by Abel, Regine
I snorted and then chuckled along with him. There had always been a bit of an unspoken competition between us—initiated by him—since the day I’d decided to spare my hybrid son. The silly man had gotten it into his head that he was beneath me for having caved in to the pressure of his father to hurt his own hybrid child. What Ravik failed to accept, even though I’d tried to drill it into him, was that he’d been even younger than me at the time, and that I’d already been the leader of my clan—unlike him. Had my father still been around when I impregnated Marla, there is no question he would have done everything in his power to force an abortion. I wanted to believe that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome but was grateful I’d never had to face the horrors Ravik did.
“You are welcome to your female. As beautiful as she is, Mercy is too wild and headstrong for me. I like my woman to be cuddly and submissive,” I said smugly.
“You, cuddly?” Ravik said before bursting out laughing.
“You can mock other Braxians’ tender sides the day you stop turning into a puddle every time your daughter bats her eyelashes at you,” I retorted, not fazed in the least.
A different man I might have punched for challenging my toughness, but we were in the same boat.
Or so I hope.
We discussed a few more matters pertaining to my Council duties, in particular some of the trade opportunities Roman had found for us. I also didn’t miss a chance to brag about my new personal business ventures which were promising to further elevate my status and that of my clan’s.
“When will you be back?” Ravik asked as we prepared to end the conversation.
“Unless there is an urgent need for me—which doesn’t seem to be the case—I will make a short detour by Venus Hive for a day or two to see my firstborn and his family before returning home,” I said, both worried and excited at the thought of seeing Anton and presenting Hope and Siona to him. “So, I should be home in about two weeks from now.”
“Lilith Hive is way too far,” Ravik mumbled. “Try to avoid going there too often.”
“Sorry you miss me so much, Magnar. But I’m already taken,” I deadpanned.
“Fuck off,” Ravik said. “And get your ass home soon.”
I burst out laughing as he ended the communication. Once more, I thanked the Ancestors for my son Anton without whom I probably never would have developed such a genuine and close friendship with our king. A quick look at the clock indicated I had enough time to call my son to confirm that we would be coming to see him, and still catch up with my girls in the holodeck before lunch.
However, just as I reached a hand to call him on the vidcom, the system shut down and the lights dimmed. I tapped the button on the intercom, but no response.
“Ella, status?” I asked the ship’s artificial intelligence.
“All ship functions performing at optimal efficiency,” Ella replied in her monotone, synthetic voice.
“Then what is happening with the lights and the coms?” I insisted, wondering if the A.I. itself was defective.
“Coms are fully functional,” Ella responded dispassionately. “However, your access to the coms and all other ship systems are denied.”
My brain froze for a second, thinking I must have misheard her. “What do you mean my access is denied?” I asked in a dangerously low voice.
“The ship is now under the command of Hunter Faolen Velkis. Further instructions will follow shortly,” Ella said.
“Who the fuck is Faolen Velkis?” I demanded, my mind racing.
The A.I. didn’t respond. Fuming, I attempted to com the bridge. Silence there as well. To my relief, the doors to my quarters opened. I raced to the holodeck first to make sure my girls were all right, only to find them in the hallway with Zartag, looking frightened and confused.
“Krygor, what’s going on?” Hope asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and caressing Siona’s hair reassuringly.
Hope gratefully leaned against me. The trusting expression on her face, both stirred my protective instinct and fueled my wariness as I had no clue how the fuck to fend off a hacker’s attack. A physical enemy I could crush, but all this technological stuff was Mercy’s domain.
“Could this be the same thing the Guldans had done to the Magnar’s ship?” I asked Zartag—my engineer—as all four of us headed towards the bridge.
“No,” Zartag responded, shaking his head. “Or rather, it’s highly doubtful. They had infected his vessel with a virus that had been slowly damaging the ship’s system to force them to abandon it. Mercy has upgraded all our vessels to prevent us from falling victim to this again. From what little I’ve managed to gather so far, whoever is messing with us has merely locked us out of every system, but the ship itself remains whole.”
“I need to know who is fucking with us and why,” I said in a growl, forcing myself to slow down so that my females could keep up without having to run.
“Do you think… Do you think Luther could be behind this?” Hope asked, a mix of guilt and fear straining her beautiful features.
“Everything is possible, my Vaya, although I have a hard time seeing when he could have pulled this off considering I bought back your contract only yesterday, and we came to the ship within a couple of hours after that. It wouldn’t have given him enough time to plan and execute this,” I said pensively. “This strikes me as something that would have taken a few days to set up.”
Despite our issues with Guldar and the random threats from their Emperor Ardrak, the Guldans had not launched any new attacks on us since we’d ousted them from Braxia and Ravik had sent back the broken corpse of Ambassador Lorik.
At last, we reached the bridge. The doors parted to reveal Yulan, his hands flying all over the navigation board, a furious expression on his face as he visibly failed to regain control of the vessel.
“Report,” I said to my pilot as soon as I entered the bridge.
“I’m completely locked-out,” Yulin said, seething with anger. “The ship is changing course, and I have no clue where the fuck it’s heading.”
