Alien General's Beloved (Brion Brides 6)(51)

That did nothing to ease her pulse, on the contrary. For some reason, Lana had always thought that she'd witness the final duel between the generals. She hadn't imagined for a moment that she would have to hear about it afterward, when it was all over. Not knowing was terrible, practically unbearable.

Lana had been under the impression that the Brion bonds only worked on Brions, but there she was, ready to claw her way out of the fighter with her nails. She would have done anything if it would have helped her get to Corden.

And then? she thought bitterly. I wouldn't be much help, would I? I'd only distract him and give Worgen a chance to use me for bait.

Rationally she knew that it was better this way. The generals could settle the fight between them once and for all and she was—at the moment—not in danger. It was only that the role of a kidnapped maiden didn't suit her very well. But once again she was left with no other option. She could beat her knuckles bloody on the Brions and it wouldn't take her one step closer to Corden. .

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and think logically. There had to be a way to be useful, to do something other than wait for the champion to come and claim her, whoever it ended up being. Lana made no illusions to herself. If Worgen happened to win, the only futures for her were death, or worse.

Lana searched her mind. She'd already been to the Abysmal several times, and while she wouldn't claim to know the layout by heart, getting lost was unlikely as well. As long as she didn't purposefully go too deep into the warship. And it was comforting to know that slipping away had already worked once.

All right, better, she thought. I can do that. I can slip away and find a way to join the fight. The spears are out of the question, but I have my gun and they can't all dodge bullets, can they?

Having a new purpose allowed her breathing to settle and Lana felt better, until she remembered that this time she was bound to be a prisoner and not a guest aboard the Abysmal.

She decided to deal with that later.

First things first, Lana had to figure out what she could do once she was free. Unbidden, the recent events at the Galactic union   came back to her. General Ryden's human bride Aria had sabotaged his ship to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy. Lana remembered being very impressed with that, but she honestly didn't know if she could repeat it.#p#分页标题#e#

Aria was an engineer and was able to figure out the alien engine, but Lana had none of her training. She was a captain and the more complicated parts of the spaceships were pretty much a mystery to her. Not to mention that the Abysmal was a relic of an ancient time, one even the Brions themselves weren't sure about.

No, bringing the Abysmal down was out of the question, but it did give Lana other ideas. Sabotage wasn't the only way to cause Worgen trouble.

The familiar lurch underneath her feet signaled Lana that they had arrived on the warship. Her first test was going to be soon. If she was locked up, there was no way out.

The hatch of the fighter opened and Lana's guards took her outside. She went willingly, thinking that convincing two warriors to let her go was easier than attempting to escape the bay. So she walked with them, realizing she was being taken to the general's quarters. Back in the days when Worgen had ordered her to join him on his flagship, they'd met in his personal rooms.

The mad general had still been waiting for the recognizing moment to happen then. Lana was incredibly thankful that he hadn't tried to force her into anything, still hoping to honor the Brion traditions. All pretense of that was gone now. She was his prisoner and he would have his way no matter what.

She thought about what was going on back on the Flora, if Corden had already met with the other general and if her gerion knew where she was. Lana could only imagine how Corden would react to the news of her abduction. He hadn't taken it well in the past.

The ship was coming alive around her. Something was definitely going on, but Lana had no idea what. Could it be Corden, had he done it? But then the alarms started blaring and the message rang over the ship. The Claw had just arrived in the system and unlike the little ships that comprised the fleet, another warship was a serious threat.

Lana sensed her guards tensing up and realized her chance. They hadn't expected that to happen, which hopefully meant they didn't have orders for the situation. And on a ship like the Abysmal, making a mistake was punishable by death.

Lana stopped right in the middle of the hallway. Both of her guards—clones—turned menacingly, but didn't point their spears at her. That confirmed Lana's presumptions.

"Move," one of them said.

"No. Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"To the general's quarters," the guard replied. "You will be safe there while we handle this new threat."

"Will I?" Lana demanded. "If the ship is boarded, that is the first place they'll look for me."

