by Ivy Barrett
“This is all about a female?” It was obvious that Celeste found humor in the realization.
“Two females actually,” Ram corrected. “Stagin and Kezma are desperate to reunite, while Pryar is determined to have Stagin’s comfort-giver.”
“So Pryar agreed to sabotage Vikrin’s side deal with you if Stagin would give him the comfort-giver?” Celeste connected the dots.
Ram nodded. “By forcing a mating bond on the three of us, Pryar all but guaranteed an alliance between the Yashonty and the Ventori.”
“Which allows Stagin and Kezma to be together.” Galzar shook his head. “To paraphrase my boss, we’re all irrational when it comes to females.”
Ram’s scowl returned. “There was nothing irrational about Pryar’s actions. They were premeditated and ruthless. He forced an alliance between two species so he could have access to a comfort-giver. I can’t think of anything more selfish or more worthy of punishment.”
“He knew you wouldn’t kill him,” Celeste concluded. “You need him too badly.”
“That’s only true until he completes the coding.” Ram’s tone turned cold and menacing.
“A fact he will not hesitate to manipulate,” Celeste predicted. “Make damn sure your best geneticists are double-checking everything he does.”
Ram nodded, but his features remained tense.
Galzar hesitated to ask the next question. Everyone was restless, more than ready for the conversation to end, but he needed a clearer picture of where things stood. “None of this began as we would have liked, but you don’t seem to have ruled out working with the Protectorate.”
Ram chuckled. “Celeste’s approach was much more effective. If you have a question, just ask it.”
“Are you considering an alliance with the Ventori?”
“Pryar left me no choice. I’m sharing my mate with a Ventori.” Ram shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the fact. “Fighting alongside your kind has to be easier than sharing the rest of my life with a male I’ve never met before.” For some reason, Celeste found that comment amusing. She didn’t actually laugh, but failed to suppress her smile. Ram turned on her with a growl and demanded, “What’s so damn funny?”
“That’s exactly what both you and the Ventori expect from every genetically compatible female.”
A pang of guilt ricocheted through Galzar, and he saw the expression mirrored in Ram’s eyes. The Ventori and Yashonty had focused entirely on the survival of their species. Yes, both had been driven to extremes by a pointless and bloody war. Still, they used the excuse to justify manipulation and emotional bullying. Where was the honor in that? Both cultures claimed to treasure females, to protect and adore their mates. They needed to do better. He needed to do better.
They gathered around the table and ate breakfast in relative silence, each lost in their own troubled thoughts. Ram pushed back from the table and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’ll unlock the comm panel, so you can make arrangements to return to your ship.”
“I don’t speak Yashonty,” Galzar reminded. “Will the system respond to Ventori commands?”
“Of course not, but there’s a holo-menu, and the icons are similar to what you’re used to. You should have no problem figuring it out.” Without another word, Ram left the cabin.
“I think the honeymoon is officially over.”
Galzar wasn’t sure what Celeste meant, but her sigh made it obvious she was still upset. “If you don’t want to be alone with Ram, I’ll insist on taking you with me.”
She shook her head. “If I’d wanted to escape, I’d have done so three days ago. It was too late then, and it’s much too late now. My bond with Ram is just as intense as my bond with you. You’re both my mates. I don’t want to be without either of you.”
Celeste’s thoughts and emotions were often as clear to Galzar as his, but Ram only reached him in intense surges. That would likely change as their link solidified. At the moment, however, she was still keeping him out. “All we’ve been able to think about for the past few days is our physical needs. There are bound to be challenges as reality reenters the equation. As long as we’re honest with each other and we work together, we can accomplish anything.”
“I know,” she assured him, “which is another reason I have to stay. Convincing Ram to release the slaves is a possibility right now. That’s closer than we’ve ever come before. I can’t give up on my sisters and the other captives. I owe it to them to keep trying.” She tightened her robe and emphasized, “It’s too important to me, and I am probably the only person in this star system that can actually help them.”
