by Tana Stone
Pillaged: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance
Raider Warlords of the Vandar #3
Tana Stone
Broadmoor Books
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Also by Tana Stone
Author’s Note
About the Author
Chapter One
Rachael
I’d never intended to be a runaway bride.
Then again, I’d never expected that the imperial admiral my parents had arranged for me to marry would be such a decrepit old man. I shuddered as I thought about his bald head that constantly seemed to glisten with forehead sweat and his gaunt, wrinkled face.
“They can take their arranged marriage and shove it up their asses,” I muttered, hurrying along the corridors of the Zagrath ship as the sirens screamed overhead.
Gathering handfuls of ivory organza in my hands, I tried to move faster—and ignore the straight pins pricking my palms. If only I hadn’t been in the middle of a wedding dress fitting when the battle against the Vandar raiders had begun, it would make my escape attempt easier. The layers of gossamer fabric flowed from thin straps at my shoulders, draping across my chest and gathering at the snug waist, then belling out to the ground and sweeping into a train behind me. It was not an ideal outfit to be staging a covert escape in, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and at the moment, I was definitely a beggar.
I laughed darkly at the idea, but the sound was hollow to my ears. Considering that I’d been raised the only daughter of a rich merchant on the human settlement on Horl, I’d never known anything but comfort. I’d never left the planet before, or had any reason to do so. I’d been happy riding my horses, and going to the occasional dance where I would ignore most of my suitors.
Marriage was not something to which I’d given much thought, nor was the Zagrath empire that controlled our planet, but that was before my parents had decided to make a sweet deal with the empire. They got more money than they could imagine, and were elevated to the ruling class of Horl in exchange for me. Or, more specifically, in exchange for me marrying one of the imperial admirals.
“Fuckers,” I said under my breath, flattening myself against the wall as a group of black-helmeted soldiers pounded by me with laser rifles held high.
But as angry as I wanted to be with my parents, I couldn’t help but miss them and feeling a twinge of sympathy. I shouldn’t blame them for the admiral being such a fossil. They’d only been told that he was the most powerful man in the Zagrath fleet, and that my children would be able to rise to the top of the empire. They’d thought they were doing what was best for me. At least, that was what they’d told me when I’d begged them not to let the Zagrath soldiers take me.
I hadn’t even tried to reason with my father, whom I’d already heard talking about how he would spend his payout. But I’d clutched my mother’s hands, hoping my appeal would soften her heart. Instead, she’d merely tugged her hands away, smoothed one of my glossy, black curls, and patted my cheek.
“I knew there had to be a reason you were so beautiful. This way, your beauty will not be wasted on the boys here.” Her eyes glittered as she’d backed away. “You will be an imperial admiral’s wife.”
Bile rose up in my throat at the thought of screwing the old admiral. I’d been too startled by his age and his lack of hair to do anything but gape at him when I’d arrived on his ship and met him for the first time. For his part, he’d made no attempt to hide his tongue darting across his puckered lips and gaze roaming over my body as if he owned me, which, I guess he technically did.
“Well, not anymore you don’t.” I rounded a corner and fell in step behind a group of soldiers jogging down the corridor.
Despite my shock and horror, I had a clear memory of the layout of the cavernous ship from when I’d arrived and been escorted to my guest chamber, and if my guess was right, these soldiers were heading to the hangar bay. Luckily for me, they kept their heads facing forward, and their loud boots drowned out any sound my bare feet made as I hurried along behind them.
I wasn’t completely sure what I would do once I reached the hangar bay. The Zagrath fleet was in the middle of a battle with at least one Vandar horde, and incoming weapons fire made the ship shudder every few seconds. The faint scent of smoke was another reminder that the ship was in chaos, which was precisely why I had to make my escape now. It was the only time a ship would be able to slip away without being noticed.
I didn’t have long before the tailor who’d been altering my dress would realize that I wasn’t coming back from the bathroom. I doubted anyone would pay much attention during the battle, but as soon as the dust settled, the admiral would know I was missing. It wouldn’t take too much longer for them to determine I was no longer on the ship.
If I could get myself off, I reminded myself. One minor flaw with my escape plan was that I didn’t know how to fly a spaceship. My first space flight had been the one which had brought me to the battleship. The only reason I didn’t consider this a major problem was that I’d watched the shuttle pilot as he’d flown me, tracking his movements and noting which buttons he touched. I had a virtually flawless memory, which my mother had conditioned me not to talk about—“men want a beautiful girl, not a clever one, Rachael”—but which I was now counting on to get me out of this mess.
