by Cheree Alsop
“We should stay in case there’s more we need to do here,” Nova replied.
McKy shook his head. “We should leave before they realize our whole prisoner transport story was a ruse and send troops after us. We don’t really want Dad’s ship shot full of holes, do we?”
As much as Nova didn’t want to go through another battle, she felt like the ship was as much hers as it had been her father’s. Saying so would mean another argument, so she kept her mouth shut.
Junquit looked from one Loreander to the other. The realization that the pilot didn’t know who to follow made Nova bite back a smile. She had been commanding the SevenWolf far longer than McKy. His surety that his wishes would be carried out was about to be shaken.
Before she could give any orders, Junquit announced, “We’ve reached Lady Vestus. She says she is your liaison to those in Parliament because they are currently in council right now. Shall I patch her through?”
The fact that Parliament was in session increased Nova’s hopes that she could reach someone quickly to help her planet. She nodded.
“Count and Countess Loreander, I am glad to see you well.” The woman’s gaze traveled to Kovak who had risen to his feet when she was patched onto the screen. “And you are the aspiring lord I’ve heard so much about,” she said. “Kovak Sunder, we thank you for your service.”
He bowed his head respectfully and replied, “It is my honor.”
The woman’s dark skin rippled with waves of orange when she said, “It is also something you have been forced to do to avoid becoming a victim of the laws of the House, if I understand correctly.”
Kovak gave a little smile. “That’s right, my Lady.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Have you brought back the spy?”
Kovak shook his head. “No, but we have more pressing matters—”
“My current command is to find out what happened to our spy. Do you have the information we need?” she asked with a bit more force.
Kovak’s hands tightened behind his back, but he calmly replied, “The spy is no longer working in the best interest of the Accord Systems, Lady Vestus.”
The orange ripples across the woman’s skin deepened with the displeasure she showed. “Then it is your duty to kill her if you wish to remove the mark on your head and become a Lord of the Accord Systems.”
Kovak’s jaw tightened. He glanced Nova’s way. Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she had a feeling both of their hearts had skipped the same beat.
“Kill her, my Lady?” Redden spoke up. “Isn’t that a bit extreme?”
Lady Vestus looked over the group like a chiding teacher. “If we have a spy who has turned rogue, she is a threat to the very stability of the Accords. She knows far too much of our practices to be allowed to go about the business of our enemies.” Her gaze locked on Kovak. “Kovak Sunder, your orders are to slay the traitor and bring us proof of her death; this is the only way to clear your name. Do you understand?”
Kovak’s jaw clenched so tight Nova saw the muscles jump on the side of his neck. He finally nodded without expression and said, “Yes, my Lady. It will be done.”
Lady Vestus nodded. “Thank you. I shall make my report.”
Nova couldn’t hold back any longer. “Evia’s in trouble. I need Parliament to send as many ships as they can to act in protection of the Loreandian System.”
“What are you talking about, Countess?” Lady Vestus asked. “Lady Winden was just in Parliament and from what I’ve heard, she is tending to the needs of the Loreandian System as if it was her own during your absence.”
Nova shook her head. “My people are in grave danger, Lady Vestus. If I can’t speak to Parliament directly, I need you to be my voice. Can I trust you with the information we have learned about Malivok’s intentions?”
“Of course you can,” Lady Vestus replied with a hint of irritation as though Nova questioning her was an affront to her person.
“Thank you,” Nova replied gratefully. “It’s been quite the eye-opening excursion we’ve had. My brother can attest to the direness of the situation we’ve found.”
Lady Vestus’ gaze found McKy. He told her, “We need all the help we can get, my Lady. Evia is in danger as we speak.”
Chapter Seven
KOVE
The woman’s voice kept echoing in my head. “Slay the traitor and bring us proof of her death.”
I may have told Redden I hated her, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead. Anaya was my own sister for crying out loud! Of course, I wasn’t about to admit that to Parliament. The last thing I needed was for them to throw me in with her as a blood relation and then who would protect Nova and see that she got her planet back?
Thoughts chased themselves around inside my skull.
She tortured you. Why do you care what happens to her?
Just have someone else pull the trigger.
She obviously doesn’t care about family.
She wrote you off to be killed. She’s not the little sister you’ve worried about all these years.
She’s doesn’t deserve your compassion.
But she called me Ovie.
That thought stopped all of the others. I had heard in her voice the terrified, betrayed child who was sold by a father unable to cope with his own loss and whose brother never showed up to save her from a fate worse than death. I had let her down. Her anger was justifiable, her right hook, too.
The side of my face throbbed where she had hit it hard enough to send more than just my head rocking. I was about to raise a hand to it, but the voices talking around me made me keep from showing any weakness.
“Finish your mission there. We’ll see to Evia’s safety,” Lady Vestus was saying.
The woman’s tone set me on edge.
“Thank you,” Nova replied. “We will do all we can here.”
“Don’t come back until you are successful,” the woman said firmly. “We cannot allow such a risk to our security to survive. She knows too much.”
