It had been silly of her to think such a thing.
“Oh,” she breathed. Tears came unbidden to her eyes, but he was already turning from her. His long strides carried him away faster than she could think to call for him. Faster than she could realize that this was the last time she would ever see him—just a blurred silhouette of his hulking form stalking away.
“Don’t leave me here,” she whispered.
But he was already gone.
Chapter 16
Ved
The way Isobel Nott had pleaded with him made something in his chest twist like he had a plasma dirk searing a path between his hearts. Turning away from her had been more difficult than it should have been.
Which only let him know that he’d made the right decision.
She couldn’t be here. Not now. Between the Kroids and the Blood Vultures, there was no telling what could happen to her. He shouldn’t have encouraged her visits to begin with, shouldn’t have allowed himself to be caught up in her.
It’d been foolish. Irresponsible. Weak.
This way was better for them both.
“I will say nothing that rhymes with I told you so,” Exxo said.
The only reason Ved chose not to respond rather than permanently disable the neurolink was because if it hadn’t been for Exxo, Isobel Nott could have been severely injured or killed. And he was right. Ved’s world clung to him like a second skin. The moment he let Isobel Nott on his ship, he had introduced her into it. And his world was no place for someone like her.
He hardened himself against the invasive image of her standing on the edge of the forest before pushing it away altogether.
He had bloody business to attend to.
The Kroid who had attacked her was close to where Ved had left him. He’d attempted to crawl, leaving a trail of green blood, but hadn’t made it very far. The Kroid’s black gaze focused on Ved as he approached, and the stench of fear intensified.
Here Ved was in his element, here he was fully in control.
“Why are you working with Clan Rax?” Ved demanded in the universal tongue as he knelt beside him. “What do you gain from this arrangement?”
The Kroid chittered something that Exxo couldn’t translate, but he otherwise remained silent.
Ved placed his knee against the wound in his chest. His aim had been perfect, clipping one of the Kroid’s complex lungs. The Kroid let out a rattling trill and squirmed beneath him. “Answer my questions and I’ll consider giving you a quick death.”
Dread came from the Kroid in waves, releasing the pungent chemical that would lead other horde members to his position. But his comrades were all torn apart in bloody messes, and he was dead no matter what. He quickly came to the same conclusion. “I will,” he said through a wheeze.
Ved eased off the wound.
Air whistled from the hole in his chest as he inhaled. “Rax promised us protected land and bountiful resources in return for our compliance.”
Kroids were nomads, stealing and trading, always on the move. They weren’t truly safe on any planet, whether that was because the Authority would find them or because the inhabitants would. Tobe given land on one of the three Xaal planets under the protection of a strong qon would be as close to safety as they ever got.
But something told Ved that Clan Rax didn’t intend to hold up their end of the bargain.
“And in return you gave them what? Your ships and technology?” Ved asked.
“We gave them our auto-piloted probe ships, but”—he coughed, causing green blood to leak from his jagged teeth—“when the vector tear happened, they blamedus. And since our ships can bypass Authority scanners, they sent us here to find their clan mates, get rid of any evidence of their being here, and ensure…” He cut off as a spasm overtook his body.
“To ensure what?” Ved said through gritted teeth.
“That Ved Qon Cleave was dead,” he rattled out.
“Surprise,” Ved growled. Clan Rax had assumed he was alive. Which was exactly why they’d chosen to send Kroids instead of more Xaal. Why waste their own to confirm?
