“Yes.”
“Me too. Few years in the military on Earth. Then I volunteered to fight out here. Got assigned to a ReCon unit.”
“You fought with them?” I motioned to the various sized giant aliens moving around the canteen.
Her grin turned into a laugh. “Yes. For a while. Then I lost my entire unit to a bad drug deal. I got out, got a bounty hunter’s license from Prillon Prime, met Isaak here—” She pointed at the fidgeting male seated next to me. “Got some Hive tech, so I could fight the good fight and met Zenos on my way to Rogue 5.”
“Hive tech?”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “Big business out here on the fringes. Anything you want. Bionic eyes. Arms. Legs. Hearing. I look human, but I’m not anymore. Not really.”
I was not going to ask. “They let women fight in the Coalition?” I could totally see her wearing the black and gray armor, toting a space gun. She looked like a female Viking. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a braid down her back. She was anything but dainty. Where she was fair, Zenos was dark. He looked… ruthless, but when his gaze was upon his mate, as it was now, it was surprisingly tender.
She shrugged. “It’s a planet by planet rule. Most of the Coalition worlds want their women safe at home. But Earth girls are tougher than we look.”
That made me smile. “Yes, we are.”
“Besides, all these alien hotties are huge, but they’re really just big teddy bears.”
Zenos, who was twice the size of the largest human I’d ever met grumbled, and his skin actually turned hot pink. “I am not a bear. I tell you this, mate, repeatedly.”
Her hand moved to rest on his thigh with a familiarity I envied. “And I’ve told you, repeatedly, that I can take care of myself.” She gestured to the patrons lurking in dark spaces around the canteen. “Not one of these guys could take me.”
He leaned in close. “Not one will get close enough to try.”
She smiled at him, and I swear he melted. He had to be one of the Forsians Isaak had told me about. He was massive. And he melted. Doe eyes full of adoration for Ivy. Love. Clear as day.
Turning to me, she shrugged. “See? Teddy bears. Big ones.” That fast, she was my new best friend. God, I had no idea how much seeing a familiar face—and human qualified as familiar out here—would affect me.
I really liked Ivy and her teddy bear mate, but this wasn’t a local pub on a Friday night. And we weren’t on a double date. While Isaak was the most intense and impressive lover I’d ever had—not that the list was long—he wasn’t the dating type. Hell, all we’d done since we’d met besides the bout of sweaty, bossy sex had been to stay alive.
Didn’t seem that Isaak was a date kind of guy. I never fell for romance and flowers myself.
Isaak spoke, finally. “You are much taller than Zara. Do females not have a standard size on Earth?”
I choked on my nutrient drink. Seriously? The first thing out of his mouth is comparing me—me, an average height, average everything—to a tall, willowy Nordic goddess?
Ivy raised her eyebrows. “I ate my veggies.” She had to be close to six feet tall, and the guy she was with nearly two feet more. She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. “So, Zara from Boston, in his comm call, Isaak said you were an Interstellar Bride. He forgot to mention that you are his.” Her pale eyes shifted to Isaak then back to me.
“I’m not Isaak’s mate. My matched mate was murdered as soon as I transported to Trion.”
Silence stretched, and I wondered if Ivy was in shock.
A group of rowdy males in Coalition uniform came into the place, went to the bar and ordered drinks. Isaak cleared his throat.
“I helped her escape Jirghogis on Omega Dome. He was supposed to hand her over to Cerberus. Ulza herself was there to take Zara back to Rogue 5.” Isaak rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Ivy, you know I don’t qualify to be tested. And no bride would want my ship as her home.”
“Gwen likes a spaceship for a home just fine,” Ivy replied. She looked to me to elaborate. “Gwen’s human like you and me. She got matched to The Colony, and now she and her mate, Mak, roam the galaxy. Fighting evil and all that shit.”
“Space pirates?” I asked, and Ivy laughed.
“More badass.”
Isaak frowned. “What is this space pirate reference you keep saying?”
“On Earth, living in space is just a fantasy, even though we know of the Hive and the Coalition,” Ivy explained to the guys. “It’s not… real. Space pirates roam the galaxy to steal from the rich to give to the poor. They’re infamous. Ruthless. Cunning. They kill bad guys and upset kingdoms. And do it all from a spaceship.”
