ACROSS STARS AND BLOOD (The Malaki Series Book 1)

by L. A. MARIE

  For some reason, the guards split me off from the rest of the humans and took me to a craft. It was a lot like the craft Thane and I had been on when we had headed to Nolmilea, but this one had containment units on board, as if it was already prepared to transport people through the galaxy.

  How long had they been planning this?

  Probably from the start. We had just been too desperate for help to realize that this might be a problem. Besides, when they allowed us the option of working side-by-side, why wouldn’t we have taken it? We had nearly killed ourselves off, we needed the help.

  While the soldier was pushing me around, I was aware of my connection to Thane. It felt stronger and clearer than ever before, and I had a feeling that he had made it over here. But why? What had he come back for?

  Unless they had found him after all. Unless they had brought him here against his will.

  That would be punishment enough for what he had done to me. But still, despite everything he had done, I couldn’t find it in myself to hate him.

  On the contrary.

  The guard pushed me into a containment unit. The material that kept me in was thick and almost hummed with some sort of electricity flowing through it. Would it shock me if I tried to touch it?

  The soldier grinned at me, a malicious smile. He took a step or two back and looked at me as if he was admiring the fact that I was in a cage.

  I focused on Thane, on our connection. I tried not to focus on the soldier that liked seeing how my humanity was slowly being stripped away. I just needed to keep focusing on the connection I had with Thane.

  But it was gone.

  As if our connection had never been, it was cut off. Where had he gone?

  I felt empty and alone. It was impossible to think that I had lived my entire life without the connection, a bond such as what I had felt with Thane. Because now that it was gone, I felt like a limb had been severed, like a part of me had been ripped away. Physically, I felt unbalanced.

  “What’s going on?” I asked the soldier as if he could answer me. “Why do I feel like this?”

  The soldier ignored me. What else would he do? I should have expected that.

  He shook his head, chuckling as if this was all very fun. He walked away and I was suddenly terrified of being left completely alone. Even though I had been alone for the past couple of days.

  “Wait!” I cried out, throwing myself against the clear material that held me in. At least it didn’t shock me.

  This was nothing like the partition that had held me in before. This time, when I touched the Perspex-like material, it hummed gently beneath my palms, sending a strange pulse through me. It made my ears ring. It made me feel like I was in some kind of soundproof room.

  What did this do?

  I thought about our bond and wondered if this was why it had broken. If the Malaki were used to creating bonds like that, surely, they needed something that could cut it off.

  I hoped that it was the answer, and that it wasn’t any other reason. Because the alternative would be that Thane was dead.

  And I wasn’t willing to accept that.

  He was too difficult to kill off, anyway. A lot of people had tried. I needed to hold onto that, to know that I wouldn’t have lost him. Even if we were never really together, at least, I didn’t want him dead.

  Of course, you should want him dead, I thought. Look at what he did. But no matter how many times I told myself that Thane deserved whatever was coming to him, I couldn’t convince myself to really feel it. I just wanted him safe.

  I stopped throwing myself against the strange, humming material. It wasn’t going to make a difference anyway. Instead, I turned toward the small window. The other containment unit hadn’t had any windows, and it felt good to be able to look out. Even though the glass was incredibly thick – suited for space travel – and it made everything a little blurry.

  As I watched, chaos erupted. Alarms sounded. Something was wrong.

  Soldiers ran across the ground, retrieving weapons, on high alert.

  I saw Enach as he came into view, hunched over, flanked by half a dozen soldiers who were escorting him back to the Elder House. It was just like I saw in the movies when the President was in trouble. Except I didn’t give a shit about Enach and whether he survived. In fact, someone like him, someone who wanted to send humans to another planet as slaves, didn’t deserve to survive.

  My hatred toward Enach came hard and fast, making me almost physically stumble.

  Thane had hated his dad. So much, I had been able to feel it radiating from him even before we had had our connection. But now, without our connection, I knew that the hatred I felt toward the Malakus leader was completely my own.

  So, this was how Thane felt about his dad.

  I was starting to understand him better and better. I was starting to see why he was the person he was, why he came across as so sullen and angry all the time.

  Whatever had happened to Thane, I couldn’t let anything else happen to me. Until now, I had wilted, giving up. But that was pathetic. I felt like now that I understood everything a little better, I had a renewed sense of what was right. And I had a reason to escape. Even if I had nothing and no one left, it was better than being a slave to these… these… vermin.

  I started studying the partition that kept me in. The guard hadn’t locked anything, so I had to be able to get out if I thought about it carefully. I had started to understand the Malaki tech over the years, I had to be able to figure something out.

  At first, it seemed like the opening was completely sealed off, like the partition was one smooth panel. But when I inspected it closer, I saw that there was a line where the two parts came together.

  I hadn’t eaten very well for the past couple of days and I didn’t have a lot of strength, but I scraped everything together I could muster and threw myself against that one line, shouldering it over and over again. Surely, if I kept doing this, it would put in a strain on the weak spot and crack the partition open.

