by Kait Gamble
“One of these days she’s going to get herself into trouble and…”
“You won’t be there to save her? You know damn well that the last thing she needs is a white knight to swoop in to rescue her.” Meri patted him on the shoulder. “We all worry about her, lad.”
Did they? Sure as hell didn’t seem like it. His morbid imagination had her shot or worse by now, and his stomach roiled from the thoughts alone.
“Don’t worry though, mate. Your chivalry isn’t lost on us.”
Keys’ fists clenched again. Damn her and her insane ideas.
He should have killed the plot the moment Auri came up with it after she saw the invaders following their group back on Ganymede. It all seemed so easy when she laid out her plan. Make it easy for them to track the Euchronia. Let them get onboard and abduct her. She’d take them down and bring back the ship.
Simple.
He never took into account how it would affect him to have the scum invade their home, to witness her being dragged away. Just like she knew he wouldn’t. She knew she could use his trust against him.
He grumbled an excuse and strode out of the cockpit, determined to find something to distract his overactive imagination. The last thing he needed was to spark off yet another round of ribbing about his overprotective tendencies toward Aurelia.
Logically, he knew she would be fine. She always was. What he couldn’t get his head around was her recklessness. Or what seemed like recklessness. For a girl barely into her second decade in this life, she was remarkably logical in her thinking. That, and how quickly her mind could assess a situation and devise a plot was dizzying. It was something he’d marveled over many times. And to top it off, her schemes almost always worked. The ones that didn’t were due to freak events no one could have predicted, not even Aurelia.
It was those that he worried over.
The others had learned to just go with the flow of things, but it wasn’t something he was entirely comfortable with. Not unless he could see where her mind was going. Of course, the times when he did fathom her devious little mind weren’t much better.
The way the tiny, auburn-haired hellion had stormed into their life and took over was astonishing. That they followed her was even more so. But it had worked out well for them thus far. Even if it was near killing him with worry half the time.
Keys was so deep in thought that he narrowly avoided trampling Bam as he barreled down the narrow passageway.
“Whoa.” Bam lifted his one dark brow as he steadied Keys with his mechanical arm. “I take it you heard from the miss?”
Keys glowered at the younger man, both for getting in his way and for the strong stench of grease that signaled Bam had been tinkering with his arm again. He pulled back. “She’ll be back in a few hours, apparently. Probably with a new toy for you to destroy.”
Bam couldn’t hide his delight. His gleeful chuckle almost made Keys forgive him for fouling his air. “Great!” He nudged Keys with his good arm. “Cheer up. You’re acting like she’s never coming back.”
That’s what he was afraid of.
* * *
The trip to their ship took less time than Aurelia expected, something she was infinitely thankful for. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand being cooped up in the shuttle with the gag-inducing stink.
Not to mention, the ever-present specter that there were men who could wake at any moment and be murderously angry with her.
Meri’s Ether Deployment Incapacitator was living up to its name wonderfully. She made a mental note to tell him so. Right after she broke his nose for his earlier gaffe. But despite their inert state, she checked them for signs of regaining consciousness every few minutes. Each flutter of an eyelid or reflexive jolt of a limb had her heart pounding against her ribcage. The last thing she needed was to be overpowered when at such a disadvantage. As a precaution, she took every weapon she could find on the men and stacked them next to her, just in case.
Auri sniffed with disdain when their ship came into view. It was much smaller than the Euchronia; not much would come of selling it. Not that she’d expected any better, considering the crew. However, she was sure the parts could be used as spares or Meri could make something with what she found here. It wouldn’t be hard for the crew to take it apart. Might give them something to do to ward off the boredom. Bam, at the very least, would be delighted to have something to work on.
The shuttle docked easily with their ship and with no one around to welcome them back on deck or over the coms, Aurelia was a little worried about what she would find on the other side of the airlock. The men snoozing on the floor of the shuttle had mentioned others, but not how many.
She was almost regretting her earlier bravado.
Almost.
The mask, while she would love to keep it on, hindered her vision, so Auri took it off and returned it to its pocket in her jacket. Taking shallow breaths, she unholstered another one of Meri’s smaller guns from its hiding place inside her jacket with one hand while choosing a rapier out of the stack with the other. She would have preferred her own sword but this was better than nothing. Knives, guns and anything else she could use as a weapon were collected and hidden in her boots and anywhere else she could stuff them. The few that were left were hidden under the garbage.
Once the shuttle was locked down and the men secured, Aurelia crept through the eerily silent cargo bay. Her cautious steps echoed far too loudly for her liking in the empty space. It was obvious these men didn’t have much luck by way of booty. Not surprising, considering their leader.
From her vantage point she could see anything coming her way. Unfortunately, the lack of cover meant that anyone who wandered through would see her too.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she could hear footsteps and voices coming toward her.
Heart in her throat, Aurelia slipped into an alcove and waited.
“Buck said they had some new ladybird for us to play with.”
