Snared

by Elin Wyn

  Which was fine. Better to take them out now than have to worry about them coming up my backside later.

  “I'm a pretty peaceful guy, actually,” I told the first one that reached me. “But it's been a long few days.” Blow to the gut, crack on the head, spin to the next. “And because of your stupid surveillance bugs, the nights have been just as long.” Kick to the chin, toss him into the pair rushing me. “So I'm a little cranky.”

  In five minutes the room was cleared.

  I pressed the end of one of the sticks to the door panel until it popped, hiss and gave up in a shower of sparks, releasing the lock.

  Madden glared at me from the lower bunk. “Sounded like you had a bit of a party out there. Nobody thought to invite me.”

  I tossed him a pair of sticks. “Nah. That was just round one.”

  He surveyed the room and let out a long whistle. “What are you planning as a follow up?”

  “Fight our way through most of SysSec to take down a madman with a mind control virus. Wanna come?”

  He stepped back, evaluating. “Are you crazy?”

  “Do you care as long as you get a good fight out of it?” I countered.

  “Fair enough.” He grabbed another handful of stun sticks and headed out. “Come on, I know a back way to the research layer. Fertilizer pipes.”

  I trotted next to him. “How do you know about them?”

  “Got assigned to them last time I got in a bit of trouble.”

  Useful. “Speaking of trouble... need that cuff off? I don't know who's controlling the shocks right now.”

  Madden shoved back an access hatch, started climbing the metal ladder that had been hidden behind it. “Nope. Pain is good. Makes me angrier.”

  The climb stretched for long minutes. Even in the dark, Madden never missed a rung. My night vision helped, but other than the ladder and Madden's backside, there wasn't much to see. Finally he held down a warning hand. “About to hit the surface.”

  “Any other guard stations up there to worry about?”

  “Nah,” he whispered. “Workers are on lockdown at night, if the eggheads are up, they're playing with their toys or arguing with each other about how to break the universe.”

  I thought about Doc and Nurack. “Sounds like the mad scientists I know, yeah.”

  “You know weird people.”

  “Keeps life interesting.”

  We emerged from the hatch to a small grassy area with a few scattered pumps and metal covered boxes, all enclosed by hedges. “They don't like having to see the workings,” Madden explained. “Spoils their concentration.”

  One moon hung huge and round in the deep indigo sky above the dome, another, smaller one waning, almost setting.

  The winding hedges cast long shadows, breaking any direct path to the tower that jutted through the middle of the surface, making far too many ambush spots.

  At least, that's what SysSec would think.

  “All right, ready to go play?”

  Madden cracked his neck. “If you'd told me sooner we'd be getting into fights with Imperial goons, we'd have been friends faster.”

  We took off running, zigzagging across the open spaces. “Not sure if we're friends now,” I retorted, diving over the hedge to take down the SysSec agent crouched there.

  “Don't have to be a jerk about it.” Madden kicked the guy as he ran by to tackle the next.

  “Trust me, I'm the nice one of my family.”

  Despite their numbers, SysSec was at a decided disadvantage. They'd relied too long on their blasters and plasma rifles. When it came down to hand-to-hand, they were slow, clumsy. Or maybe that was the virus, screwing with their thought patterns, interrupting their true reflexes. Either way, I wasn't arguing.

  Inch by inch we battled our way to the tower.

  How many agents had Stanton brought with him? I wondered, dropping another pair to the ground.

  At the foot of the tower Madden paused, breath a touch ragged. “Now what?”

  “The sensible thing would be for you to wait here, watch my back.”

  His face twisted. “Damn, that sounds boring. But maybe I could use a breather before round three.”

  I clapped his shoulder, wrenched the door open and charged up the stairs. The open center made me uneasy, so I ran, pressed against the outer wall, eyes peeled for snipers above.

  But nothing came.

  The pounding beat of my footsteps echoed up the empty stairwell, my thoughts circling with every spiral.

  Where was Loree? Was she safe?

