"Would you really deny them the ships if I die?" she asked.
Liara's licked her lips, her gaze going to the Tsavitee then to Kira. "I wouldn't put my goodwill to the test."
Kira's small smile touched her eyes. "Then I guess I'd better stay alive."
Kira's warm expression disappeared as she faced the cage again. She stepped forward, Graydon moving beside her.
To her surprise, he didn't try to stop her. It seemed she'd underestimated him.
"I do not like this," he informed her.
"That gets me right here." She pointed at her heart. "Really."
The look he bent on her was unamused. "I will be most disappointed if you die."
"As will I."
He stopped her before she could reach the edge of the cage where the Tsavitee were massing in front of it. All of them eager to be the one responsible for bringing the Phoenix to her knees before death.
This was going to be bad.
Warm lips pressed against hers, distracting her from the madness she was about to face. Tingles skated across her skin as the kiss ended almost before it began. He drew back from her, his gaze full of thunderclouds. He gave her a cocky smile. "To give you something to live for."
"Arrogant man," Kira murmured.
He winked at her. "Coli, live and I'll show you I'm worth every bit of my arrogance."
"Hold onto that thought," Kira said as the light dropped to form a small doorway.
She squeezed Graydon's hand where he held hers. The joking distracted her from the gravity of what was about to happen, but it didn't quell the shaking in her hands or the knowledge she might soon be dead.
"Give them hell," he said. A second later, "That is the right phrase, correct? Human slang is so confusing."
Kira stepped forward, looking over her shoulder at him for one final glimpse, wishing things had been different and they'd met earlier. "It gets easier with time."
His eyes held shadows as the light formed, cutting her off from the rest.
She faced the Tsavitee again, taking a deep breath.Here we go.
She didn't fight when the Tsavitee caught both arms and dragged her toward the general.
"What are you doing?" Ayela paced next to the general. "The children are a better bargaining chip. The Overlord will never give up the codes for the mongrel."
"The Phoenix's presence necessitates a change of plans. She's too dangerous to be left alive. Once she's taken care of, we may proceed," Lothos said, more diffidently than Kira had ever heard from a Tsavitee general class.
She frowned at Lothos. It was almost like he was submitting to Ayela’s will, like she controlled him. That couldn't be. No one controlled the generals but the rulers.
"I'm ordering you to forget this nonsense," Ayela demanded. "You will listen to me. That was the deal we struck."
The general's face reflected irritation.
Kira wondered if this was why Ayela thought she could control the Tsavitee, because of a deal. It was possible. The Tsavitee kept any bargains they made. It was a weird dichotomy in such a backstabbing race.
Maybe because Tsavitee bargains never really worked out for anyone but the Tsavitee in the end. They were tricksters. You had to be very careful in the wording of your bargain or they'd drive a battlecruiser right through it.
"I have orders that supersede yours. Any Tsavitee who catches the Phoenix knows what they have to do. It doesn't matter what bargain you struck," the general said with forced patience.
Kira thought this might be the first time he'd had to explain himself. Their own kind didn't second-guess a general. They accepted his word and authority as the highest form of law. That he did now was darkly amusing.