Isaak’s hand settled on my thigh beneath the table. The heat from it warmed me in all kinds of places. “You think I am cunning and ruthless?”
I rolled my eyes when his chest puffed up with pride. “I’ll admit, you’ve got skills.”
He leaned in, and his breath fanned my ear. “At many things.”
My pussy clenched remembering some of these things.
Weird music came from somewhere. Laughter came from a table behind me. No one was paying us any attention. For once.
“You are in trouble if Cerberus hunts you,” Zenos said, bringing the conversation full circle. He crossed his arms over his massive chest. He wore the same black clothing as the bad guys at the Omega Dome, even down to the arm band, except his was a dark green instead of red. “Good thing we were close.”
I shrugged, not sure what they were doing around here. I doubted errands. “I’ve had some problems,” I said, simplifying the clusterfuck of my current situation.
Isaak laughed. “Problems? Trouble follows her. We even had a Spectra Five ship, tagged as from Cerberus, attack us more than fourteen hours out from Omega Dome.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be annoyed by his comment about trouble following me or admit he spoke the truth.
“Human females and trouble go hand in hand,” Zenos intoned like a wise old sage.
“Hey!” Ivy countered, grinning. I had to assume she gave Zenos a run for his money.
“Who delivered you to Jirghogis?” Zenos asked.
All humor slipped from Isaak’s face. “Bertok. A Councilor from Trion. He waited for Zara to transport from Earth, murdered her mate in front of her, chained her up, and when she woke up, she was on Omega Dome. What we can’t figure out is why.”
I was thankful he gave them the rundown of what had happened to me, so I didn’t have to. I’d told him everything after the space attack, everything I knew. Everything I could remember or speculate. Both Ivy and Zenos remained quiet the entire time Isaak gave them a complete—well not complete—rundown of the last couple days. Ivy’s pale brows winged up a few times, and Zenos’ jaw clenched tight.
“Your mate was killed. This Trion Councilor Bertok brought you to Omega Dome?” Ivy asked.
I nodded. “To a slimy guy that smelled like swamp gas.”
Ivy cringed. “I’ve heard about that guy, believe me. He’s bad news, but there’s worse out here. You have to be careful.”
“Rumors from Rogue 5 are that Cerberus himself wants an Interstellar Bride,” Zenos said. “And the only way he could get one would be to steal the female. He is not worthy.”
Ivy agreed. “I guess we should have tried harder to kill him. Maybe we’ll have to take it up with Astra next time we go back to Rogue 5.”
“You live on Rogue 5?” I asked, trying to keep the disgust out of my voice. I knew Zenos had on the arm band, but still, I hadn’t made the connection.
Ivy shifted in her seat and took my hand across the table. “Rogue 5 is broken into multiple legions. They are all run like small kingdoms. Cerberus and Siren CONFIRM are vile. The rest do what they have to do to survive out here, but they aren’t evil. We’re with Astra legion. Mak, Gwen’s mate, was part of Kronos legion. There’s another human woman out here mated to the leader of Styx legion. And Cerberus hates Styx. I can s
ee him wanting a human mate just because Styx has one. The asshole. God forbid you ended up in his bed.”
I didn’t even want to know…
“That explains Ulza’s interest,” Isaak added.
“Just confirming. Ulza is the blue lady, right?”
Isaak nodded. “She must have been the delivery person,” he continued. “Cerberus wouldn’t leave the moon base no matter how much he wants Zara. He would be too exposed.”
Ivy and Zenos looked at each other.
“What?”
Ivy looked to me, licked her lips. “I’ve had a run in with Cerberus myself.”
“You dealt with this guy?” I asked.
She gave a slight shrug. “It’s a long story, but Cerberus hates my guts.”
Zenos focused his attention on me, and all traces of teddy bear were gone. Like, scary gone. “Since Cerberus legion was after you, the rumor must be true. It would make sense he wants an Earth female like you and Ivy—” He looked to his mate. “—for his own.” Zenos pulled Ivy in for a swift, fierce kiss.