The soldiers I’d been following filed through a wide doorway, and I wanted to punch my fist into the air in satisfaction. I’d been right. We were in the hangar bay.
As the Zagrath fighters continued forward across the expansive space, I ducked behind a row of steel crates. Releasing the fabric balled in my fists, I caught my breath for a moment. Along with the sirens blaring overhead, the hangar bay vibrated with the hum of ships racing across the floor and out into space and soldiers bellowing orders to each other.
My heart raced as I peered out from my hiding spot. A female in layers of ivory fabric did not blend in with the steel-blue, imperial uniforms, and the gunmetal-gray ships surrounding me. There was nothing soft or frilly in this part of the Zagrath ship, and the moment I was spotted, heads would turn, and alarms would be raised. I needed to get to a ship as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.
I spotted a transport like the one I’d arrived on. It wasn’t far from me, and no one was boarding it. Transports probably weren’t in heavy demand during a battle, but it was perfect for my needs. Glancing desperately around, I didn’t spot a thing I could drape over m
y puffy dress so I could get to the transport without being seen.
“Fuck me,” I whispered, wishing I’d thought through my plan a little more before I’d made a run for it. If I got caught, I’d be locked up for sure, with no chance of escape before I was frog-marched down the aisle. A cold chill went through me, and I pressed my lips together. I’d just have to make sure I didn’t get caught, because no way was I marrying that old fuck.
I scanned the space again, and this time I noticed that the crates I huddled behind were on a wheeled cart. If I moved slowly enough—which I would since the cart was so large—maybe no one would notice that the crates were moving themselves.
I bent low and grabbed the bottom of the cart, pushing forward as hard as I could. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the wheels mercifully started to turn. I pushed even harder, sweat trickling down my brow. Looking up, I assessed my progress. Only a few more metrons. I pushed as hard as I could, grateful that I’d opted out of sewing with my mother and had spent so much time riding. I couldn’t make a cushion for crap, but I had the muscles to do this.
When the cart was almost flush with the transport, I gathered my dress up into as tight a ball around my waist as I could, and made a mad dash up the ramp. I threw myself into the pilot’s chair and jammed my finger on the button that closed the ramp. My pulse fluttered wildly as I braced for soldiers to rush toward the vessel and drag me off, but none did.
I didn’t allow myself time to celebrate, though, my fingers working rapidly to fire up the engines. It wasn’t hard to recall the pilot’s movements, and soon the transport was moving across the hangar bay floor. I sunk low into the seat as I passed other ships and soldiers running to their vessels, hoping they were all too preoccupied to notice the female in the poufy white dress piloting a transport off the battleship.
When the path was clear, I accelerated across the floor and burst into space. The transition from the bright inside of the Zagrath hangar bay to the inky blackness of space was punctuated by red blasts of weapon fire, and it made me flinch. I banked my transport hard and flew underneath the belly of the battleship and away from the fighting.
The hard ball in my stomach relaxed once I’d put some distance between me and the imperial ships, and I realized none were following me. I’d done it. I’d actually escaped from the Zagrath.
“Yes!” I flopped back in my seat and let out a long breath, tears pricking my eyes. I didn’t know where I was going, and for the moment, I didn’t care. All I knew was I didn’t have to marry that awful man or feel his wrinkled hands on me. For the first time in my life, I was free.
Then the ship jolted hard, and stopped moving.
Chapter Two
Toraan
“You are sure?” I spun on my heel to face my majak as he stood at his console, his dark hair falling forward while he studied the readouts.
He gave a single nod and looked up to meet my eyes. “Positive, Raas. There is only a humanoid female on board the Zagrath shuttle.”
I pivoted to stare out the wide glass that stretched across the far end of the command deck. The dull gray of the enemy shuttle was easy to track across the blackness of space, and the ship was not going fast. It hadn’t accelerated much since leaving the enemy battleship, almost as if it were slinking away and trying not to attract attention.
“And not a Zagrath?” I asked.
“The Zagrath are humanoid, but this female is not one of them.”
My fingers buzzed as I drummed them across the iron hilt of my battle axe. Why would a Zagrath transport leave during a battle against two Vandar hordes, and why would it only contain one female? As far as I knew, the empire did not employ female soldiers or pilots, and never anyone who wasn’t a pure-blood Zagrath.
I narrowed my gaze at the small ship, so ill-suited for battle. The female inside was clearly escaping, and using the heat of the battle to slip out undetected. It was a clever strategy, and one that would have worked if my horde had not been hovering unseen just outside the battle.