“Ram is completely focused on the war right now,” Galzar pointed out. “I’m not sure he’ll agree to any sweeping changes.”
“Then we better hurry up and win this war.”
They lapsed into silence again, but it was less tense this time. Galzar wanted to help Celeste, understood why the other females were so important to her. But his top priority had to be the war as well. Until the Skarilians were no longer a danger, the rest was moot.
“I’m glad I asked to see Lorna before I pissed off Ram.” Celeste gathered the dishes and stacked them neatly on a large serving tray. “Guess I have another spanking coming.”
Galzar arched his brows. “You sound hopeful. We don’t need to wait for his return if you’re craving a nice hard spanking. I’d be happy to oblige you before I head out.”
Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she jumped to her feet, kicking her chair out of the way.
Galzar spun around to see what had frightened her and watched a Tavorian transport gate open in the middle of the cabin. Axarric, Rikketh, and Fylen, the three fiercest dogs of war rushed in fully armored with weapons drawn. Rikketh motioned Galzar toward the gate as Axarric rushed over to Celeste. She screamed and backed away, not understanding that this was a misguided rescue.
Getting them off Ram’s ship was the fastest way to deescalate the situation, so Galzar didn’t resist. “She stays,” Galzar told Axarric firmly, but he couldn’t hear or wasn’t listening. The burly dog picked her up and rushed back toward the gate. “You need to leave her here! If we take her Ram will think—”
Rikketh ended Galzar’s argument with a pulse from the weapon in his hand, and reality blinked out.
Chapter Six
“What is this about?” Ram asked Prime Medic Noj. When the doctor asked Ram to stop by the clinic, Ram presumed the concern was medical. Instead, Stagin’s comfort-giver waited in Noj’s small office looking intensely uncomfortable. This was the female Pryar wanted so badly that he’d altered the DNA of three unsuspecting beings and betrayed the trust of many. With light brown hair, solid black eyes, and gold-tinted skin, she was pretty, but nothing special. Ram had no idea why Pryar had reacted so strongly to her.
“Callita, tell the commander what you told Pryar,” Noj directed.
The young female was Melmon. The deceitful race frequently worked as overseers for the Skarilians. They collaborated with the enemy to spare themselves enslavement and slaughter. Callita had been captured during the rescue mission that freed Belton, Ram’s head of security. She was one of the few females Ram had felt no regret about enslaving. She was simply enduring what her people had forced on countless others.
“Speak quickly,” he urged. “I am needed elsewhere.”
“She has vital information,” Noj insisted.
Ram just looked at her expectantly. If she didn’t impress him quickly, he’d walk out.
“I know Pryar and Stagin are in serious trouble, so I hope you will accept this information as a peace offering.” When Ram said nothing, she glanced up, her big dark eyes luminous. “I am very sorry Pryar acted so rashly. He isn’t thinking straight right now. He tested an earlier version of the coding on me. That’s how he knew it would be effective when he incorporated...”
“Our specific DNA,” Ram finished for her. This sure as hells wasn’t making him more likely to be lenient with her lover.
&nbs
p; “That means he perfected the basic coding before bonding fever struck,” Noj pointed out. “Pryar is a selfish bastard. Now get to the point.”
“I was not helping the Skarilians by choice,” she stressed. “My family sold me to a powerful male. He was cruel and abusive. He called me his mate, but I was little more than a slave myself.”
“If you’re foolishly looking for sympathy,” Ram warned, “you’ve come to the wrong place.”
Her chin lifted, and defiance filled her gaze. “My mate was director of the mining colony, so I overheard countless conversations and learned more about the Skarilians than I ever cared to know. I understand how they operate and what they want. I can explain—”
“Start there,” Ram urged. “What the fuck are the Skarilians after? Why slaughter and destroy everything they come in contact with?”
