Lyk smiled, then swung so quickly that his fist was a blur. It connected with Celdrake’s face, and Ally could see that the cyborg was knocked unconscious instantly. Lyk let go of his hair and Celdrake fell to the ground, lifeless.
Once again, Lyk positioned the cuffs at Celdrake’s wrists, and this time, Zelup pushed the button to start the current and lock him in tight. Ally rushed over, throwing herself into Lyk’s arms. “Are you okay?”
“You should see the other guy,” he said, then laughed.
“Call a doctor,” Ally deadpanned to Zelup. “He’s got a brain injury.”
“He was born with it,” Zelup replied, making them both laugh.
Ally was shocked when Lyk asked Zelup to borrow the knife at his waist. “What are you doing?” Her voice was high and full of anxiety.Is he going to slit the cyborg’s throat, here, in front of everyone?
But the knife wasn’t aimed at Celdrake. Instead, Lyk used the tip of it to cut into the pad of his thumb. He held the wound over Celdrake’s mouth, pressing on his thumb to cause a drop of blood to come out.
Ally watched in wonder as the cyborg’s bruises began to heal instantly. She heard gasps from the crew behind her. Celdrake’s eyes opened suddenly, and he blinked up at Lyk, then down at the cuffs on his wrists.
As he struggled to sit up, his expression was one of realization. “That healing potion you gave us whenever one of us got hurt. It was made of your blood.”
Lyk nodded, then pulled the cyborg to his feet. “You gave your blood to heal us,” Celdrake said again, his voice filled with wonder.
Lyk shrugged, then waved over a few men from Zelup’s crew. “Take him to the maximum-security holding facility.”
The men nodded, each putting a hand on either of the cyborg’s arms.
As they led him away, Celdrake looked back over his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said, then turned to face front again as they marched him to his prison cell.
“I guess redemption is possible,” Zelup said, coming up alongside Lyk. “Don’t tell Marek. You know how he hates being wrong.”
Lyk turned to his former crew. “I won’t say that I’m not disappointed in the ease with which you betrayed me. But then again, I always knew you were opportunists. All raiders are. When you joined this crew, I gave you a choice, and it’s the same one I’ll give you now. You can leave this planet right now. I’ll have a crew fly you to wherever in the galaxy you’d like to go. When you get there, you will be relieved of any memories of the wormhole and this trip to Vartik, but you’ll be otherwise unharmed.”
He looked down the line, making eye contact with each man before moving on to the next. “You have another option, one that is fraught with danger that frankly, you’d have to be a fool to take. But as members of my crew, you knew that we only targeted those who did harm to others. Who exploited others. Who were rotten and wicked and downright evil.”
He paused, acknowledging the nods he received. “Well this time, you have a chance to take on evil once again. But this won’t be your normal raid. This time, you’ll be going into Hell itself to rescue our people. It won’t be easy, you won’t make any money, and truth be told, you probably won’t even come back. But if you live, you’ll have one hell of a tale to tell.
“So make your choice. Hitch a ride through the galaxy. Or join us in our attack on the Crown Prince of Hell.” He waited another beat, fixing them all with his stare. “You don’t have to decide now. First, you can join us in the palace for dinner, then rest in a bed that isn’t on a spaceship for a night. In the morning, I’ll expect your answers.”
Lyk turned and walked toward her, taking her hand. “Have your men see that they’re given temporary quarters and a substantial dinner,” he said to his brother.
Zelup nodded, then called over a couple of his crewmen to start giving orders.
“Where are we going?” Ally asked as he led her across the airfield.
“It’s time to meet my family,” he said, then signaled to an attendant as they drew closer to the landing pad’s outbuildings. The attendant rushed forward, and Lyk asked for a vehicle.
“Right this way, Your Majesty,” the attendant said, scurrying before them.
Your Majesty. From pirate to king. It’s a lot for a girl to take in.
The vehicle was small, but it was fast, and soon, they were zooming along, a large and somewhat fanciful building growing larger in the distance. “Is that where your family lives?”
Lyk nodded. “That’s the royal palace complex.”
“It looks like a small city,” she said, her voice filled with awe.
“It feels like one, too, with all my siblings running around. And now they all have wives, except for Kara, of course. Still, there are plenty of rooms that are unoccupied. Including my old quarters, I assume.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, you’re coming home after a very long absence. Are you sure you want to drag me along? You could stick me somewhere while you do the whole reunion thing.”
She felt like an interloper all of a sudden. An outsider. Her own family, as small as it was, was now completely shattered. It was a big contrast to the reunion of a large and interwoven family as Lyk’s seemed to be.
