“All of the disruption was more than Yazmine could handle. She’s asked to return to Sonis. I brought her with me. I think she will be happier now. The short time she spent with my uncle has…taken a toll on her.”
Eva raised her brow. “I didn’t know she came back. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you heard from Kane?”
Sa’Mya’s heart dropped. She stopped wiggling her finger in the baby’s grasp. “No. And I don’t expect to.”
“Have you tried to contact him?”
“Why would I do that? He made it quite clear how he felt about me.”
“No. He made it clear how he felt about the situation. Did he tell you his feelings?”
Sa’Mya let out a long breath. “He hates me, Eva. He didn’t say it and he doesn’t need to.”
“I know human males better than you. I doubt he hates you. He probably thinks you wronged him.”
“And he would be right to think that. I should have trusted him.”
Eva’s light touch brushed her arm. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. They were pirates, not the most trustworthy type of people.”
“When I first met him, I would have agreed with you.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she remembered what they had shared. “But afterward… I could have trusted him, but I didn’t. I really messed things up with him.”
“That’s called love, honey. People in love fuck up all the time. The hard part is admitting that you fucked up and moving forward.”
I want him so bad that it hurts. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “He left. That’s all that matters. Life goes on.”
“If life goes on, then why are you wasting away?”
“Eva, I’ve got a lot to do. I have to undo all of my uncle’s treachery. It takes up all of my time.”
“Would you want him to contact you?” Eva prodded.
Her heart screamed yes. Sa’Mya hesitated before answering. “What good does wanting do?” She shrugged. “I hardly think of him anymore.”
Eva settled back in the pillows. “Uh-huh. And you expect me to believe that?”
Josanis scrunched his face in a tight frown. It turned a nice shade of red. After the baby let out a long grunt, the room filled with the most noxious smell she’d ever smelled in her life.
“So…do you want to learn how to change his diaper?”
“Not. At. All.”
Eva laughed. “Hey, don’t turn your nose up. You may need to do this one day, especially when he comes to visit you.”
“If you want his diaper changed, then you better send him with his own assistant. Otherwise you’ll not be happy when he returns to you.”
She hooked her hands under the infant’s shoulders and gave him to his mother. Eva laughed harder as Sa’Mya cringed and shuddered at the thought of wiping a baby’s bottom.
“I knew your old bitchy self was still in there somewhere.”
“Ship! Ship!” Eva yelled right after Sa’Mya left her personal quarters. Even if Sa’Mya didn’t know she needed help, Eva planned to help her. Since this whole ordeal, she’d seen Sa’Mya for exactly what she was, alone and frightened. Someone in need of a friend.
“Ship!” she yelled again.
Lo’Ren entered the room, rolled her eyes at Eva and headed straight to Josanis. “Ship wanted me to tell you to stop yelling. He says you’ll give Josanis a nervous condition.”
Lo’Ren, with her pink skin coloring and spiky hot-pink hair, had been a godsend as a nanny. Taio had originally hired the off-worlder to serve as her friend. They would have eventually become friends on their own. Lo’Ren had been just as out of place on Sonis as she had been.
“If he answers me, I won’t have to keep yelling,” she mumbled.
Lo’Ren scooped Josanis out of his bassinet. “Come on, sweet little baby, mommy is acting all crazy. Yes, she is. Auntie will save you.” Lo’Ren didn’t look back as she left.
“Eva, you will give the baby nightmares if you continue to yell as you do,” Ship finally said. The entity’s voice came from no particular place in the room.
“If you would have answered me the first time, I wouldn’t have had to yell out for you.”
“You seem to have trouble understanding that I am not obligated to respond when you call.”
“I know and that’s why I’m so grateful when you do.”
“You leave me no choice. If I don’t respond you will continue to yell.”
“I’m glad we have an understanding.” She smiled.
She had been stuck in bed since giving birth to Josanis, bored as hell.
Before giving birth, she made mention that women on Earth were generally on medical leave from work or other duties for six weeks after the birth of a baby. After she told him that, Taio had become so obsessed that something would happen to her within that time frame that he forbade her to move.
Of course, she didn’t need the traditional six-week respite. After giving birth, she had spent an hour in the healing tank and sprung out feeling fresh and new. That’s where Taio had waited to scoop her up to deposit her into bed.
She relied on Ship and Lo’Ren to inform her of the goings-on around the palace. She was actually getting tired of calling their names but she wouldn’t let them know. One of her favorite pastimes to cure the boredom was getting on Ship’s nerves. She had to take her kicks where she could find them.
“Do you have any news on Ally?”
Ship let out an audible sigh that caused the chandelier hanging in the middle of her room to clink together. “Eva, must I remind you that I promised Taio I would not discuss the progress of finding Ally until after you have completely healed?”
Damn. Ship had been helping her find her friend from Earth. Their last lead had been a bust. The only information Eva had on Ally was that she had been sold to one brothel after another. Ship wasn’t going to go back on a promise he made Taio. But Eva hadn’t seen any harm in asking.
“Whatever.” Then remembering what she had called him for, she said, “I need a favor.” Before he could object, she quickly added, “Please. Do this one thing for me and I’ll leave you alone.”
