by Renee Rose
They must have threatened to kill her or both of them if she left. That was the only reason he’d gone easily. He wasn’t going to take any action that might get her shot.
But he sure as veck wasn’t going to leave her on Zandia. They’d have to kill him first. His duty was to protect Talia and bring her home unharmed, and he intended to complete his mission. The sooner he lost his tail and could double back, the better.
He picked up his speed, jogging along the river. To extinguish his scent and hide his tracks, he crisscrossed the river several times. Finally, he climbed the rock outcropping beside the river, running silently along the top of it toward Talia. He passed Sankro, still picking his way along the river below, craning his neck to find Tomis. The laser gun rested on the male’s hip.
As if the male had any idea how to defend himself in battle.
Tomis dropped from the cliff onto Sankro, throwing the male to the ground. One swift swing of his fist knocked him out cold. He picked up the laser gun and used it to smack Sankro’s skull once more. Then, not wanting to waste a moment, he raced back to Talia.
Please let her be safe.
He almost hoped she really had decided to stay. That right now she was playing games with the young, or bouncing the infant. But he knew that wasn’t the case. The stricken look on her face as she’d told him to go had been all the information he needed.
He raced along the riverbank, bounding over rocks and fallen logs, ducking under branches. He didn’t slow until he reached the copse of trees where their lopsided hut stood. A long, thick fallen branch made a decent staff for fighting. He picked it up, breaking off the end with the leaves and twirling the weapon in his hands.
Keeping his steps silent, he approached the small building and entered, managing to get past the children playing outside without them noticing him.
Inside, Esalyn sat nursing the infant. Her eyes flew wide and lips parted, but no sound came out.
It was the scream from the sleeping quarters that made his heart fly up into his throat. He yanked the curtain down, swinging the staff as he entered. Banf and Elit had stripped Talia naked and bound her wrists and ankles. Banf had her ass cheeks pried open and was licking her anus while Elit stroked his cock and watched. A quick blow to Banf’s head dropped him to the floor. On the return swing, Tomis caught Elit in the throat, sending the male flying backward, gasping for breath.
Tomis tore the leather ropes from her wrists and ankles and hauled Talia to her feet. She threw her arms around his neck with a sob that pierced his heart. “Forgive me,” she murmured against his chest. “They said they’d kill you if I didn’t make you leave.”
“I know, starshine.” With one arm wrapped around Talia, he jabbed the end of the staff into Elit’s solar plexus to send him to the ground in a crumpled heap.
He pulled his shirt over Talia’s head. “Come on.” He led her into the main room. “You, too,” he barked at Eslyn. Get the young. You’re coming with us.”
Eslyn jumped to obey, standing up with the infant still suckling and calling to the children outside.
“I’m sorry,” Eslyn choked to Talia as he rushed them all away from the shack. “I couldn’t fight them. Not with a newborn to care for and—”
“It’s all right. Tomis came back for me.” Her voice sounded strangled.
“Where’s Sankro?” Eslyn asked. He distinctly heard a waver of fear in her voice, and it sent a fresh shot of fury careening through his veins. He hoped they ran into Sankro again so he’d have the pleasure of knocking the male out one more time.
“Up ahead with a broken jaw,” he said. “I’ll handle him if we see him.”
Eslyn started to cry. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I wanted to go with you, but I knew they’d never let me. It was wrong, but I hoped you’d stay. Take some of the pressure off me as their only female.”
“Hush,” he said, catching Talia’s horrified expression. “Both of you are safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you or the young.”
He kept them walking all day until they reached the airship graveyard. He hoped the maps he’d studied were correct. If they were, a working airship might be available in an underground hangar he’d seen. He led them to the entrance, barely visible to the naked eye, and worked on deciphering how to open it. After several long moments, he found a lever and tripped it, sending a giant metal door creaking open.
Thank the one true Zandian star.
An intact airship stood below. If they were lucky, it still worked and had enough fuel to get them off of the planet.