“They don’t kill for sport as most believe,” she told him. “Their star system ran out of resources long ago, but they’ve yet to find another that will support them.”
“So they’re looking for a new home, but destroy any planet that can’t support them?” That might have made sense if it weren’t for their repeated pattern of slaughtering females and children. “Then why kill the innocent?”
“They’re creating strong emotions because that’s what powers their technology and nourishes their bodies. They collect and condense it. They feed on it. It strengthens and prolongs their lifespan. The stronger the emotions, the more intoxicating it is to them. The pain and misery of their victims are like a drug. The more they consume, the more they want.”
“Emotional energy is barely measurable,” Noj argued. “How in damnation can they collect and store it?”
She looked at the doctor, her shoulders square, expression insistent. “I don’t know if it’s magic or just a technology we don’t understand. The ships that drop the bombs also gather the energy. In fact, the ships are called limbanics, which is the Skarilian word for harvest.”
“Harvesters,” Ram muttered. It all made a depraved sort of sense. “This is why they target the innocent, to heighten the emotional suffering of those left behind.”
She nodded. “Luckily, I know how to destroy them, or at least the harvesters.”
Ram looked at her with new interest. “I’m listening.” There was a strong possibility she’d fabricated the entire story, but it was foolish not to hear her out.
“They frequently landed groups of ships and asked my former mate to protect them. He was told if any ship was compromised for any reason it was to be destroyed. The Skarilians made it clear they would rather lose the ship than give the enemy access to their tech. So my former mate had a remote destruction device. With the push of a button, he could blow up any compromised ship. The range was limited, but the device worked on any harvester.”
“You still have this device?” Ram tried not to roll his eyes. It was highly unlikely.
“Of course not, but I know where one is.”
Before Ram could respond to her wild claim, fear spiked across his link with Celeste. “Something’s wrong.” He bolted from Noj’s office and ran toward his cabin. “Security report. List new concerns.”
“There are no concerns to report,” the central computer told him.
Ram reached for Celeste’s mind but sensed nothing. He shoved aside the spike of panic and focused on reaching his mate. Still nothing.
“Who the fuck is in my cabin?” He didn’t slow his pace as he waited for the answer.
“Your cabin is currently unoccupied.”
Sprinting now, Ram ignored the frantic thundering of his heart and scrambled for an explanation. Belton, there’s been some sort of breach. Head for my cabin. Run!
On my way, the head of security assured him.
“Commander, the Ventori ships just jumped to hyperspace,” Moxtel informed over general comms, which meant the entire ship would hear Ram’s response.
Fuck! It was the fastest way to communicate new orders in a crisis, but it also informed the entire ship that he’d been deceived, possibly betrayed by his mate. “Pursue them!” Ram shouted. Then telepathically, he added, they have Celeste.
We’ll get her back, Moxtel assured him. Then verbally he reminded, “I need a destination, sir. Their trajectory is unclear.”
“Protectorate Headquarters,” Ram snarled, more than ready to punch through the nearest wall. If the dogs of war had completed their mission, they would doubtlessly head for home. “The sector once known as Texas.”
“Understood.”
Belton was already inside the cabin when Ram arrived.
“There’s no sign of a struggle, no indication that the Ventori hacked into the door release.” Belton sounded bewildered. “They’re just gone.”
“Had to be a godsdamn Tavorian.” Ram quickly searched the cabin just to ensure that Belton hadn’t missed anything. He hadn’t, of course. Belton was head of security because he was the best.
“This is proof that Vikrin doesn’t command every gatekeeper,” Belton concluded. “At least one is still loyal to the Protectorate.”
“I never should have trusted a fucking Ventori.” Ram kicked one of the dining chairs and sent it sailing across the room. “I know better.”
“We don’t know that Galzar was involved,” Belton pointed out, remaining calm and focused. “One of his strike teams could have been commanded to take action when Galzar was out of contact for so long.”
