by Presley Hall
I’ve never been able to forget how close I came to dying the night I went through that glass door, from blood loss and shock. If Brielle hadn’t come home when she did, if she’d worked a later shift than usual, I very well could have. And I would have died because of a selfish, small man who couldn’t handle me thinking or living for myself, or having any identity beyond him.
I spent so long after that feeling like my life wasn’t my own, like I didn’t know who I was anymore, unable to trust my own judgement.
But this is my decision.
My plan.
My choice.
And Zatir is making the path clear for me to make that choice, supporting me and accepting my place in this mission, even if he would never choose it on his own. He trusts in my judgement and in my bravery.
In a way, it’s startling to think I have this kind of courage at all, but I’m coming to see that I always had it inside of me. I had it when I kept dancing through every rejection and every audition and every failed attempt, simply because I loved it so much. I had it when I managed to live, despite everything that was working against me. I had it when I broke things off with my ex-boyfriend for good, despite his apologies and promises that it would never happen again.
I just never recognized that courage for what it was. But now I do. And I’m going to use it to help save the man—the alien—that I love.
I smile at Zatir, and he grins back at me, shaking his head as he laughs quietly.
“I can’t even imagine what kind of trouble you’re going to get us into over the course of our lives together,” he murmurs, and I feel my mood lightening despite the impending danger. His words make me laugh too, filling my heart with hope. It helps to hear him speak about our future as a wide open thing, as if it’s a given that we’ll live through this.
Zatir tilts his head as he considers me for a moment, his gaze scanning my body.
“We’ll have to get you some proper gear,” he declares. “If you’re supposed to be a bounty hunter, then we need to make sure you look the part. Kildred must believe it completely.”
Our discussion pauses as we slip away into the darkness, unseen by any of the guards patrolling the compound. When we’re far enough away to speak normally, he straightens and takes my hand.
“We’ll go into the city. There should be a place there where we can find you what you need. Quulan mentioned a shop to me, in case we needed any gear after we landed. I don’t have many tokens on me, but it should be enough.”
The shop is small and in a rough part of town that smells of greasy meat and foul odors that suggest bad plumbing. It’s housed in a run-down dark gray building with a cracked façade and a door that’s covered in scratches and marks, as if it’s been broken into more than once. The interior is dim and cramped, but there are weapons and various pieces of armor and gear everywhere—I can’t imagine that we won’t be able to find what we need.
Zatir bargains with the merchant as I look around, and before long, the two men seem to come to some kind of agreement. The merchant doesn’t look entirely pleased, but he pulls out an array of gear, stacking it into Zatir’s arms.
“Weapons next,” he says gruffly. “But have the female try these on for size to start.”
The space for me to change is far from a proper fitting room—just a sheet hastily draped over a rack of guns—but I quickly shimmy out of the flight suit and slip on the gear I’ve been handed, starting with a fitted black body suit made of a thick material that feels extremely sturdy.
“It’s flame resistant,” Zatir says. “And although it isn’t impervious to blaster bolts, it offers some protection.”
Nodding at his explanation, I add on the rest—a leather vest that laces up the sides, a belt for my blasters and heavy leather armor buckled over my thighs, shins and forearms, and then to top it all off, a sleek black and red helmet with a visor that rises at the press of a button, and gloves.
When I’m finished, I look at myself in the dirty mirror across the room. I can hardly believe that the reflection I see is real.
All decked out in the bounty hunter gear, I look nothing like myself—or maybe it’s a part of myself that I never knew I had in me. I look tough and rugged and badass, capable of anything. When Zatir hands me the blasters and I slide them into their holsters, I blink at myself again, trying to take it all in. With the visor of my helmet raised, I can see my face, but even my delicate features look different, somehow. Stronger. Sharper.
This is a version of me I could never have imagined, but it’s real.
And I feel capable of anything.
Zatir buys several explosive charges and two long knives as well, and once we’re outside the shop, he helps me fit those onto the outfit as well, with the charges attaching to my belt and the knives slipping into thin holsters that fit into my boots. Despite all the gear on me, I can move with surprising ease, due to how well-fitted the bodysuit is. It feels almost as if it were made for me, the fabric moving and shaping itself to me.
My mate takes a step back, scanning his gaze up and down my body to take in the whole picture, and his eyes heat.
He’s a big fan of this outfit on me, I can tell.
I take that look in his eyes, the pride and desire and adoration, and let it bolster my courage too. I look like I could take on anyone right now and come out on top, no matter the odds.
Now I just have to do it.
26
Zatir
I glance around at the nearly empty street as Nadia and I head away from the shop. This is a rough and run-down part of the city, but I have a strong suspicion that almost all of Manea is like this. All the wealth and power is concentrated in one place, and no one but Kildred benefits from the trade that comes through the Manea Colony.
A few aliens we pass give us curious looks, and I stop walking suddenly, pulling Nadia into a narrow alleyway.