~.~
“Tomis?” Talia called from her lookout above the hangar. Tomis had not yet succeeded in starting the craft.
The warrior heard the alarm in her voice and took the metal stairs two at a time to arrive back on the ground level.
A few hundred paces away, Sankro, Banf, and Elit approached, appearing ready to commit murder.
He picked up the staff and swung it in a lazy circle in front of him.
“The gun,” Talia urged, thrusting it into his hands. He’d given it to her when he put her on watch. “Use it, instead.”
“We don’t spill Zandian blood,” he explained calmly, pushing it back. “There are too few of us left.” He actually appeared cheerful at the prospect of fighting three against one. Or three against two, counting her, which, since she knew nothing about fighting, she shouldn’t be. With calm confidence, he called out to the males, “Surrender.”
Sankro laughed, and the three charged.
There was a blur of movement. The thwack of wood against bone. And three bodies fell heavily to the ground. Tomis shook his head. “Too easy,” he muttered, as if disappointed.
A memory of her father came back to her. He’d been holding a similar staff, teaching a class to his warriors. She and her sister had begged for permission to watch, and at last he’d relented, but only if they promised to sit perfectly still and silent for the duration.
They had. Because it had been fascinating to see their father spar with every male. The quick, sudden movements. Their cries of agony when he dropped them to the mat. The easy way the males rolled when they fell and sprang back to their feet, ready for another knock-down.
It was an artform. Like a dance but with immense power behind it. She and...Tara. Tara was her sister’s name. She and Tara had been fascinated.
She’d declared to her sister when they left that she planned to mate a warrior.
And here she had one.
Who didn’t want to mate her. Because if he did want to, nothing would stop this male.
Tomis tied the males’ wrists and feet and hefted the bodies one at a time, carrying them down the metal staircase and onto the airship where he buckled them into seats.
Eslyn flinched at the sight of them.
“They won’t hurt you,” Tomis rumbled. “I promise. You needn’t have anything to do with them ever again, but it’s my duty to bring them to safety, even if it’s only to the dungeon of Prince Zander’s pod.”
That seemed to relieve Eslyn.
They boarded the airship, making the children comfortable as Tomis worked on starting it.
It wasn’t long before a whir started up beneath the ship. “He did it!” She beamed at Eslyn.
The female smiled back.
Tomis boarded the ship at a run, commanding them to buckle every being in. They helped the children fasten their harnesses before snapping into their own.
The airship lifted off the ground, hovering and rising slowly out of the hangar. It didn’t surprise her to discover Tomis was an excellent pilot as well as fighter.
The heads of the limp males rolled when the airship banked and shot into hyperspeed to exit the atmosphere. Eslyn stared at them, her expression a mixture of disgust and fear.
“Don’t worry. If Tomis promised they won’t hurt us, they won’t. He’ll protect us.”
“You love him, don’t you?” Eslyn asked quietly, so Tomis wouldn’t hear.
She
choked on her breath, her muscles seizing up at the question. With a quick shake of her head, she asserted, “It doesn’t matter.”
Confusion flickered over Eslyn’s face. “What does that mean?”
“He doesn’t want me.”
“Yes, he does. You’re everything to him. I see it in the way he watches you. The way he protects.”
Pain sliced up and down her chest. “No. Well, he might, but he won’t allow himself to keep me. My father is his mentor and master. He believes his duty is to return me to him and their prince and allow them to decide my future.
“Why would they decide your future?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s foolish, but, until they found me, it was believed there were no Zandian females of breeding age. They are worried the species will grow extinct, and I’m the key to keeping it alive. Of course, now there are two of us, and you’ve already ensured the future of our species with your sweet young.”
Eslyn’s brow furrowed. “He is noble, your warrior. Giving you up for the good of his species.”
Veck noble. She’d rather have a selfish mate who wanted her only for himself. To change the focus, she lifted her chin at Eslyn’s three mates. “Did you love any of them?”
