“Dammit, Chief, get your Valorian under control. He’s attacking Jackson,” Mase called over the comm.
Kendra cursed and raced to the skiff.
“Destiny’s gonna have our asses if her man gets dead.” Reeva’s voice rang with anxiety.
Kendra smirked. She knew the history of every person in Destiny’s employ. Jackson’s record proved he could hold his own, but from what she’d seen so far, so could Azros. He was the wildcard. Kendra reached the clearing and was hit with the feral scent of Azros. Her heart stuttered in her chest. She bared her teeth. Danger. Was this territorial madness? Fuck! Fear and adrenaline mixed, and she did the one thing no sane woman would ever do in her life—launched between two fighting men.
“Azros, stop.” She narrowly avoided Jackson’s fist, and used her forward momentum to hit the Valorian at waist level. It was a dangerous move, and one that she would have never done against an enemy. Her body was too vulnerable to a counterattack.
She hooked an arm around his leg and twisted her body, tangling him up. He roared against the hold and fought like a wild man. Fate! He was going to seriously hurt one or both of them if he didn’t come out of it. “Azros.” Panic cracked her voice. Azros froze.
“Kendra?” The hesitant question surged relief through her system.
“Yeah. He’s the not the enemy. Stop. Fighting.” They both sucked in deep gulps of air. Azros was a tough man to grapple with.
Reeva arrived and flashed on the torch. She kept it to the ground, but Kendra’s eyes burned from the light. “Hello, Jackson.”
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “Kendra. Reeva. Where is Mase?”
“Here.” Mase stepped from the shadows.
“Jackson. One of yours?” Azros slowly untangled himself from her body.
“One of Destiny’s men. Higher up the food chain.” She looked up at Jackson’s grim face. “Much higher.” She let Azros go and debated remaining on the ground. The rocky surface was almost comfortable at this point. Hell, her back was stuck between pain and pleasure, and she wasn’t doing a thing.
Azros held out a hand and she took it, letting him drag her to her feet. She slapped her hands against her uniform, dislodging dust in a puffed cloud.
“Sorry about that.” Azros held out a hand to Jackson. “Azros del Mar, Valorian Prime.”
Kendra froze mid-swipe. “Del Mar?” He’d only introduced himself as a Valorian Prime.
Azros blinked, and bowed as if in apology. She couldn’t see the expression on his face, but imagined he was disgruntled. “Forgive me, Kendra. It’s my formal last name. Valorian Prime is my title, like the word chief from your subordinates.”
Kendra raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the two men. It irked her that he didn’t tell her his full name. If he hadn’t been so close to the edge, would he have let that much slip to Jackson? It’s not like you’ve told him everything, either.
“Jackson Riley.” They gripped forearms in common introduction.
If Jackson was here, that meant Destiny was alone. A fact that didn’t sit well with her. At all. “Why are you here?”
“I’ll brief you on the way.” He looked around the area, likely searching for Mase, who’d disappeared again. “Reeva and Mase are to report back to the facility ASAP. They’re needed for a debriefing.”
“Get moving, you two.” Kendra pounded a fist with Reeva as the woman passed. She looked at Jackson. “What about us?”
She heard Mase’s grumbling as he climbed into the skimmer. Reeva’s quiet laughter as she followed behind. The group moved away from the thrust path and waited until the skiff thundered off to continue the conversation. Her eyes grew accustomed to the dark much quicker than she expected. Jackson looked worried, and that was scary.
“You get a special debriefing, all your own.”
Azros silently stepped up against her back, providing a comforting support.
“Lucky us. Who’s taking care of Destiny?”
His lips twisted in a grimace. “Destiny can take care of herself, as she is often reminding me. I have the other security teams on alert, and a tracker on her just in case.”
Kendra’s eyebrows rose. “I’m surprised she went for a tracker. She hates those things.” It was a bug that recorded every aspect of the individual—vital signs, conversations, and even tracked location information.
Jackson cleared his throat.
Understanding dawned. “She doesn’t know she’s being tracked.”