“We understand,” Nova confirmed.
A quiet beep let me know that the screen had gone dark.
Silence filled the bridge.
“What do we do now?” Jashu Blu ventured to ask.
I could feel their questioning looks even if I couldn’t see them.
“I’ll take care of it,” I replied.
I turned toward the door. A hand grabbed my arm.
“Sleep first,” Nova said. “You need sleep before you can even think of going back there.”
“How can you go back?” McKy questioned. “You’re—”
“If you say blind one more time, I’ll show you it doesn’t take sight to throw a man through a wall,” I replied.
“If you can find the wall,” McKy pointed out.
I aimed for his voice and grabbed him by the throat so fast he didn’t have a chance to dodge.
“Want to try me?” I growled.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said in a raspy voice. “If you harm a Lord, that price will never be taken off your head.”
My muscles tensed and I was about to make good on my threat when Nova touched my arm.
“Kove, please don’t,” she said. “Let him go.”
I hesitated. The heat of anger that burned through me made me want to close my fingers and show him just why he shouldn’t taunt a Smiren. It would be a good lesson for him, except he would be dead.
“Kove, he’s not worth it,” Redden said.
I could picture McKy’s face getting red. Nova had sacrificed so much, even her home, to break him free from the Forbidden Planets. I had no idea what she saw in him. Maybe it was just the fact that he was her brother.
The irony that it was the same battle I was fighting made me loosen my hold. As soon as the tension left my muscles, I stumbled and caught myself on the back of the chair. Hands helped to steady me.
“See,” McKy rasped. “You’re too weak! Maybe you should threaten newborn yaken.”
Nova slipped unde
rneath my arm. “He just got tortured, McKy. Do I need to remind you that he did it to get us out of there? You’d still be sitting in that cell if it wasn’t for Kove!”
“I would have found a way out,” he replied.
“I didn’t hear you coming up with any ideas,” Redden said from my other side. “Come on, Kove.”
I hated that they had to escort me from the bridge, but with my faulty eyesight and the fact that my legs were threatening to give out at any moment, I chose not to argue.
“I don’t need you guys to fight my battles,” I told them when the door closed behind us.”
The frustration in Nova’s voice was evident when she replied, “There shouldn’t be any battles within our own ship. We’re allies! Why does he feel like he has to start fights when we have so much we’re dealing with already?”
“Because he can control this,” Redden said.
There was wisdom in the Quarian’s words. Instead of seeing McKy as a petty boy, I realized he was a young Count who didn’t know how to save his people. He was stuck here with us tracking down the Godking conspirators while his people were under threat of being wiped out of the ‘Verse.
“I shouldn’t have let him get to me,” I admitted.
A door slid open. I recognized the antiseptic tang of the medical bay.
“Forget about it,” Nova said as she and Redden helped me onto the table. “McKy can grow up and stop being so insolent. Father wouldn’t have approved and I don’t, either.”
“Perhaps your father not being here is the reason he’s acting this way,” Redden replied gently. “Since your father’s death, he’s been imprisoned on Akrul, seen his seat in Parliament be taken away, and now faces a massive threat to the star system he is supposed to protect. We should give him a bit of slack.”
“Nobody says that about me.”
I didn’t know if she meant to say the words aloud; there had been a musing tone to them as if she was speaking the thought when it came to her mind.
“That’s because you’re stronger than he is,” I replied before she could retract the statement.
Nova was silent while the machine scanned my body.
“Symptoms of electric shock,” the machine intoned. “Post-traumatic vision loss, contusions, and scarring over most of the body area. Bone breaks include—”
“That’s enough,” I said, sitting up. “We’ve heard the rest.”
“Are you sure?” Redden said in a teasing tone. “It’s pretty entertaining.”
I rolled my eyes in his direction. “We’ll be here all night.”
“Well that’s true,” he agreed.
“What is recommended?” Nova asked.
“After a concussion, the brain could sustain more damage if not allowed to rest,” the computer intoned. “There is no way to know how long the effects will last, but continued trauma of the same severity could result in death.”
I ignored Nova’s stifled gasp and pushed up from the table.
“I don’t think we have time for this,” I said.
“Nonsense,” Redden replied. “Junquit found a great place to hide the ship on the far side of that asteroid. At the rate it orbits the moon, we can stay hidden for several more hours before anyone becomes even remotely suspicious. Get some sleep. We can stay there until you awaken. Evia’s being taken care of and there’s no rush to get back to that vindictive sister of yours, especially given our new orders.” His tone softened from its false cheerfulness and he said, “Seriously, Kove. You need to sleep. We all do.”
I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. The reminder that he had been right there with me during the last session chipped away at my resolve.
“You sure getting things done as quickly as possible isn’t our priority?” I asked.
“What do they say about tired soldiers?” Redden shot back. When I didn’t reply, he said, “Come on. I’ve heard it a thousand times from Farlon. A tired soldier is a dead soldier. So get to sleep, Captain. We need you sharp for your mission.”
