We emerged into a wide, bustling corridor, and I instinctively angled my body to shield Sutton from the worst of the foot traffic. Armored warriors and technicians brushed past in a constant flow, many of them shooting curious looks at the strange little alien keeping pace at my side.
I snarled low in my throat, baring a hint of fang until the bolder ones averted their gazes. Let them look, let their twisted thoughts and urges take shape for now. I'd put them down like the rabid curs they were if any of them dared act on their perversions.
My jaw clenched until the bones creaked, every muscle in my body coiling tight as a winch cable. I had to get her out of here, had to find some way to secure her from the grasping, grasping hands of the Coalition's top echelon. Someplace safe where I could figure out how to begin undoing this twisted situation.
But where? It couldn't be just any sanctuary or hidden safehouse—those would be the first places the Coalition wouldthink to search, and they had resources that could root out any hiding place, no matter how well concealed.
No, it would have to be some place they would never think to look. Someplace they were specifically forbidden from operating, by the very core tenets they'd sworn their oaths to uphold.
My thoughts spun out, possibilities and scenarios flickering through my mind in rapid succession. I was so lost in my own churning contemplations that I nearly bowled over the stocky warrior waiting for us at the end of the corridor.
"Raxon." The gravelly voice cut through my reverie like a plasma torch. I blinked, refocusing on the all-too-familiar features of my oldest friend.
"Kravok." I inclined my head in a shallow nod of greeting. The old vork had clearly been apprised of the situation—his nostrils flared ever so slightly as he studied Sutton, scenting the subtle musk that clung to her. A muscle ticked along his jaw as he processed the implications, but to his credit, he kept his composure.
"I'm to escort you to your quarters and await further instructions from the command staff," he rumbled at last, turning on his heel and setting off down a side passage without waiting for acknowledgment. "They want time to... assess the proper protocols regarding your little tagalong."
I bristled at his cavalier phrasing, but bit back the instinctive snarl building in my throat. Kravok was still a brother, one of the few warriors whose martial prowess and personal integrity I respected without reservation. If anyone could be trusted to advise me through this mess, it was him.
So I simply fell into step beside him, shortening my stride to allow Sutton to keep pace. She stuck close, practically brushing against my side, no doubt seeking what little comfort and security my presence provided.
The thought made that same fierce protectiveness flare up again, burning white-hot in my chest. I would keep her safe, no matter what insane gambit I was forced to undertake.
We lapsed into silence, letting the echoes of the passageway swallow us up. Kravok seemed content not to pry, at least for the moment. He knew me too well, understood that I would share what needed to be said in my own time.
At last, we emerged into a wide anteroom, ringed with closed double-doors that no doubt led to the officers' private quarters. Kravok gestured to a sealed portal near the far end, mouth set in a grim line.
"These chambers have been prepared for your use," he growled, already keying in the access codes. "Food replicators, basic amenities, the works. No communication suite, though—we can't risk any unencrypted signals leading your new shadow's homeworld to us."
I tensed at his implication, bunching my shoulders as I prepared for the verbal barrage that was sure to come. But Kravok just shook his head, whiskers twitching in a subdued manner.
"Don't look at me like that. You know I don't give a rip about the brass and their sanctimonious prattling." His tone shifted, becoming quieter, almost... conspiratorial. "But we both know this whole situation just took a turn into uncharted territory. You're going to need to play this smart if you want to get your little pet off this ship in one piece."
Pet? I opened my mouth to snarl a blistering rebuke at him, but Sutton beat me to it. She stiffened at my side, shooting Kravok a look of pure venom despite her diminutive stature.
"I am not a pet," she bit out, each word crisp and laced with fury. "I'm a person, same as either of you savages. And if you can't be bothered to see me as anything more than yourmaster's new plaything, then you can take your thinly-veiled insults and shove them straight up your—"
"Easy there, little firespitter," Kravok rumbled, though I could see the glimmer of respect kindling behind his eyes at Sutton's blistering tirade. "I meant no insult. At least, not towards you."
He shot me a pointed look, one I returned with a warning growl. "Your quarters await," he rumbled, jerking his muzzle towards the darkened chamber beyond. "I'll be posted just outside if you need anything else. Or..." His gaze flicked to Sutton, then back to me with a look I knew all too well—the same considering, calculating expression he wore right before proposing one of his crazy, insubordinate schemes.
"Or?" I prompted, fighting to keep my tone level and even. The last thing I needed was for him to go off half-cocked and jeopardize whatever gambit I had in mind.
Kravok's lips peeled back in a wolfish grin, whiskers twitching. His gaze moved past me to settle on Sutton once more, studying her with those sharp, appraising eyes.
"Way I see it, the smart move is to get your... mate... somewhere secure while you figure out your next play." A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his muzzle as he used the respectful term for a warrior's lifemate. "Somewhere off-grid, out of reach of the high-and-mighty vorn'aras back home before they can stick their snouts where they don't belong."
Kravok seemed to sense my hesitation. With a slight shake of his head, he took a half-step closer and dropped his voice to a low, urgent rasp.
"You know I'm right about this, Rax. Those arrogant vorks in high command wouldn't hesitate to snatch your little pet up and start poking and prodding at her like some kind of science experiment the second your back was turned. And that's if they decided to be merciful about the whole thing."
His eyes bored into me, deadly serious in a way few warriors ever saw him.
"You know what they're capable of, Rax. What lines they're willing to cross in the name of 'tactical advantage' or 'military superiority.' Hell, you've got the scars to prove it."
My breath caught in my throat as the old memories came flooding back. Flashes of darkness and cold steel, of agonizing nights spent raking my claws down the walls of my cell as I drowned in fever-dreams of what new torments awaited me come morning. Memories of being held prisoner by Arudian slavers during a Coalition mission threatened to overwhelm me.
Kravok was right—the Coalition's noble rhetoric rang hollow in the face of such recollections. They preached honor and integrity, but I knew firsthand how quickly such lofty ideals could be discarded in the name of grasping for any advantage over their foes.
