by Mara Gan
“Here.” Yalan’s voice came through the communicator.
Yalan? I thought incredulously. Why is he calling Yalan? My overwhelming anxiety, which had ebbed only slightly since leaving the Chamber, throttled my chest again.
“I have the money. Meet at the tavern.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
Perseus was giving me to Yalan—for money?
I freaked. I dug my feet in to the ground, rebelling at everything I was hearing. Perseus didn’t even seem to notice. He flicked his communicator off and continued hauling me to the Esplanade.
Panic rose in my chest and I struggled, fighting his hold on my arm. I couldn’t believe Perseus—Perseus, who I trusted with my life!—was doing this to me.
Tears stung my eyes and I wondered if he’d engineered the whole thing. Called in the kobaloi to distract the Mousai and the Protectorate, made sure Kos and Synie were both unavailable—
“Relax, Meda,” he whispered. “Stop struggling.”
“No!” I cried, wrenching my arm sideways in an attempt to get free. “I won’t let you—”
“If you’re afraid of Yalan, don’t be,” he said, keeping his voice low. “But we’re about to get to the Esplanade, and it would be best not to attract attention. Just walk normally.”
“Like hell I will,” I hissed. “I’ll make sure everyone knows what you’re doing—”
He turned a little to stare at me. “What I’m doing?” he asked, coming to a halt. “What are you talking about?” He studied my face, my heavy breathing, and glanced at his glowing tattoo. Realization crossed his face. He let out a string of curses. “Meda, for the love of—” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought we were past this. I am not kidnapping you. I’m taking you to a safe location. Yalan and I were speaking in code.”
I paled. “What?”
“Yalan and I have code words to make speaking in public easier,” he replied, giving me a glare. “You are the ‘money’ I mentioned.”
Embarrassment flooded me. “You… you’re not….” I closed my eyes and hung my head. “Oh, Perseus, I’m sorry—”
“And here I thought you trusted me.”
“I do!” I exclaimed. “I do—it’s just—the kobaloi, and the battle, and the emotions—I am so confused and flustered—”
“Never mind,” he said curtly. “It’s past. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me you had code?”
“Why should I?” he asked, resuming his scanning of the corridors. He yanked me sideways, away from the busy Esplanade and through a series of quieter corridors toward the Habitat Cube.
“Because I have a right to know!”
He snorted. “Do you tell me everything about your job?” At my silence, he snorted again. “Then it’s hardly necessary that I do the same.”
“But—”
“Later, little girl,” he hissed, pulling me along. “You can complain all you want later. Now is not a good time.”
I wanted to yell and scream at him for being so pushy, so rude, and so frightening all at the same time. And brutish. I was going to be sore for a week from the way he was yanking me about.
You are not an easy man to love, I thought crabbily, looking away.
Perseus came to an abrupt halt in front of me, moving so fast that I ran right into him and almost fell backward. He stopped me from falling, catching my elbows in a fierce grip.
I looked up and was surprised at his intense expression.
“What,” he said slowly, breathing each word carefully, “did you say?”
Thinking back on the last few moments, I quickly realized my mistake.
I had said I loved him. Out loud.
Hearing everyone else’s thoughts had left me so muddled and anxious that I had confused my own thoughts with speaking.
I desperately searched for a way to explain what I’d just said. Maybe I could claim he’d misheard me? No, his hearing was excellent. My mouth went dry as I started to stutter something, but seeing the look on his face, I gave up.
My shoulders slumped a little as I looked away and chose to say nothing instead.
Perseus grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, none too gently, forcing me to look at him. His grip on my arm had tightened. I winced as his fingers dug into my flesh.
He shook me. “Meda.”
I glared at him, defiant. “What?”
He frowned at me, his expression fiercer than I’d ever seen it, mixed with a healthy dose of confusion.
I snorted. That, I understood. The empathic noise and visual stimulation of the battle in the Chamber had been more than I’d experienced since the destruction of Halia. I was still desperately trying to shut out the painful onslaught of emotions I was feeling.
But I knew one thing. I’d messed up, and my secret was out.
I tried to look away from Perseus, but his grip was too strong. He had never used his full strength on me before, and he certainly wasn’t now, but I swear his grip was more intense than it had ever been.
He forced me to look at him. “Answer me.”
“Answer what?” I said, still refusing to meet his eyes.
He didn’t seem to notice. “Are… are you in love with me, Princess?”
I closed my eyes and sagged, my eyes burning. “Yes.”
I heard a small intake of breath. He was silent for several moments, but I heard his irregular breathing. When I ventured a look up at his face, he looked troubled.
His eyes were blacker than ever. I couldn’t see into them very well, but they looked… pained.
My chest shuddered with pain.
“Meda, I….”
“Synie to Perseus.” Saved by the MCD.
He clenched his jaw. “Go ahead.”
“There are more kobaloi. We’ve contained them in the Chamber, but we have reports of them swarming the entire city. Is the Heir safe?”
“Working on it.” Perseus looked down at me. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere secure.”
He half carried me, his fingers surrounding my upper arm just below the shoulder, moving far more quickly than I was able to as we pressed back toward my quarters.
