Renegade Magic (Star Renegades Book 1)

by Jennifer M. Eaton

  That wasn’t going to happen. Ever. The prince was hiding something, and she was too afraid of him, or still too much under his power, to see it.

  The Kever still looked like he wanted to peel the skin off someone’s bones. “I will watch the recording you sent me.”

  But when? Probably not before he planned to kill them all.

  Dania smiled, releasing a breath. “The location is coming.”

  She reached forward, and with the press of one button, sealed their fates.

  A shit-eating grin appeared on the Kever’s face. “Do not warn the crew. I don’t want them changing your location before I can get to you.”

  “You don’t need to come for me. I’m fine.”

  At least she’d given one last effort. By then, it had been too late, though.

  “Spoken like someone who has not looked in the mirror in some time. You need me more than I think you realize. I’m not losing you. I’m coming.”

  Interesting. He actually looked like he cared about her, but it was probably more like an admiral worrying about losing a well-armed warship…a tool necessary for battle…than losing a person.

  The screen went blank.

  “So, do you see?” Doc said. “She actually tried, and in the end, she only sent our location because she still had faith that he’d watch the recording.”

  “But that recording wouldn’t matter. As she’s been so fond of reminding us all, we’re guilty of other crimes. He would have killed us anyway.”

  Doc folded his arms and considered her. “We showed her the evidence in those recordings, and that was the start of her waking up and realizing that the law wasn’t so cut and dry.” He turned to Cal. “Maybe she thought it would work with her beloved prince as well.” He started pacing, tapping his pointer fingers against his lips. “The guy promised he’d watch the recording, and she’s programmed to believe him unconditionally. I think at that point, she still had hope.”

  “And then realized her mistake when he attacked.”

  “Yeah.” Doc rubbed his chin. “She was almost awake from her daze during this conversation. She fought him, but he still got her to back down.”

  “But she had to know she was signing our execution orders.”

  “She did. Until right here.” Doc set the time monitor back on the recording to the point where the prince had slapped the table. “There’s a long pause here, right before he says that he’ll watch the recordings.”

  “Your point?”

  “Look at Dania. She isn’t even moving.”

  He was right. Cal had thought it was a glitch in the recording. “Hypnosis?”

  “I don’t know, but after she stared at him, she seemed to forget that he’d kill us all.” He leaned back. “I don’t even know where to go with that information, but the base of my pathogen hypothesis still seems to be holding. Going into this conversation, she was starting to break out of her haze. She was trying to make him happy, without getting us killed.” He pointed to the Kever’s face on the screen. “He did something to her that set back her recovery, but as soon as she wasn’t staring at him, it started to subside again.”

  “That’s a long shot, even for you.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. When you pointed out to Dania that Geron would probably kill Alanna, she looked surprised. Horrified. Maybe even remorseful.” He jutted his chin in Dania’s direction. “I believe that was when she started back on the road toward humanity again, and she continued to evolve through the night while she was locked up.” He walked over to her bed and placed his palm on her forehead. “I think everyone is right. She was trying to save us in the end.”

  Cal took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, we finally got her on our side, but she’s not going to live long enough to tell anyone.”

  Or if she did, and she got anywhere near that prince, he could sway her thoughts and undo all their work.

  Cal rubbed his face with his hand. So much for them throwing a stone into the galactic pond.

  Doc turned back toward him. “I need to wake her up, soon.”

  Cal massaged a growing ache in his temples. “How long until her organs start breaking down from the lack of pathogens?”

  Doc smiled at him and raised his eyebrows.

  “What? You think I haven’t been paying attention?”

  Doc laughed, before the smile eased from his face. “I think it will happen pretty fast. I originally speculated she had a few months before the pathogens were all gone. Now that she’s free, I imagine she’ll start to experience complications within a few weeks or so.”

  Cal sat up and let his legs dangle off the edge of the bed. “If we have that long, we can still get you those supplies.”

  “Did the mighty Captain Cynic just jump on board with trying to save the enforcer?”

  Dania’s lips were slightly parted, and her dark blonde hair hung in sloppy waves about her face. She looked so peaceful while she was asleep. Normal.

  Ten years ago, when that enforcer had killed Cal’s dad and walked away, leaving Cal holding his father as he’d bled out in the street, Cal had pictured all their kind as cold-blooded monsters.

  In many ways, he’d been right.

  He’d never considered the possibility they were being controlled.

  Yes, the enforcers were an army of thousands, and the Star Renegade was one ship. But for this one enforcer, they could make a difference.

  He wasn’t ready to completely trust her. He’d be a fool if he did, especially if the prince could still press her buttons from a distance. But they’d come too far to give up on her now.

  He met Doc’s patient gaze. “Let’s see if Ty knows where we are. I promised to get you the supplies. I’ll make good on that if I can.”

  Cal eased off the edge of the mattress and took a tentative step.

  Doc grabbed his shoulder. “Take it easy, there. You’ve been in bed for a while.”

  “I’m fine.”

