by Nina Croft
“He’s been questioned, but all he’ll say is he’s on vacation from Earth and visiting his girlfriend. He’s not in good shape, but he’s not dead. Yet.”
Yolanda. The bitch. “Yet?”
“Rumor has it your buddy Zakary Mer and the Earth guy are scheduled for execution.”
“When?”
“Not sure, but sooner rather than later. Right now, the whole planet is crawling with Federation troops and intelligence agents. The consensus is that the palace doesn’t want to make waves until they’re gone.”
“Why is the Federation there?” Killian asked.
“According to our contacts, there was supposed to be some big high-powered Federation leader visiting. No one knows who—it was all pretty hush-hush. After the trouble you stirred up, he canceled, but his forward crew was already on the planet. They are pulling out as we speak.”
So, not good. “Then they could be about to execute Zak and Rekowski,” I said. “We have to get back there and now. We have to save them.”
“Not possible,” Joe replied. “For a start, we have no way of getting to the planet.”
Was he stupid? It had to be possible. I looked to Killian; he was staring at the ceiling, his metal eye flicking. He was trying to come up with a solution, and from the frustration on his face, he was failing.
But failure was not an option.
“Anything is possible,” I said and hoped it was true.
Anger flashed in Joe’s eyes. “Do you not think we wouldn’t have gotten everyone off this shithole before now if there’d been a way?”
I didn’t care. I was finding a way. “The person who gave you this information—how did he get here?”
“On the supply ship.”
“Then we go back on the supply ship.”
“No chance. It’s heavily guarded.”
Beside me, Killian seemed to give himself a shake and come back to us. I glanced at his face, saw his resolve, and some of the tension eased from me. I’d been scared, deep down, that maybe he would let them die. Look after himself. And me. But that wasn’t enough.
“How many guards?” Killian asked.
Joe frowned. “You can’t seriously be—”
“How many fucking guards?” he snarled.
“Five. All armed. Plus the crew of two. We can’t take them. It’s too dangerous.”
Killian took a step toward him. “We are taking that ship. We would like your help, but if not, we will do it without you.”
“You’ll die.”
“Then we’ll die. But at least we won’t have to live on this godforsaken rock with a load of sniveling cowards who might as well have kept their chains.” He whirled around and stalked away, came to a halt, and punched the rock wall.
Ouch.
But I wanted to cheer.
My hero.
Together we could do anything.
Or we could die.
I didn’t want to die. But I also didn’t want to live knowing people I cared about had been murdered, and I’d stood around and done nothing. I forced my gaze from Killian back to Joe.
He stood with his head back, hands in his pockets, body stiff with tension. As though he felt my gaze, he lowered his head and looked at me. His eyes were filled with an expression I couldn’t quite analyze, but then he gave a quick nod. “We’ll help.”
I moved closer and rested my hand on his arm. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I think we’ll fail, but Killian’s right. If we don’t take the risk, then we’re like those children. We’ll die on this place. At least we have a chance, even if it’s a small one.”
“We’ll do it. Killian is brilliant. A measly five guards”—I gave an extravagant shrug—“he could take that many with one hand tied behind his back. Two hands probably.”
Chapter Four
Killian
“Oh my God, help me.”
Ruby raced across the open area in front of the supply ship. She wore my shirt, open, so it flapped as she ran, revealing her naked breasts, bouncing, the silver rings glinting in the dim light.
Fuck me, but she was gorgeous.
I hadn’t wanted her to do this. I’d wanted to keep her well away from the fighting, but she’d insisted. It had been her idea to act as a decoy. Joe, the bastard, had agreed.
As we hadn’t had much time to come up with a plan—the supply ship was due to return to the planet within hours—I’d given in ungracefully. But I was watching carefully, laser pistol at the ready. If anything went wrong, if any of those fuckers looked like they were going to hurt her, I was taking them out, to hell with the plan.
“Help.” She screamed long and loud; she had a fine set of lungs.
Unfortunately, she was a terrible actress, but with breasts like those, did it matter? The idea was to get as many of the guards out of the ship and into the open as possible. Then I’d shoot them, being the only one with a pistol. Joe and a couple of his men would slip into the ship and dispatch anyone who was left. I’d already taken out the guard who was stationed at the gate to the landing bay. Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of the five, but one of the guards who worked at the mines. I was happy to slit his throat.
Right now, there were only two guards at the entrance. We needed more. Then as Ruby’s scream pierced the air, two more appeared at the docking bay doors of the supply ship.
Ruby skidded to a halt. “Help me. Some men tried to…it was horrible. Please…” And she crumpled to the sand in a not very convincing faint. It didn’t matter. All four guards hurried over, their attention fixed on the nearly naked woman. I wanted to wipe the slimy grins off their faces. And I would. Soon.
I waited until Joe and his men slipped around from the back of the ship, up the ramp, and through the loading doors. Then I aimed at the guard nearest Ruby. They were huddled in a close-knit bunch, and I had to get them all fast before they could react. I shot the first in the chest, and he fell to the ground. I got the second and third before they had time to even realize what was happening. But the fourth was quicker than the others. He dived for Ruby, grabbed her and came up fast—he was good—holding her in front of him as a shield.
