by Kali Argent
Yet, after a single conversation, no one would ever mistake one for the other.
“Someone tell me what happened here,” Olivia demanded, her tone deceptively calm.
Zade watched as the female sucked in air through her clenched teeth and fisted her hands at her sides, clear signs she’d reached the end on the very short rope of her patience. She spoke slowly, deliberately, each word quieter than the previous one, and he swore the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
The fiery temper she was working so hard to conceal only made him want her more.
In all his years and all his travels, he’d never encountered anyone more beautiful or fierce than the statuesque female with long, honey-colored locks and intense blue eyes. He and Axton had met with no less than six different commanders of six different space stations when they’d been looking for a home for Asylum. Alpha Station: X4 in the heart of Alliance space would have been more convenient, and it certainly would have provided a steadier flow of revenue, but it had lacked one very important thing.
Commander Olivia Jacobson.
“Your elites broke the rules,” Axton answered, his tone just as calm, just a frigid. “It was dealt with.”
Olivia’s fingers clenched and unfurled at her sides. “Perhaps you could find other methods for dealing with it.”
“They broke the rules, so we dealt with it,” Axton repeated with his typical lack of diplomacy. “The fact that it offends your delicate sensibilities isn’t my problem.”
With his hands resting on his hips, Zade dropped his chin to his chest and groaned. He knew Axton was hurting, and it made him a bigger jackass than usual, but if the two didn’t stop their bickering, he was going to lose his damn mind. Olivia pretended she didn’t care, Axton went out of his way to antagonize the female, and Zade simply did his best to keep the peace.
The night they’d spent with Olivia back in the Capital had sealed their fate, and they’d quickly agreed they’d do whatever it took to claim the female as their own. When she’d snuck out of their suite, he and Axton had been disappointed, but not discouraged. Then, when they’d seen the way she’d reacted to them in that meeting room, Zade knew she’d been just as affected by their night together.
He didn’t know what had changed, or why she continued to adamantly rebuff their advances, but he could be patient. Whatever Olivia’s reasons, he guessed it actually had little to do with him and Axton. Every time she walked into Asylum, her pulse thrummed too quickly, her pupils dilated just slightly, and sometimes, her breath would catch on a nearly inaudible gasp. Once or twice, he’d caught the sad, faraway look in her eyes, just a brief flicker of emotion, before walking away from them.
If her aloofness didn’t stem from a lack of interest or desire, there was hope, and as long as there was hope, Zade wouldn’t give up on winning her heart.
His brother, however, didn’t make it easy.
“What offends me,” Olivia bit out, “is your complete and utter lack of respect for the rules.”
“This is a Krytos sanctuary, sweetheart. The rules are whatever we want them to be,” Axton answered, stepping closer to the commander.
Olivia didn’t back down, nor did she retreat. “Are you trying to drive me insane?”
“Trust me, it would be a short trip.”
Stepping between his idiot brother and the superbly pissed off commander, Zade held his hands out to keep them apart and growled. “Okay, enough.” He turned to Olivia. “Those generals were idiots.” When she glared at him, he just shook his head, unwilling to start another argument with her. “We had a visitor today, a young female seeking sanctuary, and your elites were rather aggressive in their pursuit of our guest.”
“A visitor?” The harsh expression melted from Olivia’s face, and her gaze flitted about the room, skipping over each of the female patrons. “Who? Why does she need sanctuary?”
In answer, Zade angled to the side and pointed to a table in the far corner nearest the bar. “See for yourself, love.”
Olivia’s skin mottled an angry red, highlighting the inky star tattooed at the corner of her right eye. Surprisingly, she didn’t comment on the pet name, but then again, she never did anything he expected. Perhaps that was why he found her so intriguing. She was a mystery, and he looked forward to unraveling her secrets.