  The Pack had never exactly committed treason before, but if she'd been hurt by that prince...

  Where were the guards, dammit?

  At the top the stairs stopped at a brief landing, then two steps to the door that must lead to the the equipment room. I eyed the lock on the door. Old style mechanical lock, Not electronic. The stun stick wouldn't do anything but maybe melt something closed.

  Good thing I came prepared.

  I slipped the hairpin from my pocket, the glitter of the jeweled top winking at me. “Like you're right here, babe.” I muttered as I slid it into the keyhole, eased the pins into place one by one. Lock opened, I waited, stretching every sense to see if my presence had been discovered.

  No sound other than the steady rhythm of machinery.

  No movement.

  Flinging the door open, I leaped through it, rolling to the side.

  But there was no attack.

  Wide open arches looked out over the entire dome, a lattice of thin pipes jutting out from their lower edge.

  The pipes led back to a tangle of machinery and pumps. And at the heart of the nest, five oval capsules, each as long as my arm.

  Four had been on the schematics, containers for the suppressant.

  One was the virus.

  And I had no idea which was which.

  A soft cough behind me broke into my thoughts.

  Madden stood in the door, his face oddly grey.

  “We've got a bit of a problem.” He stumbled forward as Stanton shoved him further into the room.

  As he fell I saw the blaster in Stanton's grip.

  “Sorry. Sneaky for an old guy. And he cheats.”

  Stanton stalked into the middle of the small chamber, two agents on either side. And all three held blasters. “You've made quite enough trouble, beast. Time to end you all.”

  I shrugged, figuring angles. Three opponents shouldn't be a problem. But how to keep anyone from hitting the virus capsule? “By now, Loree will have told Vandalar all about the virus. You'll never get him.”

  Stanton laughed. “You've obviously never met the charming prince before. Of all the things he does with women, listening isn't one of them.”

  Huh. Treason it would have to be. I marked it on the to do list for later, kept thinking.

  “Your little handful won't keep him interested for long. Now that he's announced his presence at Themis, he'll have to come out for the ceremony. We'll get that on the Imperial calendar as soon as you've been handled.”

  “Round three?”

  Before I registered what he was saying, Madden jumped towards Stanton.

  All three agents fired, the stink of burnt flesh filling the chamber. With a bellow, Madden charged on, arms wrapped around Stanton's waist, driving them both out the far window.

  “Dammit, you idiot!”

  The SysSec agents gaped, then spun to fire at me.

  Far too late.

  Once I was very sure they weren't getting back up, I leaned out the window.

  Stanton's body sprawled across one of the hedges, limbs twitching as the current from the force field wires burned through him.

  Finally. It was over.

  “Gonna haul me in?”

  Madden clung to a pipe, blood-slicked fingers slipping to the ends.

  I grabbed his wrist, heaved until we sat slumped on the floor.

  “That was stupid,” I muttered.

  “You were overthinking it.” He g
roaned. “I think it might be time for a doctor.”

  “With luck, that's who's coming now.” We pulled ourselves to our feet.

  Footsteps marched up the stairway, and I braced for round four.

  The Crimson Guard flooded through the room, circling the perimeter.

  Prince Vandalar wafted in, stupid cape and all.

  But I only had eyes for Loree, pushing past him and rushing across the room. She wrapped an arm around my waist, and I pulled her into me, letting her pure, clean scent wipe away everything from the last hours.

  She glared at Madden. “What's he doing here?”

  “He's... well, maybe not one of the good guys exactly.”

  Madden snorted.

  “Kinda like us, really.”

  “Goof. You're heroes, remember?”

  Her fingers laced through mine, and all was right with the world.

  Vandalar sauntered over.

  “You know, I'd really like to keep Loree. No, nothing like that.” he waved with one manicured hand. “She'd make a fine general.”

  “Like hell,” I growled, and tensed. Taking on the Crimson Guard wasn't high on my list of things to do at the moment, but I could rearrange the list if needed.