  Right? That made sense. Logically, if there was a point in the partition weaker than the others, it would have to give way after I put enough pressure on it.

  Maybe I just wasn’t heavy or strong enough to put enough pressure on the partition. After all, they had put me in here for a reason, because I was apparently an important prisoner.

  Suddenly, the partition slipped open and I nearly fell through it when I tried to shoulder it again.

  I narrowed my eyes at the cubicle, suspicious that it had been so much easier than I had thought. I glanced around the ship, waiting for a soldier or a guard to appear, but I was alone and the entrance to the ship was closed. I was still trapped within the craft. But I could escape it, right? I had to.

  I walked to the door and tried to open that. I wasn’t going to do the same thing, trying to shoulder it. I was only going to hurt myself and my shoulder was already throbbing. It would be bruised tomorrow.

  No matter how much I fought, no matter what I tried or where I went, I couldn’t seem to get out of the ship. The only place I could imagine doing it, the only place that seemed realistic to escape from at this point, was the cockpit.

  But unlike the ship I had been on with Thane, the cockpit was blocked off from the cargo hold.

  Maybe it was because they transported prisoners in this area and creating a walkway between the cargo hold and the cockpit made the whole process vulnerable. Whatever the case, I couldn’t escape as quickly as I had hoped.

  I headed toward the back where bunks were aligned against the wall – probably for soldiers – and looked for a way to get out from there. Or a weapon, or something. Anything that would help.

  Suddenly, the ship started rumbling beneath my feet.

  Dammit! Not again. How many times was this going to happen to me?

  I started to panic, looking around, desperately looking for a way to get out of here.

  They couldn’t take me away, not now. Not after I had managed to get back, not af
ter I had managed to get this far.

  There were no open doors this time, as there had been the first time I’d been on a ship that had trembled to life beneath me. That was half the problem – if the doors had been open, I wouldn’t have been here anymore.

  We lifted into the air and I watched as the ship moved across the property, away from the Elder House.

  I didn’t care about the Elder House – the further I was from it, the better.

  Before long, it was above clump of trees that seemed to stretch out for ever.

  Where the hell were we going? If we crossed toward the Reservation, maybe I could do something, overthrow the pilot, escape… anything.

  After a while, the ship came to a hovering halt.

  Why were we stopping?

  The door from the cockpit area trembled slightly, and then opened. My stomach did a little flip and I swallowed.

  Here we go.

  I sank into battle stance. I wasn’t strong enough to really fight – I hadn’t eaten well for a long time and I was out of breath quickly. Running around to find a way to escape hadn’t helped me conserve energy, either. But I would do whatever I needed to protect myself. There was no way I was going to let a bunch of aliens take me away to a different planet again.

  As soon as the door opened, I ran toward the alien and attacked. I screamed, hoping for the element of surprise to be on my side.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” a familiar voice said, grabbing me by the shoulders. And just like that, our bond came rushing back at me, enveloping me in our connection so suddenly, I felt like I was drowning. I gasped for air and blinked at Thane, who looked at me with an amused expression.

  Immediately, I was furious, despite the relief that washed over me.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. “Who the fuck do you think you are!?”

  “Calm down,” Thane said calmly. “Just take a moment to pull yourself together.”

  “The hell I’m doing what you say,” I snapped. “I should—”

  “I’m sorry,” Thane said, interrupting me. He looked so sincere, it pulled me up short. “What I did was wrong. I didn’t think I cared, but I do. I came back for you.”

  I shook my head, confused.

  “You can’t think that it’s enough to fix it,” I said.

  “Just sit down and shut up while I get us out of here,” Thane grumbled, rolling his eyes. He stalked back to his seat in the cockpit, leaving the door open. I walked after him and sat down next to him, taking my seat.

  I was so angry with him. I wouldn’t even let myself feel relief that that he had come back for me. The asshole had screwed everything up for me.

  It was his fault Naira was dead.

  Anger boiled under my skin. My hands were still balled into fists and I wanted to hit him in the face. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to feel what I was feeling. Even if it was just a little bit of the emptiness, the pain I felt, it would be enough.

  Why the hell had he come back for me?

  It couldn’t be that this monster had a heart.

  “What is this going to do for you?” I asked.

  Thane shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “You came back here. It can’t be for me, you’re too selfish for that.”

  “For someone who’s just been rescued, you’re a bitch.”

  I flushed.

  “You started it,” I shouted.

  Thane rolled his eyes and that only pissed me off more.

  “We’re not going to focus at all on the fact that I came back for you?”

  I didn’t grace him with an answer. I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t believe that this time, this was genuine. Thane had an ulterior motive. He always did.

  “How did you find me?” I demanded.

  Thane tapped his chest over his heart. “This stupid bond. Leads me right to you.”

  I tried not to remember how lost I’d felt when the bond had been missing. That had been a weakness, nothing more. I’d been scared and hungry and alone in the cell. That was what I’d felt. The ache for Thane had been a rouse.

  “It was gone,” I said.