I felt like such a child. He was older than I was, much larger, more experienced, more… everything. I just got in his way. His fingers could wrap all the way around my bicep and haul me about like a mosquito. That’s all I really was to him, a pesky bug. A mosquito. Why should he even care if I did die? I could feel the panic attack building in my chest as the worries spun out of control, and I tried to steady my breathing and remember all the meditation Kos had taught me.
Perseus was only mildly paying attention to me. His eyes feverishly scanned the Esplanade and corridors we passed as he shielded me against the wall; he was clearly worried, but only his eyes and body language showed it. His face appeared deadly calm.
We arrived at my quarters and he quickly keyed in the code to my door, thrusting me unceremoniously inside with one last glance behind us. He sighed as we entered the room and the door shut behind us. I stumbled over the threshold.
Released from his viselike grip, I massaged my arm and moved to the window, feeling miserable.
Forget the death threats. I didn’t really care about that. I always had a death threat over my head. I was more concerned with how many people the kobaloi had killed because of me, and worried about my little slip of the tongue. I couldn’t believe I’d actually admitted my feelings out loud. How would we ever be able to have a normal relationship now?
How childish I must seem to him. A little girl, who’d barely experienced life, thinking I was in love.
And how had I even fallen in love with him in the first place? He was arrogant, secretive, and crass, and I knew I irritated him with my constant lock-picking escapades and insistence that I didn’t need babysitting.
But he was strong, and protective, and wasn’t it possible that mayb
e, just maybe, some of his overbearing attitude stemmed from caring?
I sighed and pressed my face against my window.
“Princess.”
I tensed as I heard him come up behind me. “What?”
“Princess,” he began slowly. “Egil and Yalan should both be here soon to protect you.” He paused again. “I know Yalan isn’t with the Protectorate, but right now I need him—everyone else is fighting the kobaloi.”
I shrugged. “Whatever you think is best, Protector.”
His frown was practically audible, and I would have laughed if I weren’t too busy trying to stem my panic. Perseus tried to form his words. “Meda, talk to me,” he said, gripping my elbow and turning me around to face him.
I yanked out of his grasp. “What?” I said, turning my face away to hide my burning eyes. “What do you want me to say? That I take it back? Fine. I never said anything. I don’t love you. I’m going to marry a prince and focus on duty. That’s what I was born for.”
I took deep breaths to steady myself. I didn’t want to lose control in front of him.
He placed an uncertain hand on my shoulder. “Meda, please, look at me,” he murmured. “Please don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying,” I said defiantly. “I wouldn’t want to cry in front of you.” God, please don’t let me cry in front of him.
“That’s not—” He hesitated. “I don’t want you to be sad.”
“There’s not much you can do about that.” I wiped my eyes, feeling bitter, and turned to face him. “That’s hardly part of your job description.”
He frowned. “Meda, it’s not about… my job. I would never want you to be sad.” He hesitated, as if warring with himself. He tilted my chin up with two fingers, forcing me to look at him. “Meda….” He searched my eyes, and once again, I saw that look. That flicker, deep in the dark depths, of something powerful, something desperate. Something burning.
“Protector?”
Perseus dropped his hand, and the look was gone as swiftly as it had come. He moved away from me quickly and faced Kenzi with mild confusion.
Myrtilos fled through the open door out into the hallway.
“Myrtilos!” I cried, starting forward.
Perseus stopped me with one hand. “Your cat will be fine,” he said, still looking at Kenzi. “I’ll get someone to find him.” He glanced between Kenzi and the door. “Kenzi,” he said slowly, “where is Egil?”
Kenzi looked uncertainly between Perseus and me. I glanced out the window at the stars, sad that I didn’t even have my cat to comfort me. “Synie asked Egil to help her track down the person who sent the note,” he said. “Egil sent me in his place.”
“Does Synie have a lead?” Perseus asked, eyes narrowing.
Kenzi nodded. “Yes. She said to send you to the Chamber. She and Egil will meet you there.”
Perseus nodded. “All right. Yalan will be here soon to help you guard the princess.”
I turned around, staring blankly out at the stars, feeling the stress and anxiety forming a solid panic attack in my chest. The battle in the Chamber, all those people, my slip of words to Perseus, and now my beloved cat was gone. Everything had gone sour, all at once.
“Yalan?” Kenzi was sounding uncomfortable. “But he isn’t a member of the Protectorate.”
“No,” Perseus said. I heard him moving away toward the door. “But right now, we could use the help.”
“As you wish,” Kenzi said.
I heard the door close as Perseus left, but that wasn’t what made me turn around.
It was the sudden wave of malicious, malevolent joy that hit me in the face.
I whipped around, eyes wide, to see Kenzi gazing at me.
He smiled. “Hello, Princess.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Alone at last,” Kenzi said, drawing his sword from his back. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?”
“You,” I breathed, unable to keep my jaw from dropping. Kenzi. It was Kenzi. Kenzi who had been trying to kill me.
Kenzi, my own bodyguard. Ohh, that was unexpected. And so, so bad.
“All this time…,” I whispered. “It was you.”
