Fuck, that hurt.
“Come.” Ruk stepped off the ship’s loading ramp and I followed, surprised when Sebastion joined us. The moment his feet left the ramp, it retracted, and the ship closed up tight.
“They’re not coming with us?” I don’t know why, but I’d expected at least a few of the Atlans to come along. Which didn’t make much sense, when I remembered they were still, technically, part of the Hive. But so was Sebastion. Right?
Sebastion shook his head. “No. I’m wearing Coalition armor and carry Coalition weapons. If anyone scans my armor, they can verify that I am an active officer in the Fleet. Mikos put you in Astra armor and colors. That will offer some protection in the neutral areas. His Royal Highness here is blood of their ancestors and can come and go as he pleases, as long as he doesn’t start trouble. Am I right?”
Ruk nodded his agreement. “Sometimes, I start trouble anyway.”
I ignored him. “But the Atlans?” I asked.
“Anyone scans them, they read as Hive Soldiers. Nothing else. Their Coalition chips were deactivated when the Hive captured them and, unlike me, they refused to have their Coalition chips reactivated. Last I checked, the Hive weren’t welcome anywhere.”
Ruk snorted. “The Silver Scions might want them.”
“For dissection, maybe. Science experiments.” Sebastion shrugged.
I craned my neck to watch as the silver headed assholes disappeared down a long corridor, Mikos with them. “Where are they taking him?”
Ruk scanned the gathering crowd. Now that Mikos was out of sight, far too many eyes were turning to us. “The neutral zone has underground holding cells. They’ll take him there.”
Underground? I couldn’t stop the shudder that raced along my spine.
“We need to move.” Ruk looked down at me. “Stay between us. Keep your head up, but don’t make eye contact with anyone. Understood?”
“Yes. Let’s go.” The sooner I took the antidote, the faster I could figure out what to do about Mikos. No way I was going to sit idly by while the man I was in love withhopedthe bad guys wouldn’t execute him tonight. I needed that antidote. And then? I was going to figure out how to get Mikos off this stupid moon and back out in space where I could try to convince him to let me keep him.
The journeyto Astra territory didn’t take long. The moment we walked past a pair of dark green markers, we were surrounded by half a dozen huge males and one middle-aged female. The female had fangs, but other than that, she looked like she could be any middle-aged soccer mom with streaks of gray in her long, dark braid. Her eyes were ice blue. She assessed and dismissed me with those emotionless eyes between one breath and the next. The way she moved made me think of Earth’s infamous Ninjas. I wasn’t the type to read auras or any of that nonsense, but something about her wasoff.Not human.
Ruk immediately stopped walking and bowed his head. “Astra.”
“Prince Rukzi.” The woman snapped her fangs in irritation. “Where is Mikos?”
“Shade made a deal. The Scions were waiting for us when we docked.”
“Greedy bastard.” Astra’s shocking blue gaze focused on me. “You must be Breanna Parks of Earth.”
“I am.” What was I supposed to say to the leader of Mikos’s people? She wasn’t at all what I expected a gang leader to look like. If something about her didn’t raise every alarm bell I had, I would swear she looked like she could be baking chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen for a school bake sale. “Nice to meet you.”
“What was Mikos thinking? Another human.” Astra leaned back and twisted her head. “Is Ivy here? Did she make it?” I admired the long, artistic braid that covered Astra’s head and fell more than halfway down her back. She wore the same armor as the huge males surrounding her, all six of them. I recognized the way they moved, their bone structure, the angles of their jaw.
Forsians. Like Mikos. Every single one of them had their gaze locked on Sebastion like they were deciding whether to eat him for lunch.
I glared at the nearest Forsian male as a woman approached from the corner of my eye. I’d deal with her in a minute. “Don’t kill my friend.”
The male’s lip curved in a half-smile, and I sighed in relief. I knew that look, too. Mikos smiled the same way when he thought I was being cute.
“Hi. I’m Ivy.” An average sized human woman with golden blond hair and friendly blue eyes held out her hand. I took it, fighting back tears that seemed to explode from the depthsof my soul without warning. Why did it feel like I hadn’t seen another human for months?
“Breanna.”
“Welcome to Sherwood Forest.” I was at a loss for words. How did she get out here? It wasn’t like Rogue 5 was on the list for Interstellar Brides. And what was she talking about?Robin Hoodand hisMerry Menwere half a galaxy away in a storybook.
“Sherwood Forest?”
Ivy laughed and the sound was contagious. Ialmostforgot that right now, Mikos could be tortured and killed, while I stood here making small talk with a cute little blonde woman who sounded like she was from Ohio. This situation was Robbie all over again. Me, cluelessly going on about my life while the man I loved suffered.
My stomach spasmed and I swallowed hard, determined not to vomit all over pretty Ivy’s black boots.