  It was only partially true, but if they wanted to try to save the enforcer…if they wanted to save Dania, the captain needed to be on his feet.

  Besides, Cal needed to find Ethan and punch him in the face for shooting him.

  40

  Dania

  Dania gripped the white blankets pulled tight across her waist, yet her hands still trembled. A sour twist formed in her stomach. She wanted to discount the doctor’s words as the ridiculous ramblings of a criminal, but she knew better.

  When he placed his hand over hers, she jumped.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  An odd question, since he’d just told her she was going to die.

  Alexander had always reminded her of her mortality, but she’d brushed it aside as a useless fact, one not necessary to keep in the front of her mind. She’d always thought she’d die in battle for the glory of her prince. It was every enforcer’s dream.

  But to die here? On a human ship? Dishonored?

  Death was supposed to be quick. Anything slow, Alexander would probably have had time to heal. She never considered the possibility of fighting an invisible enemy…something inside her own body.

  Her fingertip traced the pattern in the blanket. “If I’m understanding correctly, my organs are going to fail one after another, unless I return to my sponsor.”

  “But going back to him isn’t your only option.” He walked over to a tray and picked up a glass tube with thick, red liquid inside. “I’ve been studying your blood. I’m not sure I can completely stop the degradation, but I can slow it down.”

  Slow it down? “How?”

  “I think I can make synthetic pathogens that your body will respond to similarly as if you’d been re-infected by that prince.”

  Re-infected. Like there was something wrong with her, like she was sick. And yet, without the pathogens, she might die.

  What the doctor didn’t understand was that she didn’t need a treatment. She needed her prince.

  Dania cringed and shook away the thought
.

  Whenever she’d been weakened or hurt, her instincts had told her to return to Geron. He had always been there for her. He would always make whatever the problem was better. But at what cost?

  Her skin itched with the need to run, to return home, to be whole again. But was this her own desire, or Geron’s?

  The doctor set the vial down. “I’m willing to try to help you, but you need to understand that this is purely experimental. I’ll be working off my theories only, and we still need to see if we can find the supplies.”

  “These supplies… Were they the reason your ship had plotted a course to the pirate sector?”

  He pursed his lips. “Well, most of what I’d need might be a little hard to find at more reputable trade stations.”

  So, in order to help her, they would have to deal with illegal traders. Which meant if she wanted to be saved, she’d have to be a part of more larcenous activity.

  She thought of the little girl dying of scurvy, and the hope in the parents’ eyes as Dania had handed them the oranges.

  Maybe this crew was right. Maybe there could be good reasons to break the law.

  The doctor leaned against the side of her bed. “So, what’s the decision? Do you want us to drop you off, ping your prince, and then disappear? Or would you like to take a stab at freedom?”

  She clutched the blankets tighter. “You’re giving me a choice?”

  “That’s the great thing about the Star Renegade. We all get a choice. If the crew hadn’t chosen to save you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  They’d chosen to save her, even after she’d put them at such a risk? If she stayed, though, they’d be at even more risk. Geron had invested nine years in her. He wouldn’t give her up so easily.

  The doctor nudged her shoulder. “Come on, girl. I say give it a go. Besides…” A smile broke out on his face. “I love a challenge.”

  Dania took a deep breath.

  If she went back to Geron, she’d live. She’d be able to return to the life that she understood, the life where everything made sense. Not like this new world where there were confusing choices.

  She flinched. She wanted those choices. She wanted to be free.

  Still, everything inside her screamed to run home, like all her cells knew what they needed, but only her mind had doubts.

  If the doctor was right, then these feelings weren’t her instincts, but Geron’s doing. This was part of her programming…to return to him when her power waned, or if she was injured.

  Staying with the humans meant she might die, possibly painfully, but her choices would be her own. She could decide what was good and bad, rather than being told what to think and following orders unconditionally.

  She scrunched her eyes shut and steadied her breathing. She’d done such horrible things in Geron’s name without even an afterthought. Killing was her duty. She’d needed to eradicate evil from the galaxy, no matter what.

  The no matter what part might haunt her for the rest of her life.

  The colonies didn’t praise the enforcers’ good work. They were horrified. The people bowed because they had no choice, not because they loved their king.

  Dania couldn’t be a part of that any longer. She refused.

  She thought about the little girl she’d saved from scurvy, and smiled. Maybe she could save more children, even if it meant breaking a few laws? She winced, pain surging through her.

  “You okay?” Doc asked.

  “I just thought about committing a crime, and…” She scratched at her arms. “It hurt…inside.”

  “That prince is holding on for dear life, but it should get better and better as all the pathogens work their way out of your system.”

  She drew in a deep breath. The pain wasn’t that bad. She could get through it.

  Dania snickered, shaking her head.

  Her chest clenched as her eyes fogged with tears. Was she really sitting here, talking herself into experiencing pain in order to commit crimes…even crimes for good reasons?

  She remembered pulling a boy from his mother’s arms years ago, and the mother’s shriek as her child had received his punishment. Dania wasn’t a defender of the law. She was a puppet. A monster.

