Cloud Riders(63)

Kayden came back with two of the Cross brothers. As they shook hand with Jason and Woody, she could tell the four of them were old friends by the way they joked with each other. Both men had very dark complexions with jet-black hair that was cut short. They were both big boys but still looked small against the team. Their only freakish attribute was the colour of their eyes. They were a bright purple, hidden behind long purple lashes. The taller one stood with his arms crossed most of the time and Cassie felt his eyes on her. He seemed to absorb her as if he could read her every thought.

Before they left they insisted that Kayden bring his team back for drinks later on, saying their father and other brother would be very disappointed to have missed them. Kayden accepted the offer graciously. Apparently the father and son were off somewhere taking the sisters to safety. Kayden never said where; he covered it by telling Cassie that the least she knew the better, in case the enemy captured her. Cassie knew the rest of the team would already have understood that, so appreciated knowing why he was being so secretive.

Waiting for the renegade star gave Cassie too much time to think. She was getting a little nervous. They had all been moved into position. Starburst and Cassie were a distance away ready to obliterate any outer crust that might fly off the star. Waiting, Cassie looked around her. ‘Jeez, this is one big-arse sky up here,’ she said quietly to Starburst.

As the ball of light came into view, Kayden had his team of men moved around it, getting into position. However, from where she sat there seemed to be something wrong. Kayden spun quickly to clear out the way of a lightening bolt and then Woody only just ducked in time to miss a burst of flame that darted out at him.

It’s unstable men; the star’s ready to blow. How like Aldebaran, the sneaky bastard to target us again for standing in his way. If it blows here it’ll do a lot of damage to nearby constellations. Cassie, you’re on. I need you to give the star a good shove. Thirty degrees north from where it is now and however far you can push it.

Cassie glanced up at the location he just gave her and could see it was clear of anything that shone. It was just black space. She calmed herself the way Woody had taught her and imagined the star and the empty space far above them. She popped her eyes open and with her mind, not even using hands, she shoved the star with all her might. She watched as it moved but she also felt heat and panicked that it was about to blow. Needing more power, she threw up both of her hands, putting a driving force behind it. The strike was so hard the star shot out of the atmosphere they were in, the boys hot on its trail. Even with her superior eyesight up here, they were soon out of her sight. She patted Starburst and told him he was a clever boy for helping her with that extra bit of power she needed. Cassie was told to stay put so that’s exactly what she was going to do. And yet sitting so quietly, nerves got the better of her and she worried if they were alright as she couldn’t even hear Kayden anymore.

Should I stay or should I go see if they’re okay? The thought ran around in her head. What if they’re hurt or worse? ‘Damn, Starburst, this waiting sucks,’ she bitched. ‘If we go and they’re fine, we’ll be in deep shit. Then they’ll most likely never trust us again.’ She kept patting Starburst, trying to make a decision. ‘We’ll show them we can be trusted, won’t we, boy? Let’s just sit tight a bit longer,’ Cassie said as they sat and waited. And waited. And waited.





Aldebaran’s Shock Surprise


‘Aldebaran, don’t you dare. You’ll hurt her. She’s just a young lass,’ Conom yelled at him angrily through the headset.

Aldebaran had been watching from his home world via satellite and Conom had only just tuned in. He hadn’t seen what the little witch had done. He hadn’t seen the female of the group use her powers to shove their weapon out into the harmless realm of deep space. Aldebaran was so enraged he couldn’t even get out what she was capable of. He was just about to knock the bitch off her horse for foiling his plan to destroy the Cross family when Conom forced him to stop. The fire in him to hurt something was raw and he had to battle to control it.

‘Well, where the bloody hell did they find their new witch? I thought our crack team had executed their entire list of possible people who could have become future Cloud Riders. If we don’t get rid of the damned pests we’ll never get rid of Orion and I’ve had just about as much of him as I can take, Conom.’

‘Aldebaran, I don’t mind the slaughter of any man that gets in our way but I’ll have no part of hurting this one. She seems to be a very young immortal, maybe just evolved, and can be controlled. Zoom in and get a look at her. Maybe she’s from up here and we can deal with the family, frighten them into pulling her out of the team.’