Zartag got onto the copilot’s console to attempt to break us free of the pirate’s hold, only to curse moments later in the most inappropriate fashion.
“How the fuck did they get in so deeply, and so quickly?” he grumbled. “No one had access to the ship, but this is at least a two-day job, but more like four or five days.”
The ship’s screen suddenly turned on, displaying a stunning male with dusty blue skin, midnight blue eyes, and long black hair through which peeked the small, crown-shaped horns on his head.
“Actually, it only took me one day,” the Sarenian male said.
“You!” I whispered, recognizing the male who had observed me at Bacchus when I’d gone to fetch the key to Hope’s collar.
Hope shuddered violently. I tightened my embrace around her waist to comfort her.
“We meet again, Councilor—or do you prefer Clan Leader Aldriss?” the male asked teasingly. “Then again, you Braxians aren’t much for formalities. So, I’ll call you Krygor, and you can call me Faolen.”
“I don’t give a shit what you call me or what you’re called,” I snarled. “What the fuck are you doing to my ship? And what do you want from me?”
“Actually, Krygor, you weren’t my target at all—at least, originally,” he said in a pretend apologetic voice. “I was only hired to secure the lovely Siona. But then I met her mother, and realized I wanted Hope for myself,” he added in a purring voice. “You were gorgeous before, my Beauty, but now that the beast has made you whole again, you’re beyond breathtaking. I cannot wait to mate with you after the Hunt.”
My head jerked towards Hope who stared at the Sarenian with a horrified look on her face, laced with confusion and a great deal of fear. She pressed herself against me, blinking the way one would when trying to remember something.
“Do you know this male?” I ask
ed between my teeth.
Although subtle, I didn’t miss her slight hesitation before vigorously shaking her head. Something didn’t add up, but there would be time for me to question her further later.
“I-I don’t remember ever meeting this male, and yet, he looks familiar,” Hope said, sounding baffled, but sincere.
“All will be explained in due time,” Faolen said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“I don’t need any of your damn explanations,” I snapped. “You will release my ship at once. My mate isn’t for you, and whatever pervert you’re working for will not get his hands on my daughter.”
Siona’s small hands tightened around my arm and, like her mother, she pressed herself against my other side.
“Mate? Daughter?” Faolen asked, looking both stunned and amused. “I can see why you would wish to claim them as such. Unfortunately, you became an unexpected addition to my mission. You have made some powerful enemies, Krygor. I have no personal quarrel with you, but business is business. Enjoy my beautiful Hope while you still can. In three days, you will meet your fate.”
“Is Sarenia so eager to go to war with Braxia,” I asked, in an icy tone.
“Although I am taking you to Sarenia, it isn’t a political matter… Well, the main reason I’m bringing you in isn’t political. But one of the people who wishes your demise definitely has a political agenda,” Faolen conceded. “No one knows where you currently are nor where you are headed. As I disabled your com before you could confirm with your son that you would be visiting him for certain, your Magnar will not begin to worry about your disappearance for at least two weeks. By then, it will be much too late.”
“What you are bringing to Sarenia is your own death and destruction,” I said, relishing in advance the sound his bones would make as they shattered beneath my fists.
“I am not so foolish as to underestimate you, Krygor. Your physical prowess is legendary,” Faolen said, leaning back against his seat. “For this reason, as soon as we’re done with this little conversation, you will leave the bridge and not set foot back on it,” Faolen added with a hard voice. “You may freely come and go to your quarters, the mess hall, the holodeck, and the training room. I strongly advise you three Braxians make extensive use of the latter—you’ll need it. Apologies to your crew that they got dragged into this, but I cannot leave witnesses behind that could jeopardize the welfare of Sarenia.”
“You think you can keep me off my own fucking bridge?” Yulan snarled.
“Yes,” Faolen said smugly. “I absolutely can. Try to tamper with the ship in any way, and I will punish you. Rest well, eat well, and train well. I will see you in three days.”
The Sarenian ended the communication before I could reply. Zartag immediately went back to work on the console.
“Stop,” I ordered, my eyes still locked on the black screen before me.
When Faolen had appeared on screen, his first words had been to reply to my engineer’s last comment. This meant he had eyes and ears on us. He’d also known about my conversation with Ravik. Although there were no cameras inside any of the private quarters, with some tweaks, the intercom system could be used to eavesdrop on conversations within. However, I doubted he’d used such a primitive method, and simply tapped into my call with the Magnar.
We needed to come up with a solid strategy. But with him spying on us, any of our initiatives would be completely useless.
“All hands, please proceed off the bridge immediately,” Ella’s voice said, startling me out of my reflections. “Life support on the bridge will no longer be provided in two minutes.”
“Son of a krillik,” Yulan muttered under his breath.
“Come on,” I said in a clipped tone, leading my females off the bridge.
“What if we—” Zartag started saying.
“No,” I interrupted, gesturing for him to remain silent before glancing up in the general direction of the camera on the bridge.
His eyes widened in understanding. I fought the urge to smack him across the head for being so slow. As my engineer, he should have been the one to warn me of this risk. Although a genius when it came to tech, Zartag tended to become too absorbed on an individual system rather than looking at the big picture in a crisis situation.