“There is no way they pulled this off without specific intel. Galzar is the only possible source.”
“No, sir, he’s just the most obvious.”
Ram glared at Belton. “I felt her fear. Celeste was not involved.”
“I didn’t mean Celeste,” Belton quickly clarified. “I meant Pryar and Stagin or their females. If they were willing to sell us out once, why would they hesitate now?”
Ram heaved a frustrated sigh. Pryar knew they suspected him. The Tavorian geneticist had been interrogated several times. He had also been sequestered ever since his treachery came to light, so there was no way he could have warned Stagin that they’d been found out.
Ram’s thoughts came grinding to a halt. “Callita. That fucking Melmon just filled my head with nonsense while her allies kidnapped my mate!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Stagin’s comfort-giver just volunteered all sorts of helpful information about the Skarilians. Odd that her sudden wish to cooperate drew me from my cabin, and was perfectly timed to create a much-needed distraction.”
Belton thought for a moment then shook his head. “I’m not sure it was her, sir. She has never been in your cabin. The only way she could have told the Ventori what they needed to know was if Stagin was involved as well.”
Belton had a point. Unlike Pryar or Callita, Stagin had been inside Ram’s cabin numerous times and had yet to be confronted directly. Belton had suggested they leave Stagin wondering how much they knew for a while longer. They were hoping he’d do something stupid and give them irrefutable evidence of his guilt. Looked like he’d just obliged.
“Arrest Stagin and Callita. Interrogate the hells out of both.” The Yashonty had no tolerance for traitors. If this led where Ram suspected, Stagin and his treacherous comfort-giver would pay for this betrayal with their lives.
A cruel smile spread across Belton’s lips. “My pleasure, sir.”
* * *
“Have you lost your fucking minds?” Celeste shouted, punching the back of the massive Ventori who carried her through the transport gate. He had her draped over his shoulder, one beefy arm banding her legs. She reared nearly off him, trying to locate Galzar. The other two Ventori dragged him through the gate, his arms spread across their shoulders. His head hung forward, swaying with their hurried movements. Were these Galzar’s men, or was she being kidnapped by yet another rebel faction?
“Calm down, Ms. Mortenson. This was the commander’s plan all along. Well, sort of. We’re the good guys. You’re safe now.”
She couldn’t see the speaker from her upside-down position, but she hated his condescending tone. “I might be safe, jackass, but you’re sure as hell not. You just kidnaped Ram’s mate!” The brute carrying her set her on her feet as the others heaved Galzar onto a treatment table. They were in a clinic, likely onboard Galzar’s ship. The gatekeeper, a female Celeste had never seen before, cowered near the doorway ready to bolt. “If Galzar ordered this, why did you knock him out?”
“Strikes have to be fast and clean,” her abductor said. He was the only one smart enough to look concerned about her warning.
Crossing to Galzar’s side, Celeste placed her hand on his chest. She presumed he was only stunned, but needed to feel his chest rise and fall for herself. “You think I’m pissed,” she said to the room at large. “Wait until he wakes up. You just screwed up an alliance he’s been negotiating for—”
“Can I negotiate with you next?” the sarcastic one asked under his breath, making the Ventori next to him snicker.
Celeste spun toward them, ready to put the jerk in his place.
Her abductor stepped between them and ordered, “Everyone out except Doc Defflen. Go check in with your crews. They still need our final destination.”
That was odd. Why would the strike teams not know where they were heading? She didn’t yet have a clear picture of what was going on.
The other two Ventori left, followed by the female gatekeeper. Only the reed-thin doctor and her abductor remained. “Where are you taking me?”
“I’m Axarric,” her abductor introduced. His pale gray face was framed by dark hair that just brushed his shoulders. Bright red streaks threaded through the long strands and marbled his equally dark eyes. The stark contrast in his coloring reminded Celeste of anime vampires. “I’m sorry we frightened you. That wasn’t our intention.”
