by Kait Gamble
A smug smile rounded his lips. “Absolutely, sugar.”
“Help me lock them in here. Then we can contact the captain together.”
“I love a woman with a plan.”
She beamed at him before turning back to Bam. “Are you going to join us?”
His artificial eye flashed angrily. “Not on your life.”
True pain flashed over the blonde’s features. It looked like Bam played his role very well. “Bam, come on! We could run off together. It would be perfect. Weren’t we saying the other day how good we were?”
He shook his head. “Tha’ was before I found out you were a crazed cow. I could never be with someone like you.”
Kateryn’s mouth clamped shut and for a moment Auri thought she was going to burst into tears. Instead, she barked a laugh. “I guess it’s just you and me, handsome.”
Everhard gave Aurelia a mocking salute. “Sorry, darlin’, but we always knew this day would come.”
“T-Traitor.” Keys struggled to form another word but it never came.
Aurelia dropped back to her knees, lifting his head onto them. “Shut up. Save your strength.” She stared at him, hoping he understood what Everhard was doing. “He’s not worth it.”
Auri knew Everhard was doing this to help them out, but it was unnerving how convincing he was. There were no outward signs that he was lying. He was just too good to falter.
Instead of worrying about Everhard, she focused on Keys. She swiped at the sweat beading on his brow. With every breath he struggled to draw, Aurelia felt the pain as if it was her own body shutting down.
Kateryn stared at Keys for a moment before pinning Aurelia with a look. “I truly admired you at first. You took control of a ship and men and robbed your way through the solar system.”
“I knew you couldn’t be trusted.” Auri ran her fingers over Keys’ face. The heat beneath her fingers was unnerving. He wasn’t going to last much longer. She glared at the blonde. “You’ve done what you’ve come to do. Just shut up and leave.”
Kateryn kicked them, sending both Auri and Keys back against the wall.
“Try that again, and you won’t get a chance to press that button.” Meri’s expression was terrifying. Despite his earlier weakness, there was no doubt he’d carry through with the threat without hesitation.
She snorted. “You think I’m going to leave without seeing his dead body?” Kateryn sniffed haughtily. “Idiots. All of you.”
Keys forced his head from side to side. “Let them go. I’m the…one you want.” The words were barely discernable from his groans.
The girl scoffed. “Still trying to protect her? How noble! But that’s just the kind of man you are, aren’t you?” She swung her booted foot into his stomach in a vicious kick. “How noble were you when you killed an innocent man?”
It took far longer for Keys to gather the strength to speak than Auri would have liked. “He wasn’t innocent. Your father knew that as much as I did. Your brother was crazed. He was dangerous. Sick and twisted. My sister wasn’t the first girl he hurt, and she wouldn’t be the last.” Keys gulped a lungful of air and released it with a hiss. “You want the truth? When I found him, he was about to kill another girl. He left me no choice but to kill him. But it was all covered up, leaving me with blood on my hands.”
She slammed her boot into him again, this time hard enough to roll him onto his side. “Liar!”
“Call me what you want. It doesn’t change the truth.” Keys spat blood at her feet. “Your brother was a murderer.”
Kateryn screamed something at him that was lost in her animalistic wail. She drew her leg back for another blow, but Everhard dragged her back, nearly pulling the girl off her feet.
“They’re not worth it.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, sugar. I want to see the look on the captain’s face when we tell him his daughter’s alive and well…at least, for the moment.”
The idea seemed to be more enticing to her than staying here to torment them further.
Everhard tugged her back so the door could close. He blew Auri a kiss as it slid shut.
She had nothing to worry about.
The moment the lock slid into place, Auri started barking orders. “Bam, get that door open.”
He was already taking it apart. “That bitch ain’t going anywhere.” The sound of wrenching metal was promising.
She turned to Meri. “I hope to whatever god is listening that you have something stashed in here that will help.”
The old man was already tearing through the drawers, searching for whatever he needed.
She ran her fingers over Keys’ brow again. “Don’t you dare stop breathing.”
The man in her arms managed to rasp, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”
“Save your energy, my boy. You’re going to need it.” Meri slipped a needle into Keys’ arm. He then pulled out an assortment of other implements.
Auri wished there was more that she could do, but she was out of her depth. “You can help him, right, Meri?”
The look he gave her didn’t instill much confidence.
Gripping the man in her arms tighter, she turned to the man taking down the door. “How’s it going?”
“Just give me a sec,” Bam growled as he yanked another section away.
Auri dropped her head to Keys’ and squeezed her eyes closed as she fought to control the fear and grief welling up inside her. Despite her best efforts, her breathing refused to slow and her heart would not stop pounding. The tears started to flow. “Don’t you dare stop breathing. You’ve got to hang on.”
Her eyes fluttered open when she felt Keys’ fingers shakily brushing away her tears. Even now, he was trying to comfort her. That just made the tears come faster.
Auri’s heart clenched. For a long moment they stayed, eyes locked, mouths a mere breath apart.