“I’d appreciate it if she never knew. Let’s be on our way. I need to get back.” He was jumpy, worried, and more secretive than normal. Kendra’s stomach knotted further. That gut feeling she’d been fighting twisted in real fear.
They climbed on board. Jackson gestured to the copilot’s seat, and Kendra sat heavily against the padded cushions. Azros settled in the chair behind her, just as tense as she was. “I can’t handle the suspense, Jackson. Just tell me, already. Who is here?”
Jackson started the transport and slid his gaze toward her. “Your aunt, the Sheon heir.”
Kendra was aware of Azros’ shock. The hair on the back of her neck rose, but not in fear. In wariness.
“What does she want?” Her voice shook. Every waking dream and bitter nightmare was coming true.
“That’s easy enough. She wants the Valorian.” His gaze returned to the flight path. “And proof of your death.”
Chapter Six
“Oh, is that all? If she wanted my death, Skreeta should have done it right the first time.” Kendra’s joke fell flat.
Azros couldn’t breathe. Skreeta. His chest tightened and his beast roared deep in his soul. “Your aunt is the Sheon heir? Skreeta?” Betrayal and cold, hard rage chilled his veins. Kendra had lied to him about who she was.
She glanced at him before turning back to the viewscreen. “If she’s succeeded in killing all other blood relatives in the line, yes, she could be the heir. She was born outside the bounds of a consort agreement, so the tie technically isn’t legal. Her line should wield no more power than any other in servitude to the queen.” Kendra turned the chair and looked at him.
He wasn’t ready to face the sincerity, the sorrow in her eyes. It was better to hang on to facts. Dark rage licked at the back of his mind like a newborn flame, hungry to consume, ready to explode.
He scrambled to find a thread of conversation, anything to focus on besides his fury. “What the hell is a consort agreement?” Years of thinking on his feet had him absorbing the information, tucking it away until later. He trusted his gut to move him in the right direction.
“Kind of like a marriage, only more open-ended.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “That’s not important now.” She looked back at the pilot. “How long has she been here?”
“Since the beginning of the wind storm. Her pilot requested an emergency landing.”
“So she still thinks I’m dead?”
“It appears so, yes. She’s staying at the Palace under the cover of crew downtime. She says her crew has need of rest before they can return to the skies. It’s a paper-thin excuse, but Destiny’s hands are tied by the port charter. The shuttles are moving day and night.” He grunted. “Destiny says business is booming, but wants the snake gone yesterday.”
Azros leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. “Does Skreeta know I’m here?” It took a moment for things to click. Skreeta was the relative who left Kendra for dead all those years ago. Skreeta had killed Kendra’s family. His hatred for the woman became palpable. Kendra should have told him.
Jackson shook his head. He maneuvered a tricky pass before replying, “She thinks you crashed on the surface. Destiny has been running the woman in circles, and hopefully has convinced her that no one could have survived the landing.” He glanced at Kendra. “We’re not betting on it.”
Azros stomped the tendril of relief that threatened to grow. She didn’t know he was alive. Yet. That, at least, worked in his favor. Despite Kendra’s political
views of bloodline, Skreeta acted with all the power and authority of the Sheon heir, and that made her dangerous. A spark of an idea blazed in his mind, tempering the anger threatening his self-control.
“So why are we returning at all?”
It was a good question. One he should have asked.
Jackson sighed. “Destiny has a plan.”
Kendra’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Destiny always has a plan. That doesn’t mean she’s doing the right thing.”
Azros needed information. “Where is the Sheon command ship?” The plan was solidifying in his mind.
They both looked at him. “Orbiting the planet.” The pilot’s response was guarded. Jackson glanced back at Azros, mistrust heavy in his gaze. “Why the interest in the command ship?”
“That ship holds my crew. I need them back.”
“Out of the question.”
“They have my ship trapped in the Calypso’s bay. I’ll take it one way or the other. I will not leave without taking back what’s mine.”
Kendra stared at him as if he’d grown another head. “With what army? Skreeta is one of the queen’s guards. They’re trained assassins. If you have a plan, she’s already prepared for it.”
