The Queen's Advantage

by Jessie Mihalik

  “You tell me. You don’t have any preconceptions, and I don’t want to influence you.”

  “They operated more like a military unit than a mercenary unit. They obviously have access to a lot of high-powered weapons and good information. If the sweep of the folly happened, then they’re well trained and fast. If I had to guess with what I know right now, I’d say it’s a squad of Quint soldiers trying to look like mercenaries.”

  Valentin remained quiet, so I kept going. “Motivation is murkier. Nikolas obviously wants to be emperor, and some of your advisors back him because they worked deals with him for years. But, by all accounts, you’re a good emperor. It can’t all be ideological. There has to be a great deal of money on the line.”

  “I am working with Quint Chairwoman Soteras on a treaty to end the war,” Valentin said softly.

  I sucked in a breath. “How many people know about it?”

  “My advisors. Chairwoman Soteras and her council.”

  “Damn. No wonder half of the universe wants you dead.” War was a very lucrative business as long as you didn’t have to actually dirty your hands with the fighting and dying.

  Money was at the heart of the ongoing war between Quint and Kos. They both claimed a series of rare, easily habitable planets. Terraforming was expensive and time-consuming. Planets where people could live with minimal changes were in short supply and both sides needed the room for expansion.

  They couched it in other terms, of course, because an ideological war was more popular than a mercenary one—the enemy is trying to destroy our way of life! And to a certain degree, that was true. Quint citizens didn’t think an emperor was fit to rule, and Kos citizens didn’t think Quint’s corrupt sham of a democracy actually looked out for the people it was supposed to protect. Both were right, and wrong.

  The Rogue Coalition had a pony in this race, too, because the end of the war—the true end, not some farce—would likely mean the end of our little band of misfits. Without the threat of war, people could return to their former homes and rebuild their lives. It was a bittersweet thought.

  “Who’s pushing back the hardest?” I asked.

  “Oskar, Hannah, and Asmo.” Military strategy, diplomatic relations, and domestic affairs.

  Oskar made sense—military strategy would lose significant importance once the war was over. Hannah should be happy, though, because diplomatic relations would reopen with Quint, increasing her value. Asmo’s domestic affairs position was more of a mixed bag. The end of the war would be good for the majority of the Kos Empire, except for those in positions of wealth and power.

  “Do they have good reasons?” I asked.

  “Oskar remembers the last treaty. Quint signed it with no intention of honoring it. They used it as a short break to build up their military before attacking once again.”

  I frowned at him. “I believe they learned that maneuver from your father. And possibly Oskar himself.”

  “Yes, we are not blameless,” Valentin said grimly. “I’m trying to change that.”

  “What about Hannah and Asmo?”

  “They both think that we would be better off destroying Quint entirely, despite the fact that we have not managed it in the last thirty years. They refuse to believe that a treaty will solve anything.”

  “That’s a little bloodthirsty for someone supposedly in charge of diplomatic relations. No wonder you’ve been at war for so long.”

  “Bloodthirsty might be an understatement,” Valentin muttered. “I think if it were up to her, we’d fight them to our dying breath.”

  I filed that information away. “Is anyone in favor?”

  “Junior and Myra are both in favor. Junior wants better access to Quint medical research and Myra thinks I’ll be safer if Quint isn’t out for my blood.”

  “Speaking of that, have you heard anything about Commander Adams?” Quint commander Tony Adams had attacked Arx because I’d rescued Valentin from him. When Adams was defeated by Valentin’s forces, he’d escaped in a shuttle and disappeared. It’d been weeks and he still hadn’t reappeared. I hoped he was dead, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

  Valentin glanced away. “My people in Iona heard rumors that he briefly returned to the city last week, but they were never able to get confirmation.”

  Iona was Quint Confederacy’s capital city on Casseda Prime. It didn’t surprise me that Valentin had people there. Just as I wouldn’t be surprised if I learned that Quint had people in Koan.

