by Lili Zander
For what? I contemplate the wisdom of knocking the drink from the man’s hands and quickly reconsider. These men, whoever they are, have circumvented the Jowth security, taken Nero down, and kidnapped me with laughable ease. The pink beverage might be poison, but the reality is that if they wanted me dead, I’d already be dead.
I gulp down the drink, and life instantly returns to my limbs. The sharp pain in my head vanishes, and the haze clears. I can see again. I lift my head and look around, and my gaze lands on the man who offered me the neutralizer.
Prince Ragnar.
Panic jolts through me. Great Spirit, how did he find us? Zeke hasn’t yet sent him the message about the children. Antaras Seven wasn’t a scheduled stop; we’re in the Constellation of Jowth. There’s no love lost between the Constellation and the Empire. Ragnar shouldn’t be here. If Lin Perscule knew that the Empress’ brother was on his planet, he’d imprison him and use the prince as a hostage to demand concessions from the Shayde Empire. I don’t have to be a political strategist to know that.
Yet, here he is.
You are a threat, and Ragnar is ruthless about eliminating threats.
Ragnar takes in my reaction. His lips lift in a crooked smile. “Hello, Raven. I see you recognize me.” He offers me his hand. “Shall we talk?”
A hysterical laugh bubbles up my throat. Small talk before he kills me? Sure. Why not? “How did you find us?”
“I always know where the Valiant is,” he replies with a flash of arrogance. “Not even Zeke Ulrich can hack into my ship and disable all my security measures. Landing on Antaras Seven was a bit more of a challenge, but as you can see, I managed.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Is that what you think I’m going to do?”
I swing to my feet. The neutralizer works great. I might never have been drugged. You should have kept me groggy, Prince Ragnar. I look around the room, trying to plot my escape. It’s sparsely furnished. Apart from the couch I was sitting on, there’s a small table pushed against the wall, with two chairs on either side. There’s no sign of the men that abducted me.
The room has no windows. Just one door, but I’d have to go through Ragnar to get to it. Fuck.
Ragnar’s waiting for an answer. “The inner workings of the minds of powerful vampires such as yourself are beyond me to understand.”
I think I’ve hidden the sarcasm in my voice, but no. He catches my disdain just fine, and he laughs out loud. “Is this how you talk to Saber? I’m beginning to understand the attraction.” He gestures to the table. “One of the side effects of narzis is gnawing hunger. Let’s eat.”
“I’m used to hunger.”
The glimmer of amusement fades from his eyes. “I’m aware of that. Humor me.”
Fine. Whatever. I walk over to the table and sit down, as does the prince.
I’ve seen him on the holos, of course. The prince is a frequent topic of gossip. Who he’s sleeping with, who he’s spending time with, who might belong in his bô. He’s a good-looking man, tall and broad-shouldered. His dark hair hangs in careless waves around his face. In defiance of the current fashion in Starra, the prince has a neatly-trimmed beard. He looks strong. Capable. Ruthless.
Being this close to him is overwhelming. I want to run away screaming in fear. Or move closer and run my fingers over his corded muscles in his forearms.
I banish that thought before it can fully form. Am I crazy? I can’t be seriously looking at Ragnar in a sexual light. Nero might be right about my inclination for danger sex, but there’s danger sex, and there’s pure insanity, and this is the latter.
“What do you want, Prince Ragnar?” I ask bluntly.
“Call me Ragnar.” He lifts the lid from the dish. It’s some kind of grain, dotted with succulent pieces of meat and fragrant with vegetables and herbs. I keep an impassive expression on my face, but my stomach growls, giving me away. Ragnar fills my plate. “The humans in this sector are known for their creative use of spice. Antaran chefs are much sought after in Starra. Eat, please.”
His plate is empty. “You’re not joining me?”
He lets his fangs drop, and fear shivers up my spine. Fear. Not anticipation. “I’m due for a feeding. I need blood.”
Thirsty? Drink from me, Ragnar. “My Lord Shayde, may I offer my services?”
He rolls his eyes and retracts his fangs. “How stupid do you think I am?”