I flicked my gaze at Isaak, but he didn’t seem surprised. Nor did he appear inclined to kiss me. Darn it. Not that I wanted Isaak to claim me like that. Right? In front of the whole canteen? Like I was his? Zenos was definitely claiming Ivy in front of everyone, and if Cerberus were here, he’d know exactly who Ivy belonged to. And who he would have to kill to get to her.
Ivy had to be one of the safest females in the universe. I envied the hell out of her. I didn’t know what it felt like to be safe. Not on Earth. Not out here in space. I’d felt safe for all of five minutes when I was with Isaak, but then we’d been attacked, and the illusion I’d been allowing myself had shattered into a million pieces. I wasn’t safe. I would never be safe.
Better make peace with that shit and stop wanting to cry like a baby. “Okay, so Cerberus has a hard-on for an Earth girl. Why didn’t Bertok deliver me directly to him?” I wondered.
When Zenos looked my way, his gaze was full of defiant rage but not directed at me. “No outsider goes to Rogue 5 alone. Not if they want to survive the trip. We make sure of it.”
Ivy laughed. “Trust me on that one. We go home, get inside Astra territory, and we are snug as a bug in a rug.”
I nodded, totally envious.
“If Bertok knew of Cerberus’ interest and heard about you being matched,” Zenos mused. “Maybe he killed your mate, so he could sell you to Cerberus. He would have had to use an intermediary. Bertok couldn’t get to Rogue 5. Not only is it impossible to get past our defense system, but Trion is at the far end of the galaxy. Transport only. No ship can make that trip. Means he had to meet Cerberus somewhere in the middle.”
“The dome and Jirghogis,” Isaak said, frowning. “Ulza’s from Cerberus. She was at Omega Dome for business with me. Cerberus must have sent her to escort you back to Rogue 5’s moon base.”
“Still peddling Hive tech?” Ivy asked.
Isaak tipped his head. “Sure am. How’re the parts?”
Zenos growled. “Her parts are fine.”
I frowned, looked at Ivy. She had Hive parts. She’d mentioned that a few minutes ago? Didn’t look like it, unless they made her into a giant. Her eyes looked normal. Maybe she had cyborg hearing or something. Would it be rude to ask?
Yes. Yes, it would be rude.
“So, I got away. Yay!” I said, full of sarcasm and getting back on track. “But they still want me? They came after us. Why me? Can’t Cerberus just get another human somewhere else?”
It made no sense although I was thrilled that I wasn’t Cerberus’ new mate. Based on the way Zenos’ face frowned when he spoke of the guy, I felt like I lucked out.
Zenos nodded. “Yes, their continued pursuit shows you are important.”
“I’m not that exciting.”
The three of them stared at me.
“Fark.” Isaak looked away, thought for a moment. “I’ve been stupid. My ship has stealth technology. Hive tech. Best there is,” Isaak shared. “It can’t be followed.”
Ivy sat back in her chair, crossed her arms then nodded in my direction. “So, if they can’t track your ship, they must have been tracking her.”
I pointed at myself. “Me?”
“There’s no other way they’d have known where we were,” Isaak clarified.
Lifting my hand, I tapped my fingers against my temple. “They gave me an NPU back at the Brides Testing center. You have one,” I said to Ivy. “Could that track me with that?”
She shook her head. “Prillon Prime could do it, track your location I mean, but the tech is tightly controlled. If Cerberus had it, we all would have heard about it by now. At least within Astra legion. He would be wreaking havoc all over the place.”
“She has typical Trion adornments, but I’ve inspected those thoroughly.” Isaak’s words had my cheeks heating. I smacked him on the shoulder. Hard. He looked to me, eyes wide and rubbed his arm as Ivy and Zenos grinned. “What?”
“Are all space men this obtuse?” I asked, looking to Ivy. She might be from Earth, but she’d been in space for a lot longer than I.
Ivy made a sound between a huff and a snort. “Yes. And possessive.”
Isaak held up a hand in surrender. “All I’m saying is, I’ve checked every inch of you. All that’s on you are the Trion adornments and your Earth belly button bar and necklace.”
I frowned, tugged the loose choker Bertok had put up on me from beneath my top. “This? It’s not mine.”
Zenos sat forward so fast I didn’t get a chance to blink before he stared at it. “That’s not from Earth,” he repeated. “That’s from Rogue 5.”