"We will protect you."

Lana made herself laugh, seeing the hurt pride in the eyes of the guards.

"Against an entire Brion army?" she asked. "I don't think so."

The guards exchanged a look. Then they reached out for her and Lana knew that if she didn't come up with a better argument, she'd be physically dragged to her new prison.

"No," she said, backing away. "If you lay a hand on me, your general will know!"

Lana had meant to say that if they hurt her, Worgen would no doubt punish them, but the truth seemed to be even better. The guards froze, hands inches from her, but they didn't touch her.

By God, Lana thought, Brion jealousy is out of this world.

She wasn't even surprised. All the rumors said that the Brions were insanely protective of their geshas, up to the point where their guards were usually female warriors. It figured that Worgen would put a spin on that as he did with everything.

They couldn't touch her. Things started to make sense to Lana now. All this time, everyone around her had died, but no Brion warrior under Worgen's command had laid a finger on her. Even when she was being escorted, they kept their distance. She'd always feared the guards around her, but apparently she didn't need to.

Lana grinned.

"I see," she said. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Now the spears pointed at her at last, but she saw the uncertainty on the faces of her guards. Lana judged the distance between her and the clones as well as the length of the hallway. There was no way she could outrun the warriors, but they couldn't hurt her. No doubt they wouldn't let her escape that easily. Lana was not prepared to see if she could simply walk between them, but...

"Your general told you to keep me safe," she stated, making it into a question.

The guards approached, frowns on their faces.

"We will," one of them assured her.

"Safe and unharmed," Lana said.#p#分页标题#e#

The looks in their suspicious eyes were enough of an answer. So they didn't know that Worgen was furious with her, or the general had plans for Lana that required her to be alive. It made her shudder to think what that might entail, but it didn't matter.

Words weren't going to get her out of this one, Lana was sure of that. It was time to be more like the Brions and try something incredibly stupid.

She ran.

Lana turned on her heels and dashed away as fast as she could. She didn't get far, but that had never been her plan. There was no way she could escape Brions on their own ship, in those damned dark corridors. One of the spears swept her feet from under her and Lana went down hard, grunting when she hit the floor. In the next moment, both the guards were towering above her.

Lana gritted her teeth, preparing for the searing pain that was to come and slowly got up. She stood, seeing the clones observe her with unguarded hate in their eyes. No doubt Lana was a very uncomfortable prisoner for them, but she didn't care. In fact, she intended to make it much worse for them.

As soon as she stood, she sprinted away again. This time, the spears stopped her way more forcefully. Bracing for the impact, Lana took one step too far and the razor-sharp blade cut into her. The shock of pain shot through her body. As a scream escaped her mouth, Lana fought not to lose consciousness. The wound wasn't even that deep. The suddenness of the pain had been worse.

Fuck, those things are sharp, she thought, crumbling to the floor, pressing her hand down on the wound. They weren't even trying to hit me.

True enough, neither of her guards had done more than attempt to bar her way. But they had severely underestimated Lana's will to stay in the fight. The Brion spear had cut right through her jacket and into her stomach. She hoped that the angle she'd chosen had been the right one, avoiding all major organs.

Lana sat on the ground, gasping for air, blood on her hands. One quick look at her guards told her that her gamble had paid off. Both warriors were pale, almost trembling. Having seen how Worgen treated his men, especially the clones, Lana wasn't surprised.

She had to sell her plan now.

"Take me to your healer or whoever you have for that," she said, groaning in pain. "Have them fix me. Your general doesn't need to know. Hurry, it hurts."

And again, playing the scared little Terran girl helped. Hearing her words, hope suddenly flared to life on the guards' faces.

Maybe it would be fine. Maybe Worgen wouldn't find out.

Lana had no doubt that he would, but it had been her only way of avoiding getting locked up. As the guards slowly lifted her up—apparently the "no touching" rule didn't apply when she was bleeding—Lana felt absurdly victorious. She knew the Brion healers were amazing, able to fix wounds that would have taken months to heal on Terra in a few minutes.