“It was worth a shot.” I pick up my fork and dig in. “Are you going to throw me in a cage? That’s what Saber thought you’d do.”
His expression turns unreadable. “Did he really?”
I get the strangest feeling that I’ve offended Ragnar. I remind myself I don’t care, and eat more of the nutty rice in front of me. Savory, rich, and buttery, it is the tastiest meal I’ve ever eaten as a captive. “You’re not answering my question.”
“Is being caged something you find arousing?” He leans back, his eyes roaming over my body. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type. Too innocent.”
That barb digs deeper than expected. I return his frank assessment, refusing to flinch before this man. “I grew up in the re-education camp on Boarus 4, Prince Ragnar. The one that everyone in Starra turns a blind eye to, as long as boarium keeps arriving from the mines on schedule. I’m not as innocent as you think I am.”
The laughter vanishes from his eyes. “No, you’re right. You’re not. You never did have that luxury.” He reaches inside his pocket and pulls out a metal box, roughly the size of my palm. He sets it on the table. “I need your blood. I can take it from you by force, but I’d prefer not to.”
“Why not?”
“A couple of reasons. One, Saber cares about you. Harming you will antagonize him, and, despite his lamentably poor opinion of me, I have no desire to do that.”
Okay, that might not be a lie. “What’s the other reason?”
His lips curl into a smile. “I find myself fascinated by you,” he says. “It’s… unexpected.”
My mouth falls open. Ragnar’s smile widens. “Why is it so hard to believe that I want to sleep with you?”
“Because I’m nobody, and you are…”
“The second most powerful person in the Empire. Or third, depending on who you ask. Yes, yes, I’ve heard. But you’re not nobody. Have you drunk from Saber yet?”
“No.” I scrape my plate clean. “Why is that relevant?”
“Do you not want to?”
Once again, he’s answered a question of mine with one of his own. I want to scream with exasperation. “He hasn’t asked me to. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“It is absolutely my business,” he retorts. “He will ask. I saw the way Saber looked at you on Boarus 4. It’s only a matter of time.” He regards me. “I can see you don’t understand. Let me explain. Saber is popular and well-liked and is destined for greatness. You will be part of his bô, and he will be part of yours. You would be in the spotlight anyway, even if you weren’t human. But you are human. You will become a symbol of hope to every human in the Shayde Empire.”
My throat is tight. “I’m a miner from Boarus 4.”
There’s no mercy in his gaze. “Those days are gone, Raven. If you stay with Saber, you will become a symbol and a target. Learn to fight and defend yourself. Absorb every lesson Saber, Zeke, and Nero teach you. Spend hours on the InfoNet, because the moment your relationship with Saber becomes public knowledge, the assassination attempts will start.”
Ragnar survived his first assassination attempt when he was thirteen. The person trying to kill him was his childhood tutor. Since then, he’s been targeted at least another thirty times, and these are the ones that have come to light. They’ve gone after Astrid a dozen times as well. Every single attempt has failed.
“You speak from experience.”
“I do, yes.” He looks at my empty plate. “More?”
“No, thank you.” I eye the metal box lying next to Ragnar’s hand. “W
hat’s inside it?”
“A gesture of goodwill.” He places a syringe on the table. “I want a pint of your blood,” he says. “You aren’t doing a very good job hiding. It’s not Ulrich’s fault; there’s only so much he can do with the equipment on board the Valiant.” He traces the outline of the box with his long fingers. “I have new identities for all four of you, better than anything Zeke can put together on the run. There’s also a better identification chip for the Valiant. It’ll provide you cover until you land in Merin and get rid of the blood virus.”
How the hell did he know what we were going to do?
A smile ghosts over his face. “It is my business to know everything. Of course, if you want to act impressed and tell me that I’m a man of many talents, I wouldn’t stand in your way.”
For a second, his smile disarms me. “You’re a man of many talents, Prince Ragnar.”
“Just Ragnar, little bird.”
