by Mara Gan
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, releasing me just enough to look at me. “I—” He kissed me again, his lips brushing mine over and over, like he would never let go.
Finally he pulled away enough to let me catch my breath. His eyes were burning, full of more emotion than I had ever seen in them, but I was too befuddled and hazy with happiness and pain to sort it all out just yet.
His face twitched as pain flashed through his eyes. The arm that wasn’t supporting me wrapped me nearer to him and he threaded his hand through my hair, cradling my head. He kissed my cheek, my ear, my hair, and cuddled me close. My face pressed against his neck and I breathed a deep sigh of contentment.
I hurt. Oh god, did I ever hurt; my side stung so badly that it was giving me a headache, I was fairly certain I had a concussion—I’d had enough of those to know what they felt like—and my legs felt burned.
But none of it mattered. It all seemed so far away and so distant compared to the euphoria I was feeling. Perseus loved me, and he was my soul mate.
“Perseus,” Kos said softly, touching a gentle hand to the Protector’s shoulder. “Perseus, we need to get the princess to the medical ward.”
Perseus didn’t seem to hear him at first. I only barely did, and to be honest, I had completely forgotten Kos was even there.
Knowing Kos, he had probably tried to remain invisible anyway.
Slowly, Perseus turned and focused on Kos. “Yes,” he agreed, reluctantly. He turned back to me. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine again softly.
So much emotion, conveyed in one small movement; it was a wonder the walls hadn’t crumbled from the force of it.
“Princess,” Kos said softly, touching my knee. “Princess, we must take you to the infirmary. Can you walk?”
I focused on him, his handsome face hazy through my little fog of pain and euphoria. I considered. I had no idea, to be honest, which was probably not a good sign, but I felt healed enough to try it, at least. “Yes,” I said, moving to stand.
Perseus stopped me. He stood swiftly, sweeping me up easily as he went. A little squeak of surprise erupted from my throat.
“I will carry her.”
“I can walk—”
“Hush,” he said, already striding down the corridor. “I’m not letting you walk anywhere.”
“You don’t need to carry me,” I protested feebly.
“Yes,” Perseus replied, his jaw tense, “I do.”
I felt safe and warm, truly safe and warm, for the first time in my life. I ached all over and I knew I really needed to get to the infirmary—for once, I wasn’t going to fight that judgment—but god, it felt so wonderful to be held like this by him. I felt almost drunk, I was so happy. That fluffy pink opium fog had nothing on my current euphoria.
I was surprised to find that some of my fuzzy feelings were not my own. Perseus was emoting so forcefully that I could sense pieces of him; quite the jumble of emotions was coming from him, and I was having trouble sorting through it. Fear, anger, relief… and the Rage.
“I can sense you,” I murmured, my fingers brushing his cheek.
Perseus didn’t pause in his walk as he lifted me closer to his face, rubbing my nose with his. “I’m not surprised.” His voice was hoarse. “What can you sense?”
I studied his eyes, trying to pick out the strongest emotion. “Relief,” I said finally.
He choked a little and I wasn’t sure if it was on a laugh, a gag, or both. “Yes, there is plenty of that,” he replied, closing his eyes briefly and pressing his lips to my hair. “What does it feel like to you?”
I loved the feel of the beard growing on his chin scratching against my forehead. He smelled so good and it was unbelievably wonderful to have him hold me so close.
I thought about how to answer him. “You know that feeling you get when the weather outside is icy and freezing but sunny and clear, and you’re inside a big warm living room with big windows and a warm fire and you have a nice cup of hot cocoa in your hands?”
He chuckled, sounding pained. “No.”
“Well, you should,” I replied. “And I will make sure you experience that. But that’s how relief feels to me.”
He took a deep breath. “It sounds lovely, but I hope like hell I never feel this way again.”
I twisted my head a little to touch my lips to his jaw and he responded instantly, pausing in his walk and squeezing me even more tightly against him, his mouth soft and warm.
“Perseus, are you alright?” I asked softly.