“I never took you for a coward.” He dared her with a level gaze.
She matched him glare for glare. “I’m no coward, Azros, but I’m also not a fool. She took you and your crew, remember?”
Azros’ cheeks burned with a mix of fury and humiliation. “Her ship conveyed a distress signal from our mining colony. Until the slaughter of my people, the Sheon were our allies.”
Kendra nodded. “She’ll use every dirty trick in the book. You would need serious intel in order to launch that kind of mission, ships to get you there, and men willing to die for some reason other than patriotism. I’m not so sure you noticed, but we run a little high on the mercenary side out here in backreach territory.”
She thought with all the cunning of his enemy. He leaned back in the chair and gave Kendra a slow smile. “Exactly.” Kendra could be so much more than just a mate. She could very well change the course of their future. She just didn’t know it yet.
Kendra didn’t crack a smile. Tension blazed between them like a powder keg, one spark and they’d both be consumed. “You are certifiable.”
“Tell me something, if you’re the heir, why didn’t you step forward and let your queen know you were alive?”
She winced. “The order to murder my family would have been straight from the queen. Skreeta does nothing without the queen’s blessing. Trust me, she’s not the only assassin I’ve dealt with over the years. The mission here became more important than some idiotic blood feud. My parents’ legacy will live on, as will their vision of a peaceful and defendable Sheon home world.”
He had no doubt they would be defending against people of Skreeta’s sect, if not the Sheon nation. Kendra sat there, calm and collected as if she were talking about the weather and not assassinations and political exile. This woman had been fighting, on her own, since the age of seven, and the Sheon slavers had dared call his people animals. The Sheon way was barbaric. “And this Destiny is going to help you?”
Kendra visibly bristled. “Without Destiny I would have died long ago, and the project would have died with me. I owe her everything.”
He leaned forward, taking her hand in his. Her fingers were chilled. He detected the slightest tremor. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“What was I supposed to say? Hi, my great aunt murdered my parents and left me for dead so we wouldn’t be able to take the throne. By the way, it might be the same woman who murdered or enslaved your crew. Let’s fuck.” She put her other hand over his. Her expression softened. “Less than twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t even know you existed. No one knew I was alive. I was a memory, a ghost, and the Sheon were on the other side of the asteroid field. I’ve been keeping track of their movements for years. Planning for this day, and you wouldn’t even tell me your full name.” She tried to pull away, but he held firm. “You expect me to trust you?”
“I didn’t hide my name from you.” Her words made sense, but they still hurt. “I thought we were on the same team.”
“Okay.” She arched an eyebrow. “Then tell me this, mate.” She spat the word at him like a curse. “Tell me why my most hated enemy has returned after so long. Who, but you, could have brought them here?”
“You, who are Sheon. You think I set this up?” Shock had him release her hand. He was insulted, and she matched him spark for spark, daring him with her glare. A gaze that changed before his eyes. He saw a flash of the wild. Almost feral. His anger rose. “I spent six months learning the value of Sheon betrayal. Every day your aunt mocked my naiveté as she tore punishment out of my hide. I was forced to watch my men die, my women slaughtered. Drugged. Abused. Left for dead.” Danger was an icy finger sliding down his spine. “I will not betray my people.”
Kendra stared at him calmly, with no expression, no emotion. He wondered if his beast had made a mistake in choosing this one.
“I trust no one, Azros, but I am not my aunt. I follow my mother’s ways of peace and defense.” She placed her hand over her heart. Sadness weighed heavy in her gaze. “There is nothing I can say that will take away the pain of your people, but I wasn’t the one who did it.”
Azros leaned forward so that they were within a hairsbreadth of one another. “Tell me this, then. Could you have stopped Skreeta’s betrayal?”
Kendra crossed her arms. “What do you want me to say? That I knew she was moving to take down ships? Yes. I knew. Did I know your people, or what she’d done? No. I couldn’t have imagined she would fall this far into insanity and enslave allies.”
“You owe me.” Azros stared at her through narrowed slits.