  She wouldn’t kill children anymore. She couldn’t execute otherwise good citizens for minor offenses. It wasn’t right, no matter whose laws supported her.

  Pain flooded through her again. She gritted her teeth.

  She was supposed to uphold the highest standards, and she would. But she needed to be the one to choose what those standards would be.

  “I’ve made my decision.” She steadied herself with another deep breath. “I’d rather live a few more months free than become what I was.” She straightened as much as the tight blankets allowed. “I’m not going back.”

  Her stomach twisted, and her hands started to tremble again.

  She’d spoken those words aloud. Her fears, her trepidations, her doubts weren’t just thoughts anymore.

  She’d openly defied her prince, a crime punishable by death.

  Dania smiled.

  She’d just become the criminal element she’d been hunting her entire life.

  41

  Cal

  Cal paced in front of the gray starburst blast stain on the aft lounge wall. Someone had drawn a smiley face in the middle of the clear, oblong center of the discharge pattern.

  Probably Ethan.

  Cal pursed his lips. They’d lost their entire cargo that day, and almost lost their lives, yet the engineer had made a joke out of it. Cal should have sprung for the paint and cleaners to get rid of all those blast marks, but it had always seemed more important to stock up on protein sticks and vegetable supplements.

  He stopped and stared at the small green star twinkle over the smiley’s left eye. That little addition was new—probably Alanna’s artwork.

  His navigator had joked once that the blast marks gave the ship character. Maybe they did. They were a sign of survival, and maybe that twinkle-eyed smiley face was just a celebration of being alive.

  What none of them understood, was what an incredible responsibility it was to keep them all that way.

  He spun toward his crew, who were all lined up on the far side of the table, looking like rejects from the ancient Last Supper painting. Doc sat on the end beside Alanna, Dania in the middle, and Ty on the enforcer’s left. Ethan sat on the opposite end, sporting the well-deserved black eye Cal had given him.

  They were a motley crew, but they were his. Even Dania at this point, whether he liked it or not.

  The enforcer folded her hands in front of her and stared at her fingers. She was the elephant in the room, but Cal wasn’t sure how to tackle the renegade enforcer issue yet.

  “What’s the status on the hull breach?” he asked no one in particular.

  Ethan drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m not an exterior maintenance guy, but it looks pretty good. The hull pressure is fine.”

  Ty sat back. “Alanna and I added more of your magic polymer since the seal seemed to hold. As soon as we can land somewhere, I’d like to replace the whole panel, but as long as no one is shooting at us, we’ll be fine.”

  Ethan scoffed, and Ty glared at him.

  The engineer was right, though. There was always someone shooting at them.

  Cal turned to Alanna. “When can we get back to normal space?”

  She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Well, that’s a bit of a problem. Without knowing where we are, I don’t know where to take us. If I make a guess, and I’m wrong, we can go in the wrong direction and it might be weeks before we even realize it.”

  Dania lifted her gaze. “I can help with that.”

  Cal scratched behind his ear. “Without magic?”

  She flinched. “No.”

  From what Doc had told him, Dania probably didn’t have much of that crazy enforcer power left. It would be hard, but they all needed to start treating her like a normal person.

&nb
sp; Doc reached around Alanna and tapped the back of Dania’s hand. “I don’t think you should exert yourself, anyway, sweetie. You need all your strength to heal.”

  Dania closed her eyes and nodded. It looked so…humble. Hopefully, it wasn’t an act.

  Cal turned back to Alanna. “What’s your best guess to safely get us home?”

  She held up her hands. “Three months?”

  Ty slapped the table with his palm. “We don’t have enough supplies for three months.”

  “It’s worse than that.” Doc stood and put his hands on the enforcer’s shoulders. “Dania doesn’t have that long. I hate to say the clock is ticking, but it is.”

  Dania drew her hands closer to her chest, yet she didn’t pull away from Doc. Interesting.

  Cal rubbed his face. It might take them three months to get home, but Dania probably had a few weeks before her dependency on those stinking pathogens started killing her.

  Doc grimaced as he returned to his chair. His gaze darted about, his mind probably whirling with possible ways to get out of this situation.

  Hopefully, in a few hours, he’d narrow his thoughts down to a few plausible scenarios and get back to them with a solution.

  Cal paced, dragging his nails through his hair. Dania still could, at any time, decide she wanted to live and find a way to bring that blasted prince back on top of all their heads. This was a real danger—one that they all needed to face.

  Dania lowered her head, as if she knew his attention was on her.

  Cal stopped pacing and folded his arms. “The last time I gave you a room to sleep in, you broke out and dropped a pin that nearly got us all killed.”

  Doc leaned forward. “So, what? You’re going to lock her in the cargo bay again?”

  Dania didn’t look up from her hands.

  Alanna put her arm around the enforcer’s shoulder. “Cal, that’s not right.”

  Cal shook his head. The cargo bay hadn’t even crossed his mind. It would probably take too much power from other systems to set up a perimeter down there. The problem was, he didn’t know what to do with her.