by Sadie Carter
Rye’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know he was there?”
“He is good,” Darac agreed. “But I am better.”
The quiet male standing towards the back of the room spoke up. “What are we going to do with him? We don’t have any way to hold him.”
Rye raised his eyebrows. “Just what is going on between the two of you, Willa? Are you really his mate?”
“No.”
He hid his wince at her denial of their relationship. Human females were different. They did not believe in soul mates. He knew from Mila that they liked romance. He had no idea how to give Willa romance. And he had no time to learn. Right now, he needed to concentrate on protecting her and figuring out how to fix himself.
“Really? Seems like he disagrees. He thinks he needs to protect you from us. Your crew. Unless you are no longer part of the crew?”
“Of course I am.” She pointed at Darac. “I don’t even know him.”
“Then stand down.”
Darac waited for her to move away. It was obvious she didn’t feel the connection that he did. Not that he blamed her for that. Humans had different mating rituals. But she didn’t move.
“Look, he’s calm now,” she pointed out. “We can still use him for a ransom.”
Rye stared at her incredulously. “He nearly killed Mitch.”
“No great loss,” she muttered.
“And Zuma. He dies. He is a risk to the mission and the crew. I can’t let him live just because he has a hard-on for you.”
Willa flinched.
“What does hard-on mean?” Darac asked.
Willa turned to look at him incredulously while Zuma laughed. “Jeez, Willa, got yourself a dud?”
“Shut up,” she said without heat. She sighed. “Hard-on means, well, it doesn’t matter what it means. The point is that he’s not no longer dangerous. Are you really going to murder an unarmed man?”
Darac knew her brother wasn’t fooled. Just because Darac wasn’t armed didn’t make him less dangerous.
“Yes.”
Darac could take him, blaster or not. But he had Willa to consider. Protecting her had to come first. He quickly thought through his options. There was only one way to keep Willa safe and happy.
“I surrender myself.”
“What?” Willa looked up at him in surprise. “You’re surrendering?”
“Doesn’t have much choice, does he?” the quieter male spoke up. “We’re armed and we have him surrounded.”
“Not much point in surrendering when we have nowhere to hold him,” Rye stated.
“But you cannot kill an unarmed man who surrendered,” Willa stated.
He could see Rye warring with himself. Part of him wanted to get rid of the threat Darac presented. He should. But Darac was betting on him having too much honor to do so.
“What’s to stop him from attacking one of us again?” Zuma asked.
“So long as Willa is not threatened, you will all be safe.”
“And what about when you first came off your ship?” Rye asked. “You tried to kill all of us, including Willa.”
“I did not know what I did. And I did not know Willa was my mate. I would do nothing to harm her. Zerconian males are aggressive, sometimes volatile. The longer we live without our mate, the more volatile we become. We slowly decline into madness. When a Zerconian male feels himself losing control, he will take his own life. To not do so would endanger the people around him. I am very old.”
“You were on a suicide mission. You wanted that space rubbish to take you out in a blaze of glory,” Zuma stated.
“He means kill you,” Willa explained.
Darac nodded.
“And what? You’re all better now?” Rye asked skeptically.
He did not blame him for his skepticism. “Not completely. But my control is better. Because of Willa.”
“How can you be sure she is your mate?” Zuma asked.
“I know. I can control myself when she is close. Also, she fainted when we first touched. Other human female mates have fainted when first touching their mate.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. I hadn’t eaten lunch, that’s all. You and I are not gonna hook up.”
“Hook up?”
“Get together. Mate.” She rubbed her head. “We don’t even know each other.”
“We are soul mates. I do not need to know you to know you are mine. I live to protect you.” He glanced around at the others. “So long as she is not threatened I will do what you wish. I surrender. Fully.” Although it went against his instincts, he held his hands up.
Beside him, Willa stiffened, watching the others closely.
Rye watched him. “Deacon, take him to one of the other empty bunk rooms. Don’t take your eyes off him. If he so much as twitches, shoot him.”
“This is a bad idea,” Deacon stated, although he stepped forward.
Darac looked down at Willa. How could he trust these men to take care of her when one of their own had attacked her?
“You will guarantee her protection,” he demanded. “Only then will I leave her.”
“Oh, you’ll leave,” Rye warned.
“Jesus, will the two of you give it a rest. You’re like a dog fighting over a bone. Tell you what, I’ll make it easy. I’ll leave.” Willa strode off, muttering to herself.
Darac took a step towards her, but Zuma blocked his path. “You’re not going anywhere, my friend.”
Darac tilted his head to one side. He believed them to be friends?
Zuma looked at Rye. “Now that Willa’s gone do you want me to take care of him? We can tell her there was an accident.”
“The Zerconians believe in honor.” A new man stepped forward from the right. The one who had been hiding behind the crates. “Ask him to swear that he will harm no one on this ship.”
“And you think he’ll honor that?” Zuma asked.
“To break a vow is a disgrace,” Darac confirmed.
“And the Zerconians are rich,” the quieter male said. “He’s worth a lot more alive than dead. Maybe more than the money we’ll make from this shipment.”