She shook her head. “I don’t owe you shit.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Why they’re here changes nothing. It was bound to happen, eventually. You can’t change the rules now, Azros.”
He wanted her. Even now. She was fascinating with all the fire and passion tempering the pain in her soul. “Your deceit has switched up the game, sweetheart.” The beast inside roared in triumph at that fact, while the man knew this was going to get bad. She was his, body and soul…she just didn’t know it yet.
“This changes nothing.”
“Oh no?” He launched at her, trapping her in the chair. The sound of a click told him that the pilot had drawn and aimed a weapon. But he couldn’t stop himself from leaning closer, watching the way her eyes dilated in lust. The sweet scent of her pussy teasing him. He snarled, and she jerked in a breath. “You being Sheon changes everything, princess.”
She visibly paled. “Don’t call me that.” She raised her chin, and fire leapt deep inside. He could see it shining from her eyes like a beacon. “I do not claim the Sheon bloodline as my own. I am in exile. My home is here. Nothing.” She stressed the word. “Has changed. Do you understand me?” She lowered her eyelashes in a contrite expression that he wasn’t buying for an instant. “I will get you off this planet. My aunt will never again get her hands on you.”
His laugh was rough, unrecognizable. The edge of madness beckoned. “Such sweet words. Maybe I could take a slave?” He curled loose tendrils of her fiery hair on his finger. Her eyes were wide. He could see the struggle within to maintain her façade. Fear wrestled with anger, and a good measure of lust boiled them together. “My own little Sheon princess. You’d better get used to the title.”
She opened her mouth and Azros kissed her, hard. Possessive. He reveled in it even when he was ashamed. Her lips softened under his, and the fists that had shoved at his chest were now opened and caressing his skin. Azros released her hair. He gentled the kiss, easing away from the chair, turning away before she regained her composure. “What a pair we make. Is St. Thomas even your real last name?”
He glanced back. She averted her gaze. “I didn’t think so. Be careful whom you accuse of trickery, princess. It looks like
you and I were both keeping our cards close to our chests.” Her cheeks burned, in anger or embarrassment he didn’t know.
Focus on the facts at hand. Skreeta was at the Palace. He looked at Jackson, pointedly ignoring the barrel of a very powerful pulse pistol aimed at his chest. “I will never allow myself to be captured. You should know this before we arrive. If I catch even a whiff of betrayal, I’ll tear the Palace down around you.”
Jackson laughed and holstered his weapon. “You Valorians really are touchy when you’re in a mating cycle, aren’t you?”
Azros clenched his fist and stopped when Kendra touched his arm. “Azros. Please. Jackson likes to whittle away at people. It’s a hobby of his.” She glared at Jackson. “It seems he has a death wish today, though.”
The other man shrugged a shoulder. “Destiny is arranging your transportation off-planet. Kendra’s encrypted message mentioned this little mating problem and your request for asylum.”
Azros sent a sharp glance at Kendra. Little mating problem? She stared out the window with the slightest blush of embarrassment. He promised a little sexy revenge later. If Skreeta didn’t gut him first.
“Why bring us out in the open? You could have left us in the lab.” Kendra cleared her throat. He could see her heart racing at the pulse in her neck. The look she gave him wasn’t filled with disgust, like he feared. Instead, it was molten silver. She wanted him. His aggressive side was rising, that meant another round was coming. If it followed the natural cycle of his people, she would lead the dance. If not, he’d be happy to guide her. His cock twitched in anticipation. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the insanity of mating. Was the last time this aggressive?
“We couldn’t afford to. She knows the lab location. It’s only a matter of time before they send their people out there.”
Kendra jerked as though she’d been slapped. “It’s my lab. The place belongs to Destiny’s Palace.”
Jackson laughed. “The Sheon, as Skreeta has proven in triplicate, still own rights to the lab until the terraforming project is complete. There’s nothing we can do about it. Since you’re considered dead, she’s the closest blood relative on the planetary seal. She made it quite clear that the only reason we’re even allowed to stay here is by the grace of her goodwill.” Jackson glanced over at them. “Destiny is expecting the woman to try extortion next.”
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