Their eyes were torn from each other and drawn to Bam when he shouted triumphantly.
“Done!” He swept aside the final barrier with a clang.
Thank goodness for that. Auri gingerly laid Keys back on the ground.
A heavy hand locked onto her knee. “Don’t even think about it.”
She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze before she put it on his chest. “I’m not letting her off that easy.” She was going to make Kateryn hurt for what she did to him. “Bam, keep an eye out. She cannot be allowed back in.” The last thing she needed was Kateryn ruining any progress Meri was making.
“Miss—”
“I’ll be fine. Just make sure that you three stay safe, okay?”
Auri barely managed a step out of the room before the little blonde she wanted to tear limb from limb turned the corner from the cockpit right into her path.
Kateryn shook her head in exasperation as she sauntered closer. “My, you and your little crew are relentless.”
Auri smiled sweetly at Kateryn. “Thanks for saving me the trouble of looking for you.” That was true, but the fact that Everhard was nowhere to be seen was troubling. “What did you do to Everhard?”
“Oh, him. I remembered your little speech about not trusting him. Turns out, you were right. You can’t trust him. The lying bastard’s now cuffed to his chair in the cockpit. It was easy, really. Embarrassingly so. I trust that’s not a story he’s going to be telling anyone.”
At least she hadn’t hurt him. Cuffs wouldn’t hold him for long. Knowing Everhard, he allowed her to cuff him to get her thinking he wasn’t a threat. As soon as he was loose, he’d be back.
Not that she was going to let on. Auri heaved an exasperated sigh. “Why aren’t you off my ship yet?”
“I told you. I want to see him dead.” She stepped closer in what she probably thought was a menacing move.
Auri leapt forward, startling her back. “Try to get in there and I’ll kill you.”
“And maybe my finger will slip and we’ll all die here right now.”
Auri stared down the girl. “Do it.” Her quiet voice rang clear in the silent hall. “I would. You’d get your wish that much quicker.”
Kateryn’s lips curled back at the challenge. She fondled the pendant, ruminating for a moment before she snarled at her rival. “Shut up!”
Auri glowered in response. “Aw, can’t do it? I thought you wanted to be like me. You could prove it right here. Right now.” Auri stepped closer and dropped her head so they were eye to eye. “Do it.” She sighed heavily when Kateryn didn’t move. “Oh, well.”
The blonde snarled with frustration. Then her expression cleared as she stared at Aurelia. “I have better plans for you. I think you and your father are overdue for a reunion.” Kateryn sneered as she mockingly waved the amulet at them. “Say goodbye.”
Auri locked eyes with Keys but made no move toward him. She noted Meri had hidden the syringe and various vials from sight.
“No? Not even a kiss for your man? Aw, come on. Even a cold fish like you has to have some emotions.” She shoved Aurelia in the room toward Keys.
Auri didn’t fight it when Kateryn jammed her foot behind her knees, sending her down hard to the ground next to him. She traded a look with Meri before she could turn to Keys’ pale face. Meri’s subtle nod could have meant anything from “He’ll be fine” to “Yes, he can hear you.” At that moment, Auri didn’t care to try and figure it out.
She gingerly ran her fingers over Keys’ cheeks until his eyes fluttered open a crack.
“Auri?”
“Hey. I’m just going to step out for a bit. I didn’t want you to worry.”
Keys’ gasping chuckle did little to float the hope that was deflated in her gut at the moment.
He searched her eyes for a second before he found what he was looking for. His lips curved in a ghost of a smile as he moved her fingers away. His hand gripped hers and in a move she was sure no one else saw, he brushed his lips against the back of her hand.
Her heart flipped.
“Auri, I—”
She pressed a finger over his lips to still them. He wasn’t going to say anything in front of Kateryn. “Later.”
“That was absolutely pathetic!” Kateryn grabbed a knife from the table and pressed it to Auri’s neck, giving her no choice but to get up. Waving the necklace in her other hand, she glared at the others. “Any of you try anything, and you all die.”
Aurelia bowed her head at the men. Her crew, her family. Keys’ worried grimace was the last thing she saw as she was prodded at knife point toward the shuttle bay. For a long while, the only sound was Kateryn’s harsh breathing, punctuated with their footsteps. By the time they reached the huge metal doors separating them from the shuttle, Auri knew there was no changing Kateryn’s mind. Not that it mattered. She just needed to get a little space between them. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Kateryn rewarded her with a slap and dragged her through the airlock. “Shut up! Don’t think you can talk your way out of this. Nothing you say will change the fact that I’m going to destroy that man, even if it means killing the others with him.”
Aurelia refused to rub the sting on her cheek. “Then leave me to die with them. You have everything that’s of any worth in that shuttle. You also have the trigger, so I’m assuming you’re smart enough to figure that out. I’m not worth anything to you out there. My father won’t give you a cent for me.”
Kateryn shook her head. “You really think I’ll believe a word out of your mouth? You really are an idiot, aren’t you?”