Something in Rye’s expression shifted. So that spoke to him. Money.
“My people will pay well for my return,” he confirmed. Now that he had something to live for he was determined to remain alive.
“All of that means nothing if he keeps attacking us,” the male who had been hidden pointed out. “He broke out of hover cuffs and a thick steel door. Cap, he tossed you around like a toothpick. He’s dangerous.”
“But only if Willa is threatened,” Zuma added. “Or at least that’s what he says.”
“Do you swear to harm no one on this ship?” Rye asked.
“As long as my mate is not threatened.”
“Stop calling her that,” Zuma said. All humor fled from his face. “She is not your mate.”
“She is. I would do anything to keep her safe. If something were to happen to her, I would be lost. I would be a danger. Were that to happen, you must kill me quickly.”
“Nothing will happen to Willa,” Rye told him. “But if you attack any of us again then we will kill you.”
They could try.
“I say we kill him now,” Zuma said.
Rye turned to the quieter man. “Deacon?”
“I agree with Zuma,” Deacon stated.
Darac tensed.
“I say we keep him for ransom,” the fourth male stated.
Rye was silent for a long moment. “I agree with Steele. For the moment, he lives. Put him in a spare bunkroom, Deacon. The rest of you get to the bridge, we’re leaving within the hour.”
Deacon waved his blaster at him. “Come on. Move wrong, I’ll shoot you. Look at me wrong, I’ll shoot you, breathe wrong, I will shoot you.”
Willa pulled herself away from the wall with a sigh of relief. She’d stormed out before she’d remembered that she was needed to keep them from killing each other. So she’d waited outside to see what would happe
n.
She didn’t know what she would have done if they’d decided to kill Darac. She’d probably have run back in to save him.
Like a too stupid to live heroine.
Why the hell did she keep doing that? She kept stepping in to save him, at the risk of her place on this crew. What had she been thinking? When she heard footsteps, she hastily moved down the passage.
“Willa. Freeze.” Rye’s voice struck her and she stilled.
He came up beside her. “Come with me.”
Meekly, she followed behind him. Maybe if she acted totally repentant he’d forget about his threat to kick her off the crew. She needed her place here. She’d earned it. There was no way she could sit at home and do nothing. Yeah, she could fix racers for Duke, but that still meant she’d be stuck on Joyadan with the same people, doing the same thing day after day until boredom threatened to make her go silly.
“Rye, I’m really sorry about before. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know why I jumped in front of him like that. I just knew that you couldn’t kill him.”
“Because you’re his mate,” Rye said, raising his eyebrows. “I don’t buy it.”
“You’re not the only one.” That had been a shock. “You think I want to believe any of this? That I want some psycho, beast man claiming to be my soul mate? But I also know you can’t kill him. Maybe it’s about the ransom money.” It wasn’t. “This is crazy. I just met him. I shouldn’t…” What? Shouldn’t be this attracted to him? Shouldn’t want him? Shouldn’t think he was sexy and gorgeous and entirely lickable.
Lickable? Okay, now she knew she was losing her mind.
“Shouldn’t what? Risk your life for him? You’re right. That was a stupid, idiotic thing to do. I didn’t raise a stupid idiot, Willa.”
“I know.” Desperation and fear coiled a knot in her stomach. Was he going to kick her off the crew? She’d disappointed him.
“I raised you to be independent. To never have to rely on a male like some of those poor women on Joyadan. I hope I did not fail.”
She straightened her shoulders, trying to ignore the way her stomach rolled sickeningly. She needed to take a pain inhibitor before this migraine really took hold. “I want to make you proud, Rye.”
“Good. There is something about this male that causes you to do stupid things. You need to stay away from him.”
Reluctantly, she nodded. She would never choose a man over her family. Especially an outsider. “I know.”
“You need to choose whose side you are on. His or ours.”
“Ours, of course.” But her voice wasn’t as emphatic as it should have been. There shouldn’t have been any hesitation. The crew was her life. Darac was nobody.
Rye gave her a searching look and she got the feeling he saw too much. “Just so I know who has your loyalty. Because if he threatens anyone else, I will put him down. No matter who stands in my way.”
She nodded, unable to speak. That migraine was picking up speed.
“I hope I don’t regret not killing the bastard,” he muttered before striding off.
***
Willa lay back on her bunk bed with an exhausted sigh. Today had been long and drama-filled.
Fuck. Fuckity fuck. What a mess.
She had really thought Rye was going to kill Darac. If she hadn’t jumped in front of him she was certain they would have been shoving his dead body out an airlock. She placed her arm across her eyes. She was exhausted and this was the first chance she’d had to sit down all day. Too much excitement.
This migraine was starting to take hold and she needed to find a pain inhibitor. Normally she hated taking them because of how out of it they made her feel. But right now that sounded like heaven. Rolling onto her side, she searched for one in the small drawer beside the bed that was permanently attached to the wall. Her bunkroom wasn’t much. A bed, table, chair and a few drawers for her clothes and other stuff.
No inhibitors. Shit. Either she had to force herself to make her way to medical or call Nolan to bring one to her.