He shuddered a little and pressed me so close I was sure that not a strand of hair would have fit between us. “No,” he said finally, his voice muffled and gravelly. “No, Meda, I’m not.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Perseus turned a corner and came to an abrupt halt.
Kos stopped beside us, and I could swear that Perseus’s fingers tightened on me.
“Kenzi,” Kos said in surprise. “Kenzi, are you alright?”
Kenzi stood in the corridor in front of us, leaning heavily on his falx, the left side of his face scarred, part of his hair singed off, his clothing burned.
Exhausted as I was, adrenaline coursed through me. How on earth had he survived that blast? I’d thrown the blaster at him, yet I was the one who had been injured more severely. Fear gripped me. He must have been able to dodge it somehow.
Behind him were two soldiers I had never seen before, each with weapons unsheathed.
“Kenzi,” Perseus said, sounding wary.
I gripped his shirtfront, my eyes wide. “Perseus,” I whispered urgently. “Perseus, Kenzi’s bad. He was the one—”
His eyes were still trained on Kenzi. “What?” he asked softly.
“You should listen to her, Protector,” Kenzi said, a smile on his face that did not make me feel any less nervous.
Perseus’s eyes narrowed. “It was you.”
“And you never saw it coming,” Kenzi scoffed, moving toward us. Perseus shifted to be slightly behind Kos while Kos stepped in front of us. “You, who are supposedly able to see the future. You were too busy mooning over the princess to notice that some of us hate her.”
“But why?” I cried. “Why are you doing this? What did I do to you?”
“What did you do to me?” Kenzi hissed, taking a step toward me. The two men behind Kenzi each took a small step forward to flank him. Perseus and Kos shifted to shield me even more, which was more than a little annoying since now I couldn’t see. “You are so blind, Princess. Did it never occur to you that war was good for business?”
“You’re part of the Narran Trade Alliance,” I breathed, suddenly understanding.
“I am the Alliance. Family business,” Kenzi replied. “The war on Lozha made my family rich. We smuggled weapons to both sides for decades and made millions. We were almost richer than the Emporium. But then you had to go and ruin it all.” His expression turned dark. “My father committed suicide because of you. We went from being kings to paupers, almost overnight—because of you.” He spat the last word.
“Kenzi, I’m so sorry,” I said softly. “But… selling weapons is always going to be dangerous. Wars come and go, but people are always trying to end them. Wouldn’t it be much more profitable to make money on a long-term solution?”
“Brilliant, Princess, but far less lucrative,” Kenzi jeered. “Besides, I’m not so naïve as to think I can end war in this galaxy. I might as well further it. And,” he said, a smile returning to his face, “by my calculations, your absence from the throne will go a long way toward restoring my business. I will be richer than the Emporium and Galaxia combined.”
“Diabolical,” Kos murmured.
“I prefer to think of myself as an entrepreneur.”
“You stabbed her.” Perseus stated it matter-of-factly. His voice was oddly calm.
Dag nammit, Kenzi had stabbed me. That had hurt. Still hurt. I was mildly surprised to find I was more than a little angry about that.
K
enzi scowled. “The little brat actually tried to fight me.”
I couldn’t help but feel proud that Kenzi had been yet another to underestimate me—a fact that clearly annoyed him.
“You stabbed the princess?” Kos was horrified.
“She left me no choice. Killed Yalan, too, if you were wondering.”
I closed my eyes at that painful reminder. Yalan and I had never quite seen eye to eye, but he had tried to help me. Whatever his reasons, he had tried to help me, and he had died for it.
Another victim of mine. My kills were piling up lately.
“You tried to frame the Mathan government, didn’t you?” Kos asked. “You paid Tollak to kidnap her. But why Mathos?”
“Seemed like an easy way to start a war,” Kenzi reasoned. “I’m in the weapons business. Mathans are easily irritated. I didn’t know that Tollak would get too slobbering drunk to finish the job.”
“And it was you who poisoned Nural.” Kos said it as a statement, nodding in thought. “You even used a Mathan poppy derivative to make it seem like another Mathan had done it.”