Auri snorted. “Am I?”
“I think I’ll use all the information you gave me against him. After I leave you at his mercy, that is.”
So that’s what all the questions about the captain were about. Kateryn wanted to squeeze a little more out of the situation. Greedy cow.
“You didn’t even realize I got you to open the door that night so I could figure out how to disable Meri’s traps. I’m not like that murdering bastard in there. I made sure I got the right man.” She bore her teeth like a feral cat. “You had no idea that I made sure the transmitter wouldn’t work until I was ready. Your resident ‘genius’ didn’t even notice when I stole his drugs!” She grinned wickedly. “That was just to see if I could, by the way. Using it on the murderer just made things easier.” Kateryn shook her head again, as if she still couldn’t believe how easily she’d duped them all.
Auri shrugged. “You can’t win them all.” She sniffed dismissively and took a half step back when Kateryn started ranting again.
“None of you spotted me trailing you after I found you stupidly celebrating some windfall on Triton. You all must have horseshoes shoved up places, because there’s no way you would have made it this long otherwise.”
That had been a couple of months before running into the slobs they stole the latest ship from. Auri edged back a little farther. She’d been wondering how the girl had managed it. “And when you figured out what we were doing, you got yourself onboard their ship and then onto mine. You’re obviously too smart for me.”
Kateryn started pacing in a small arc now. Strutting back and forth, forgetting about Auri altogether. “Damn right, I am.”
Auri shook her head slowly. Mockingly. “And I suppose you think I’m going to do everything you say now.”
“You will as long as I’ve got this little bauble.” She swung the necklace around her finger. “You care about them far too much to take any chances. They’re your weakness.”
“You’re right about that. But I wanted to point out a few problems with your plan.” Kateryn was about to say something more, but Auri held up her hand like a queen silencing her jester. She’d had enough. “I’m not done. You think you’ve had free run of the Euchronia? You’re sadly mistaken. You don’t think I knew where you were every moment we were onboard? Did you think to check your clothing for trackers? Or how about the halls and rooms for monitors?”
Kateryn’s eyes narrowed.
“How about your rubbish story about being a Castleton? You don’t think my family was invited to any of their many, many parties? Not once did I see anyone who even looked like you at any of them.”
Her captor’s mouth opened and closed uselessly before her lips pressed into a thin line.
“You were also too stupid to realize that you’d botched up with the communicator. I found the transistor you dropped. The trail you left behind was pretty easy to follow. In fact, the only thing I got wrong was that I thought you were working for my father, trying to bring me back to him.”
Kateryn’s jaw clenched for a moment before she barked a laugh at her. “That’s just sad! You honestly want me to believe you knew all that and still ended up here? At my mercy? That’s too rich!”
Aurelia shrugged. “Or maybe I just wanted you here to do this.” She lunged for her, throwing her fist in Kateryn’s face and connecting with a satisfying crunch. It wasn’t enough. Auri dragged her forward, connecting her knee with Kateryn’s stomach with enough force to knock the air from her lungs and send her tumbling to the steel-paneled floor.
“Get back here, you bitch!” Kateryn grabbed at Auri’s legs, but she was too dazed from the previous blows.
Aurelia kicked her back and dashed through the door to hit the switch. The door slammed closed with a sucking whoosh.
Kateryn slammed at the thick glass, the trigger still in her hands. She waved it contemptuously at Aurelia as she screamed something that looked quite insulting.
Aurelia’s hand crashed against the communication panel. “You have thirty seconds before the doors open and you’re sucked into the deep black. I suggest you get in that shuttle, take wha
tever it is you hoarded on it and get the hell out of here. If I ever see you again, you can be sure you’ll not get another offer like that from me.”
Kateryn stared at her long and hard.
She smiled sweetly. “You now have twenty-six seconds.”
The girl snarled and punched at the glass. “You’re dead!” She turned and ran to the shuttle.
Flame flared from the shuttle’s thrusters just as the doors opened like Aurelia predicted and she watched as the little craft blasted into the darkness. She hissed a long breath as the space between the Euchronia and the shuttle widened.
Auri wearily trudged past the cockpit to find Everhard had already made his escape. With a chuckle, she started back to the galley. Keys was now sitting up with the help of a well-placed cushion. She was glad to see his color coming back, and his breathing wasn’t as labored.
She made a mental note to give Meri a big kiss on the cheek in thanks.
The rest of the men were strewn about the room all holding a full glass of wine. You’d never think their lives had been on the line.
She studied Keys for a while, making sure he was okay. He chuckled roughly and extended a hand. With a sigh, she entwined her fingers with his. When he dragged her down next to him she didn’t resist. Settled next to him, Auri reached a hand back, the one not currently linked to Keys, ready to cradle a glass. “Pour me one of those.”
Everhard did as he was told and slipped it into her waiting hand.
“Glad to see you escaped the cuffs.”
“You should know by now they haven’t invented any that will hold me for long, darlin’.”