He’d barely finished the words before he squeezed off a round, taking out one of the men behind the leader. The deafening rapport of ammo blasting back and forth exploded in the enclosed space of the room.
Ella had gone forward and down, shielding Rian’s body with her own. Qae and Cami spun sideways for cover behind some crates, but Varean, the crazy sonuvabitch, stood right where he was and calmly fired round after round from the guns in both hands. Qae covered him as best he could, muttering every insult he could think of under his breath.
It seemed to go on forever, but was probably only a matter of moments. Finally, all of the thugs were down, and the man who’d been posturing moments before was now making a stumbling escape for a side door. Qae launched himself from behind the crates and ran him down, taking him out in a full body tackle and landing hard on top of him.
The man struggled to get away until Qae shoved his gun under the guy’s chin.
“You were right. I’ve got no idea who the freck you are, but Rian does, doesn’t he?” He sent the man a feral grin. “You see, I’m really tempted to shoot you for even thinking about laying a hand on my cousin, let alone actually being stupid enough to touch him. Except I’m a magnanimous guy. Because the only other person who probably wants to kill you more than I do right now is Rian, and I really want to give him that satisfaction.”
The guy tried to say something, so Qae jammed the gun harder until he made a choking noise.
“Listen to me, dick-face. You don’t mind if I call you dick-face, right? Of course you don’t. So, dick-face, you’re going to get up, walk out of here, and find the first ship that’ll take your sorry ass off this station.”
The guy looked confused, and Qae gave a sharp laugh. “I’m giving you a head start, dick-face. Think of it as a kind of experiment. I want to see how far you get before Rian tracks you down and rips your lungs out through your mouth.”
He pulled the gun back and hauled the man to his feet then propelled him away.
“Run, you piece of shite. Run and don’t forget to keep checking over your shoulder.”
The man unsteadily backed up a few steps, gaze wild. He swung a glance to where Rian was still sprawled unconscious on the deck and pulled out his gun. Qae started to bring up his own weapon, resigned to shooting the bastard after all, but the guy turned the gun on himself and blew out his brains.
The thump when his body hit the ground echoed slightly around the otherwise silent space.
“Well, that was unexpected,” he muttered, holstering his gun.
“You think so?”
He turned to where Cami was standing a few steps behind him, arms crossed, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure you scared him into wetting himself before you let him go. He might have been a moron, but he was obviously smart enough to realize Rian’s revenge for this would be much worse than a quick death.”
Beyond Cami, he caught sight of Varean and Ella kneeling next to Rian. He brushed by her and hurried over to crouch down next to Varean, setting a hand on the commando’s shoulder.
“Is he okay?”
Varean shook his head, jaw clenched.
Ella gently rolled Rian’s head to the side where some kind of round, flat disk was stuck against his neck.
“We have to take it out.” She started to reach down, but Varean grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“I’m no doctor, but I’m fairly sure it’s feeding directly into an artery. If we remove it, he might bleed out before we can get him back to Kira.”
Tears filled Ella’s hazel-green eyes. “We can’t leave him in there, Varean. I know he’s in your mind now, just like he’s in mine. You can feel what it’s doing to him. What if it breaks him?”
“What’s she talking about?” Qae asked quietly, pretty much having no idea what was going on here.
“The disc is some kind of nerve blocker that’s also feeding a drug into his system,” Varean explained. “It’s overloading his brain in the centers that control fear and nightmares. He’s literally trapped in a hell of his own making.”
“Jezus,” he muttered. “Are you sure about the artery?”
“Sure enough,” Varean murmured, his face contorting as though he was in pain.
“We take it out.” Ella’s voice was hard, brooking no argument. “We take it out and I heal him.”
Varean met her gaze with a weighted look. “Are you in control?”
She stared at him for a long moment, before wordlessly shaking her head.
“Then you can’t help him. Not like that.”
“Then how?” Ella whispered.
“I’m just guessing here, you know more about this stuff than I do, but if Rian has become part of our minds, then it only makes sense that—”
“We’ve become part of Rian’s mind.” Ella’s eyes widened. “The entropy of entanglement.”
“What?” Qae was having enough trouble following this without Ella throwing out random physics theories.
“It’s an entanglement measure for a many-bodied quantum state. It’s what we’ve become.”
Nope. He wasn’t even going to pretend to know what that meant. “Okay, can we stow the quantum physics for later and help Rian now?”
“I can’t pull him out of it, but I can reduce the effects until we get back to the ship and Kira can help him.” Before any of them could say anything, Ella reached down and took Rian’s hand. She closed her eyes, a look of serene concentration settling over her features.
“What’s she doing?” he asked Varean in a low voice so as not to disturb her.
“It’s hard to explain, but it’s kind of like she’s sending calming waves to Rian, trying to reassure him enough to stabilize his mind so the nightmares don’t affect him as much.”
“No offense, but this mind-meld thing the three of you have got going on is kind of freaky.”
Varean sent him a hollow smile. “You’re telling me. Try living it.”
Bootsteps echoed from the way they’d come in a few minutes ago, sending Varean and him to their feet, guns out.
“Ella?” Varean’s voice held a note of warning.