She only had two more weeks of her convalescence left. She could go without torturing him until then.
“As enticing as that sounds, first tell me what is this ‘favor’ of yours?”
“Find Kane Epps for me. Sa’Mya needs him.”
“And what does this have to do with me?”
“That’s why it’s called a favor, Ship. As a friend, you would do something benefiting me, not you. Please.”
“What am I supposed to do when I find him?”
He had said when, not if, Eva noticed, which was good news. “I need you to tell him the facts.”
“The facts? About what exactly?”
“About what transpired. He thinks Sa’Mya betrayed him. Once he finds out the truth, he’ll return to her. He needs his happily ever after.”
“And what if he doesn’t?”
Eva narrowed her eyes. “Then I’ll make him.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kane sat at the helm of the four-seat transporter that he had named Wrath. Thanks to Sa’Mya, the very female he tried to forget, the new transporter had come with their new vessel, The Vengeance II. It was one of three transporters that fit snugly into the cargo bay. The others were affectionately named Retribution and Revenge.
Sa’Mya hadn’t lied about the Galactic Council’s ultimatum. They hadn’t been off Laconia for more than a day before the council reminded them of the conditions of their release. Sallad, the stoutly robed figure, appeared on the bridge via hologram and had been very convincing. Secure a position with Mercanis Shipping and Hauling or face imprisonment for their crimes. Kane had been more than willing to face imprisonment rather than grovel before Queen Sa’Mya for a job.
But that wasn’t what had sent him over the edge. The council wanted them to willingly give up The V
engeance. Return their vessel to the Galontaers as an act of good faith. Good faith! Those bastards enslaved thousands of human males. How many humans had lost their lives toiling away in the mines?
What about the Galactic Council’s faith in them? What had the council ever done for the billions of humans who were displaced and sold into slavery? And now the Galactic Council intended to enslave them again, and yes it was slavery, no matter how they tried to sugarcoat it.
It had taken every crew member to restrain him while the uppity council member watched in awe. Ryan had spoken for them all, agreeing to give up The Vengeance and to join the ranks of Mercanis Shipping and Hauling. He also asked for a much needed vacation. Councilor Sallad had surprised them all by agreeing. Two months and enough credits to explore the galaxy and planets without being hunted down. This was what the crew needed to start fresh and assimilate into their new lives.
Kane was now indebted to three people. Sa’Mya for their new vessel, Councilor Sallad for the vacation and Ryan for saving him from his own out-of-control emotions.
Originally, he had set out to visit Jori and Yeyet on their vegetation planet. The couple was expecting their first child. Although he wanted to catch up on old times, he was also curious how their offspring would look.
Yeyet and her people reminded him of characters straight out of a fairy tale. She had the skin color of tree bark with long, wavy green hair that mimicked hanging vines and leaves rustled by the wind.
For Jori and Yeyet, it had been love at first sight. The older man had rebuffed her advances at first, thinking himself too old for the twenty-something-appearing alien. Once he learned she was actually over three hundred years old, Jori had agreed to stay with her as her life mate. Kane didn’t get to speak with him often, but every time he did, Jori sounded happier than before. For some humans, there was a happily ever after.
The more he thought about it, the more he pushed the idea of visiting the happy couple out of his mind. Right now, a brothel vessel was more and more enticing. There, he could lose himself in a woman and forget all about Sa’Mya. He didn’t think twice about the risk.
Kane opened the communication channel. If a space brothel was in range, their beacon would reveal their coordinates.
Nothing happened.
He activated the switch again.
Nothing happened.
“What the…?” He tried all the switches. He flicked them on and off with no response.
“Hello, Kane.” A voice came out of nowhere.
Kane jumped out of his seat and raised his blaster. Who was here with him? He scanned the transporter for intruders, focusing on the dark corners. No movement. As far as he could tell, he was the only soul onboard.
“Do not be alarmed. I mean you no harm.” The voice was everywhere, but nowhere at the same time.
He brought his blaster to eye level and circled the tight space. “Where the hell are you? How did you get in here?”
“I am an entity. You cannot hurt me. Please put away your weapon. I am not here to harm you. Relax your body systems. I am here as a…favor to Queen Xochis.”
He brought his blaster down by his hip and settled into his chair. Without looking down, he used his thumb to increase the blaster’s firing power. As soon as the intruder showed himself, he would blast him to smithereens. The thought brought a warm feeling over him. He wanted to kill an alien, any alien would do.
“Talk to me. Tell me what you want. I’m now under the protection of the Galactic Council.”
That he’d said that out loud made him want to laugh. Moments before he’d damned the Galactic Council all to hell, now he was throwing up their protection as a shield.
“If my crew or I have wronged you or your planet, you’ll have to take it up with them.” He swept a lazy hand through the air. “We have been absolved of all our many crimes.”
“You have not wronged me.”
“Then what? Does this queen want me dead or something?” Kane laughed sarcastically. After everything he’d been through, it would be a fitting end to die alone in a transporter on his way to a brothel.
“No, she did not ask me to kill you. If she wanted you dead, I believe she would kill you herself.”