  His shoulders slumped dramatically. “That's what she said. Pity.” Vandalar looked over the edge to Stanton's twitching body. “Looks like I'll have more than a few replacements to make.”

  Epilogue

  “Xander, please!” I begged.

  He lifted his dark head from between my thighs where he'd been teasing me mercilessly with his wicked tongue.

  “You have no idea what those words do to me,” he growled.

  “I think I've got a pretty good idea.”

  Twisting to reach down between us, I lightly ran my fingernails down his hard length and he shuddered.

  “We've got more rooms to break in,” I murmured. “Aren't you curious about the kitchen?”

  He wouldn't be hurried. “We've got plenty of time.”

  With one broad hand he pinned my wrists together against the back of the couch then lowered his mouth to my aching nipple.

  Licking and nipping at the tight bud until I arched against him, the fingers of his other hand brushed the edges of my slick folds, taunting until I lifted my hips, desperate for more.

  The tip of one finger teased at my opening then slid in, pumping, followed by a second, his thumb flicking over my clit.

  My breath caught, and I groaned as he switched attention to my other breast, the light touch of his teeth on my sensitive tips stretching my tortured nerves until I shattered in his arms.

  Still quivering, eyes unseeing, I felt him shift over me and in one powerful thrust he buried himself to the hilt. His arm snaked beneath my back to grab my shoulder, keeping him deep inside me.

  “I am never. Letting. You go.”

  Hands still bound I was helpless to do anything but rock my hips up as he slammed into my core with each word, the overwhelming tide of sensations peaked and spiraled until we both lay a tangled mass in each other's arms.

  “Good thing there's not that many more rooms left,” I panted.

  “I don't know, I think we need to-”

  Incoming transmission

  chirped the wall unit. I squeaked, pushing Xander off me while I scrambled for his shirt, tossing it on in time for the screen to resolve.

  Xander hastily pulled a pillow over his lap.

  Doc. Of course.

  “Why aren't you down here yet,” she scolded. “Your new friend is going to be here any minute. I'm sure the rest of us don't really care about him.”

  I glanced at the panel.

  Oh.

  We had rather lost track of time.

  By quite a bit.

  “We'll be down there in just a minute, mom.” Xander promised.

  “I don't know why you call me that,” she muttered, blushing. “Come down here, get the circus over with.”

  The screen went black and I sagged against Xander's shoulder.

  It flipped back on.

  “And put some pants on before you get here for Void sake.” She turned away. “Seriously.”

  Five very busy minutes later I stood at the mirror fighting with my hair. Xander gathered my restored auburn waves in his hands and pulled it to one shoulder. “Leave it.” He kissed the side of my neck, his dark gaze meeting mine in the mirror. The haunted look was gone from his eyes. Mine too, I supposed. We still weren’t getting much sleep, but nightmares weren’t to blame anymore.

  “Think he's going to be wearing that stupid cape?” he asked.

  “I don't know. I thought it was kind of cute.” At the look on Xander's face I relented. “No. I suggested if he wanted to make any progress with the Pack, he might want to tone the act down a bit.”

  We arrived just as the shuttle crossed the first energy barrier. “See, we're not technically late,” Xander whispered to Doc as he gave her a one armed hug.

  The shuttle bay was possibly the ugliest site I could imagine for an official meeting.

  But Ronan wasn't comfortable about anyone connected with the Empire coming further into the station. And to be honest, Prince Vandalar's guards weren't thrilled about coming here at all.

  Lucky that the Prince didn't seem to be in the habit of listening to them.

  Or anyone.

  I gave Xander's arm a squeeze and left him to discuss Pack strategy with his brothers while I went to find Nadira.

  “How do you think this is going to go?” she asked.

  “No telling.” I started to braid my hair, gave up. “Vandalar is smart. But he has a habit of playing the idiot.”