I don’t trust him. This doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for him to let me walk out of here alive. “My blood is a weapon, but you’re going to let me leave. Am I going to meet my end in some dark alley where my death can’t be traced back to you? Or is the food poisoned? Is that why you’re not eating it?”
“If I snap your neck now, your death won’t be traced back to me.” He spoons some food on his plate. “You don’t trust anyone. Given your history, it’s perfectly understandable.” He takes a bite of the rice. “We are all products of our past. I don’t trust anyone either. Saber could have come to me anytime with his suspicions about Levitan, but because of what happened to his grandfather, he waited to gather irrefutable proof. Nero will throw himself into dangerous situations because he was helpless when his mother was taken. Zeke…”
“What about Zeke?”
He tilts his head and surveys me. “Ah, you don’t know. It’s a good story. Ask him to tell you sometime.”
Argh. Spirit help me, I’m going to strangle this man.
“And yes. To get back to your question, I’m going to let you leave. Saber trusts you, and that’s enough for me. Besides, I have my hands full right now. We’re going to war. Apart from ensuring that my scientists create a cure to this disease, I also need to supervise the clean-up of the Uncharted Reaches so Harek doesn’t sabotage Astrid. Right now, Saber, Zeke, and Nero can protect you better than I can.”
Ragnar is right. I don’t trust easily. But I have to start somewhere, and now seems as good a time as any. I reach for the syringe. Ragnar watches as I inject the needle into a vein. “If you wanted to sleep with me, you could compel me.”
His nostrils flare. “What an insulting suggestion. Unlike the vampires you met on Boarus 4, I’m not interested in sleeping with an unwilling woman.”
The words tumble from my mouth before I can bite them back. “You think I’m going to sleep with you voluntarily?”
He brushes his fingers over my arm. Goosebumps rise on my skin and my pulse speeds up. “I think,” he says softly, “That you’re more interested than you’ll admit to yourself.” He traces a circle on my palm. “I think that under the right circumstances, you’d undo your braids for me.” He lets go of me and returns his attention to his meal. “These aren’t the right circumstances.”
My heart hammers in my chest. “You’re very arrogant. And I’m already sleeping with Saber, Zeke, and Nero. I won’t cheat on them.”
“Cheat on them?” He looks amused. “You don’t know our ways, do you? You may take as many lovers as you wish, as long as everyone consents to the arrangement.” He eats the last of his rice and sets his fork down with a clatter. “No poison.” He gives me a mocking look. “Unless, of course, I was clever enough to use a poison that only affects humans.”
“You think they’ll consent?”
“They’d be foolish not to. Saber’s powerful, but I’m more powerful than him, and I protect my own.”
The barrel is full. I twist it off, keeping the needle embedded in my arm. Ragnar hands me an empty syringe, and I continue the familiar process of drawing blood. “What about my consent?”
“In the future, when we meet under different circumstances, I hope to earn it.”
My mind jumps to the Ruby Rose. “You can earn it now. We ran into a slave ship on our way. Hiram Gratvar. He was transporting children to Banrilia.”
Ice fills Ragnar’s face. “So Gerra is at it again.”
“You know?” I stare at him, absolutely outraged. “You know what she does on Banrilia, and you’ve let it happen?”
“I didn’t know,” he replies, an edge in his voice. “There is a long-standing peace pact between Family Clay and Family Thorsson, dating back to the time of Empress Chela’s abdication. In accordance with it, I don’t have spies in the Chipwa Sector.”
Oh. Okay. Didn’t know that.
“Zeke’s going to message you for help. Return the children to their homes. If they don’t have homes left, find them new ones. Good ones, where they’ll be loved. Get them the help they need.”
“And you’ll sleep with me?” He shakes his head. “I don’t want to start a relationship with you on a lie, Raven. I would have done it anyway. You don’t have to buy my cooperation with your body.”
“I’m not done.”
He inclines his head and waits for me to continue.
The rage that’s been simmering in me ever since I set foot on the Ruby Rose boils over. Banrilia is an abomination, protected only because its patron is on the Ruling Council. “I want Gerra Clay dead. Kill her for me, and if the other vampires consent to it, I’ll undo my braids for you.”