I tried to look down at the necklace, but it only made my eyes hurt. “Rogue 5?”
“Fark,” Isaak hissed. “I thought it was something from Earth, something personal. We need to get that off her. Now.”
Zenos stood, came around the table and batted my hand away. “Allow me, please.”
“I have never seen a necklace like that,” Ivy said. She stood behind her mate, watching.
Zenos’ fingers brushed against my neck and collarbones. “It’s locked.”
“May I try?” Isaak asked.
Zenos looked at Isaak over my shoulder then let go of the necklace and moved away.
“Gara, turn toward me.”
I spun around in the chair eager to have it off. Knowing it wasn’t supposed to be there, that it was not a typical Trion adornment, made me feel as if a snake were wrapped around my neck. He pulled some weird tool from his belt, held it up. “This won’t hurt. Much.”
My eyes widened. “Much?”
He grinned then winked. I exhaled.
“Those are hard to come by,” Ivy said, her voice sounding impressed. “Looks like you hit the jackpot in Hive tech.”
As Isaak worked on removing the necklace, I stayed still, noticed the color of his eyes, the sharpness of his jaw. Those full lips. “Hard to come by? For you, maybe.” Those full lips moved, and I watched as the corner tipped up.
“That’s right, Space Pirate,” Ivy countered. “You can get anything.”
With an audible click, the necklace loosened. Isaak looked up and winked at me, slid the metal from my skin and handed it to Zenos, who’d settled back across the table.
Zenos looked at it closely, Ivy’s head moving beside his to stare as well. “This is Tryphite. It’s only found in one mine on Rogue 5’s home planet, Hyperion. You can tell by the silver sheen but the tinge of green. It’s heavy, yet pliable. It can’t be forged with any other metal, no matter the melting point. It’s like the stuff has a mind of its own.” He spoke like a scientist who knew his stuff.
“Why did Bertok have it?” I wondered.
Zenos flicked his gaze to me. “I do not know, but it proves the connection between Bertok and Rogue 5.”
Ivy reached for the medallion and ran her fingernail along the edges. “It looks like a locket. There must be something inside.”
Zenos grunted. “Onl
y one way to find out.” He walked to the bar top until he came to the very end. There, sitting alone and looking angry, was a single male wearing a wine-red arm band.
“Oh, shit.” Ivy shot to her feet.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
When I made a move to step around the table, Isaak’s arm wrapped around my waist from behind and held me back. I hadn’t even noticed that he stood. “Leave him, gara. It’s too dangerous.”
I wanted to argue, I really did, but he was warm and strong, and Ivy had stopped moving too, her hands on her hips like an annoyed wife.
Zenos walked to the male who looked up from his drink. Zenos said something I could not hear, lifted his fist and swung. Hard.
The Cerberus male, who had lines on his face and a thin, sunken face, flew back into the wall and slumped there unconscious.
“What the hell is he doing?” I asked.
Ivy turned to me, shrugged and turned back to watch Zenos bend down, wipe something from the male’s mouth and return to the table.
“Give me the medallion.”
Ivy handed it over without question.
Zenos lifted his thumb, and I saw a drop of blood on the tip. He rubbed the liquid on the surface of the medallion and set it back down on the table. “Cerberus codes all of his tech to artificial DNA that every member of his legion is required to carry.”
“What?”
Ivy scowled as she watched the medallion. “It’s crazy out here, Zara. And even worse on Rogue 5. Don’t ask.”
I didn’t want to, and even if I did, I doubted I would understand her answer. I had to work two jobs just to eat. I barely finished high school. DNA sounded like science to me, and that was so not my territory.
A pale light appeared along the edges of the medallion, and as one, we all four sank back down into our chairs to watch as the medallion opened up, the top sliding back and away into the sides like a collapsing accordion with metallic ridges.
Inside was a small clear crystal.
“What is that?” I asked.
Ivy reached for it, and Zenos waited, her much smaller fingers lifting the pea size crystal from a lined bed of some kind. “Data.”
Isaak frowned. “What’s on it? What could Bertok possibly send to Cerberus?”
Rebel Mate (Interstellar Brides® Program Book 20) Page 9