I paced, happy that I could feel them again, even if it wasn’t warm and fuzzy.
Five minutes passed. Ten. And still Zane didn’t come for me. My collar had gone cold and lifeless when Zane left the ship. At that moment I realized just how connected I’d become to my two warriors, how much I depended on that constant link to feel like I belonged to them, like this was home.
I’d very nearly told Zane I loved him today, but I was firm on this. I had given my warriors everything else—my trust, my body, my soul. I would not give them the words first. That was the one thing I demanded they give me, and I would not relent, no matter how Dare flattered and teased me, or Zane pushed me to the edge and brought me back safely in his arms. I would not yield. Not on this.
But if Zane didn’t come for me soon, I would disobey him. I could tell by the buzzing numbness in my connection to Dare that something wasn’t right. And I would bet they had taken him to the medical station. Doctor Mordin was probably looking at him right now, making sure he was okay.
The door to our quarters made a dinging sound and I ran for the door. Finally!
I unlocked the door, expecting to see Zane in the hallway.
Instead, a weapon was pressed to my chest and the old man who’d stared at me like a lecherous toad in the medical station when I first arrived smiled down at me. I’d since learned his name was Harbart, and he was Prince Nial’s future father-in-law, or whatever they called it here.
I felt sorry for Prince Nial. If Harbart’s daughter was anything like her father, the poor girl had to be a horrible creature.
“Lady Deston. I need you to come with me.” His eyes were cold and hard and he pressed the tip of his weapon exactly between my full breasts. I didn’t know exactly how good this armored clothing was, and I didn’t want to test it.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Commander Zane ordered me to stay in here until he returned.” I was stalling, and we both knew it. The cruel tilt of his smirk made me shiver and I took a step back trying to get the pointed space weapon off my body. I had no idea what the strange weapon could do, but I had no desire to find out.
Harbart followed me into the room and sealed the door behind us before turning back around to face me. I stared up at him in horror. He was huge, like all Prillon warriors. I barely reached his shoulder, and he probably weighed twice as much as I. His blank expression had transformed, from cold and unfeeling to that of a monster. His lips peeled back to reveal his teeth, his dark yellow eyes were wide and wild, and one hand curved around the weapon, the other curled in the air as he raised it to strike me, the gnarled fingers like a withered old tree branch.
He hit me hard across the cheek and I staggered backward, landing on my ass on the floor. Pain sliced through my skull but I welcomed it, knowing Zane would feel it, knowing he would come. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and tried to think of a way to survive long enough for Zane to get here.
“You cunt whore.” Harbart stepped forward and I scrambled backward like a crab on all four legs, but I wasn’t fast enough and his kick connected with my hip. I rolled into a ball on my side, in complete agony as he leaned over me with spittle on his chin. “Nial was supposed to die today. And you? You aren’t supposed to be here at all. Zane is mine.”
He kicked at me again but I was waiting for it. I grabbed his leg and pulled with all my might. I managed to get him off balance and he fell backward with his arms flailing like windmills.
Gasping for air, I tried to stand, but it felt like I had a knife in the side of my hip. The pain flooded me, but I knew how to deal with pain. Pain woke me up. Pain made me feel alive. And this asshole was after my mate. I had no idea what this monster wanted with Zane, but I wasn’t going to let him get it.
Half crawling, half staggering, I headed for the S-Gen in the corner of the room. If I could get there, maybe I could ask for a baseball bat, or a golf club. Something! I’d never fired a gun in my life, and I doubted the ship’s systems had been programmed for human weapons.
Reaching the platform, I stretched to place my hand on the activation panel—
“Don’t move, Hannah Johnson of Earth. Or I will splatter your brain all over the wall.”
Zane
I paced the medical station and waited for Doctor Mordin to complete the examinations. We’d been back on the ship for nearly an hour, and I could feel my Hannah’s impatience building. But I wouldn’t go to her without answers.
“Well, doctor? Can you save them?” Dare was covered in superficial Hive devices, thin metallic modifications they’d made to his skin and eyes. But Nial? The bastards had obviously started their work on the prince first.