“She has taken Raas Wrexxon’s mating marks,” I said.
“You marked her?” Red splotches mottled her cheeks. “Is that like a brand you give your women?”
My jaw tightened. “We did not mark her. Mating marks appear on a female’s skin when she is a raider’s true mate. Her Vandar mate’s marks expand across his skin. It is impossible to get marks if one is not happily mated.”
She looked at me as if she didn’t believe me. Finally, she blew out a breath. “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change the fact that things were better off before you came to Lexxona. Everything had been manageable before our outpost agreed to a deal with your Raas. Sure, we had too much Zagrath interference, but it was nothing our rebel group couldn’t handle. It was nothing we hadn’t been handling. Until you flew in with your war bride lottery and your promise of protection.” She waved a hand in the air. “I’m not feeling very protected, big guy.”
I glared at her for a few beats, but she glared right back. My heart thundered in my chest, even as I couldn’t help but admire that the woman gave as good as she got. And part of what she said was right. I had failed to rescue her. I had been caught off-guard. I grunted and spun on one heel so that I was facing the bars and not her.
“It was a trap,” I admitted.
“No shit,” she said, but with much less heat. “If it makes you feel any better, we didn’t know the Zagrath were there until it was too late. It was the first time I'd ever allowed anyone to sneakup on me.”
I recognized the reluctance in her voice. “Then we have one thing in common.”
Her laugh held little mirth, but it was a laugh. “That we’re both angry we got outsmarted by imperial cocksuckers?”
I turned slowly to face her. “I might not have put it that way, but yes.”
She blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her curls. “They think they can take over any planet they want, impose any taxes they want, and abduct anyone they want. Can you think of a better word for them?”
I actually couldn’t. Not even the Vandar language—which had many words for blood and blade—had as many colorful ways to insult people as humans did. It was one of their most redeeming qualities. “They are imperial cocksuckers.”
This seemed to please her, as the smile she gave me was wide and genuine and lit up her entire face. My breath hitched in my chest at the sight of her pleasure, and I had to remind myself exactly why humans did not make good allies.
I’d only had to be betrayed once by a human-led convoy to know that they were treacherous. It had cost me several honorable raiders, but I’d vowed to never be tricked by them again.
I cleared my throat. “Having a common enemy does not make us friends.”
“Perish the thought,” she said, but she was still smiling. Was her grin now a mocking one?
“Infuriating female,” I snarled.
“I’m going to take that as high praise.”
Of course, she would. I focused on taking slow, steady breaths so I would not be tempted to throttle her. My gaze drifted to the curve of her pink lips. Or tempted to crush that mocking mouth with my own.
“You might have been part of an underground rebellion,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean you know anything about the Zagrath and how they operate on other worlds. Have you ever even left your planet?”
This sobered her, and her smile faded. “No, I haven’t.” Then she straightened. “But just because you’ve been flying around in badass horde ships doesn’t mean you’re good at subterfuge. I’ll bet I’m better at being sneaky than you are.”
I thought of my experience with duplicitous humans. “I will not argue with you there. Humans are talented at deception, if nothing else.”
She eyed me, her lips scrunching to one side. “I’m getting the feeling you have real issues with humans. You feel like sharing why?”
“No,” I said quickly.
“I understand that the Zagrath descended from humans, but they aren’t much like us anymore.”
I didn’t remind her that, despite their larger stature, the Zagrath still looked very human. It was hard to look at our enemy and not confuse them with the humans scattered throughout the universe.
“They were the richest assholes back when Earth was falling apart,” she said, her own expression darkening. “They pillaged what they could from our planet and used technology to make themselves live longer, be stronger, and look younger. Youcan’t possibly think we have anything in common with those silicone freaks.”
I knew all of this, and I also knew that the humans who’d finally escaped Earth had suffered on the decimated planet before finding a way off. They were victims of the Zagrath as much as anyone else. That didn’t change the fact that some humans had tried to ally themselves with the Zagrath while the Vandar were fighting against them. That didn’t change the fact that there were some humans who had forgotten who the real enemy was. And it didn’t erase the raiders I’d lost to human deception.
The female locked her gaze on mine. “I promise you, I despise them as much as you do.”
I allowed myself to get lost in her green eyes long enough to feel the truth in her words. “Okay.”