  “Maybe we should be the ones running the meeting. We've got experience handling that.” I hadn't spent much time with sharp-tongued Kara before, but I could tell I was going to like her.

  “As long as they don't cause trouble ,” Eris said, hand protectively over her belly. “All of the guys are on edge, and Connor's a little worse than usual.”

  “And we'll notice how?” Nadira answered, and we burst into giggles.

  Geir and Valrea rushed in, her cheeks pink.

  “I knew we wouldn't be the last ones here,” I muttered. “She didn't have to remind us.”

  “Doc messaged you too?” Eris covered her face with her hands. “I'm sorry, she had Nixie set up a drop-in program in all of our quarters. I'm trying to talk Nixie into undoing it, but between Doc and Granny Z we're kind of short of good role models for her.”

  Her silver bracelet chirped.

  I still don't understand, If we're a family, shouldn't we be happy to see each other?

  “We'll talk about it tonight,” Eris soothed. “Funny human rules again.”

  “You've been very helpful setting everything up, Nixie,” I praised the AI. “We couldn't have done any of this without you.”

  It was true.

  Everyone in the Empire knew that the legendary pirate station had joined forces with a group of mercenaries. We didn't mind that.

  But nobody needed to know how much contact we now had with the heart of the Empire.

  Doc and the scientists at Themis had a permanent comm channel, trying to safely deactivate Stanton's mind control virus bomb. Another group of scientists clamored for her notes on the victims she'd already examined.

  Otherwise the Empire was going to have to limp by after amputating its entire security service.

  Landing sequence completed, the shuttle settled to the deck and we joined our mates.

  I stood in front of Xander, leaning against his chest.

  “When all this nonsense is done, I need to ask you something,” he whispered.

  Connor elbowed Xander. “Hush or we'll-”

  Doc leaned over and smacked both of them on the shoulders. “Manners.”

  Immediately all ten of Lyall's Wolves stood, spine straight, at full attention.

  Ronan. Davien. Mack. Geir. Conner. Aedan. Hakon. Lorcan. Quinn. Xander.

  All that was left.r />
  But the man who had engineered the catastrophe at the Daedalus was defeated.

  Dead.

  Now to see what we could build from the ashes.

  The shuttle door opened and as the ramp extended, I held my breath.

  Pairs of the Crimson Guard marched down the ramp and recorded fanfare blared.

  “I said knock it off,” Vandalar shouted then pushed his way through and jumped off, striding towards us.

  No cape this time, just a serviceable black suit with crimson and gold accents.

  Please slow down, Nixie chirped, her voice ringing from every speaker in the bay.

  Vandalar ignored her, so she snapped an energy barrier in front of him.

  “Well, that's interesting.” Vandalar said. “Hey,” he waved at me ,”would you tell your friend it's all right?”

  “Nixie, scan him,” Ronan commanded.

  A blue light centered over the Prince, then withdrew.

  He appears to be unarmed.

  “Let him go.”

  The barrier disappeared.

  “You can't blame us for being cautious,” Ronan said, stepping forward. “We don't have many reasons to trust the Empire.”

  Vandalar's lips narrowed. “I've been made aware of that. Loree has sent me records to review. Including a disturbing amount of system security files that appear to have been thoroughly decrypted, I might add.”

  Ronan gave him a bland smile. “Perhaps you need better protocols.”

  “I'm sure we do. And along those lines, I'd like to offer-”

  “Don't believe anything he says,” a whip sharp voice lashed out from the back of the bay. Granny Z stomped in, skirts flying and Vicki on her hip.

  “Is that the Prince? Can we plunder him?” piped Vicki's high voice.

  “Later, sweetling.”

  She looked him up and down. “You don't much look like him. Maybe you got more of Trina in you than the old goat.”

  “Ma'am,” Vandalar said slowly. “At some point in this visit, might I speak with you for a while?”

  “I don't know, what do you have to trade?” Granny Z snapped.

  He blinked and the rest of us fought down smiles.

  “I could likely come up with something that might interest you.”