Eslyn nodded. “All of them. Sankro most of all. But he grew abusive, and Elit and Banf followed his example. I still love them, but I knew the moment you and Tomis arrived I wanted to leave. I love our young, but living with the same few beings and no others for an entire lifetime became a torture. For solar cycles, I’ve fantasized about meeting just one other being.” She smiled. “Now I’ve met two.”
“We’ve been spotted. Hang on!” Tomis shouted from the front of the ship. The craft bobbed and swooped.
The children screamed, but with big smiles on their faces, as if it was all a game. Eslyn flung her arm out to protect them, though their harnesses were secure.
Laser fire sounded, some of it pelting the rear of the craft.
For the first time, her confidence in Tomis faltered. What if they were shot down? Would he be able to protect them all? Surely not. The Finn had entire armies.
The ship swerved, turned sideways then upside down. The young shrieked. Her stomach dropped to her feet. The ship flipped back over and darted from side to side. Thank veck she hadn’t eaten much in the past planet rotations, or it would be all over the floor.
“Warrior Tomis exiting Zandian airspace. Six assets, three prisoners. Eight ships in pursuit and firing. Going into hyperdrive.” Tomis spoke crisply into a communication unit, delivering information in a calm, concise fashion.
“Copy that. Dispatching assistance. Reading your coordinates.” The voice that answered made her heart pound.
Her father.
She recognized his voice after all these years. Even with most of her memories of Zandia still missing. The sound was profoundly comforting. Like Tomis’ ever-steady presence, it inspired feelings of safety.
Tears welled in her eyes. She closed them. It was all too much.
The ship surged forward, breaking through the atmosphere, leaving the light of the Zandian sun behind them as they sliced through blackness. Internal lights whirred and illuminated at their feet.
Tomis continued to move the airship in sickening swoops and lurches while laser fire whizzed past them.
“Verify coordinates,” her father barked. Tomis replied with a series of numbers. “I have you in sight. We’ll take care of your pursuers. Meet at the air base.”
“Yes, Master.”
More laser fire whizzed by, and an explosion of light and fire lit up one of the side windows.
Three more explosions followed in short order, but Tomis flew straight and smooth, giving her stomach a chance to settle.
They’d made it. Now he was taking her to the Zandian air base. Would she meet her father? Did she want to?
A knot tightened in her solar plexus. Once she was there, it would be harder to leave. Her father would want to reclaim her. The prince would want to make decisions about her life. While she no longer feared them or believed their intentions malevolent, she also wasn’t ready to be claimed.
Look at poor Eslyn, controlled by three males for her entire life.
Was that what she wanted to happen to her? She’d just ended her lifetime of servitude with Thurn. In fact, she’d like to go back and shove a boot down his throat.
Yes, that wasn’t a bad plan. Get some closure with Thurn and give her a chance to think about what she wanted. If she chose to go meet her father and Prince Zander, it would be on her own terms, not being brought in as an “asset.”
Chapter Seven
Tomis landed the ship in the dock of the training pod where Zander kept his fleet of airships and his human army. He would have much preferred bringing Talia and Eslyn straight to the palatial pod, with its beauty and luxury. Give them a taste of the life Zander would probably offer them to stay.
The training pod—a former Ocretion death pod—was stark in comparison. Though Zander sent regular supplies, they’d been scrambling to provide for the sudden acquisition of the nearly two hundred humans who’d been slated for death when the pod was overtaken. There weren’t enough beds or chambers for every being, though they’d distributed sleeping mats and blankets and provided food for the humans, who required constant sustenance.
No, he didn’t like bringing the females and young here. It might frighten them. He’d overheard Talia’s conversation with Eslyn, and he needed to get her alone, to correct her misconception and make sure she understood just how much he wanted her.
How could she believe that?
