Relinquish(79)

Alesta’s smile melts away as she steps forward. “This is your future queen. Who do you think should be giving orders? The commander or her?”

He casts a glance toward me and then meets Alesta’s gaze head-on. “She’s not my queen yet.”

I glare at the soldier before me who openly caresses my chest with his gaze. Feeling electricity spark against my wrist, vining around my fingers, I strike out, smacking him across the cheek. His cries out as he stumbles back, the flesh of his cheek red. The hum of a laser and the warmth of its swirling core attracts my attention.

I turn to look down the barrel of the other guard’s gun. I smile, feeling the sparks rise along my forearm. My next punch will send him through the wall into the next room.

“I said return the prisoner to her room.”

Alesta’s eyes narrow and she reminds me of a cat with sharply pointed claws about to swat at a dog. “How dare you—”

I reach out and place a hand on her arm, oddly touched by her defense. The man’s gaze never leaves mine as I step forward, nearly pressing the barrel of his gun against my chest. I know it would burn should I touch it so I stay just far enough back.

“Do you know who I am?” He nods once. “And you know what I am capable of?”

He hesitates this time. I smile. “If you don’t move out of our way, I will break you over my knee like a twig. Is that understood?”

The man’s gaze darkens as he fingers the trigger. My chest is awash with green as he prepares to stun me.

“No!” Alesta shouts.

I thrust out my hand and send the guard toppling backward. His shot goes wide and leaves a scorch mark along the wall and ceiling, and he lands on his back. He gasps, the wind knocked from his chest. I walk forward and kick away his gun. With the tip of my heel, I slam my foot down on his neck, pressing it into his skin. His lip curls into a snarl as I knick his flesh. Blood trickles down into his collar. That is when I hear screams of agony stabbing at my mind. My gaze narrows as I listen, shuddering at the shrieks of this man’s past victims.

With a twist of my heel, I snap his neck. Alesta cries out, her hands fluttering over her mouth as she stumbles forward. I ignore her as I turn to find the first guard pressed up against the wall in a seated position, his gun trained on me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I can see his indecision, but he powers down his gun and tosses it aside. Alesta reaches me and tugs on my arm, staring in horror at the man below me. “You killed him.”

Grasping the wall, I twist my ankle and wipe his blood off my heel on his chest. His head rolls to the side, eyes wide and staring. “You would have too if you could read his mind.”





Eighteen



I follow Alesta down a long and winding corridor, through arched doorways and glass-paned elevators. I clench tightly to the railing as the small cube rises with heart-dropping speed. Although I realize it is irrational to be worried about an elevator crashing when I am stuck zipping through space in a ship, the fear is still present.

When the doors hiss open, I unlatch myself from the elevator and stumble out, inelegantly tripping on my heels. I glance around to see if anyone noticed, but all eyes are turned toward a large glass-like dome. Releasing the hem of my dress, I straighten and my mouth gapes in wonder.

Streaks of white light flash past too quickly for me to really glimpse the stars. If I focus too long, I begin to feel dizzy and am forced to lower my gaze. “This ship is too big,” I whisper to Alesta, clutching to the silver railing that separates us from the lower deck. The loft area we stand upon hangs over what I assume to be the command center of the ship.

At least two dozen men and women man stations, brightly lit with flashing green lights and vivid blue consoles. Strange symbols scroll over large screens before me, but I can’t figure out what they mean. “Too big for what?” I hear her questions beside me.

“This isn’t the same ship I tried to steal, is it?”

She laughs, her curls bouncing as she shakes her head. “Of course not. The commander would never let you arrive in such a small craft. “This is the Pegasus, the largest transport in our fleet. You should feel honored. It is the king’s personal transport.”

That is hardly the emotion I would choose as I watch a man below me raise his hand and tap the air. I gasp as light illuminates beneath his finger and realize there is some sort of a screen hanging in the air before him. I crane my neck to see if I can spy the edge of it, but at an odd glance from Alesta, I lean back and resume my cool, disinterested gaze.

I take it all in, feeling my heart thrum wildly in my chest. Everything feels so cold and foreign to me. I want to go home. I want to see Bastien