“I’ve almost got him, just need a few more seconds,” she murmured, barely loud enough to be heard.
Four figures emerged into the room, some kind of private security or military, judging by the way they were all dressed identically in black tactical gear.
“We’re here to take Rian Sherron,” one of the soldiers said, the words basically a demand.
“Like hell.” Varean yanked out his razar and shot the man who’d spoken with a wave of energy. As soon as he stumbled, dazed, shape melting away to reveal an alien form, Qae had his razar out. The other three, unsurprisingly, turned out to be Reidar as well. Cami uttered a shocked curse from beside him, but he couldn’t worry about her finding out. Not when the aliens were already starting to recover, and he was unholstering his nucleon gun, even knowing there was probably no way they could stop all four of the resilient bastards.
Varean dropped to one knee and roughly half-rolled Rian, grabbing a weapon from his belt at his lower back. Before Qae could ask why the hell the commando had decided Rian’s weapons were better than his own, he got his answer when Varean fired the ion blaster.
Messy. Overkill in any normal situation. But it stopped the Reidar much quicker than sustained fire from a nucleon gun, blowing huge holes in the creatures that they would not be able to get up from.
The bodies had barely finished falling when Varean bent down and got an arm under Rian, hauling him over his shoulders in a fireman’s hold.
“Come on. If there’s four, there’s bound to be more. We need to get the hell off this station.”
He hurried away with Ella keeping up pace next to him.
Qae started to step after them, but then noticed Cami standing stock-still, wide eyes fixed on the splattered Reidar bodies that were already beginning to liquify.
“Ah hell,” he muttered as he strode over to her. He caught her shoulders,
and when that didn’t snap her out of the stare, he shook her gently. “Cami. Cami, look at me.”
She blinked and focused on him.
“What the hell are they?” Her voice came out hoarse.
“The short version is aliens from another universe. Come on, we need to get out of here before more of them turn up.”
He took her hand and tugged her into a jog.
She didn’t say anything else as they hurried back up to the Ebony Winter, but he could practically feel the questions and tension building inside her. He owed her a lot of answers, but first they had to get off the Black Docks alive.
Chapter Thirteen
Cami’s head was spinning by the time they made it back to the Ebony Winter. The ship was already rumbling, ready for launch when they ran up the ramp, since Qae had commed ahead to let Lianna know they needed to burn engines for a hard and fast escape.
She followed Qae into the small medbay where Varean laid Rian on the narrow gurney while Kira launched into all kinds of scans and checks, peppering both Varean and Ella with questions.
Standing back, she watched as Kira carefully removed the disc—true to what Varean had said, the device had been inserted right into Rian’s artery. A few seconds later, Rian came around with a hard gasp, rearing up into a sitting position and clutching his chest.
“Frecking Baden Niels!” was the first thing he said, causing Varean, Ella, and Kira to exchange knowing glances, like that meant something important.
Whatever happened next, she didn’t know, because Qae had come over and taken her arm, leading her out of the medbay and back down to the empty cargo hold, presumably for privacy.
It was like her entire reality had shattered in the last few minutes and she was left holding the pieces and not understanding how they fit together.
Aliens existed.
She’d seen them with her own eyes.
Varean and Ella had some kind of power they could physically manifest that had stunned her in a way nothing else ever had. She’d heard rumors about the Arynians and the kinds of things they could do, and she’d heard someone offhandedly refer to Ella as a priestess, but she hadn’t thought—
She didn’t know what she’d thought. All she knew was that there was so much more to these people than anyone could ever imagine, and she’d managed to land herself right in the middle of it.
When they stopped in the middle of the cargo bay floor, Qae drew her into his arms, hugging her tightly. “Are you okay?”
“Apart from the fact that reality as I know it just collapsed? Yeah, I’m fine.”
He gave a short, tense laugh and pulled back, his hands slipping down to settle on her waist. “Well, you haven’t lost your sense of humor, so you can’t be doing too badly.”
“Are you going to explain it to me?”
He shook his head, a hint of confusion flitting across his expression. “Since I only understand half of it myself, I don’t know how much help I’ll be. But Cami, what I tell you cannot leave this ship. Your father can’t know. Rian’s going to be pissed enough that you found out.”
“Why?” she asked, even though she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer.
“I don’t know. Not exactly. Rian isn’t ready for more people to know about the Reidar. Probably because usually when people find out, they get dead pretty soon after, and Rian ends up feeling guilty, even if he’ll never admit it. Obviously, we need your father alive. And I wish like hell you didn’t know, because it puts you in even more danger than just being Rene Blackstone’s kid.”
“I can handle myself.” She didn’t add any inflection to the words, she didn’t need to. It was just a statement of fact.
“I know you can. Against a regular human scumbag. The Reidar are an entirely different story.” He took her over to a nearby stack of crates and urged her to sit down.
Qae started talking—mostly about Rian—going all the way back to the Assimilation Wars, telling her about how he’d been captured, skimming over what had been done to his cousin in a way that told her it was a lot more traumatic than he wanted to touch on, then filled her in on events leading them to today. He was patient, letting her ask questions and answering as best he could. By the time he was done, over half an hour had passed, and she now had a much different view of the universe.