Fuck. Shit. Crap.
I couldn’t get to him without risking Ruby. In a flash, he had his own pistol out, shooting in my direction, and I flattened myself against the side of the tunnel. He raised his wrist, probably to call for backup, his other arm loosely wrapped around Ruby.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t see her as a threat, just as a convenient shield. Her eyes were open, and she was staring at me. Her hand slid to her waist, and she slipped the knife from inside her pants. She’d never killed anyone before with a knife. Could she do it? She’d have to be fast, because if he called for backup, we were finished.
She held my gaze as she slashed the knife back and upward, into his stomach. He dropped his hold, and she dived forward, giving me a clean shot. Within seconds, he was on the ground, dead.
I hurried across as she was picking herself up. I pulled her into my arms and held her for a second. She was shaking, and I stroked her back until the quivers stopped. She pushed herself away.
“You did great,” I said.
Her smile was a little wobbly, but it was there. “I thought he was going to kill you.”
“And you stopped him.” I kissed the top of her head. And blew out my breath. Better not tell her that I’d thought he was going to kill me as well. Time to see how Joe had fared. There was no sound of approaching feet, so hopefully there was no one coming to the rescue.
I crouched down beside the closest body, took the laser pistol from his outstretched hand and tossed it to Ruby. She stuffed it down the back of her pants and then tied the shirt in a knot under her breasts. I took the other three pistols from the holsters of the dead guards. Joe’s little band of rebels could use all the weapons they could get.
Putting Ruby behind me, I headed up the ramp, listening for any sounds of fighting, but all was quiet, which I took to be a good sign.
The ramp led into a large storage area, empty now. I crossed the space to an open door at the back and into a corridor. The fifth guard lay dead, his head at an awkward angle, his neck broken.
Up ahead, the sound of voices drifted down the corridor. I recognized Joe’s and followed the sound to the front of the ship and the cockpit. Two bodies were sprawled on the floor and another man stood huddled in the corner. Joe and two of his men stood off to the side.
Beside me, Ruby looked a little green. I don’t think she was good with dead bodies.
I nodded toward the man who stood in the corner. “Why’s he alive?”
“He’s our source.”
“Go drag the bodies somewhere they can’t be seen and leave him tied up with them.”
“Who put you in charge?” Joe grumbled. But he waved off his men, and they disappeared, dragging the bodies behind them.
“Are you coming with us?” I asked.
Joe shook his head. “No, I reckon not. You don’t need us to get your friends. If it comes down to a fight, a few extra men won’t make a difference, and it will just make you harder to hide.”
He was right. Our only hope of rescuing Rekowski and Zak was by stealth. We had to slip in there and out without raising an alarm if we wanted a chance.
“This might be your only opportunity to get off this shithole,” I said to Joe.
“We all have family here. I won’t leave them behind.”
“Like I did, you mean?”
He grinned. “Yeah. You always were a selfish little bastard. But we all get out or none of us do.”
I handed him the laser pistols I’d taken from the guards. “For the cause.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll come back,” Ruby said, her tone fierce. “After we’ve done what we have to—we’ll come back, and we’ll put a stop to this, somehow. I promise.” She crossed to where he stood and hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around her and groped her ass, grinning at me over her shoulder. I let it go—this time.
Finally, she stepped back. He held out his hand to me and I shook it. We’d never be friends, but I respected him for what he was doing. As he left, I crossed to the pilot’s seat and switched on the screens that showed the landing bay. The bodies were gone. Blood stained the ground where the guy Ruby stabbed had fallen. Joe appeared and kicked sand over the mark. With luck, the bodies wouldn’t be discovered until we were back on the planet and had found Zak and Rekowski. And Yolanda Pendleton. And Ruby’s friend Sarah, who, I was pretty sure, she wouldn’t leave behind.
Christ, the list was growing. It was going to be a cozy trip back to Earth on the Helldiver.
For a second, I wondered where the Helldiver was. Hopefully Creb had followed the protocols we’d set up and stayed out of trouble. We’d arranged for situations like this that whoever had the ship would return to the pre-set rendezvous point every twenty-four hours.
I flicked the switch to close the doors and then turned on the engines. The ship shuddered into life. “Strap yourself in, sweetheart.” I nodded at the seat beside me and Ruby half sat, half collapsed into it. She fumbled with the harness, her fingers shaking, and I reached across and brushed her hands aside, fastening the buckles myself. I gave her thigh a squeeze. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I just wish we could have at least taken the children with us.”
“There are too many of them and too many guards, sweetheart. We’d have been killed, and then there would have been no one to rescue Zak and your friends. And then Pendleton would vote to open up the Earth and lots of people would die.”
“I know. But we’ll come back and save them, won’t we, Killian?”
“One day.”
And I knew I was speaking the truth. She made me a better person. I’d been selfish in the past. I’d considered, after my shitty upbringing, that I deserved some fun. But now it was time to get serious. I took the controls and we lifted into the air. I raised the ship’s nose, and a second later, we were heading into space and back to Groth.
