by Zara Zenia
Melody needed to think fast if she wanted to help him have any chance of getting out of this alive.
Nor was in better shape than Devron, but only because he wasn’t severely injured at the beginning of the fight. He wasn’t as skilled, and he favored showy power moves over tactical precision.
Melody knew egos like his. She’d worked with plenty of thieves like that, dumbasses who wound up getting themselves caught because they needed to show off. He was no different.
“Hey, Nor,” she called, cupping her hand over her mouth, her heart skipping like a needle on a scratched record. He whipped his head around, eyes blazing pure, murderous fury. “Anyone ever tell you you’re shit at killing me?”
“You’re next,” he sneered, flexing his jaw. It gave Devron’s fist a beautiful target, and Nor’s head snapped to the side, blood spraying from his mouth.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Melody said, her grip on the blaster firmer and surer than ever before as she stood from her crouched hiding spot.
Nor was focused on her when he threw his next punch, and it went wild, missing Devron by a mile and wasting a ton of Nor’s energy.
“I was happy to settle for killing you and torturing the thief,” Nor said, his next punch connecting with Devron’s gut, his pained grunt making Melody’s heart squeeze sympathetically. “But now, I think I’ll kill you all for this trouble.”
She didn’t think. She didn’t hesitate. She was through talking. Melody aimed, waiting until Devron was clear of the shot, and she fired. Just like that.
Nor hit the ground like a sack of baked potatoes, a steaming hole sizzling in his chest, the surprised look permanently etched into his expression.
“No,” Melody said, standing over his lifeless body. “I don’t think you will.”
The bridge was silent for a long moment, completely quiet. Then Naela let out a soft sob.
“Thank you,” she whispered, collapsing to the floor without her arms out to brace herself. She crumpled, taking in deep, ragged breaths as Sina and Gaddis moved to undo their work restraining her. “I’m so sorry.”
Melody shook her head, words lost as she staggered over to Devron and collapsed into his arms. It was over.
Really over.
Nor was dead.
Naela was free.
They all were. They had this ship, and no one was stopping them from going wherever the hell they wanted. While talking about the future while concocting their plan, the group had half-jokingly agreed to prowl open space for noblemen’s ships to attack and plunder.
Melody rather liked the idea of being a space pirate, especially with this crew. It had seemed like a silly, almost fairytale kind of idea at first, but now . . . well, what was stopping them?
“You were amazing,” Devron said, stroking her hair as he kissed the top of her head. Melody practically purred under his affectionate touch, satisfied as hell to feel like she was finally in charge of her own life again. Or maybe it was the first time she really felt like she had freedom. She knew if she wanted it, Devron would give her the means to go off on her own. He’d let her go, however begrudgingly, and that meant everything.
“Everyone was,” she said, trying not to let herself bask too much. “What are we going to do about him, though?” she asked, eying Nor’s body. He was an asshole, but surely, someone would miss him. If they left the body on Cania, there’d be no doubt what happened to him, but the thought of taking a dead guy with them just to cover their tracks didn’t sit well with Melody.
Not the start to her new illustrious life she’d envisioned.
“Dump him out the cargo hatch into the atmosphere,” said Naela. If looks could kill, Nor would be at serious risk of dying a second time.
“His mass is too great to be entirely incinerated, and the likelihood that his impact could injure someone is—”
“Never mind,” Naela butted in. “No way is he getting the chance to hurt someone else. Throw him out like the trash he is,” she said.
“Agreed,” Melody said, sending a hesitant smile to Devron’s mom. She had no idea what to expect from Naela now that she wasn’t under Nor’s control. How much of their interactions had been influenced by him? It was definitely going to be interesting to get to know her all over again, and Melody reminded herself that she needed to keep an open mind and not hold a grudge. Naela couldn’t help what she’d done or said under Nor’s control, and even though he’d had her under his thumb, she’d tried her best to be helpful and steer them out of trouble when she could. There was no bad blood as far as Melody was concerned.
“That’s settled then. Let’s get rid of him and get out of here,” Devron said, arm tightening around Melody’s waist. She still felt the deep-down tug to be as close to him as possible, but she didn’t hate it anymore. She’d spent enough time with Devron—and without—to recognize the real thing from the hormonally-induced thing.
This was as real as it got.
38
“Before we go, there’s something I’ve been wanting to do,” Naela said.
“You’re a little late to kick Nor’s corpse,” Melody joked, glad that no one seemed too perturbed by her dark humor. They’d all been through enough that a little gallows humor wasn’t going to throw anyone off.
Naela gave Melody a wry smile as the hatch closed on the view of the corpse. “Not that,” she said. “I didn’t dare to actually try to contact Mabav or Jorwon when I knew it was a set-up—”
“Wait, really?” Melody perked up. Though she hadn’t known them very well, the thought that anything had happened to either of Naela’s crew members had been bothering her a lot. It didn’t seem right that some of them had fared better than others.
Naela didn’t answer but instead went to the comm screen on the bridge, working diligently on it while the others set about their launch tasks once more.
