His Fire Maiden Read Online Free PDF Page B

dead moon. If that was simply fate or fulfillment of a prophecy, Dev didn’t know. What he did know is that he’d spent a lot of lonely nights trying to force any personal hope out of his head. And now, with one look, he was thinking she might be his element of earth as they were buried beneath the sand as their eyes met, or metal for the stretch of metal flooring that now separated them, or fire for the churning in her hot gaze and the feeling in his blood…
    Or nothing. He was reaching for clues that were not there. She was nothing because men like him did not get to fall in love. His destiny lay in battle, in protecting others. He was a demon spawn after all, and who would want to love a demon?
    A new alarm activated to interrupt his thoughts and break the spell of her impassioned gaze. The noise punctuated the clanking of metal against metal. The center column began to rise. Dev released Evan as they neared the top. Instantly the docking plank lifted to seal them inside the ship. And, as he glanced through the narrowing view as the door closed, he saw the woman still stared at him with her intense eyes. She nodded once before turning her back.
    Fire, Dev thought, she is unquestionably fire.
     

     
Chapter 5
     
     
    T he Conqueror , Deep Space
    “Evan and Josselyn.” Rick slid into his chair at the gaming table. They were in the common area of the ship where the crew gathered to socialize with each other. “I tell you. I knew Evan and Josselyn were going to hook up from the very first moment we rescued her from her pretty little prison statue. That’s why I held back with her. You know, so she didn’t get lost in all my charm.”
    “What kind of device do you wish to hook Josselyn up to?” Dev asked, frowning. He shared a look with Jackson and Lochlann. Rick had a penchant for twenty-first century Old Earth memorabilia and sayings, and they couldn’t always translate what his expressions meant.
    Rick sighed dramatically. “It is all torture and battle scars with you, isn’t it, Devekin? Don’t you ever think of anything else? For a hot-blooded guy, you’re not very—” Rick’s voice abruptly stopped as Dev stood from his chair. He held up his hands, laughing. “Easy, big fella. I’m only teasing.”
    Rick was right about one thing. Evan had found his true love. That accursed prophecy was at work. Dev was sure of it. How else would Evan find Josselyn so soon after Zhang An’s curse?
    With the newest addition of Josselyn Craven, there were eleven people on board the ship. Josselyn and Evan were in his chambers as she recovered from the last of her illness. Captain Jarek, his wife Mei, and their newborn son, Parker, passed most of their time in the captain’s quarters. Other than that, everyone else spent their days in the common area.
    At times, eleven felt very crowded. The isolation of deep space surrounded by the same people could become tedious, but that was the price of adventuring. It’s not like Dev had anywhere else to go. Well, unless you counted the fact Dev and Jackson’s often escaped to the VR training facility to fight various alien species for fun—and since they’d disengaged all the safety protocols, it really was fun. If things went too wrong, there was always a medical booth on board.
    Dev crossed his arms over his chest and arched a brow at Rick.
    “Hook up, get together,” Rick clarified, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. When no one gave him the response he was looking for, he grumbled, “Don’t you have some end of days battle to prepare for, Dev? I swear if you weren’t so damned ugly I’d think you and Jackson had a little something going on in the VR. Who needs to train for sixteen hours a day? It’s not like we’re heading off to war.”
    Dev didn’t take offense. Whereas Dev was all about maintaining order, Rick was all about pushing the limits until they broke. Right now, Rick was bored, as often was the case when the ship was on autopilot. The man could fly