“Indeed, Princess,” he sneered. “And you never knew.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the quickest to react. Between the battle, my anxiety, and my feelings for Perseus, I was jumbled beyond all reason. And I just couldn’t get past the fact my own bodyguard had orchestrated—
Oh god, what had he orchestrated? How much was he behind? Had he destroyed both planets too?
“You-you,” I stammered, stumbling backward. “You!”
He snorted. “Goodness, and here I thought you were eloquent,” he said, shaking his head. “Yes, me. My ship will be here to take us away soon.” He swung his sword around. “So the question is, how quietly you’d like to go.”
The mention of the ship snapped me out of my stupor. Kenzi was still standing in front of the door, but I thought I might be able to make a break for it—
If I went through Perseus’s secret door. My eyes shifted to the panel on the wall.
Kenzi followed my gaze. “I know about the secret door, Princess,” he said softly. “And you’ll never make it past me anyway.”
I bolted for the door anyway, hoping my speed would help. He swung out with one arm, which I deftly slid underneath, but he spun the other way and a dagger I’d never seen him draw whipped around and caught me on the cheek. I felt blood spurt forth as I clutched my face in pain and slammed into my locked door.
He tsked as I looked up, kneeling on the floor before him. “I told you that you’d never make it,” he admonished, wagging the dagger at me. “And now there’s slightly less of you to sell.”
I kicked out, hitting him squarely in the knee as hard as I could, and rolled away, scrambling to my feet. I ran toward my bedroom, thinking I could barricade myself in there.
My room also had my MCD, which I had naturally ignored that morning but would be really helpful about now.
Kenzi let out a vicious curse and blinding pain hit my side.
I gasped and staggered against the wall. Looking down, I saw a dagger sticking out of my side.
Pain exploded through my body as I gripped the hilt, feeling blood seep over my hands. It was a bizarre feeling, seeing a knife in my stomach as intense pain spiderwebbed through my body.
I stared at Kenzi as he approached.
“Damn you,” he snarled, his dark eyes reflecting emotion for the first time. If only that emotion weren’t hatred and anger. “See what you made me do? Now we’ll have to fix you up before we sell you.”
“Who?” I gasped out. “Who are you selling me to?”
“It hardly matters to you, Princess.” He ripped the dagger out, making me fall to my knees as a new kind of pain momentarily blinded me.
He wiped his dagger on the couch and resheathed it, folding his arms as he stared down at me. I clutched my side, forcing myself to focus on breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, there was no pain, there is no pain, there is no pain, there is no pain….
“Our ride should be here shortly, Princess,” he said casually, as he smiled and folded his arms. “And we have a romantic cruise for you scheduled.”
“Better make it for one,” came a low snarl. “She’s not going.”
Kenzi and I whipped around to see Yalan, who must have entered from the Protector’s quarters.
Kenzi scoffed. “Get out of here, mercenary. You want her dead as much as I do.”
“I never want a woman dead.” Yalan drew his falx. “No matter how domineering.”
God, he was sexist even when he was fighting. Despite the pain, I managed to be annoyed with and grateful for his presence, all in the same breath.
“You think you can fight me?” Kenzi sneered. “You’re dreaming.”
“Probably.” Yalan shrugged. “But in my dreams, I always win.”
He attacked.
I couldn’t believe it. Yalan,
of all people, had become my savior? Within seconds I knew he was no match for Kenzi, but he might slow Kenzi down enough that someone could get here.
I wasn’t going to be much help, that was for sure. Blood seeped out of my wound at an alarming rate, and I was so dizzy I was having trouble staying conscious. I couldn’t even stand; my legs were numb, but at least I could still feel my arms.
I sure wasn’t going to lie here and bleed all over my floor while Kenzi carted me off to goodness knows where. Steeling my nerves against the pain bolting through my eyeballs, I gritted my teeth and dragged myself out of the living room. Blood and blackness roared in my ears and my vision tunneled. It was slow going, no more than a crawl, but I made it into the kitchen, safely away from the epic sword fight I could hear going on in my living room. I desperately scanned the counters for something sharp, something heavy, anything I could use as a weapon to help Yalan.
Then I realized my penchant for putting things in the refrigerator that didn’t belong there was about to pay off.
Opening the fridge, I found what I was looking for: my blaster, which I’d absentmindedly put there after coming back from shooting targets with Gi the other day.
I yanked it out of the fridge and realized, quickly, that I didn’t have much consciousness left in me—certainly not enough to focus on Kenzi with a solid shot.
I managed to sit up against the cabinet and set the blaster at full discharge, then looked up to see Kenzi coming my way. Yalan was lying on the ground, unconscious and bloody. He didn’t seem to be breathing.
My face twisted in pain at the thought of another person dying for me, but Kenzi’s rapidly approaching form left me little time for guilt.
“Your would-be savior is dead, Princess,” Kenzi sneered. “There’s no one to save you now.”
I looked down at my blaster and made a snap decision. “I don’t need anyone to save me, Kenzi,” I said softly. “But you do.”
As I spoke, I locked the blaster and hit the trigger, throwing it at him as hard as I could and throwing my arms protectively around my head.
Then the explosion hit, and my world went black.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