“Is that…but…” Trailing off, she dropped her face into her hands and whimpered as if the sight of the female in the corner caused her physical agony. “Why me?” she muttered through her fingers before lifting her head to stare back at him. “Please explain why there is an unaccompanied scroll on my fucking space station.” Without giving him a chance to explain, she shook her head, and turned toward the exit. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Have you noticed,” Zade asked his brother as Olivia stormed out of the sanctuary, “that we spend a lot of time watching that female walk away?”
Axton’s lips parted in one of his rare smiles as he nodded slowly. “Yeah, but it’s a damn pretty sight.”
CHAPTER THREE
Marching through the hallways back to her office, Olivia had a brief but vivid image of floating Axton Tavish right out of an airlock. She’d never had the misfortune to meet anyone so infuriatingly arrogant in all of her thirty-four years. Yes, he was gorgeous, a study in male perfection, and he knew it, which only made him all the more insufferable.
The pounding in her head made her stomach churn, and the knotted muscles in her back spasmed painfully. She couldn’t decide whether to throw up or cry. Both were viable options given how shitty her day was going, but in the end, she did neither.
Despite what she’d told Zade, she had an obligation to find out who the pretty scroll was, and why she’d sought sanctuary at Asylum. The young woman had looked to be in her early twenties, and the pale-green, shimmering dress that clung to her curves had probably cost more credits than Olivia earned in a month.
Even if by no fault of her own, the girl had trouble written all over her.
Pausing outside her office, she pressed her thumb to the bio-lock and waited impatiently for the doors to slide open. Before she could escape into solitude, her wrist unit chimed with an incoming call from Officer Blake.
“What?” she answered a bit sharper than she’d intended.
“Commander, you have a vid comm request from Vesera Blackthorn.”
“Who?”
“She says you know her,” Officer Blake insisted.
“I don’t, but it seems to be that kind of day. I’ll take it in my office.”
Crossing the gray-and-white speckled carpet, she reached her desk in a few strides, plopped down in her desk chair, and spun around to face the screen on the wall behind her. Moments later, the monitor blinked to life, and a familiar yet unexpected face stared back at her.
“Commander Jacobson.” The woman on the screen smiled and nodded. “When I heard you’d been assigned to the new space station, I had to see it for myself.”
“Ivy?” Olivia’s grin stretched so widely her cheeks burned. “It’s damn good to see you.”
It had been years since she’d seen Ivy Dalton, not since the day her friend had left on an exploration voyage as commander of her brand new ship, the Dreamweaver. Ivy had been making big waves within the Alliance since she’d crash landed said ship on Xenthian, and shit had really hit the fan when she’d announced her mating to the planet’s ruler.
Logically, she knew Ivy’s last name had changed once she’d bonded—or in this case, mated—but she hadn’t put two and two together when Officer Blake had informed her of the call. Olivia blamed the Tavish brothers. She didn’t know how it was their fault, but it just felt right.
“Versa Blackthorn, huh?” Olivia chuckled under her breath. “So, what exactly is a Vesera?”
“A fancy title for a female ruler on Xenthian.” She lifted one slender shoulder and tilted her head to the side, causing her long, golden hair to cascade down her front. “It’s like being
a commander, only…more.”
“Only you would give that description for being the queen of an entire planet.” That was what she liked about Ivy, though. There was a beauty in understatement that most people just didn’t understand. “Well, it looks like Xenthian is certainly agreeing with you at any rate.”
“Oh, it has its charms.” With a devious wink, Ivy stood and stepped back a couple of feet, showing off her rounded belly.
“I…you…but…” Trailing off, Olivia glanced between her friend’s protruding bump and the star tattooed near her eye. “I mean, obviously, congratulations, but how? I don’t understand.”
“Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much—”
“Hardy-fucking-har,” Olivia interrupted. “You know what I mean. Is it magic?” It was the only thing that made sense, and since the Alliance didn’t yet understand this magical new race, it was the most plausible guess she could offer.
Ivy shrugged as she resumed her seat. “In a manner of speaking. I don’t quite understand it myself yet. With everything going on, I haven’t really had the time to investigate, either.”