“I could use a little something to ward off the cold on those long, lonely nights.”
“Not if I get to her first!”
The laughter moved closer.
“Buck!”
“Hey, Buck! Come on now. No being greedy! Friends share!”
“The bastards are probably enjoying her right now.” Apparently afraid they were losing out on the fun, they ran toward the shuttle.
Aurelia held her breath as she peeked around the corner. Both men were broad and much taller. No doubt they out-muscled her. They would definitely have the advantage, given the opportunity. Luckily for Auri, they had their backs to her. If there was ever going to be a good time to get the drop on them, it was now.
Aurelia took a deep breath and stepped out. “Hands up. Do what you’re told and no one gets hurt.”
The surprised men whirled around to face her and in an instant, she was staring down two very intimidating men.
The one with the gargantuan nose found his voice first. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“I’m the new ladybird. Here to have a good time. Hope you don’t mind—I brought party favors.” She waved her gun and sword at them.
Nose snorted. “Funny. What did you do to the others?” They circled her now.
She had her gun trained on the one with a scraggly beard and the sword on Nose as she moved with them. “I took care of them. Just like I’m going to take care of you two.”
“Big talk from such a little girl.”
Auri rolled her eyes. Beard was hardly original. She’d heard it more than a few times over the years. She could never understand why they fixated on her size when, big or little, she was the one with the gun aimed at their face. “Why don’t you step a little closer so my big sword can explain it to you?”
“Ha!” Nose looked over her head t
o his cohort. “I like this one. She’s feisty.”
Aurelia lunged at him while he was mid-laugh and shot at Beard simultaneously. Nose dodged her sword, narrowly missing a shaft of metal through the gut. His compatriot wasn’t so lucky, as he was gripped in the blue-clawed hand of electricity. His screams died as he fell, convulsing, to the hard metal floor.
“You bitch!” His kept her in his line of sight as he circled over to his fallen friend. He gingerly nudged the body with his foot. “Mate?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“Fine? Like hell! You shot him with that—that thing!”
“He’s just unconscious. No need to get hysterical. You’d think you were the woman here.”
His mouth clamped shut as he glared at her. “What do you want?”
“This ship. But first, you’re going to tell me if there are any more of your friends onboard.”
“There aren’t.”
“You’re quite sure? If I have to go searching and find more of you, I’m going to get a tad miffed.” She aimed the gun at his face and made sure he saw her push a little button. “I’ve just changed the setting. If I were to shoot you right now your mates will be mourning the bits left of you.”
Her heart buoyed when his face paled. Auri made a mental note to thank Everhard for his crash course in lying.
“Just take the ship!”
“I’m glad we understand one another.” Aurelia jerked her head at the prone body on the floor. “Take your friend onto the shuttle. I want you off this ship in three minutes. I’ve left a little present onboard. If you take any longer, you all die.” Another bluff, but in a few moments it wouldn’t matter.
He grabbed his shipmate by the foot and started dragging. “We’ll find you. We’ll hunt you down and make you pay.”
Weary, she leveled the gun between his brows. “Do shut up.” The blast dropped him next to his shipmate. “Idiot.”
It took longer than she’d like to admit, but she managed to drag the two bodies onto the little craft, set it on autopilot for the nearest colony and sent it off. Best guess, they would wake up in time to land on Ariel.
By the time she found her way through the bowels of the ship to the bridge, her three hours was nearing four. Her crew would fear the worst for sure.
She opened the door to the stinking cockpit and shook her head at the state of the controls. “Boy, how some people live.”
The console was a bit outmoded, but it was easy enough to fathom. She was just grateful that it didn’t smell as much. The communications interface look like it had seen better days, but Aurelia managed to get it to work. To a fashion.
She fought back the bile and stabbed at the button. “Euchronia. Are you there?”
“It’s about time.” After a few seconds, a handsome, smiling face filled the flickering screen. Despite the grin, Everhard’s concern was clear in his eyes. “Keys was about to launch a search party.”
Her lips curled upward. “I’m fine. I’m heading back to you now. Tell Keys to have more faith in me.”
“You tell him that yourself, darlin’.” He leaned back in the chair and stretched. It was amazing to her how his frame still filled the screen. “I don’t think it would do much good coming from me.”
Aurelia chuckled, the tension draining from her muscles.
Time to go home.
Chapter Two
“You should have seen their faces when they turned around!” Aurelia’s chuckles joined the guffaws coming from around the small table. She took a healthy swig of her drink before continuing. “I thought they were going to wet themselves!”
Their shared laughter rang off the well-worn metal walls of the kitchen/dining room. This had to be her favorite place onboard the ship. Whenever they were in this room eating together, it felt as if nothing in the solar system could go wrong. That they weren’t hiding out in the dark. That they were just a happy, albeit rather unconventional, family.
“We’re glad you’re okay, my dear.” Meri ladled a scoop of something suspicious looking and dropped it onto her plate with a splat. “Now, eat up. You’ve had quite the adventure.”