  “He could throw a wrench in any peace talks, especially if Chairwoman Soteras values his input. He didn’t seem amenable to peace.”

  “Adams is against any sort of peace that doesn’t involve our complete surrender.” Valentin grimaced and continued, “As for whether he can influence the chairwoman, it may not matter. Earlier today, my intelligence staff intercepted a message that indicated Adams was headed for—or possibly in—Koan. That’s why I was pulled away this afternoon.”

  My pulse sped up. If I’d known Adams was here, I could’ve been looking for him. Instead, Valentin had kept me in the dark. “Why did you wait to tell me?” I demanded.

  Valentin remained calm. “I was waiting for confirmation that the message was legitimate and not a trap. A second message was intercepted this evening during dinner. The information is legitimate, but it may still be a trap.”

  “Is Adams behind the attack this afternoon? Is he working with one of your advisors?”

  “I don’t know.” Valentin blew out a frustrated breath. “The messages didn’t have any additional information. Hell, one of my advisors could be faking them, but if so, they’re far better than anything I’ve seen before. I just don’t know. You now have all of the information I have.” There was no reproof in his tone despite the fact that I’d snapped at him.

  I took a sip of whisky and let the slow burn remind me to be patient. Valentin had promised to try to be more open with information, but people didn’t change immediately and breaking a lifelong habit was hard. And Koan was a city of twenty million people. Even if Valentin had told me about Adams earlier, I wouldn’t have found him today.

  I slid around so I was sitting on my heels next to Valentin. It put us at eye level. “I’m sorry I was short with you,” I said. “Thank you for sharing your intelligence. If you find anything else, I would appreciate being looped in.”

  “Of course. I planned to tell you that Adams was here as soon as I knew the information was good.” He clinked his glass against mine and grinned. “We’re partners, after all.”

  Warmth that had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with affection spread through my chest. Not only did I find him smart and sexy as hell, but I also liked Valentin, quite a lot. I liked his cool calm. I liked how he respected me, and listened to me, and didn’t underestimate me. I liked the way looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman in the room. I especially liked it when he called us partners. I set my glass on the nearby table. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  His answering grin was filled with wicked heat. “Please do.”

  I leaned forward but I could already tell the angle was going to be wrong, so I pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  “Not exactly what I had in mind,” he teased, “but I’ll take—”

  His sentence ended on a groan as I swung myself into his lap, my legs straddling his. I sucked in a breath when I realized exactly how thin the layers of fabric between us really were. I was walking a dangerous, dangerous line. “Is this okay?” I asked.

  “Yes, but you still owe me a kiss,” he murmured. He gripped my hips and pulled me closer. The movement sent shivers of pleasure dancing through my system. He made a low, pleased sound, and his hands flexed but remained where they were.

  I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. I kept the kiss light, exploring, building the tension. Valentin let me until I licked into his mouth. Then he buried a hand in my hair, tilted my head, and kissed me long and deep. By the time we came up for air, he was fully aroused and i
t was all I could do to stay still and not mindlessly rock against him.

  He pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth, then nuzzled my jaw, slowing the pace. “You are amazing,” he whispered against my skin.

  I chuckled. “I’m no closer to figuring out who wants you dead, and then I yelled at you because you didn’t give me unverified data. I am not amazing.”

  “You’ve got my advisors running scared and you impressed my mother. In less than a day. You. Are. Amazing.” Each word was punctuated with a teasing kiss on my neck.

  “Keep going and maybe I’ll agree with you.” I tilted my head, giving him better access. I felt him smile before he obliged. He bit me gently and my arousal spiked.

  I slid my hand to the back of his head. His dark hair was short and soft, and I played with it for a moment before I pulled his head up to mine. “You’re pretty amazing yourself,” I murmured against his mouth.

  His eyes crinkled as he grinned, then he parroted my words back to me. “I’m no closer to figuring out who wants me dead. And I didn’t immediately share important information. I’m not amazing.”