“Why? What happened? What’s going on?” Leaning back in her seat, Olivia folded her arms over her breasts, and rested one ankle on the opposite knee. “You know, since this is my first command, I’d really appreciate it if you could put in a good word for me with the Xenon. Being blown up wouldn’t just suck. It would look really bad on my record.”
Ivy snorted with amusement, only speaking once she’d regained her composure. “I think your spotless record is safe. They’re good people, Liv. I mean, a couple of bad apples, sure, but no different than any other race. Most of them want this partnership with the Alliance.”
“And the others?”
“Like I said, bad apples.” Ivy sat forward, her expression serious. “We’ve opened communications off-planet, but Kai is concerned about travel.”
“Kai? He’s your mate, right?” She’d read the reports, knew the answer, but thought it would be best to receive verification.
Ivy bobbed her head, a gentle smile curling the corners of her lips. “Yeah, he’s my soulmate.” Her grin slowly relaxed into an impressive mask of neutrality, but uneasiness still lingered in her emerald green eyes. “The Xenon have been shielded for so long that most of them have never left Xenthian. Hell, some of the younger ones didn’t even know other races existed.”
“So, your mate is worried about throwing too much at them at once.”
“Give them a long enough leash…”
“And they’ll hang themselves. I get that.” Olivia nodded slowly, as she thought about the young elites under her command, and how it truly wasn’t all that different. “Okay, what else do I need to know? I mean, I’m assuming this isn’t a purely social call.”
“You know what they say about making assumptions,” Ivy quipped back.
“Yeah, they say I’m usually right, so spill. What’s happening on Xenthian, and do I need to be concerned?”
“Not concerned, just…cautious. You know the Dreamweaver didn’t just malfunction, right? We were attacked.”
Olivia dipped her head. “The Alliance still doesn’t know who or what attacked you. Anything on your end?”
“No, nothing. We recovered the logs from the Dreamweaver, but they didn’t tell us anything I didn’t already know. It was an unclassified vessel, small, likely a scouting ship, with advanced weaponry, and that strange symbol on the side.”
“Three dots inside a circle.” Alliance personnel had scoured the archives and databases, but so far, no one could find any reference to the icon. “And you’re sure it’s not a Xenon ship?”
“I’m sure,” Ivy answered confidently. “The Alliance has reached out to the other races, but they all deny any involvement. To be honest, the technology was too advanced for the Tarin or Helios, the Krytos aren’t that subtle, and well, the D’Aire just seem unlikely.”
Olivia chuckled, but she had to agree. The Krytos’ early visits to Earth had resulted in most of the werewolf legends, and in their battle form—bigger, stronger, longer fangs, and glowing red eyes—they were anything but subtle. The Tarins were too busy fighting each other, and the Helios, while more advanced, didn’t possess that kind of firepower.
If the Xenon weren’t involved, that only left the D’Aire, and well, they’d been nicknamed “angels” for a reason. Not only did they boast beautiful, massive wings, but there was something almost ethereal about them.
Ivy hadn’t mentioned the Dragon Warriors, and Olivia didn’t bother to ask. If the Dreamweaver had been attacked by Dragon Warriors, they wouldn’t have used firepower, and Ivy wouldn’t have been sitting there having the conversation with her.
Besides, none of their allies had reason to attack a lone Alliance vessel in the far reaches of space. Whatever had shot down Ivy’s ship was something new, something dangerous, and something they desperately needed to deal with soon.
If only they could find where the damn thing had come from.
“I don’t think there’s any immediate threat,” Ivy continued, “but don’t let your guard down. That fucking ship came out of nowhere, and I mean that literally. One minute, nothing, and the next minute, my ship is being shot to oblivion.”
“I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, and tell security to do the same. If we see something, you’ll be the third person to know.”
“Third?” Ivy’s honey-colored eyebrow winged toward her hairline.
“Well, I’ll be the first, won’t I? Then of course, I’ll have to report it to High Commander Jax Spartan. So, yeah, third.”
