by Tana Stone
Anger made my face heat, as I thought about those who enabled the empire to keep their stranglehold over the galaxy. We had blown enough of those traitors out of the sky. “Only those.”
Viken paused when we reached the doors to the hangar bay. “And if she is a spy for the empire?”
I stopped short. This had also not occurred to me. I, who had been so carefully trained in strategy and out-thinking my enemy and even my fellow Vandar, was so excited by the chase that I was not assessing the situation with the cold detachment it needed.
“You are right, Viken.” I put a hand on my battle chief’s shoulder. “This might not be what it seems. This could be a clever Zagrath plot.”
“They do not happen often, Raas, but they do happen.”
I allowed myself a grin. Viken did not think much of his imperial counterparts, but he knew to be suspicious. The Zagrath could never be trusted.
“We will proceed with caution.” I led the way into the expansive hangar bay, with rows of sleek, black vessels waiting to be boarded. Their curved wings extended like claws and their noses pointed toward the opening into space—only a wall of pulsing energy keeping everything from being sucked out of the gaping mouth at the far end.
Viken joined me in standing in the center of the space as our tractor beam pulled the enemy transport through the energy field and deposited it in front of us. When the beam disengaged, the ship sat completely motionless. The ramp did not lower, and no sound came from inside.
I exchanged a look with Viken before he took a long step to the ship and pounded a hand on the hull. Another long moment and the ramp started to lower, the metal hitting the floor with a resounding thud. Even though I doubted the female would be armed, I rested my hand on my axe and saw my battle chief do the same.
“Vaes!” I called out. “You are now in the domain of the Vandar. Show yourself.”
When she emerged and stood at the top of the ramp, I stopped breathing.
Chapter Three
Rachael
I’d had plenty of time to panic while my ship had been immobilized and then pulled toward something I couldn’t see. I wasn’t great with the readouts on the transport, but the sensors didn’t show anything out there. Not that the readouts mattered to whatever had me in their tractor beam. Trying to regain control hadn’t worked, either. I’d punched every button I could, jamming my fingers on the console until I wanted to scream. I’d finally slumped over in the pilot’s chair, my arms on the console as a few lights blinked impotently.
“Vandar,” I whispered to myself, as if saying the name any louder would summon the terrifying raiders. “It has to be them.”
I peered out the front of the ship and rubbed my arms. My stomach tightened just thinking about the bloodthirsty creatures who flew in hordes of invisible ships, raiding ships and planets with equal fervor. They’d never attacked Horl, but only because the empire had such a strong defense system. Not even the Vandar could slip through the blockade that flew above our planet.
But they’d had no problem tracking me. I could have kicked myself. I’d been so focused on getting away from the admiral that I’d forgotten that I wouldn’t need to escape only the Zagrath. Since the empire was battling the Vandar, I needed to avoid them, as well.
“So much for that brilliant plan.”
I stood and paced a small circle in the compact ship, thinking over my options. They’d clearly tracked me from the imperial battleship. Either they wanted me as a pawn to use in exchange with the empire—did the Vandar do bargaining?—or they intended to punish me for being in a Zagrath ship. I thought for a moment about which would be worse, but the answer was quickly clear.
I’d rather be tortured than sent back to the admiral. I’d just tell the Vandar that I requested asylum, and hope they would show me mercy.
I stumbled forward and braced myself against the back of the pilot’s chair as my ship passed through some sort of energy field. Suddenly, I was inside the hangar bay of a ship. A large ship. Rows of glossy, black vessels stretched out in all directions, and steel beams crisscrossed high overhead, the metal glinting through the low lighting.
My mouth went dry as the tractor beam set my ship down, and I spotted two figures standing with their feet wide. Shit. Was this what raiders looked like? Suddenly, my plan to ask for asylum didn’t seem so great.
For one thing, the two males were larger than anyone I’d ever seen before. The Zagrath were taller than other humans—a result of centuries of the best resources and care—but these aliens were massive. Not only would they easily tower over a Zagrath, they appeared to be made entirely of muscle, with broad chests covered with black swirling lines and huge, bulging arms. It was easy to see all those things, because they only wore leather skirts held up by wide belts.
At least one of them did. The other also wore brown straps crisscrossing his chest, presumably to hold his shoulder armor in place. One of his arms was covered in metallic, scaled armor, and the other capped with stiff leather. Both of the Vandar had long, dark hair, and round-bladed weapons hanging from their waists—and… tails.
I gripped the back of the chair harder to keep myself upright. Long tails with furry tips swished behind them, making them seem like predators preparing to strike.
Don’t be absurd, I told myself. The Vandar don’t eat people. Do they?
I glanced down at the ridiculous layers of ivory organza I wore. How was I supposed to negotiate with these imposing males when they looked like that and I looked like this?
There was a loud thumping on the outside of my ship, causing me to jump and put a hand over my heart. Then one of them bellowed something—a Vandar word I couldn’t understand and then an order I could.
“It’s all right, Rachael,” I told myself. “Everything is going to be all right. You didn’t do anything wrong. At least, not to them. The Vandar aren’t your enemy.”