I don’t expect him to agree. There is a long-standing peace agreement between the two families, after all; Ragnar told me about it less than five minutes ago. And Gerra Clay is powerful.
His green-gray eyes gleam. “We have a deal, little bird.”
I freeze in shock. I feel like I’ve done something momentous and unalterable. Then I remember the children in the hold of the Ruby Rose. They were just babies, really. Babies who deserved to live in peace and happiness. Instead, they’d been en-route to a planet where they would be preyed on by vampires desperate to extend their lives.
My misgivings drain away. Gerra Clay deserves to die.
I finish drawing blood and pull the needle out. Ragnar takes both syringes and gives me the box in exchange. He gets to his feet and holds out his hand to me. “By now, Nero’s made his way back to the ship. Saber, Zeke, and Nero are going to tear Antaras Seven apart to look for you. Why don’t we get you back before that happens?”
He escorts me to the door. The same five humans that brought me here are waiting in an adjacent room. “Take her back to the Valiant,” Ragnar instructs them. “Don’t drug her again.” He turns back to me. “Tell Saber that I’m very irritated that he stole my ship.” His teeth flash in a grin. “Despite that, the job offer is still open.”
“What job offer?”
He laughs, low and soft. “Ask Saber.” He takes my hand, turns my palm face up, and brushes a kiss across it. My skin tingles at the point of contact. “I’ll be seeing you around, little bird.”
I don’t have time to wonder at the impact of his touch. There’s a crash. The apartment door flies open, and six sword-clad vampires pour into the room. Their gazes move over me, and then they land on Ragnar. “There he is,” the woman in the lead says. “We have our instructions. Kill the prince.”
11
Ragnar
Kill the prince.
They’re vampires, and they recognize me, and they still want to kill me. That narrows it down somewhat. There’s only a handful of people in the Shayde Empire that will risk doing something so foolish.
Gregory freezes. He doesn’t want to retreat from the fight. He wants to stay and protect me. “Go,” I snarl. “Take her back.” Raven’s life is far more valuable than mine. If something were to happen to me here, I can count on Saber to act against Levitan. But to do that, we need Raven alive. She carries Levitan’s virus in he
r blood. She is the key to formulating a cure. If she dies, hope is lost.
He instantly snaps out of his hesitation. “Yes, my prince.” He pulls out his gun and starts moving Raven toward the back exit. “Akim, Yanos, with me. Jun, Robert, guard the prince.”
We’re in a narrow passageway. I’m at one end of the hallway; the assassins are at the other. They hurtle toward me. As they run, they flick their knives.
One blade thuds into the wall. The other slices my shoulder. I ignore the cut and wrench the knife out of the plaster. I hadn’t wanted to intimidate Raven, but of all the bloody days to be unarmed…
Jun and Robert throw themselves in front of me. In one fluid motion, they lift their guns and fire.
Two vampires go down.
The woman behind them barely breaks her stride. She grabs the body of her fallen comrade and throws it at Jun. She crashes to the ground, hitting her head against the wall. A split-second later, the attacker flicks off another throwing knife, this time aimed at Robert.
It makes contact. Robert makes an ‘oof’ of pain and crumples to the ground. Blood pools around the knife in his chest. It’s a mortal wound.
One of my best, most loyal soldiers dies with a surprised look on his face.
This wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous mission.
Blood fills my eyes. It never goes away. I learned that the moment my parents died, and power painted a giant target on my back. Twenty-one years later, the assassins still come in relentless waves, each one of them ready to destabilize the Empire for whatever petty gain they think they’ll get.
People wonder why I don’t have a bô. This is why. Astrid and I were born to this; we cannot escape. But what kind of man would I be if I dragged someone into this life? Nobody deserves this.
Cold, hard, anger crystallizes in my gut.
“You want me?” I hold the knife in my hand. Four vampires against the two of us. Better odds than before. They’re not amateurs. If they kill me, they’ll search the room. They’ll find the syringes filled with Raven’s blood. And once they discover what it contains…