“I had planned to organize our attack tomorrow,” I murmur, “but tonight may be a better option. It’ll be late, which means the mansion should be mostly empty except for Kildred and his guards. And besides, I don’t trust the merchant that we just purchased all of this from not to talk. I bargained more than he liked, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s heard about the bounty for someone who looks a lot like me. There’s no point in waiting for word to get back to Kildred that there’s a strange Kalixian-looking alien and a woman buying gear in the rough part of town.”
I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself and maintain my focus. I can’t think about the danger to Nadia, or all the ways that this could go wrong. I have to believe that it will work. That we can make it through this in one piece.
“I think we should go now,” I finish. “Before anything can go wrong and hinder the plan.”
“All right.” Nadia lifts her chin, determination burning in her features.
I’m struck all over again by her strength. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d wanted to go back to Kalix after my ship was attacked. Krax, I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d never wanted to see me again. But instead, she’s risen to the challenge and proven herself to be a warrior every bit as brave as those of my own people.
“Let’s go over the plan again.” I keep my voice low, looking down into her striking blue eyes. “We’ll go up to the gates, and you’ll ask for an audience with Kildred, saying that you’ve brought his Kalixian bounty. If they try to take me without allowing you in, you insist that you want to present me to Kildred yourself. Once we’re in his hall, you’ll let go of me as if to pass me over to the guards. It’ll be your job to take Kildred out, since you’ll be closer to him and the guards need to go down as quickly as possible. I’m trained in fighting multiple opponents at once. I’ll snap the cuffs and grab a weapon off you. We’ll take them out as quickly as possible, escape, and get back to the ship.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
Nadia gives me a wry smile, but I know she’s afraid. My mate is as intelligent as she is beautiful, and it w
ould be stupid not to be afraid. We’re walking straight into death’s jaws, but I have faith that we can escape them. I have faith in my own skill, and in Nadia’s courage—in the fact that together, we can be an unstoppable team, if for no other reason than that neither of us can bear to lose the other.
As we start to head out of the alley, my stomach clenches suddenly, a wave of fear gripping me.
I reach for Nadia one more time, grabbing her and spinning her around as I pull her tightly up against me, relishing the feel of her body in my arms one more time. The visor on her helmet is still raised, allowing me to see her face, and I’m struck by the way the new clothes and weapons seem to fit her. Not just physically, but who she is as a person, the deepest core of her.
She looks like her truest self, come to life in front of me.
“By the end of my time fighting the Orkun,” I tell her softly, my gaze fixed on hers, “I didn’t really fear death at all. I did dangerous things all the time, in the name of defeating my enemy and getting vengeance for my brothers, as well as all of the other Kalixians who died as a result of Orkun tyranny. I had nothing left to live for. My only purpose was doing all I could to aid in their defeat.” I brush her hair gently away from her face, breathing in her scent, still sweet even amidst all the other aromas of the city around us. “But now… now I have something to live for. And I need you to live for me too. I need you, Nadia. I need us to make it through this—together.”
She smiles, reaching up to touch my face. “We will. I’ll live through this, and you will too. We’ll do it together, just like you said.” She takes a deep breath. “No matter what happens tonight, if I could go back to the moment when you invited me onto your ship, I would still say yes. I would always, always say yes.”
Emotions burn behind her bright blue eyes, everything she feels for me reflected there. I could drown in the pools of her irises and never want to come up for air.
“I love you, Zatir,” she murmurs. “I’m so glad that I’m your Irisa. I couldn’t have asked for a better life than the one we’ve started together.” A soft, sure smile curves her lips. “My soul has recognized yours too.”
“I don’t know how I got lucky enough for you to feel that way,” I confess, laughing quietly as I pull her closer. “After all, just look around us. So far, I’ve gotten us attacked, attacked again, stowed away, and now carrying out a suicide mission on a dusty asteroid in a scummy town.”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
She chuckles, and I laugh again. Then the smile slips from my face.
“I love you too, Nadia,” I tell her, my voice turning rough with emotion. “Always. And I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
When we kiss, it’s deep and fierce, both of us knowing it could be the last time. I want to memorize everything about her—the scent of her skin and hair, the shape of her body and every perfect line of it, the taste of her mouth and the softness of her lips against mine.
I close my eyes and breathe it all in, committing all of it to memory so that if I die, the last thing I can think of is this.
The world melts away around us. The crumbling shops and the dirty alley, the noise and the smells and the sounds of Manea all fade into a blur until there’s nothing left but Nadia and me. When we finally part, my mate looks up into my eyes for a long moment, as if she’s trying to imprint the memory of my face in her mind.
Then she lowers her visor, snaps the cuffs onto my wrists, and leads me toward Kildred’s compound.
Once we’re close enough to be noticed, nearing the gates, I slow my steps and hang my head, wanting to appear drugged—as if she’s tranquilized me in order to make me calm enough to bring me in. I keep my eyes lowered and my steps clumsy, and Nadia pushes me forward as she keeps one hand on her blaster, her face dark and grim. She’s playing the part perfectly, as if she were born for this kind of subterfuge.