I took a deep breath to calm myself then pressed the button to lower the ramp. I waited until it hit the floor and clenched my hands into tight fists. I had to look tough or these warriors wouldn’t respect me.
“You’re a badass, Rachael,” I reminded myself in a whisper as I walked to the top of the ramp. “You stole a ship and escaped from the empire. If you can do that, you can handle this.”
I paused for a moment, looking from one Vandar to the other. Neither of them spoke, so I walked down the ramp as regally as I could manage, considering my entire body was shaking.
“My name is Rachael,” I said, hating the quaver in my voice but talking louder to hide it. “I’m a citizen of Horl. I have escaped from the Zagrath ship and request asylum from the Vandar.”
“Asylum?” The warrior without the extra armor asked, his expression stunned as he glanced at the other Vandar.
I nodded, but focused my response on the warrior with the extra armor. He was clearly the one in charge. “Will you grant me asylum?”
The warrior blinked a few times and cleared his throat. “You know we are Vandar?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Raas,” the other warrior said, as if he couldn’t help himself. “You are addressing Raas Toraan of the Vandar.”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to bow or curtsy or what, so I did a combination of the two. “Sorry. Raas Toraan.”
When I looked up again, I could have sworn I saw the Raas’ lips quiver, but his eyes stayed locked on mine.
“The Vandar do not provide asylum,” he said. “We are raiders.”
“I know.” My resolve was slipping, and panic was clawing its way up my throat. “But I can’t go back to him.”
“Him?”
“Admiral Kurmog of the Zagrath fleet. I’m supposed to marry him.”
Now the Raas’ dark eyebrow twitched. “You are a Zagrath bride?”
I clenched my fists harder, and the fingernails bit into my flesh. “Not by choice. My parents agreed to an arranged marriage, but I can’t do it. I won’t.”
“You are not his one tru
e mate?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “One true mate? Hardly. I just met him, and he’s a creepy old man.”
“So, you wish the Vandar to give you asylum from this man and hide you?”
I let out a small breath of relief. Now he was getting it. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Until when?”
“What?”
“If you do not wish to be returned to the Zagrath, and you most likely cannot return home, how long do you expect the Vandar to keep you hidden?” He shifted on his feet. “Or do you intend to live on our horde ship for the rest of your life? The Vandar do not have females on our ships, nor do we have guest quarters.”
I hadn’t thought that far. What did I expect these brutal raiders to do with me? I swallowed hard as I thought of all the things that could happen to me on a ship filled with violent males. “I…I don’t know. I just hoped you might help— “
“The Vandar liberate the galaxy from imperial rule,” he said, cutting me off. “We do not provide sanctuary for unhappy females. But I also cannot let you return to the skies.” His eyes cut to my dress. “You will not last long on your own.”
He was going to return me to the Zagrath. No, no, no, no, no. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t spend my life with that disgusting old man.
My heart hammered wildly in my chest, and I grasped the Raas’ arm. “Please don’t turn me over to the admiral. If you keep me, I’ll tell you everything I know about his plot against the Vandar.”
Chapter Four
Toraan
I had no intention of turning her over to the Zagrath. I told myself I would never do such a thing because the Vandar did not aid the empire in any way, but the truth was I couldn’t stand the thought of her with the admiral, either.
The moment she’d appeared at the top of the ship’s ramp, I’d lost my ability to think. Rachael was unlike any female I’d ever seen before, and my heart hammered in my chest like I was going into battle and not standing on the hangar bay of my own warbird. It was easy to understand why the Zagrath admiral coveted her, and why her parents had been able to arrange a union with the most powerful man in the imperial military. By any measures, she was breathtaking.
She was smaller than me, but any human would be, with curves that were accentuated by the drape of the white fabric over her warm, brown skin. Black, glossy curls fell around her bare shoulders, but what drew me to her like a carvoth to a flame were her amber eyes that flashed with intensity. The human might be at my mercy, but she was no victim.
My mind went back to my first love and the flash of intensity in Lila’s gaze when she’d looked at me. She’d also had a fiery spirit that had drawn me to her—a fire that had ended up leaving nothing but scorched wreckage where my heart had been. Remnants of rage roiled in my belly, and I forced it down along with the bad memories, reminding myself that females had caused me little but pain. This one might be beautiful, but that did not mean she wasn’t a threat.
“Raas?” Viken’s voice was low but questioning.
I gave my head a brusque shake, pulling my eyes back from where they’d wandered to her plump lips. “Did you say the admiral has a plot against the Vandar?”
She nodded, tugging her bottom lip up with her teeth.
“Aside from their usual plan to battle us when we fight their incursions?” Viken asked when I was again silent.
“There’s more than that,” she said. “And I’ll tell you everything I know if you give me asylum.”
I held her gaze, searching for deception. I saw none, but I’d been deceived before.
“Why should we believe that you know imperial battle strategy?” I snapped, even though I’d already decided to let her stay. I wanted to know more about her situation on the enemy ship, but I did not want her to think she’d succeeded in pleading her case. For a reason I couldn’t explain, I needed to know if the admiral had claimed her, although the thought made me want to slit the Zagrath’s throat. “Did the admiral engage in pillow talk?”