Kenzi raised an eyebrow. “Congratulations, Detective. Yes, I poisoned Nural. A little dose and he did anything I wanted him to. So did that Zagasian Dískos player.”
I suddenly understood. “You have been trying to frame Perseus all along.”
“He was already an unpopular choice of Protector, long before he even arrived,” Kenzi confirmed, gazing at the ceiling. “His installation as your personal bodyguard was practically gift-wrapped for me to frame him.”
“But how… how did you know the Protector would be from Mathos?” Kos asked slowly. “You paid Tollak before Perseus was chosen.”
Kenzi twirled his falx. “Call it a lucky guess.”
“But it didn’t work,” I said, thinking. “So you had to do something more drastic.”
He smiled. “And that’s when Rurik and I came up with plan C.”
I closed my eyes, feeling ill. “You were the one coming to collect me on Kapak.”
Kenzi chuckled and shifted his falx to his other hand. “Not quite. I wasn’t exactly in a position to leave Galaxia without suspicion. But yes, I arranged it. His orders were to wait for my… agent to pick you up, but unfortunately I underestimated you and your Protector.” He glowered at Perseus, who had remained silent. “And I didn’t know you had taught her to pick locks, or that you had trained her with the use of a blaster.”
“I didn’t,” Perseus replied. “She knew how to use that blaster long before she ever met me. And the lock picking was something she learned on her own.”
“Really.” Kenzi, in spite of himself, looked mildly amused. “Looks like I underestimated you, Princess.”
God, I wished I had a blaster now.
“Why didn’t you try to kidnap her before now?” Kos asked, studying Kenzi.
Kenzi’s face turned sour. “When did I have a chance? I was never alone with her long enough to take her. Perseus didn’t seem to trust me; he always had me guard her in public or with Egil. I had to arrange for an army of kobaloi to distract everyone just so I could get a chance, and even then he sent Yalan instead of me.”
“Apparently, I was right,” Perseus murmured.
“Enough.” Kenzi straightened, turning his attention to Perseus, and the two men behind him shifted into defensive postures, raising their swords. “Give me the princess, Perseus.”
“No.”
My eyes widened. Kenzi was still going to try to take me away? Perseus and Kos were outnumbered three to two, and they had me to deal with—
I felt sick, my hands clenching reflexively. One of the two men I adored most in the universe could very likely die. Because of me. More unintended victims of mine.
I wouldn’t allow it. Perseus would never die because of me. Neither would Kos, the man I loved like a father. Or a really crazy uncle.
I grabbed Perseus’s shirt, tensing, trying to wiggle out of his arms, but I was weak and my Protector was like iron against my struggles. He didn’t even look at me.
Kenzi laughed. “Just, ‘no’?” he asked. “Not, ‘I’d rather die’? No, ‘you’ll only pry her from my cold, dead fingers’? Just… ‘no’?”
“Just no.”
Kenzi raised his falx as I looked on in horror. “You’ll have to fight me for her.”
“Fine.” Perseus finally glanced down at me as I fiercely clutched his shirt.
“Perseus, please, don’t,” I whispered, feeling frantic. “Don’t fight him. I couldn’t bear it if you died for me.”
“How little faith you have in me, sweetheart,” he said, pressing his lips to my temple.
My eyes filled. “I have all the faith in the galaxy in you,” I murmured. “But I can’t lose you.” I squirmed, trying in vain to get out of his hold. Kenzi could have me. I was not going to let Perseus and Kos be the latest in my string of unintended kills. No more dying for me. No more. Enough was enough. No one was worth the lives I had cost the galaxy, no matter what anyone tried to tell me. “I’m not worth it. Just give me to him—”
He tightened his hold, squeezing me into a viselike grip that was so tight I gasped in pain as it halted my struggles. “I’m not giving you to anyone,” he hissed, anger flashing across his face as he finally looked at me. “Don’t you dare think of it. You are worth everything.” His eyes shone with fury, and his voice sounded strangled, as though his jaw was too tense to speak correctly.
I was stricken. “But—”
“But nothing. Kos,” Perseus said quietly, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. “Take my princess.”