Ivy’s warm, rich laugh was infectious, and within moments, Olivia found herself slumped in her office chair, giggling like she hadn’t done in years.
“You’re in idiot.” Wiping moisture from her eyes, Ivy sighed loudly. “Stars, I needed that.”
“Same here,” Olivia agreed.
“Oh? Why? What’s going on there?”
“Nothing big, nothing I can’t handle. Just the Krytos brothers who run the onboard sanctuary are more than a little violent, and I swear half the elites on the station have ended up in the med-bay because of them. They’re driving me insane.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ivy’s grin turned a little too knowing. “Let me guess. They’re insanely gorgeous, go out of their way to make your life a nightmare, but at the same time, they’d do anything to make you happy and keep you safe.”
“Yes.” Olivia paused, suddenly flustered. “I mean, no. It’s not like that.”
“Uh-huh. I think it’s exactly like that, so what’s the problem?”
Olivia really didn’t want to get into her personal life, but she also knew Ivy wouldn’t leave it alone until she received an answer. “It’s not like that. It can’t be. I just took command of X21.”
Ivy was an ambitious woman who’d risen quickly through the ranks. Surely, she’d understand Olivia’s need to prove herself, to put the needs of the Alliance and those under her leadership before her own desires.
“Right.” Ivy rolled her eyes, clearly not as understanding as anticipated. “Commander to commander, I’m going to give you a little piece of advice.” Her eyes narrowed, and she jab a finger at the screen. “Get over yourself.”
Offended and a little confused, Olivia gaped at her. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Tell me where in the rulebook it says that you can’t have both? A job you love and a man—or a couple of Krytos males—you love?”
“I don’t love them.” Did she? Olivia didn’t think so, but then again, she’d been so intent on pushing them away, she hadn’t let herself consider the possibility. “It’s not like that.”
“So you said. Look, I’ve been where you are, and I was convinced I had to choose, that I couldn’t have it all.” Idly, Ivy fingered the star tattoo beside her eye. “Just think about it. Sacrifice is only noble if you’re doing it for the right reason. Otherwise, it’s pointless and selfish.”
“Easy for you to
say,” Olivia mumbled. “You don’t have Regent Marks breathing down your neck.”
“Regent Marks is an arrogant dick.”
Olivia blinked several times while she fought to find something to say. “Well, yes.” Not poetic, but the truth, nonetheless.
“I’m sure you received the same lecture I did when I took command of the Dreamweaver. Relationships are bad. Emotions are bad. Fun is bad. Sunshine, rainbows, and puppies…all bad.”
Despite herself, Olivia laughed. “Something to that effect.”
“I figured. The only reason Everett Marks is a regent is because his dad was some big shot hero during the Alien Wars, and his family is rolling in credits. He’s never been bonded, and from what I gather, he doesn’t play well with others.”
“Regent Singer doesn’t seem to care for him much,” Olivia admitted, thinking back to their meeting in the Capital.
“Regent Singer is an excellent example. It’s tragic that her bonded died in that shuttle incident, but before she became a regent, she was Commander of Jade City. Love and emotional entanglements—” Ivy made air quotations with her fingers “—doesn’t seem to have hurt her career, has it?”
“Okay, okay.” Chuckling, Olivia held her hands up in surrender. “I get your point, and I’ll think about it.”
Ivy nodded firmly. “You do that, but in the meantime, don’t put up with those males’ shit, either. If they’re making your life hell, maybe it’s time for a little payback.”
After that, they said their goodbyes, promised to check in again soon, and Olivia closed the communication. Ivy had given her a lot to consider, but she didn’t know where to start trying to sort out her feelings concerning Axton and Zade. She did, however, like the idea of giving them a little taste of their own medicine, and Ivy’s mention of sunshine, rainbows, and puppies gave her the perfect idea.
Pressing the button on her office link, she thrummed her fingers on her desk while she waited for Officer Blake to respond.