  I wasn’t always the best about sharing my feelings, but here, couched in the safety of a game, I told Valentin the truth. “You helped catch two of our attackers and you trusted me to handle myself with your advisors.” I kissed him. “You.” Another kiss. “Are.” I nibbled on his lower lip. “Amazing.”

  His smile promised wicked, wicked things. “Keep going.”

  I tugged on the bottom of his shirt. He leaned away from the sofa and pulled it over his head, revealing golden skin stretched over taut muscles. I shivered as I ran my hands across the hard planes of his chest.

  “You are perfect,” I whispered. I kissed him and his mouth parted beneath mine. I rocked against him as the kiss deepened. He was hot and hard under me and I wished our clothes were gone.

  He pushed up my shirt. The built-in bra stumped him for a second, but then he pulled the stretchy elastic up, revealing my breasts. At his urging, I pulled the shirt the rest of the way off. He leaned back to look, and I felt his groan everywhere we touched.

  “You are so beautiful.” He whispered it like a prayer, then his hot mouth closed over my nipple and my brain short-circuited. I rolled my hips, grinding against him like I was a teenager making out for the first time. It wasn’t enough.

  Pants, we needed to remove these pants.

  I leaned back, planning to ask him if he wanted to do just that, when Invictia blared a proximity warning to me via neural link. I froze and Valentin picked up on my distraction. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone is near my ship.” I blinked, trying to focus through the desire to ignore whatever it was and go right back to what we were doing.

  “Imogen?”

  “No, she wouldn’t set off an alarm.” I frowned and connected to the ship’s systems, trying to get a visual. The warning came from the rear of the ship, but the cameras had limited visibility in that area and showed nothing out of place.

  “I’m sending a security patrol to check it out,” Valentin said.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, still trying to find a camera angle that showed me what the ship was sensing. It had picked up at least two people behind the ship, but I couldn’t activate the defensive measures without knowing who it was. I didn’t want to be responsible for murdering a couple of curious kids.

  Less than a minute later, an attack warning screamed across the link, then cut off halfway through when my connection to the ship went dead. What the hell was happening? I caught a flash of light and heard a distant boom as something large exploded in the distance.

  Dread churned in my gut as I unsuccessfully tried to reconnect with my ship.

  “That came from the direction of the spaceport,” Valentin said with alarm. His expression went distant, then his face drained of color. He glanced at me, stricken.

  With a sinking heart, I already knew what he was going to say.

  “Your ship was attacked. Fire crews are on their way, but it doesn’t look good. Based on the snippet of video I saw, it looks like a total loss.”

  Chapter Ten

  Invictia had been my home for more than a decade, and now she was burning like a miniature sun, despite the best efforts of the fire crews. Honestly, even if they put the fire out, Valentin was right—the ship was a total loss.

  The attackers had gone for the more lightly shielded engine propulsion nozzle. They had set the heavy, shaped explosive in such a way that it blew open the ship’s stardrive, which in turn took half the ship with it.

  Invictia would never fly again. My home was lost. I was lost.

  I donned my shirt with numb fingers. I’d moved many of my mementos into Arx after the first couple of years, when I’d really started putting down roots, but Invictia herself was my most treasured possession.

  It felt like just yesterday when I’d stepped on board for the first time. When I’d looked around at what a decade of constant bloodshed had earned—a chance to change, to make my own choices, to live my own life.

  Invictia was not only my home, she was the first step I’d taken toward freedom. The ship represented every good thing I’d ever had in my life, and now she was burning, and there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do to stop it.

  The loss hurt, a knife-sharp pain that burrowed into my chest and stole my breath. My eyes were hot and dry. The tears would come once the shock wore off, once vengeance was mine.

  And vengeance would be mine, but for now, the grief drowned out everything else.