He handed me gently to Kos, kissing my forehead. “Do not worry, little one,” he murmured. “I’ll be right back.”
“Perseus, be careful,” I whispered. “He’s dangerous. Please.”
“I’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he assured me, brushing my cheek with the backs of his fingers. He turned to face Kenzi as Kos wrapped his cloak around me, trying to shield me from view. I fought to stand on my own, and after a few moments, Kos acquiesced but kept hold around my waist.
Which was good, because wow, my legs were not working.
Perseus withdrew his falx from his back. “You killed Yalan.”
Kenzi laughed and nodded to his two soldiers, who moved to circle Perseus. My Protector barely looked at them. “You taught me well, Protector,” Kenzi said amicably. “If only Yalan had benefited from your training, he might have fared better.”
In a move too blindingly fast for me to follow, Perseus turned and slipped in between the two soldiers, cutting each one across the stomach before spinning behind them and cutting each one down with a slice through the back.
I gasped as they collapsed to the ground without ever having fought back.
Perseus didn’t look fazed as he faced Kenzi, who was looking furious and more than a little shocked.
Kenzi growled. “Fine.”
Between my severe anxiety that I was going to lose my Protector and the haze of pain and exhaustion that I was fighting, I had trouble following the fight. Or maybe it was the fact that Perseus and Kenzi were both unbelievably fast.
But in the melee, Kos squeezed me closer—and I felt the blaster strapped to his belt.
I moved to take it from him and help Perseus, but Kos stopped me with a gentle hand. “No, Meda,” he said softly. “Perseus has this in hand—and he needs to do this himself.”
Swallowing my anxiety, I turned back to my Protector. I have no idea how it all transpired, to be honest. All I knew was that, within a few minutes, Kenzi was flat on his back, his weapon several feet away, and my Protector was standing over him with the coldest expression I had ever seen anyone wear.
Perseus glared down into the wide eyes of his former guard, one boot stepping on Kenzi’s hand as Kenzi howled in pain. I cringed, turning my face into Kos’s shirt as bones crunched.
Perseus ground his foot harder and Kenzi screamed. Then Perseus jammed his falx into Kenzi’s lower abdomen in
a move that shrieked with vengeance.
I didn’t miss that it was exactly the spot where Kenzi’s dagger had hit me.
Kenzi howled again as Perseus twisted his sword. “That,” he said furiously, eyes flashing, “was for stabbing Meda.”
Kenzi’s face was frozen in shock. He choked, blood bubbling to his lips, and Perseus leaned down and dealt him a blow across the face that knocked him out cold.
Perseus’s lip curled as he straightened up. He nodded to Yalan, Mel, and Nia, who had shown up and stood poised to take over if need be. “Call a med team to take him to the infirmary. You three stay with him; keep him alive, but don’t give him any painkillers.”
Wait. Yalan?
I did a double take, but it was indeed Yalan. His face was burned and his shirt was coated in blood, but he looked okay. How was that possible? I glanced at Kos, who watched the scene with his usual impassivity. He sensed me looking at him and turned to give me a comforting smile.
Nia nodded as she began murmuring to her MCD while Mel nudged Kenzi with her foot. “Bastard,” she muttered.
Perseus turned to Yalan. “Good to see you, old friend,” he said, giving him a nod.
Yalan snorted. “Like you needed me.”
“You helped delay Kenzi,” Perseus said. “That helped Meda immensely. And I’m still glad to see you.”
“Well,” Yalan replied, “I still don’t belong in this city of yours. This place is nuts. Assassins? Bombs? Mercenary life was much simpler.”
Perseus managed a smile. “Maybe.” He turned to me and swept me back up into his arms.
I wondered if I should feel silly, being passed around like a handbag, but I decided I didn’t care. Standing was difficult right now anyway, and I really was tired and achy. And being held by Perseus made me deliriously happy. His warmth enveloped me, comforted me.
Yalan glanced sideways at my Protector, then at me. “But then,” he said softly, “I suppose the scenery’s better here.”
I stifled a laugh. I think that was the second time in an hour that Yalan had paid me a compliment. Sort of.
