. He put his cheek on the top of my head and said how sorry he was, but
he couldn’t leave. None of them could. It was against protocol, unless they
were called home. But he could call in and see if anyone knew where Lancer was.
    Toren came over, rubbed my back and said, “B’Lana, you know
Lancer is tough and would have no problem getting through this. We shouldn’t
stress until we know the location of the bombs. For all we know, Lancer wasn’t
anywhere near the bombs when they went off.”
    “Thank you both, I appreciate it.”
    Ash pulled back and looked around the area before he
directed what was left of Squads 4 and 5 to finish gathering the dead. They
were also to stay there and make sure no rippers or hybrids went through the
portal, either way.
    “Your orders are to kill anything that tries to come through
without proper authorization. The standard protocol in times like this is to
close off the portals so none of the enemy troops can escape or receive
reinforcements. We will take shifts until Sendryl can send more guards. Be sure
to keep the enemy bodies away from our fallen.
    “Squad leaders, I want a report of who you lost tonight and
how they want their remains treated. We might have to burn the bodies here.”
Ash directed each squad leader while the rest were sorting the dead.
    Sorting the dead, who ever thought I would be using that
term, let alone actually participating in the effort.
    While I was looking for missing body parts, and rubbing my
arms furiously to try and keep warm, Cash suggested we get a dump truck for the
rippers. They could be taken somewhere else and burned and their ashes buried.
    “Alright Cash, take two others and go acquire a dump truck.
Do you have a site in mind for the burning and burying of the enemy bodies?”
Toren asked his second in command.
    “Yes, I know of a place out of the way where no one will
notice. While on my last scouting mission I saw an equipment rental place. I am
sure I can borrow a truck from them without anyone knowing.” Cash picked two
other warriors and they left to “borrow” a dump truck.
    “Great, the enemy bodies are taken care of, now we need to
find a place to keep our fallen warriors. We can’t let them be buried here in
Earth, they must be sent home for a proper burial.” Ash asked the other fae if
they knew of a place with large enough refrigeration we could use. The leader
of Squad 3 had an idea and said he would look into it.
    “Hey, why are you shaking so hard B’Lana?” Ash reached over
to wrap his arms around me and he rubbed his hands along my back.
    “I’m fffrreeezzzinggg. I cccan’t ggett warrrmmmm.” I must
have been going into shock or something because my teeth were chattering and my
body started to feel numb.
    “Squads 1 through 3 let’s head back and get some rest. In
four hours I will send two squads back to relieve 4 and 5.” Ash kept his arms
around me trying to warm me up as we walked back to the Hummer.
    He had the heater on full blast but it didn’t seem to do
anything for me. I was still freezing and chattering up a storm when we arrived
back at headquarters.
    “B’Lana, sit here, I am going to get you some coffee and a
few blankets to help warm you up.” He left me with Toren who wrapped me in his
arms and was trying to warm me up.
    I am the luckiest woman on two planets! But also the
unluckiest. I have two smoking hot males wrapping me in their arms, but neither
of them are the fae male I want holding me right now.
    “B’Lana, you have to relax your body, let it go. I know it
was a gruesome scene, but this is what we do. It’s what you do now. Think about
it, if we hadn’t of stopped them, who knows how many more innocents would have
died on Sendryl. We did the right thing and you know it.” Toren was looking
into my eyes, pleading with me to understand him while still rubbing his hands
along my back.
    “Tttoren, I know it was rrright. Ittt’ss jussttt