“And I assume this is partly why you and Rian didn’t want me coming along?” she surmised.
Qae sighed and forked a hand through his hair. “Initially, yes. But you had your own way of convincing me, and I guess I thought we could find a way to keep you in the dark if we ran across any of the bastards. They’re always trying to make a grab for Rian. I’ve got no idea why the moron thought it’d be a good idea to hit up the station on his own before any of us woke up.”
“Maybe he was trying to protect you all.” She bumped her shoulder into Qae’s and sent him a smile. “Seems to run in the family.”
“Sorry we didn’t get a chance to line up any jobs,” he said instead of replying.
She shrugged. “We’ll work something else out. Anything we pulled from the Black Docks would have been risky, anyway. Though, maybe not as dangerous as facing down shape-shifting aliens.”
He looked at her. “How are you so okay with this? I didn’t really believe Rian for years. Couldn’t believe it. Not until I saw them with my own eyes.”
That was easy enough. Because ever since she’d been abducted at the age of twelve and almost sold as a pleasure slave, she’d had to learn to quickly accept things and adapt, or risk coming apart at the seams. Sometimes holding on too tightly only caused more pain. Letting go, putting it in the past and moving forward had been her way of coping. Even if sometimes it felt more like running away.
“I’ve seen a lot of bad shite over the years,” she replied slowly. “My father tried to protect me from a lot of it, but considering who he is, it was always going to be impossible. I guess I just got good at processing and compartmentalizing. Lock it down and move on.”
Qae’s gaze roamed her face, a warm glint entering his eyes. “You’re kind of amazing, Cami Blackstone. You know that, right?”
She actually felt her cheeks getting warm. Good god, when was the last time anything had made her blush? She’d lost her innocence too long ago to be so affected by simple words. As Qae kept staring at her, she wanted him to kiss her. Not just in a moment of desperate lust, but kiss her like he meant it. Like he felt something. Because an answering emotion was beginning to kindle and bloom within her, making her heart skip a few beats.
Who was she kidding? It’d sparked the moment she’d met him. It was just that she knew him so much better now, and the sensation was growing into something solid and strong. A sensation she knew she could hold onto without fear of it breaking or disappearing.
Except, he’d made that brash promise to her father not to touch her. He was too honorable to break it, and she cared too much about him to force his hand—seriously, anyway. Yes, she’d teased him mercilessly that first night onboard when they’d been cuffed together, but that had all been part of the game. Remembering how they’d played off each other was giving her ideas, however. Maybe there was a way for them to both get what they wanted without Qae technically breaking his promise. She tucked the idea away for further consideration later.
“So what now?” she asked, breaking the spell of the moment.
Qae quirked a smile and shifted back a little, as if he knew exactly what she’d been thinking.
“Now we see what Rian has to say about this latest incident. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides he wants to go after Baden Niels before we go to Lander to get the Imojenna back from Alvar Galton.”
“I’m surprised Rian hasn’t gone after him before now, considering how many times you’ve run up against him,” she murmured. It didn’t seem like a very Rian thing to do—leaving someone out there who’d made multiple attempts on his life.
“I think it was for Ella.” Qae had a thoughtful expression on his face, as thou
gh he’d never actually considered it. “That’s how it all started, when Rian intercepted Ella being transported to Niels. Apparently, he has plans to turn her into some kind of weapon.”
“I can see why.” Ella and Varean had been almost terrifying. “Remind me never to get on her bad side.”
Qae grinned. “She wouldn’t hurt any of us. Rian has pissed her off any number of times and she’s managed to restrain herself. I’d say that just about qualifies her for sainthood.”
She turned things over in her mind, putting together the situation as a whole—the creds they needed to get for her father, Rian’s quest to get the Imojenna back, and now the possibility that he’d be looking for a little revenge on the side.
“Maybe we should go after Niels,” she finally said after a few moments of silence.
“Bloodthirsty, are we?” Qae arched an eyebrow at her.
“No. But Baden Niels is the CEO of a multi-galactic company, right? Worth trillions of creds?”
“And he’s Reidar, which pretty much makes him impossible to touch. We’d be captured or killed before we got anywhere near him in his ivory tower.”
“What if he was no longer in that ivory tower?” She couldn’t help smiling, because she was coming up with a plan. And it was feeling like a very satisfying plan.
Qae was eyeing her warily. “Should I be worried about that expression on your face? You look like you’re planning universal domination.”
“I was just thinking we need creds, and I’m guessing Baden Niels has more than he could spend in a dozen lifetimes. Plus, no doubt his company owns and trades in all kinds of interesting things we could sell on the black market.”
“You’re suggesting we steal from Baden Niels?” Qae’s brows creased, as though he couldn’t decide whether it was brilliant or utterly insane.
She leaned forward. “I’m not just saying we steal from him. I’m suggesting we take apart that ivory tower piece by piece until he’s got nothing left to hide behind.”
“Good ever-loving christ, woman.” Qae gaped at her. “You really are an evil genius.”
She shrugged, trying to downplay it, but his admiration had started warming her up in a way that made her want to squirm under his stare.
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