“Captain!” Jorwon’s cheery voice answered. “We weren’t sure we’d hear from you again,” he said, a grim note in his tone.
“Same,” Naela said, relief in hers. “Is Mabav with you?” she asked.
“Him and about a dozen refugees from Egeon’s camp. What’s the news?”
Naela filled the duo in on all the happenings while the rest of them got the ship up and running, the hangar gates open, the sky a blanket of thick fog, the last barrier between them and true freedom.
“We’ll see you in a bit, then,” Naela said, finishing up plans to collect her crew and the refugees. They didn’t have a plan for what to do with the women, but Melody figured that could be sorted later. Maybe they could take them home, or maybe they’d join the crew like her. For the first time since Nor had captured them, the choice would be theirs.
“Everyone, strap in,” Rayhan said—the de facto pilot on this ship since he seemed to have the most knowledge about the role. The warning was practically meaningless, since the high-class ship lifted off with hardly a shimmy. Melody was expecting a violent rocket launch like the ones on Earth, but this was gentler than the helicopter thing they’d taken before, the ground retreating below them quickly.
“Here are the coordinates,” Naela said to Rayhan.
“To where?”
“Our mining colony,” she answered, like it should be obvious. “That’s where they’re waiting for us to pick them up.”
“You can’t seriously want to take this ship to a mining colony,” Lezin scoffed. “Scavengers will be stripping it before we know what’s happening.”
“Some opinion you’ve got of miners,” Naela scoffed right back. “We’re hard-working folk looking to make a living—”
“Yeah, by any means necessary—”
“You wanna end up back with Nor?”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Devron said, stepping between the two of them, hands up in supplication. “No need to bicker. Terrestrials have a lot of misconceptions about miners—and Selithi, and Omegas,” Devron added, making his point abundantly clear. “It’s programming I’m working on undoing in myself, but it’s
not easy, and we all need to remember that we’ve got a common goal in taking down the nobles where we can.”
“Agreed,” said Rayhan. “Well said.”
The ground was gone now, nothing but a blanket of fog below them, the wisps above thinning, letting a glimmer of distant stars break through. Melody found it hard to be invested in the argument at all with her heart in her throat and a billion possibilities opening up before her.
“Everything all right?” Devron asked her, sidling up beside her, his voice low in her ear. She suppressed a shiver, but that didn’t stop her body from responding to him.
“Yeah,” she said, heart still racing. How could she explain that she was excited and terrified, but it wasn’t bad that she was scared out of her mind? He’d think she was crazy.
“The offer to take you back to Earth still stands,” he said, his voice hollower, hesitant as if he was hoping she’d turn down the offer.
Of course, she would.
“My answer hasn’t changed,” she said, sliding her hand into his. “I’m done fighting a good thing.”
“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he said, moving in to kiss her.
The ship jerked violently, and Devron’s kiss missed its mark by a long shot as the movement jostled them all.
“What was that?” he asked, his tone making Melody wonder if he was more annoyed by the interruption to the kiss or the actual problem.
The comm screen flickered on.
“You have violated Canian law and are wanted for the murder of respected nobleman Egeon Nor. Surrender,” the comm said, the screen remaining blank despite being on.
Half the ship scoffed at ‘respectable’.
“They’ve got a tractor field around us,” said Rayhan.
“I repeat, you have violated Canian law and are wanted for—”
“Can you get out of it?” Devron asked over the announcement. If the police could hear them, they didn’t comment on being ignored.
Rayhan grinned. “’Course I can.”
“Won’t that damage the ship?” Naela asked, scowling. “Don’t jump to hasty decisions.”
“Well, they’re reeling us in whether we surrender or not,” Rayhan said, “so hasty’s about the only kind of decision we’ve got time for.”
“Do it,” Devron said, ignoring his mother completely.
“Hang on, everyone,” Rayhan said and turned to the controls. He slammed the throttle wide open, and for a moment, nothing happened. For a moment, it seemed like the cops had them.
Then all at once, like a shot going off, they broke from the tractor field and took off.
“Warning, warning, projectile impact imminent,” the ship’s computer announced.
“What?” Melody shrieked.
“They’re not letting us go without a fight,” Devron said. “This thing got any guns?”
“Follow me,” Lezin said, waving and running down the bridge. Devron was in no condition to be running, but no one would ever know it from watching him sprint to the guns.
“Brace for impact,” Rayhan shouted over the din of alarms and warnings. Melody hardly had time to process the words before another jolt to the ship sent her to her knees.
“Shields compromised,” the computer voice warned.
Rayhan cursed, and Melody struggled to pull herself off the floor.
“Get in a damn seat,” he barked—not only to her. They were all still on their feet.
“Evasive maneuver,” he shouted, the ship lurching to the side just as Melody finished buckling her harness. Already, she was feeling queasy from the carnival ride she hadn’t asked to go on.
“How’s it looking in the gunnery, boys?” Rayhan called out. A speaker hidden in the bridge answered.
“Swing thirty degrees port for us, will you, Boss?”
Rayhan didn’t answer as he moved the ship. From the speakers, Melody could hear the guns firing, hear the guys’ reactions to hitting or missing.