In the corner of the view screen, bursts of red laser fire lit up the sky, as the battle between my two brothers’ hordes and the Zagrath fleet raged on. I’d determined that the Vandar had the advantage and would soon defeat the enemy, so had chosen not to drop our invisibility shielding. It had been too long since I’d laid eyes on either of my older brothers, and a battle was not the time for a family reunion. At least, not for me.
I could barely remember my brothers. I’d been a child in arms when they’d left—first Kratos to apprentice under our father and then Kaalek to serve a distant Raas in a far-away sector. Neither had returned before I’d joined our uncle as a raider apprentice, and I suspected they would not even recognize the warrior I’d become. Although we shared dark hair, I’d been told I was the only one who’d inherited our mother’s hazel eyes. I pushed thoughts of my mother and brothers aside, and focused on the hunt at hand.
“Continue to follow until we are well away from the enemy battleship,” I ordered, my pulse quickening. “Then lock on, and bring the transport in to our hangar bay.”
My majak cocked an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. “We are bringing a female on board?”
It was no secret among the hordes that my eldest brother, Raas Kratos, had taken a human female as his captive and then made her his Raisa. The news had spread throughout the Vandar hordes as if our ships were networked, instead of spread throughout the galaxy. And then the second oldest of my brothers, Raas Kaalek, had taken the human’s sister as punishment for her setting the empire on Kratos. So, human females were no longer the mystery to Vandar hordes that they had been, although it could not be said they were commonplace, either.
“Yes, Rolan.” I met his gaze and saw curiosity, not challenge. “I want to know why the empire had a human female on their ship, and why she took the risk of escaping during a battle.”
A knowing look crossed my majak’s face. “You see a possibility for a strategic advantage.”
Rolan knew me too well. He had also served under my uncle, Raas Maassen, who had trained both of us in the importance of long-term strategy. Instead of thinking in single battles and victories, we’d been taught to think many moves ahead of our opponents, and play the long game. It was why I’d inherited the largest horde of ships of any Vandar Raas, and why my ships were more technologically advanced than any others.
“Perhaps I only wish to offer aid,” I said.
Rolan stifled a laugh. “Yes, Raas. And what about the Zagrath battleship?”
I waved a hand in dismissal. “Leave it. We do not need the spoils.” What I didn’t say was that I much preferred the pursuit of the small ship and the fleeing female. It fired my blood to give chase without being seen.
The female in the enemy transport had no idea a horde of Vandar raiders were stealthily shadowing her, even as she might be congratulating herself for escaping from the empire. I imagined the creature flying unawares, checking her sensors and her view screen and seeing no indication that we were there. The predator in me savored the chase, my heart pounding as we closed in on the vessel and the unsuspecting female.
My battle chief emerged from his oblek on one side of the command deck. Although he had no prisoners to interrogate, he often worked on battle strategy in the dark chamber where weapons hung from chains on the walls.
“Viken.” I inclined my head to the door leading off the command deck. “Join me in welcoming our prisoner?” I then looked at Rolan. “You have the command deck while I am gone.”
My majak clicked his heels and turned sharply back to his console.
My battle chief’s pupils flared with interest as he walked over to join me. “A prisoner? An enemy fighter?”
I took long strides to meet him. “A human female running from the enemy.”
Confusion flashed across his face, followed by disappointment. There would be no interrogation for him and no enemy secrets to procure. “We are taking a female on board?”
I shrugged as we
left the bridge, winding our way down the dark labyrinth of iron stairs and suspended walkways that made up the interior of a Vandar ship. My uncle had once described it like a spider’s web with the ability to shift and change, unlike most ships with enclosed corridors and the inner-workings hidden behind walls. It certainly made it harder for our enemies to board our ships, as most fighters who’d never been on a Vandar ship were overwhelmed and easily lost in the maze.
I leapt the last two steps of a winding staircase, my boots echoing as they hit the hard steel walkway, and waited for Viken to land next to me. “I need to know why a female is running from our enemy.”
Viken made an approving noise. “Our enemy’s enemy is our friend.”
“Something like that.”
“We do not usually take prisoners, Raas. If she is not meant for my oblek, where shall we put her?”
Even though it was my habit to think several moves ahead, in this case, I had not. I only knew we had to stalk the transport and capture it. I’d even thought so far as to imagine the questions I would ask, but it had not occurred to me that she would be staying.
“If she can provide us with no information about our enemy, there will be no reason to keep her. The Vandar have no war with the humans.”
“Only the ones who collaborate with the empire.”