Ruby was quiet and I gave her a sideways glance. She looked sort of sad and I hated that.
“How’d you like to learn to fly?” I asked.
A smile flashed across her face and her eyes shone. “Really? You’ll let me fly?”
I patted my lap. “Come sit over here, and I’ll teach you everything I know.”
She was out of that harness fast and on her feet a second later. I pulled her down onto my knee. She wriggled her ass against me, and I grew instantly hard. “Stop that,” I muttered, “this is serious stuff.”
She wriggled again and I nuzzled the side of her neck.
“So flying,” I said, “it’s really quite simple.”
Chapter Five
Ruby
The sick feeling in my stomach was fear.
I’d learned to recognize it now, but I was also familiar enough with the emotion to know that it didn’t control me.
I could be scared half to death and I’d still function.
After all, I’d flown a spaceship. I could do anything.
Kill had even let me land, though he’d gone a little pale. He was so brave.
We’d set down outside the city and made our way to the palace. Killian had killed the guard—slit his throat—at the side-entrance we’d used and hidden the body. Now we were creeping our way through the marble corridors. It was the middle of the night and everything was dark and quiet.
With luck, we would find everyone and be out of there without any of the bad guys knowing we were around.
We had a plan, of sorts. We were on our way to the dungeons where, hopefully, we would find Zak and Rekowski and free them. Then we would go get Sarah, who, hopefully, would still be in the old room we’d shared in the palace, near the princess’s quarters. And finally, we would reacquire Yolanda and, hopefully, she’d come with us without too much of a fight. There was a lot of hoping going on, but I was optimistic.
We’d debated on the whole Yolanda issue. I’d prefer to take her with us, but the alternative was to leave her behind. We didn’t actually need her—once we’d told her father what she was really up to, that she wasn’t in danger—then he was no longer under any pressure to vote for the Earth losing its closed status. Mission accomplished. So if Yolanda proved troublesome, we would leave her behind and just get the hell out of there.
We were headed downward to where the dungeons were located underground and where it was likely Zak and Rekowski were being held, pending their imminent executions. They would no doubt be killed quietly. The imperial house wouldn’t want to admit that they were killing the ex-crown prince. Apparently, he still had supporters here.
A single guard stood at the entrance to the dungeons. Killian shot him in the chest and then dragged his body inside.
A shiver ran through me. The place stank of fear and pain and despair. The walls were bare rock, and the light just a dim orange glow. Cells lined the corridor. The metal doors had a grill on the front and we peered into each as we passed. Most were occupied, but we saw no sign of Zak or Rekowski.
We went down a set of narrow stone steps to a lower level. The weight of all that rock pressed down on me. Panic was building inside me and my heart was racing; I needed to get out of there. I needed fresh air. Then Killian slipped his hand into mine, and a measure of peace washed through me.
“He’s here,” Killian said. He’d stopped at one of the cells and stared inside. “Shit, he doesn’t look good.”
I pushed up next to him and peered through the grill. There was Zak. He was bare-chested, his blue skin marked with stripes and fresh scars. Otherwise, he looked unharmed—at least physically. Mentally was another matter. Pacing the room, each time he met the wall, he slammed his fist into it and growled. Rage positively oozed from the cell.
“What’s the matter with him? He looks sort of crazy.” Had they done something to his mind?
“Actually, that’s pretty normal for Zak under the circumstances.”
“What
circumstances?”
“If Groth warriors don’t get sex regularly, they can get a little freaky. Either angry or depressed. Zak’s been in here for nearly two weeks. He’s probably close to the point of not functioning.”
That didn’t sound good. We needed him thinking straight if we were going to get out of here. “Oh.”
I’d had sex with Zak before. When I was first on the Helldiver. Killian and Zak often shared women. It had been an amazing experience. But things had changed between Killian and me since then, in ways I was unwilling to analyze right now. Thinking about my feelings increased my fear of dying and not being able to explore this thing with Killian further. All the same, if sex was what it would take to get Zak out of here in one piece, I would do it. I glanced at Kill; a tic was jumping in his cheek.
“It’s not as though I haven’t done it with Zak,” I said.
“Yes, but that was before.”
“Before?”
He reached out with his metal hand and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Before I fell in love with you.”
The world came to a shuddering stop. I’d known he cared about me. I cared about him as well, but I’d purposefully not put a name to my emotions because it seemed like tempting fate. I’d never been in love before. But I knew, deep down, that I loved Killian. I felt closer to him than to anyone in my life.
“I’ve rendered you speechless,” he said.
He loves me.
Suddenly the enormity of it all swept over me.
Killian Sharpe loves me.
And then I was grinning like an idiot. And I leaped at him and wrapped myself around him and kissed him. He was still for a few seconds, and then his arms came around me and he kissed me back.
Finally, I raised my head. “I love you, too.”
“That’s good.”
“And I’ll always love you.” I nodded toward the door. “You love Zak as well. I know that. And if I can help, I will. Sex with Zak won’t change the way I feel about you.”
He was quiet for a while.
“Do you hate the idea?”