“You make it sound like I did something dangerous.” She did take a spoonful of whatever it was and sniffed at it the way he taught her to when trying to identify a strange liquid. “And what fine fare are we feasting on tonight?”
“That is my fish soup surprise.”
“Do I want to know what the surprise is?”
A resounding “No!” came from around the table.
Aurelia laughed. “Very well.” She didn’t even care to ask where the man had found the fish.
Meri had yet to poison them in all the years they’d been together, so she hazarded a guess that the soup wouldn’t be fatal. It was actually quite good, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Meri was as handy in the kitchen as he was in a laboratory. Aurelia noticed she wasn’t the only one going back for more.
It was days like these that she liked best. A successful haul, no one got hurt and they were all together, enjoying a meal at the end of it.
She observed her companions from under her lashes.
Meri sat, as always, watching the others enjoy his latest culinary creation before starting on his own plate. Auri followed his steely gray eyes taking in everything going on around him before he started on his soup with gusto.
He caught her mid-observation from beneath the flop of gray hair that hung down well past his nose and raised a brow. “Not sophisticated enough for your refined palate, my lady?”
The mocking tone brought a smile to her lips. “Would I be on my second helping if it wasn’t?”
“Hey!” Bam wrapped his metal arm around the hot pot with a clang and edged it closer to himself. “Leave some for the rest o’ us! Growing boys need food too, y’ know.”
“If you grow any more, you’ll give Everhard a run for his money.” Meri wrestled the pot away and set it back in the middle of the small table. “Stop being so greedy. There’s plenty for everyone.”
Everhard’s reply to the whole debacle was to shrug his massive shoulders and mock Bam with his cheek-dimpling smirk. There was no argument who the most muscled man was on the ship, but at eighteen, Bam was nearly the size of Everhard and clearly still growing. “I’m still the best looking.” He winked at Auri. “Isn’t that right, darlin’?”
She laughed and put her hands up. There was no way she was getting in the middle of this one. Auri had once been dazzled by Everhard’s devastating good looks. As a child, she’d heard maids whispering about men who were so devilishly handsome that one glance could make a person forget about everything else. Aurelia didn’t believe it until she met him.
One glance at his dark hair, tanned skin and broad shoulders, and she’d been in awe. Once he’d leveled his piercing black eyes on her, she was lost. He had that effect on every woman they’d encountered so far. There was just something about the man that had women gravitating toward him.
Of course, for Auri at least, it was short-lived. After she found out Everhard was incarcerated because he used his looks to fool women into giving him their entire life savings, her crush died quickly.
A chuckle drew her attention back to the head of the table, where Bam had whispered something to Meri. Dark head leaned to silvery in an oft-seen sight as the two shared a private joke. In the close-knit group, those two were almost like father and son. Their interactions always made her heart warm.
Finally, her gaze fell to the man at her side.
Keys.
He was her knight in shining armor. When wandering minstrels sang about chivalrous men in the Middle Ages, Auri imagined they were talking about men like him. He was the first of the group to talk to her. The first to befriend her. The man who was determined to be at her side through thick and thin and protect her
no matter what.
And over the years, her attention shifted to him. Calm, logical and methodical, Keys was the one person onboard she could talk to about nearly everything. He made her feel comfortable and protected. And that attracted her. Not that she’d ever tell. She couldn’t imagine Keys would find her the least bit desirable. Young and headstrong weren’t characteristics a steadfast man like him would look for in a potential mate.
She let her attention drift over his sandy hair before dropping them to eyes that were nearly the same pale blue-green of Uranus. Auri’s scrutiny flicked from one man to the other around the table before returning to him again.
A contented smile crept over her lips.
Of course, Keys caught the look on her face. “What are you smirking about?”
“Nothing. Just happy, that’s all.” And she was. She reveled in it. Aurelia knew this pleasure was something she only ever experienced when they were together enjoying each other’s company.
Keys looked as though he was about to say something. Auri could almost see him shrug it away mentally before he pushed away his bowl. “I’ll take care of the dishes later. I’m going to do a quick sweep of the area to make sure we weren’t followed.”
“Me an’ Everhard are gonna take a little look at our new ship. See what we can do with ’er.” Bam eagerly clapped his flesh and bone hand against the metal of his mechanical one. Even the green glass of his replacement eye seemed to twinkle with renewed purpose.
“And consult me before you decide to dump anything.” Meri waved his nearly empty bowl at them both, sloshing half the bowl’s contents on the floor. “Last time, you cost me dearly.”
The two men looked at each other before snapping to attention and saluting Meri. “Yes, sir!”
“Get out of here, you miscreants.” With them out of the way, he turned to Aurelia. “So, when are you going to ask me to look at that cut?”
“Cut?” Aurelia looked down at herself. “Where?”
“Your leg.” His gaze was aimed at her thigh.