“How did you know? About my arrangement with Shade?”
Now she did smile, and the ruthlessness I saw in her gaze shocked even me. “Who do you think gave him the idea? Sent him to find you in Sector 435? Paid for the specialized cuffs he used to bring you in for the reward?” She came forward and wrapped her arms around me, hugged me as if I were her son, or her brother. Love for her stirred, long forgotten, from the deep well in which I’d buried it to survive on my own. “You’re mine, too, Mikos. You’re all mine. You were never going to come home on your own.”
She was right. I’d stayed away to protect her and the rest of our people from the Trach Empire, from their influence and their assassins.
Astra released me and stepped back. She lifted her face to look me in the eyes. “I got tired of waiting, you stubborn asshole. I missed you.”
“I missed you all.” I would blame the tears that gathered in my eyes on Breanna. She wore me down, made me soft. Vulnerable. Weak. She made me remember what it felt like to love, to feel true fear. I couldn’t allow myself to dwell on what Slomak might be doing to my mate right now. That path led to madness.
“I know. But you’re home now. So let’s go get your mate and finish this.”
“Yes, Astra.” I bowed my head to our brilliant, ruthless, cunning leader, to the female who made Astra Legion a family, and activated the tracking program in my NPU. The system linked with my optic nerves at once, overlaying a map on top of my natural vision. I saw the path laid out before me as clearly as if Breanna had left a trail of light. “This way.”
I moved swiftly, our leader and an army of Forsians at my back. I ran toward the source of the signal, toward my destiny. My heart. My soul. My mate.
20
Breanna, Undisclosed Location, Rogue 5
My neck hurt.I lifted my hands to rub the bruises, wincing as I swallowed the bile rising in the back of my throat.
Slomak Trach was pure evil. Vile. Disgusting.
It was just him and me now. He’d murdered the two guards for not watching me closely, for allowing me to activate the Officiant. He was in a rage, stabbing the titan stick into their remains over and over, a twisted smile spreading across his face each time the disgusting sizzle of burning tissue filled the small room.
I assumed, when he carried me off that stage, that he’d take me to his ship. I assumed he would want to get off Rogue 5 as quickly as possible, especially with my mate hunting him.
I’d been wrong. Or he’d gone mad, all rational decision making burned from his mind by rage. Or terror.
Mikos of Astra Legion hunted him. I’d be terrified, if I were him. Wouldn’t matter if Mikos found me dead or alive, Slomak was finished either way. D-E-A-D.
I huddled on the floor where Slomak left me, my back braced against the unforgiving wall of what had to be some kind of storage room. I didn’t make a sound. Didn’t move. Tried not to breathe. I didn’t want his attention on me, not when he was like this.
I searched the space for something I could use as a weapon. Something sharp. Long. Heavy. Anything at all. Unfortunately, the only things I could see were stacks of shipping containers, each one half my height. They were piled on top of one another like Legos. They all appeared to be sealed, so I had no idea what was inside. Could be food, clothing, blasters. I had no clue and no way to open them. The boxes had some type of coded locks on the side. I didn’t know if they required a number sequence, a frequency key, retinal scan or DNA to open. Even if I could try to open one of them, Slomak would be on top of me before I could get a good look at what I was dealing with.
Nothing in the containers would help me. Which left me with my bare hands, my teeth, and my brain.
My mind struggled, if I was being honest with myself. Watching Slomak stomp open the Scion guards’ skulls and sizzle their brain tissues with the titan stick was freaking me the fuck out. I’d believed the members of the cartel that tortured and killed Robbie were monsters. Then I’d discovered the Hive Integration Units. I’d truly believed nothing could be more evil. Holy shit, was I wrong. The Hive appeared to do what they did without emotion, without malice.
Slomak Trach was a true monster. Heenjoyedwhat he was doing.
Where was Mikos? What was taking him so long? I had no choice. I had to believe he would find me. My faith in him was the only thing keeping me sane. I didn’t know how long I’d been locked in this room. Probably less than ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity.
I wanted my mate. I wanted him to tear the door off its hinges, stomp in here like an avenging angel, and rip Slomak’s head off his shoulders. Then I wanted him to come over here and lift me up, cradle me against his chest, and take me home.
Where we went, I didn’t care. Wherever he wanted to go. He was my home now.
I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the little puffs of smoke coming from the dead guards’ skulls. Not seeing didn’t help with the smell.
The sizzling noises stopped. Terrified I would see Slomak coming toward me, I opened my eyes to find him pacing, mumbling to himself.
“Drakdak’s dead. It’s all mine now. All mine. I kill Mikos and it’s all mine. How do I kill him? How? How? How? He’ll come for her. Oh, yes. He’ll come.” As if the thought of me reminded him I was here, his gaze snapped to my face.
I looked down immediately. Away. Didn’t challenge him or run my mouth. I’d pushed him before, defied him, tried to make him angry. Seemed I’d succeeded all too well. Pushing him now would probably get me killed. There was no one home inside that head of his. No one rational, anyway. I’d seen people lose it before, on the battlefield, in shootouts, panicked when they took a bullet. Humans called this the ‘fight or flight’ response. I had no idea what the equivalent was in alien biology, but Slomak was not calm, not thinking clearly. He was volatile, restless and dangerous. A stick of dynamite with a lit fuse. A grenade whose pin had already been pulled.
I really didn’t want to be around to witness the explosion.
“He will come for you.” It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t dare respond. I kept my head turned, my gaze averted. “I’ll set a trap. Yes. A trap.”