  “Yeah, I thought you died,” he said. He swallowed hard and looked upset. Really upset. That was confusing. I had wondered if he was dead, too.

  But did he give a shit whether I lived or died?

  “So, I’m alive,” I said. My tone was still bitter.

  Good.

  “Yeah, and Gods knows why the fuck I’m relieved about that. You’re a damn pain in my ass.”

  I grunted at him. I wanted to believe that he came back for me because of me, but that was hard to wrap my mind around. If I had been so important to him, he wouldn’t have given me up in the first place.

  Thane sighed and shook his head.

  “You have every reason to be pissed at me.”

  “I wasn’t asking for permission.”

  He looked visibly irritated. I was winning this round, at least. If I could act like I didn’t care at all about what Thane thought, I could protect myself a little.

  Because the truth was, despite my raging fury at being betrayed the way I had, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that Thane stood in front of. And with the bond back, I felt…

  Complete.

  Dammit, I didn’t want to admit to it. But there it was.

  “I don’t understand how this works,” I said. “I thought you said the bond couldn’t be broken without someone dying.”

  “That cubicle back there,” Thane said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder, “were you in it?”

  I nodded.

  “That would explain it,” he said. “It’s meant to block off any bonds. So that Malakus can’t find each other. This is one of the old prisoner ships that they used on Malakus. It’s been adapted to come here, but it still does what it needs to for Malakus. And we do bonds.”

  I shook my head. This was crazy. None of it made sense. And that same time, I understood it perfectly.

  “So, when I managed to break out of it…”

  “The bond came right back. And I knew you were in here. But they know we’re in here now, too. I had to make a run for it, I broke formation, so they know. I’m getting us out of here as soon as I can.”

  “Are we ever not going to have to run?” I grumbled.

  “Fuck, you whine a lot for someone who couldn’t do this herself.”

  I glared at him. I hated that I wasn’t only angry with him. I mean, I was pissed off, for sure. But I was also happy he was here. And the two emotions didn’t go together.

  It didn’t work for me. I wanted to hate him.

  Thane turned and walked to the cockpit. I didn’t follow. When he noticed, he turned to me and frowned.

  “What’s your problem, now?”

  “Where are you taking us?” I asked.

  Thane rolled his eyes. “Are we on this again?”

  “I want to go home.”

  Thane looked irritated. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” he marched to me and grabbed my wrist, starting toward the cockpit with me. I yanked my hand free from his grasp and swung for Thane instead. The movement was so quick, the hit so unexpected, I clipped him on the jaw, and he hadn’t seen it coming at all.

  Thane put his hand on his chin, the shock on his face turning to anger. He bared his teeth at me like an animal and swung back at me.

  I’d expected it and bounced back. But he was faster than I was, and much stronger. I was weak with only my rage fueling me now that I hadn’t eaten for so long. The second time he hit me, I couldn’t avoid it. The hit was hard enough to knock me off my feet. I fell backward to the ground, sprawled on the craft floor.

  “Dammit, Emori,” Thane bit out. He bent down, grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet again. And into his arms. They were wrapped so tightly around me, I was pressed against his chest and I could hardly breathe. I struggled, fighting to get free.

  Until I realized he wasn’t hurting me. He wasn’t fighting me
.

  He was holding me.

  “I thought you fucking died,” he muttered. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

  When he let go of me, his expression was raw. I wanted to hold onto my anger, but it bled out of me, and through the bond, warmth flowed that seemed to fill me up and flow over me, until I was completely wrapped in it.

  “Me too,” I said in a hoarse voice.

  “I was a dick for what I did, okay? I get that. And you have a right to be pissed off. I’m just glad you’re alive. You don’t have to forgive me. We just have to get out of here, okay? Be pissed off with me later.”

  He walked away from me, and I followed him. I couldn’t stay behind. Something drew me after him.

  And I didn’t fight it. Even if I wanted to, that display of affection had broken my fury. I didn’t have the energy to stay angry when the bond that we shared was so overwhelmingly positive.

  And I was tired of fighting. I was exhausted.

  When I sat next to him in the cockpit, I glanced at him. He looked at me without trying to hide it, and pushed a few buttons.

  The truth was, I was glad he was here, I was glad he wasn’t dead. I was glad I hadn’t lost him.

  As if had anything left I could lose.

  The ship moved forward, and Thane became serious about losing our entourage. I was strapped into the seat but I still held onto the armrests, gripping it tightly, while Thane threw the ship this way and that, getting away as fast as he could. He wasn’t focusing on flying the ship carefully, only as fast as he could.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “We need to make a quick stop,” he said.

  “Where?”

  He glanced at me, a strange expression on his face.

  “You ask so many questions.”

  “And you never answer any of them,” I complained.

  Thane chuckled.

  “Won’t they be after us?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” Thane said. “I acted like I had the clearance to take you away, I bought us some time.”

  I shook my head. “Why did you come back for me?” I asked.

  Thane glanced at me again, a sparkle in his eye, this time.