  Valentin prevented me from running blindly into a trap by patching the security feed through to the suite’s main screen, so I could watch as Invictia slowly succumbed to flames from the safety of the suite. But the distance didn’t lessen the pain.

  Valentin wrapped his arms around me in a gentle hug. I laid my head against his chest and tried not to think about how when I’d reached for something I’d desired for myself, I’d lost the most important thing in my life. I wanted to rail against the unfairness of the universe.

  Bitter tears flooded my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn’t start crying, not yet.

  An urgent neural link came from Imogen. When I answered, she demanded, Are you okay? Where are you?

  I’m in my suite. Valentin is here as well.

  Stay there. I’m on my way. Samara, I… I’m so sorry.

  I closed the link and blinked away more tears. Sorrow would get me nowhere and rage would burn down the world. I grasped at control, then pushed away from Valentin’s comforting presence. “Who is responsible?”

  For all that he’d been gently comforting me, one glance at him revealed that Valentin was beyond furious. His jaw was clenched and his eyes blazed with fury. The distance in his gaze meant he was also sending orders via neural link. “The attackers were not caught,” he growled, “but it was a team of two. I have the video.”

  A second window appeared on screen. Invictia glowed greenish gray in the night vision video. Two people, likely men from their builds, came in from the left, pushing a cargo sled covered with a tarp. Both wore spaceport staff uniforms with hats pulled low. Only their jawlines were visible.

  It took them less than a minute to attach the explosive device. Then they just strolled away. I watched until the bright blast of the explosion took out the camera. Fury, bright and blinding, tried to overwhelm my control. I funneled it into resolve. I would catch these fuckers, and I would make them pay.

  And my vengeance would be swift and brutal.

  I took a steadying breath. “I’m assuming those weren’t really spaceport workers?”

  “No. If I had to guess, I would say they were part of the same squad that attacked us this afternoon. I’ve got a team trying to track their location.”

  I didn’t expect them to have much luck. I knew from experience that it was all too easy to hide in a city this big. “Why attack my ship? They had to know I wasn’t on it. Unless they wanted me grounded and unable to leave quickly.�
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  Valentin sighed. “Someone is trying to undermine you and our agreement. I have no doubt that in a few minutes, gossip circles will be buzzing about the attack from Rogue Coalition rebels. I’ll be pressured to distance myself from an unstable foreign government. Anything you say will be considered unreliable and self-serving. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

  I stopped in front of where he was leaning against the sofa and tried to dredge up some of my earlier playfulness to break the tension. “I can work with unreliable and self-serving. But you owe me a new ship.” It came out far wobblier than I wanted, and I bit my lip.

  He carefully drew me in until I rested against his chest again, then wrapped his arms around me. “Let me know what you want and I’ll make it happen,” he promised softly. He blew out a breath that ruffled my hair, then quietly continued, “I’m so fucking sorry, Samara. You lost your home because of me. This is my fault, and I know I can’t ever fix it, but I’m going to try. Whatever you need, I will do it.”

  I’d been joking, trying to lighten the mood with an obviously outrageous request. His abrupt agreement threw me, as did his attempt to take all of the blame. I pulled back far enough to stare at him. “You can’t buy me a ship. This wasn’t your fault. This was the fault of whoever attacked. And I plan to make them regret their life choices.”

  “I can and will buy you a new ship. Yours was destroyed because of a security failure on my part. I might not have ordered the attack, but I offered you my protection when you agreed to come to Koan. That protection failed. I know what Invictia meant to you, and I can never replace what you lost, but I can give you the next best thing.”

  “Valentin, you can’t give me a ship.”

  He smiled at me, the first I’d seen since the attack. “If you don’t pick something, I’ll pick for you.”

  “I’m going to pick something hideously expensive. You should back out now, while you have a chance.”

  “Your pitiful attempt to bankrupt me is noted,” he said with a derisive sniff, nose in the air. He broke into a grin and brushed his fingers over my jaw. “Do your worst.”