The bridge doors closed behind us, the light on the security lock turning red confirmed we’d been effectively locked out of the bridge.
“I’ll meet you both in Yulan’s quarters,” I said to my men.
They nodded, and I escorted my females back to my own.
“I’m so sorry,” Hope said as soon as we entered my room, guilt and despair etched on her face. “I never thought they would come after you, too. If only—”
“Hush, my Vaya,” I interrupted, drawing her gently into my embrace. “I am glad they caught me with you, because now I can protect you and find a way to get us back home safely. It only spared me the trouble of hunting down whatever location they’d taken you to. You did nothing wrong. No matter how dire the situation may seem right now, we will find a way out. I just need you to trust me.”
“I do,” Hope said fervently. “With all my heart, I do.”
“I do, too,” Siona said in a small voice.
Letting go of her mother, I crouched in front of the little girl who stared at me with wide eyes filled with fear.
“Do not be afraid, Siona,” I said in a soothing voice. “You are mine, now; my daughter. I will kill anyone who dares try to harm you. So, you be strong, and hold your head up with pride, no matter what hardships come your way. Do not feed your enemy with your fear. Make them waver with your determination. All right?”
“Yes, Kry… Yes, Papa.”
The timid way in which she corrected herself melted my heart. Siona looked warily at me, waiting to see if I would reject her. I smiled with approval, and the tension in her frail shoulders melted. She gazed at me with such joy and wonder that my throat tightened.
“I know you will save us,” she said with both conviction and emotion. “I prayed the Goddess to send me a Papa that would make Mama happy, and that would keep us safe. And she sent you, bigger, stronger, and so much nicer than I hoped, right when we needed you the most. I trust you. And I’m not afraid anymore.”
Siona closed the distance between us and threw her arms around my neck before hugging me fiercely. I returned her embrace, caressing her soft hair in a soothing fashion. Feeling the weight of Hope’s stare on me, I looked up to find her eyes brimming with tears of gratitude and an emotion I didn’t dare name. I rose to my feet with one arm around Siona’s shoulders and drew in her mother against me. My mate and I exchanged a tender kiss, and then I brushed my lips against my daughter’s forehead.
Holding on to my females, I swore to the Ancestors that our enemies would pay… dearly.
Chapter 11
Hope
Three days had gone by since Faolen had taken control of the ship. Krygor, my wonderful giant, had gone out of his way to try to reassure Siona and me that everything would be fine. Yet, I could sense his frustration, anger, and helplessness. He huddled with Yulan and Zartag throughout the day, plotting, scheming, and looking for solutions in vain. Despite the fear gnawing at me, I still believed that somehow, the Goddess and Krygor would see us through. She hadn’t gotten us this far only to abandon us now. I just prayed there wouldn’t be too great a hardship awaiting us before we got free on the other side.
Therefore, to the best of my ability, I presented him with a positive front, made even easier by Siona. My daughter worshipped Krygor. The fierceness with which she believed he would defeat our enemies and take us home to Braxia was both impressive and inspiring. My throat still tightened at the loving way he had claimed my baby as his. Siona had dreamt of a strong father figure, and he exceeded everything she’d ever wanted—everything I had ever wished for. Him claiming her this way implied he’d also claimed me as his mate. It was silly to be so head over heels for a male I barely knew, but my heart told me I’
d finally found my soulmate.
I envied the Korletheans’ ability to know beyond any doubt when they had found their other half thanks to their psionic powers. But the strong chemistry between us couldn’t be denied. Krygor made me happy. So, this new mess only made me angrier. Why couldn’t we just be left alone? Had my daughter and I not suffered enough? Was it not finally our time to live the way we wished with the one we wanted? Why the fuck did random men think they had the right to control and use us to their benefit, their pleasure, heedless of our own aspirations?
These thoughts allowed me to get through those three days without going insane. Rather than giving into the fear that threatened to turn me into a terrified wreck, I clung to my anger, fed off of it, and used it to fuel my determination to live the fairy tale life Krygor had given me a glimpse of.
Whatever it took, we would be free.
However, the Sarenian truly had us at his mercy… at least for now. The couple of times Krygor and his men tried to tamper with the ship, Faolen immediately took punitive measures. The first time, he locked the room the men were in and increased the temperature to sweltering levels until they began showing clear signs of heat stress. The second time, he shutdown life support in the room he’d locked the men in, only reactivating it once they had lost consciousness.
After the men recovered that second time, Faolen warned them that if they tried to pull another stunt, the punishment would be applied ship-wide, therefore affecting Siona and me. My daughter and I had been willing to take that risk, but not the men.
Without access to the bridge and being locked out of the ship’s system or any computer—even personal ones—we had no idea of our current position. With each hour ticking, tension in our midst steadily grew until, at long last, the pale, whitish-blue outline of Sarenia appeared through one of the large windows of the mess hall. Another half hour later, Ella’s synthetic voice on the intercom relayed Faolen’s order for us to gather in the ship’s cargo hold.