As Nova and I walked toward my rooms, the thought that my mission was to kill my estranged sister kept circling over and over in my head. When we reached the door and I lifted my hand by muscle memory to the reader, the greeting of ‘Welcome, Smiren scum,’ didn’t even make me smile.
“What was that?” Nova asked.
“A housewarming gift from Kaj my first day here,” I replied wearily.
“We should change it,” she said.
I shook my head. “I kind-of like it. It reminds me where I stand in the grand scheme of things.” An actual chuckle escaped me with my words.
I didn’t need help making my way to the bedroom, but the sound of Nova’s footsteps followed me anyway. I sank onto the edge of the bed and lowered my face into my hands.
“What am I supposed to do?” I mused; I heard the tired desperation in my voice and hated myself for having such a weakness. Gladiators didn’t have weaknesses.
Most gladiators don’t have sisters they’re ordered to kill.
The Threese did; they’d been preparing to fight each other their whole lives.
Yeah, well, as I remember, the Threese’s sister ended up killing him.
I’m not saying it’s a great example.
I felt Nova climb behind me on the bed. When her hands touched my shoulders, I flinched out of habit and barely kept from taking her down. She pretended not to notice and started to rub my shoulders. A deep sigh escaped me that I couldn’t stifle.
“You’re here to sleep, Kove. Everything will work itself out.”
I gave a wry smile at the naiveté of her words. “I’m not sure that applies to every situation.”
“Sure it does,” she said in a cheerful tone I could tell wasn’t forced. “You just need to relax and get some sleep. We’ll figure out something when you wake up.”
How was it her just talking could lighten the burden I was carrying? Sitting there on the edge of my bed with her hands working softly through the knots my muscles had turned into from the torture made me realize I could stay like that forever. Why was I so lucky to have an angel like Nova in my life? Maybe she was right.
My head hung lower as I gave in to her gentle ministrations. Sleep pressed against the edges of my mind, but I didn’t want the moment to end, and I knew if I fell asleep, she would stop.
Nobody touched me like this with such fearlessness and tender mercy. I never let anyone close enough. The last truly gentle touch I could remember before Nova was the way my mother used to cup my chin in her hand when she told me how proud she was of me. So many years had passed that I had forgotten how truly wonderful it felt to not be on edge around someone.
Her hands moved to my lower back. The realization that I wasn’t wearing a shirt and smelled of sweat from the torture and confinement made me turn.
“Nova, you don’t have to do that,” I said quietly.
“But I want to,” she replied.
I found her hands and held them to my chest. My eyes burned, though I couldn’t explain why.
“You should stop,” I told her.
Hurt was evident in her voice when she said, “You don’t like it?”
I shook my head. It was a moment before I could say, “I like it too much. You might have to do this every night.”
She gave a little laugh and moved back behind me. “Consider it a date, then.”
The thought made me smile. A groan escaped me when her hands dug in deeper.
She paused. “Does that hurt?”
“You couldn’t hurt me,” I replied.
She could easily tear your heart out, you sorry sap.
If she does, I probably deserve it.
Listen to yourself. Where’s the tough gladiator now? High Imperious indeed.
I jerked awake as Nova’s gentle hands eased me onto my back.
“You fell asleep,” she said softly. “Keep sleeping. I’ll watch over you.”
“I’m supposed to be watching over you.” I was aware of how my
words slurred, but I couldn’t fight it.
“Blind and exhausted? Better let me handle them,” she said.
I gave a huff of indignation. “Point me in the right direction.”
“And give you a push, right?” she finished with another light laugh that was sweet enough to take away any mocking to her words.
I laughed in return and lowered my head onto the pillow she had slid over to me.
My muscles tensed when she scooted closer and rested her head in the crook of my arm. I let out a breath and told my body that even though I couldn’t see, I could relax.
“Sleep,” Nova whispered.
Her hand brushed across my chest. My head turned of its own accord and I found her lips waiting for me.
I drank in her scent as I tasted her lips. Her tongue danced lightly across my bottom lip and tingles ran through my entire body. Her hand strayed across the burn marks on my skin and she pulled back.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I smiled down at her. “Don’t be. I’m not.”
Concern was thick in her voice when she said, “You sacrificed yourself to get us out of there. I can’t get that thought out of my mind.”
“I would do it a million times over to free you from that cell.”
“Don’t say that,” she said. I felt the bed shift as she rose onto her elbow. “It scares me.”
Confusion made my brows knit together when I replied, “Why?” I wished I could see her expression to make sense of the route her thoughts had taken.
She was silent for a moment, then she said, “Because I’m afraid of how far you will go to keep me safe.”
I brushed my fingers along the back of her arm and felt the small shiver that ran across her skin because of my touch. It made ever nerve in my body sing to be so close to this woman I cared about more deeply than I ever thought I could with anyone.
“I would go beyond the ends of the ‘Verse if it meant protecting you,” I told her.
She pressed her hand gently over my mouth. It was a second before I felt the tears that pattered almost silently onto my chest. She slid her hand away.
“Kovak, I need you to promise me one thing,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