Just because he served his prince and species first, didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill or die for her in a heartbeat. Just because honor required he present her to her father and his prince didn’t mean he didn’t wish to take her straight to his chamber and pierce her with every bit of crystal his life savings would afford him.
He needed to be sure she understood. He unbuckled his harness and helped the females release the young.
The hatch slid open, and guards entered, hands on the hilts of their swords, though he’d been expected.
“Take those three to a prison cell until their fates can be determined.” He jerked his thumb at the males who had come back to consciousness during the journey and now displayed varying degrees of anger and fear.
Rok, the captain of the training pod, met them on the dock, his lovely human mate, Lily, at his side. “You found her—them.” His eyes traveled between Eslyn and Talia, taking in the young. Lily immediately engaged the young in conversation.
Rok correctly chose Talia and gave a slight bow. “Talia. Well met. I’m Rok. We escaped together as children. Our ship was shot down on Stornig.”
Talia swallowed. Tomis moved to her side, wanting to draw her against him and lend her support, but she scuttled away.
It was a subtle movement, but it made the back of his neck prickle with foreboding. Veck, he needed to get her alone. To explain. Help her understand.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember. I don’t remember much before Stornig.”
A buzzer sounded, signaling the approach of another ship for landing. “We need to get inside before they depressurize. Come, all of you.” Rok waved them inside.
Lily took charge of the females and young, ushering them off down the corridor before Tomis could stop them.
“All your reinforcements are returning intact.” Rok dragged his focus back to the mission. “This should be them now. Lundric, Cambry, Tal, Seke, Jaso, and Janu all piloted.” He named their chief of security and his human female, her human brother, Talia’s father, and Rok’s two Stornigian foster brothers.
“I really should see to the females,” he said, staring down the now-empty corridor in the direction Talia had gone.
Rok’s eyebrows drew together in a what-the-veck’s-wrong-with you expression. “Lily will see to their needs. Master Seke and I need a full debrief now.
Right. A full debrief.
&nb
sp; He sighed. Duty first.
~.~
“My name is Lily. I’m Captain Rok’s mate.” The copper-haired human female led them to a tiny office with two cots. “This is our medical unit. Is anyone hurt?”
They all shook their heads.
“Hungry? No, you probably don’t eat. In need of crystal recharge?”
“Not yet,” Talia answered.
“All right. Clothing, then. Fitting the children will be tough, but I do have flight suits that should fit you two.” She pulled crisp white uniforms from a cabinet and handed a set to each of them. “My mother is handy with sewing. I’m sure she can convert some tunics into clothing for the little ones.”
Eslyn and the children stared at everything, as if in total culture shock. “I’d like to wash up first, if possible,” Eslyn suggested.
“Of course. We have a shower down this hall.” She led them to the washroom. “Here are some towels.”
Talia let Eslyn shower first and get the children cleaned up then took her turn. The water fell over her in a steady spray, but it did nothing to wash away her mounting panic about being there.
She felt like a prisoner—all choice removed from her. Veck this. She needed to get out of there. The sooner the better. Coming out of the shower, she bumped into two Stornigians. Short and stocky, with a set of vicious teeth, Stornigians weren’t beautiful, but, to her eyes, they were wonderfully familiar.
“Hello?” She spoke in Stornigian. “You’re from Stornig?”
They gave her identical wary glances. “So?”
“Any chance one of you could bring me there? To the Three Pits Tavern in Dumpler?”
She unwrapped the sacred crystal from the waterfall from Tomis’ shirt and held it out. “I’ll give you this.”
The closest one snatched it from her hand. “Deal. Let’s go.” He looked around surreptitiously, like someone might see them and stop their flight. “I’m Jaso. This is Jano.” They hustled her out of there, to the dock and into an old, rusted, and dented airship.
Before she had time to reconsider her decision, the ship had undocked, swooping out into the blackness. A communication from the pod blared over the loudspeakers. It sounded like Rok. “Where in the veck do you two think you’re going?”