“So you aren’t here to kill me. What’s this favor then?”
“She is a friend of Queen Sa’Mya of Laconia.”
At the mention of her name, that name, Kane gripped his blaster tighter. Queen Sa’Mya. The backstabbing, lying and conniving queen was how he remembered her.
“And?” Kane ground out.
“Queen Xochis seems to believe you left Laconia without knowing the full circumstances. She believes you were wrong to leave and should return to Queen Sa’Mya.”
Kane erupted from his seat. “What does this queen know about me? I don’t care what she believes and I’m not interested in anything Sa’Mya has to say.”
“Queen Xochis once ran away from the one she loved. She believes you may have made the same mistake.”
“What are you talking about? You know nothing about me, what I’ve been through or what I’m going through.”
“You are correct,” the entity replied, calmer than Kane. “I am merely here as a favor.”
His brows furrowed together. “Who did you say you were?” Is this some kind of trap or trick?
“My name is Ship.”
Okay, Kane thought, confused. This entity’s name was Ship or was it in a ship?
“I am not a ship. That is merely what King Taio of Sonis has named me.”
Kane startled. “Whoa! You can read minds?”
“No, and I would not wish to. I can see your emotions on your face and I understand my name has a different meaning on your home planet. Queen Xochis of Sonis is human as well and she had a very hard time distinguishing my name from an object.”
He threw up a hand. “Wait. Did you say this Queen Xochis is human?”
“Yes, she is a human from Michigan, America, Earth.”
“Would Queen Xochis of Sonis and ‘the human Eva’ be the same person?” Sa’Mya had mentioned the name Sonis intertwined in the same sentence as “the human Eva” enough for him to make the connection.
“Yes, Queen Eva Xochis of Sonis. Mate of King Taio Xochis of Sonis.”
“Why did she send you to talk to me? I don’t know her.”
“I told you. She is a friend of Queen Sa’Mya. She believes you ran away from Laconia without understanding the facts of what transpired.”
Kane sat in his chair. “If that’s the case, then you’ve wasted your time. I didn’t run from anyone. I hightailed it away from her using warp speed. I don’t want to hear her name again.”
There was a sigh. “Unfortunately, I have promised to talk to you about Sa’Mya. I’m curious. How do you intend to work for her and not hear her name?”
Kane snorted. “Easy. I’m going to stay as far away from that lying adulteress as possible.”
“Those are very serious accusations.”
“She told me she wasn’t married, but she is. We had a deal and she reneged. She contacted her uncle to rescue her and she didn’t pay us our gold. Do you know what we got in return? We got to be her glorified slaves. Ha! That’s the first and last time I ever trust an alien. It got me nowhere.”
“This all sounds quite interesting.”
“There’s nothing interesting about it. She’s a liar. She’s a manipulator.”
“Manipulator?”
“Yeah, she manipulated me the entire time she was with me. She made me feel a certain way.” Kane closed his eyes. She made me want her. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore.”
“That is no way to exist. There is much more to life and living than you could ever be aware of.”
“Whoa, whoa. Don’t try to give me some psychobabble bullshit. You, whatever you are, need to leave. Bye. Begone.”
“Queen Xochis wished for me to relay the facts to you. If you will permit me to do so, then I can be on my way.”
&nb
sp; “And if I don’t want to hear anything about Sa’Mya, would you still leave?”
“I am afraid not.”
“Because of your favor.”
“Yes.”
“What if I made you leave?”
“Do you think that you could?”
No. He couldn’t see the damn thing he was talking to. How the hell could he make it leave? Fucking aliens.
He needed a minute to gather his thoughts. Of course he didn’t want to hear anything this entity had to say about Sa’Mya. But it looked as though he didn’t have a choice. He might as well hear what this thing had to tell him and then he could send it on its way.
“Hurry up. You’re cutting into my vacation,” he finally said.
“Queen Sa’Mya is not bonded nor has she ever been.”
“I met her husband. Big guy, asshole. Jay something,” he said in dismissal.
“Are you referring to her head guard Jor’Dan?”
Kane snorted. “I can’t remember the motherfucker’s name. He wasn’t wearing a nametag.”
“He is not her mate.”
“I saw the bonding contract. It was another name on it though.” Hadn’t it said Aaron, Anton or Anthony? Doesn’t matter. “Move on to the next lie.”
“No. Her Uncle Umar forged her signature on a bonding contract to his son. It would have been the only way to keep her under his control after she became queen.”
“No, no, no.” Kane’s head shook vigorously with each word. That’s the same lie she’d fed him before. It couldn’t be true.
“Captain Kane, I am here to give you the facts.”
Kane listened as Ship told him everything that had transpired on Laconia, from the time of her parents’ death to now.
“I offered my help, but it wasn’t good enough. She told me that she didn’t trust me.”
“What was your intent when you captured her?”
“Ransom her to her home world.” As the words left his mouth realization hit him. He’d never hid his intent from her. Ransom her back to the very place she had run from. Why would she trust him? Even after he found out the truth he still hadn’t helped her. He was negotiating the terms of her release.
Dangerously Yours: 2 (Loving Dangerously) Page 19