Or stay here and suffer.
As soon as they refuelled they’d be leaving and Rye would need her in the engine room. They were already down one man. So she stood and stumbled out of the room. The headache compressing down on her head was a relief in some ways, it left her little ability to think about the last few hours.
“Damn mess,” she said quietly.
“Willa?”
She squinted, placing her hand above her eyes to shield them even though the passage wasn’t lit that brightly. Steele loomed over her with a frown. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she told him. “When are we leaving Lilan?”
“There has been a delay so we’re here for another four hours. You look like shit.”
He was such a charmer. “I have a headache.”
“You need to get to medical.”
“That’s where I was headed.” She stepped forward to move past him.
“Yeah? Then you might want to turn around and head back the other way.”
She stilled and looked around her. Crap, she was headed towards the engine room. Idiot. Without looking at Steele—he had to have a knowing smirk on his face—she turned.
“Don’t you have something better to do?” she snapped as he followed along behind her. She needed to distance herself from Darac. Make herself care about him less.
“I’m heading to the bridge.”
“Then shouldn’t you run along?” She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Nothing to see here.” Pain and worry was making her grumpy.
“No, only a half-dead fool of a woman who should have gotten herself to medical an hour ago.”
“An hour ago, I was being attacked by that lunatic, Mitch.” God, had that only been an hour ago?
It felt like a lifetime had passed since they had brought Darac’s ship on-board. Part of her wished they hadn’t.
Things would be a lot simpler.
And Darac would be dead.
The thought sent a chill up her spine.
“You need to stop baiting him, Willa,” Steele told her.
She stopped and despite the added pain it created in her head, scowled up at him. “Are you for real? He attacked me.”
“Yeah, and he’s probably going to lose his place on this crew because of it. We were all warned about what Rye would do to any of us if we even looked funny at you, let alone touched you.”
What?
“What are you talking about? I don’t get treated any differently than any other crew member.”
“Sure, you keep telling yourself that.” By now they were standing outside medical. “This is all Mitch has. He’s jealous of you. Of your family. Something he’s never had. It was a stupid thing to do, granted, and I’m not condoning it. But he’ll be lucky if Rye lets him off with just being kicked off the crew.” Steele grimaced. “I’ve seen your brother when he’s crossed. It ain’t pretty. I’ll let Rye know you safely made it to medical.”
She gaped after him. What was he talking about? Rye had always made a point of treating her like everyone else. Sometimes he was tougher on her than the others. But she understood. No favoritism. Their lives depended on everyone else doing their job and doing it well. Rye didn’t suffer idiots. Much as she disliked Mitch, he was excellent at what he did.
Not that she’d ever tell him that.
Chapter Five
Darac kept his eyes closed. He didn’t want to give Deacon a reason to use the blaster he held.
He was confident he could overpower and disarm the other male if necessary. But he had made a promise and he intended to keep it.
Thankfully Deacon was not confrontational or talkative. He blew out a breath, trying to remain calm. Not knowing where his mate was or if she was safe was adding to his unease.
Go to your mate. She is yours.
Darac ignored the voice.
He could see her affection for the other males, especially her brothers. Harming them would have hurt
her. Which is why he surrendered. He would do anything to spare her pain.
A knock on the door made him tense. He glanced over at it as Deacon rose. He could jump him now, twist his neck…
No.
He had given his word and his word was everything. If he broke it, he would lose all honor.
“You should not be here, Willa,” Deacon said.
Darac sat up, peering around him to see Willa standing in the doorway.
“Just give me five minutes, Deacon,” she said.
Deacon shook his head. “Rye wouldn’t like this.”
“Rye doesn’t have to know. And you owe me for that little stunt on Toran.”
He sighed then glanced back at Darac. “Five minutes. But you hold a blaster on him the whole time. And you don’t move from that bed.” He pointed at Darac.
Darac scowled at the other male who dared to order him around. Who did he think he was?
Deacon stiffened, raising his blaster and aiming it at Darac. Did he really think he had the upper hand? He didn’t. Darac could take him before his finger even pressed on the trigger.
“Both of you calm down.” Willa slipped between the two of them. She stood side-on so she could see them both.
“I can’t leave you with him, Willa.”
“I can take care of myself. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I can’t.”
“Five minutes,” Deacon said then left.
Willa turned to look at him. He didn’t like her pale appearance. Dark smudges marred the skin beneath her eyes.
She paced back and forth. He noticed her wince then rub her head. Worry filled him. It had been so long since he had felt real emotions. He had gone through the motions. A pretense. But he hadn’t felt much of anything in years. Well, other than anger and duty. “Are you ill?”
“Just a headache. The pain inhibitor is kicking in. Why did you say that I am your mate? Did you think that would save you? You can’t possibly think they’ll believe this lie.”
“It is no lie. You are my mate.” He could sense her upset, but didn’t know how to reassure her.
“I’m not a typical female. I don’t want love and romance and flowers. I don’t understand any of that crap. Most of the time I don’t even understand other people. All I understand is engines. That’s all that interests me.”