The mansion rises up in front of us, almost grotesque in how it stands out from the landscape around it. It wants to be a palace—Kildred has obviously tried to make it that, a monolith to his wealth and power, a sprawling place of grandeur like Khrelan’s palace on Kalix. But whereas the Kalixian palace draws its beauty from the world it’s a part of, infused with nature all throughout, Kildred’s is a reminder that he alone holds the wealth on this asteroid. That he wants to be above the people he rules, not a part of them. It’s a statue to all that is ugly and terrible, and I cringe as I look at it.
Nadia draws herself up as we approach the gates where two guards are standing. They draw their weapons as soon as she approaches, and I watch through half-lidded eyes, my heart pounding. This is the first test. But my mate keeps her cool, cocking her weight onto one hip as she lifts her chin coolly.
“I’m here for an audience with Kildred,” she says, sounding every bit as cocky and confident as I would have if I were in her place. “I’ve brought the bounty he wants.” She shoves me forward, grabbing my face and tilting my head up so they can see my horns. “The Kalixian who has been getting in his way.”
The guards look at her appraisingly, then at me. The helmet masks my mate’s face, concealing the fact that she’s a Terran woman, but the difference in our statures is impossible to disguise. For a moment, I think they’ll see right through us, that they’ll question how someone of her size could have mastered me. But then one of them shrugs.
“Good catch,” he says in a rumbling voice. “Kildred will be pleased. Come with us, we’ll show you to the hall.”
With one of the guards leading the way and the other bringing up the rear, Nadia follows, nudging me along in front of her. I keep my eyes lowered, but my heart is crashing against my ribs.
This is it. We’ll either succeed or we won’t—but it will all be over soon.
One way or another.
27
Nadia
There’s so much adrenaline coursing through my system that I feel sick from it. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far, but I don’t allow myself to think about that. Instead, I run over the plan again and again, going through the steps in my mind, one after another.
It’s like a dance, I tell myself. Like a choreographed dance. Through the gate, up the steps into the mansion, follow the guards. Speak to Kildred. Hand over Zatir—
And on and on it goes. I used to rehearse like this in my head before every dance performance back on Earth, and it calms me to do it again now.
I’m just playing a part, like I would in a ballet, I think, although to be completely honest, it doesn’t feel like a part. Taking Zatir captive does, of course, but the rest of it? I feel like I’m finally getting to be my true self, not questioning or second-guessing but trusting every step I take. It feels like that last dance step before a grand jeté, when you’ll either fall and quite possibly break something, or you’ll succeed and fly.
I’m going to leap.
And I’m going to fly.
Kildred is sitting in a huge, engraved golden chair at the far end of the hall when the guards open the doors. The entire mansion has been gaudily covered in gold. The walls and furnishings are inlaid with it, and sconces and chandeliers made of gold and jewels are scattered throughout halls lined with plush rugs. It’s a disgusting display of wealth, especially considering the poverty that we saw in the city. It makes me sick to see all of it, and if I had any qualms about coming in here and taking Kildred out, this quashes the last of them.
This man is evil and selfish, all the way down to his bones. And he doesn’t deserve the power that he holds.
Kildred himself is oddly handsome, a tall alien with deep blue skin, long pointed ears, and high, sharp cheekbones that look almost as if they might tear through his skin. His face is scattered with silver dots like a night sky, and his nails are painted gold, his full lips a darker blue than his skin. He leans forward when he sees us enter, a broad smile spreading over his face.
“Ah,” he drawls. “The troublesome Kalixian. I knew it would only be
a matter of time before someone brought you to me. The bounty I put on your head was certainly high enough.”
Zatir growls under his breath, and I have a feeling that reaction isn’t faked at all. Everything else about this encounter may be an act, but his hatred for Kildred is real.
The blue-skinned alien turns his attention to me, the dots on his skin catching the light like jewels. “And who are you? Show me your face.”
Shit. We were hoping to avoid this, although we knew it might not be possible to keep from revealing my features. If this mission is successful, it won’t matter that Kildred sees who I am. He won’t be alive long enough to do anything with that knowledge.
When I open the visor on my helmet, keeping Zatir’s cuffs held firmly in my other fist, Kildred’s head jerks back. Then he laughs, the harsh sound echoing through the room.
“How many bounty hunters have we sent after this one?” He jerks a thumb at Zatir and turns toward one of the guards—there are two in the room, one on either side of his throne-like chair. The others who brought us in have already slunk away. I don’t think anyone wants to be in Kildred’s presence any longer than strictly necessary. The man seems mercurial at best.
“Many, my lord,” the guard says evenly, his face completely expressionless. “More than I can think of, just now.”
“And out of all the ones who have tried, a Terran female brings him in! What did you do, show him your tits and distract him long enough to stun him?” Kildred grins, showing all of his teeth, his gaze sweeping over my body in the tight suit. “They look like nice tits, I’ll be honest.”
Inwardly, I’m seething. He’s just making me feel better and better about our purpose here, but I manage not to show it. I’m proud of myself—I’ve always had a tendency to wear my emotions on my face. But I don’t let any of the anger or disgust I’m feeling show. Instead, I smile coolly back at him, shoving Zatir forward.