She reared back as if I’d struck her. “I did not share a bed with him.” She wrinkled her nose. “I refused to share quarters with him until after the ceremony.”
That fact pleased me more than it should have. I did not know this female, and the goings-on of the empire—the brides they took or the matches they arranged—should not concern me. But it did. I admired the female for refusing the admiral in as many ways as she could, even as I cautioned myself to harden my heart.
“Then he included you in strategy meetings?” I asked.
She folded her arms across her chest, her cleavage popping above the draped neckline of her dress. “No. If you must know, he ignored me. That’s why I know so much.”
I cocked my head and waited for her to continue as my own heartbeat steadied.
“He thought I was a brainless female, so he didn’t watch what he said in front of me. He also didn’t know how to talk to women, or didn’t want to bother, so he invited officers to every meal we shared. Since he didn’t care about making conversation with me, he talked to them about their missions and plans.”
When she stopped speaking, she locked eyes with me, as if challenging me to dare make the same mistake as the admiral.
“He sounds like a fool.”
One corner of her mouth twitched. “He was. I hope the Raas is not one, as well.”
Beside me, Viken sucked in air. No one spoke to a Raas like that. Not and lived to talk about it.
I did not mind her speaking freely, although I could not have her openly challenging me. I took a long step, closing the distance between us and towering over her. She tried to back up, but I whipped my tail around her legs to keep her from moving. I lowered my head until my lips were so close to the shell of her ear I could have nipped it. “You will find I am nothing like a Zagrath, little human. But you should never mistake my temperance for weakness. I will allow you to stay on my warbird, but only because your information will aid my strategy. I do not tolerate deceit. If I discover that you have been dishonest with me or that you are working for the empire, I will not hesitate to marry you off to the old admiral myself.”
Her breathing was shallow, the puffs of air warm on my neck. I ran my tail underneath the fabric of her dress until I found the soft skin of her leg, dragging my furry tip from her ankle to her inner thigh. The pulse on the side of her throat throbbed, but she nodded. “I understand, Raas. I am not lying.”
“Good.” I unwound my tail, letting the sensitive tip linger on her velvety skin a moment longer before pulling it away. “As long as we understand each other.”
I stepped back to stand shoulder to shoulder with my battle chief, struggling to control my own breath. Touching her had sent frissons of pleasure through my body, and my tail trembled from the contact. Even my fingers tingled, and they’d come nowhere close to the female.
It was her beauty, I told myself. I was enraptured by her—and starved for female touch. It had been a long time since my horde had stopped at a pleasure planet, or arranged to dock with a pleasure ship. Pleasurers were a weak substitute for genuine female companionship, but I’d given up any hope of that long ago.
Many Vandar raiders anticipated the time when they would leave the horde in space and take a mate on one of our secret colonies. For me, that was not an option. The Vandar female I’d been convinced would be my one true mate had taken another male, breaking my heart and turning it to stone. After her rejection, I’d sworn off the idea of a mate altogether. I was resigned to living my life in space as a Raas, enjoying the occasional pleasurer, but never allowing myself to feel anything for them. Not that it was difficult. Pleasurers were skilled and practiced and unemotional, and made no secret of it.
I eyed Rachael thoughtfully. This female was not trained to pleasure and serve. There was a spark in her eyes. She’d stolen a ship and escaped from a marriage she did not want. She would not submit to just anyone. The thought of her rebellion and fire made my pulse race. She was just the challenge I needed.
I pivoted to Viken. “Take her to the chamber attached to my quarters.”
His pupils widened even as he kept his face solemn. “The Raisa chamber?”
I flinched at that word. My uncle had designed his warbird with a sleeping chamber for his mate to travel with him. Although it was not Vandar tradition, he had never been one to follow rules slavishly—one of the many reasons he had not seen eye to eye with my own father. But his Raisa had died of a rare illness before she joined the ship. He’d never taken another mate and never used the Raisa chamber. But still, it was attached to the Raas quarters I’d inherited, and now it would be put to use, even if the name did not fit.
“Yes, Viken.” I flicked my gaze to him and then away quickly. “I prefer to question her there instead of your oblek. I believe it will be more productive.”
My battle chief’s brow quirked slightly, before his face resumed its stern expression. He stepped forward, taking her by the arm and leading her away.
As she passed me, I curled my tail around her forearm to stop her. I bent low, breathing in the sweet scent of her. “I will come to you soon. You should be prepared.”
She swallowed hard, her eyelashes fluttering. “Prepared?”
“You have come onto a Vandar warbird to ask us to protect you from the empire and keep you hidden from your fiancé, who is an imperial admiral. We will do this at risk to our horde, but only if you are prepared to give us—me—something of value.”
“I told you I have information.”
I let my gaze drift to her lips, which she licked nervously. “Yes, information. Let us hope it is as valuable as you claim, or you should consider what else you are willing to give me.”
She lifted her chin. “You will not be disappointed, Raas.”
I stepped back, releasing her arm from my tail’s grip, and watched Viken lead her away. I growled and jerked my head away from the sight of her.