“Shit, they’re still coming. No way we’ll outgun them,” Devron said.
“Then we’ll outrun them,” said Rayhan. “Keep the cover fire up, boys. This isn’t gonna be pretty.”
“Warning, warning.”
The alarms never stopped. Melody didn’t know how he could keep track of any of them.
“Brace!” he called. Melody clutched the armrests of her chair, but that was all she could do as the ship felt like it fell off the side of a mountain, all the lights flickering out except for the eerie red glow of auxiliary emergency lights.
“Total shield failure,” the computer said, its voice way too calm and pleasant for the situation.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rayhan grumbled, the whole ship shuddering.
“What the fuck?” Devron called.
“Couldn’t avoid that one,” Rayhan apologized.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think we can take another one like that,” said Lezin.
“I know we can’t,” Rayhan said just as the lights came on. He was quick with the reaction time, swinging the ship out of range of the next shot just in the nick of time.
“Just a little further and I’m sure I can lose them in the belt,” he said confidently.
Personally, Melody would rather they stayed out of the ring of huge rocks orbiting the planet. Those rocks were moving faster than bullets, and the smallest of them could dwarf minivans.
She thought their chances with the cops might be better, honestly.
“The belt?!” Naela screeched, echoing Melody’s panic and reassuring her a little that she wasn’t overreacting even though she hadn’t said anything. “That’s suicide.”
“That’s what they’ll think, for sure,” said Rayhan. “No chance they’ll follow us there.”
“You crazy bastard,” Devron said with a laugh. “I like it. Get us there quickly.”
“Way ahead of you,” Rayhan answered. Melody’s stomach lodged in her throat as the ship dipped again, the glow of plasma lighting up the whole window.
That was too close. One more hit and they’d be toast, from the sounds of it.
She could see the reflection of starlight on the asteroids. They weren’t that far with the speed they were traveling. They were going to make it.
A last sizzle of a barely-missed shot was the final parting gift from the planetary police as the stolen slaver ship disappeared into the field of asteroids.
No doubt about it now—they were wanted fugitives. They could never go back, any of them.
But by the same token, they had each other. It was the closest Melody had ever felt to having a real family. She was probably the least upset of all of them by the developments, but the rest of them would come around. She’d make sure of it.
39
“How long before we reach the colony?” Devron asked once they were out of the solar system. Planetary police rarely left Cania’s orbit, but they’d never leave the solar system. If the Selithi ever wanted to, they could easily outgun the Canians. Their technology far surpassed that of the Canians, only their lack of numbers holding them back from supremacy on the planet. All Canians were acutely aware of their technological shortcomings, though, and if they weren’t even the best on their planet, they couldn’t hope to compete in the vast, untamed wilds of the galaxy.
“Hours,” answered Rayhan.
“This ship has medical facilities,” said Sina from her post. She was looking at a blueprint of the ship, studying its layout closely. “I could treat your injuries more easily with proper equipment.”
“Or you could use the autodoc,” said Lezin, swiveling in his seat. “Nanobots, you know?”
“What?” Melody frowned.
“They’re programmed to find what’s wrong with you and” —he snapped his fingers— “they fix it up like that. Provided you’re still alive and have enough cell material for the repairs.”
“That is not Selithi technology,” Sina said suspiciously.
“Nah,” said Lezin. “One of Nor’s girls . . . well, let’s ju
st say it’s not from Cania at all,” he said, looking sheepish at the thought of ‘Nor’s girls’.
Melody kept reminding herself of what Devron had said, how difficult it was for him to adjust even though he was trying his best. It wasn’t easy to forget a lifetime of preconceptions.
“There’s no telling if it is safe then,” Sina said, folding her arms haughtily.
Devron looked Melody’s way, the hunger in his eyes making her warm all the way through. She’d been gentle with him the last time they made love, but if he was completely healed . . .
“I’ll take my chances,” he said. “Where’s this autodoc?”
After emerging from the chamber feeling like a man reborn, Devron wasted no time going to the quarters he’d claimed for himself and Melody. It was a suite designed for an officer and had ample living space, a bedroom, facilities, and even a small private kitchen. It wasn’t enough to make an entire meal, but a quick snack would be manageable.
It was the isolation from the other quarters that he’d wanted most, though. Most of the other officers’ suites were nearer to the bridge, but this one was strategically placed at the opposite end of the ship for the fastest response time to any problem.
It also meant that there would be no one around to hear the sounds Melody made when he finally got his hands on her again. He’d tried to hide just how bad his condition was from everyone, but being on death’s door for so long had made him forget what it was like to feel whole and good again.
He didn’t know what good was until he walked in to find Melody lounging on the bed in a short robe pulled high up over her thighs.
A low growl rumbled from deep in his chest at the sight of her smooth, rich-colored skin, her dark hair falling in soft waves around her face, for once, not scowling at the sight of him.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said with a mischievous grin. She was lying on her side, her head propped up on a hand, leaning on one elbow. With her free hand, she skimmed her fingers up the outside of her thigh and over her hip, dragging the silky robe material up with them.
