Royal Cargo (Romance Among the Stars #2)

12. Karkonar

12

KARKONAR

D arkness claimed me, the neurotoxins coating my sister’s gloves dragging me down to into unconsciousness. The next thing I knew, the world exploded. Light bright enough to dazzle through closed eyelids, a noise that hit like a giant’s punch, and then I hit the metal wall and bounced.

Long training made me twist, and I landed in a crouch, ready to act. If only I knew what was happening. Snaps of blaster fire sounded through the billowing clouds of acrid smoke full of the distinctive smell of burning metal.

What the fuck happened here? I had no time for questions, so I pushed that aside and pounced on the nearest moving target. A Sibri warrior, all lean muscles and long limbs covered in thick protective bark, spun to face me, swinging out a fist with enough force to break my neck. But I studied personal combat under a master and my reflexes reflected that. My left forearm came up in a block, absorbing the attack and letting it turn me, adding momentum to my right hand as I swung out a counterattack.

My claws sliced up and under his extended arm, tearing through the thinner bark and into the wood-like flesh beneath. Thick sap spurted out over my hand, and the Sibri fell back, clutching the wound.

It might kill him, it might not, but he was out of the fight. I ducked past him, trying to get my bearings in the chaotic mess.

One wall was on fire. That was the most obvious problem—the intense white flames, blinding bright, were the only light source for the room. They rendered everything either too bright to look at or too dark to see. Combined with the smoke, keeping track of the fight was impossible. If this battle had sides, no one would know friend from foe.

That’s my edge, I told myself. I don’t have any friends here, so I don’t have to worry about hitting an ally. It cheered me up, even though it wasn’t quite true—my sister wasn’t a friend, but I did not want her accidental death on my conscience.

If I killed Arkari, it would be deliberate.

A Drall warrior reared out of the shadows, silhouetted against the flames. His rifle boomed, someone screamed, and an answering stab of plasma lit him up. It punched a hole the size of my fist through the mercenary’s shoulder, but on a Drall that wasn’t a disabling wound. Roaring, he charged into the smoke, crashing into something as he vanished. The lesson was obvious—being seen was death.

Something flew at my head, and my reflexes kicked in. I ducked back and grabbed it, ready to crush it or hurl it back the way it came.

“No Hurt,” it said, in an unmistakable robotic voice. “No Hurt Onyx.”

I stopped myself just in time. “Don’t look like you’re attacking me, then!”

My mind caught up as I spoke, and I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Wait, where is Elaine?”

He pointed with a wing. I remembered all the times I’d seen him fly into things aboard the Dashing Rogue and questioned the wisdom of relying on his sense of direction, but what choice did I have?

Staying low, moving slowly and quietly, I followed the direction he set. The chaotic battle continued around us, and twice I had to step over a corpse. One, a Royal Guard with his neck snapped. The other, a Prytheen thug, throat neatly cut. Most of the gunfire was wasted in this smoke and chaos, but when the two sides came face to face, they were still lethal fighters.

Elaine crouched behind a metal crate, peering into the smoke, and her eyes lit up when she saw me. She grabbed hold of me, hugging tight, and I felt wetness on my chest.

“Do not cry, beloved,” I said as I folded her in my arms. “All is well.”

“It’s the smoke, you ass.”

I didn’t believe that for a moment, but that conversation would have to wait until we were free. “Which way is the exit?”

Elaine pointed toward the blinding flame, and I let out a resigned curse. “I’d hoped I’d gotten turned around. No, of course, you set fire to the only exit.”

“It was—never mind,” Elaine said, shaking her head. “We’ll just have to deal.”

“Idiots. No Go Fire! Follow. Follow.” Onyx darted into the smoke, then dashed back when we didn’t follow at once. “Follow!”

Elaine and I exchanged dubious glances. Then my mate shrugged. “I never figured out how he gets into places on the Rogue. Maybe he can use that trick to lead us out?”

“I don’t have a better plan,” I admitted. “Let’s go.”

Onyx led us in a mad scramble, taking us away from the flames and the exit, up to a bulkhead with a vent in it. I almost laughed. Yes, Onyx could fit through that, but not Elaine, and certainly not me. At least one of the three of us gets out alive, I thought, trying to put together any way to get Elaine out as well.

My eyes stung, and I held Elaine’s hand tight. She squeezed my hand and coughed a laugh.

“This solves one of our problems. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Her black humor caught me off guard and I couldn’t hold back a laugh. But I couldn’t let it stand. “My mate, I’m not letting you off that easy. I will get you out of here.”

“Get us out of here, you mean,” she corrected. “If you’re not going, neither am I.”

“You will go when I tell you to, woman. Do not argue.”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do, spank me? You have to be alive for that.”

I growled a warning, but before we could distract ourselves any further, Onyx’s artificial voice came from knee height.

“Not Now. Stupid Red, Escape Fire Then Kiss Kiss.”

I turned to snarl at him, only to stop and stare. A wall panel had come free, and he was sitting in the crawlspace beyond looking as smug as a cat could.

“Smuggler’s spaces?” Elaine said, then doubled over coughing.

“No time for questions,” I said, lifting her and pushing her inside. She crawled on, and I followed, my shoulders barely fitting through the narrow tunnel. If we hit a dead end, that would be a problem—backing out would be tough. There was no point in worrying about that, so I focused on the way ahead, and the beautiful view I had of Elaine’s tight black pants clinging to her ass.

No obstacles stopped us, and Onyx’s instincts proved sound. We worked our way along, leaving the sounds of battle behind us, and he soon smacked open another hatch, letting us tumble out into what passed for fresh air on Harry’s Moon. I clung to Elaine as we both sucked in deep breaths of only mildly polluted air.

Gray-white smoke billowed from the exit hatch, getting thicker with every passing second, and Onyx meowed sternly at us, grabbing Elaine’s collar in his teeth and pulling. I caught his meaning and pulled myself up with a groan.

“You are right,” I told the cat, “and you have my thanks for your loyal service. Get your captain to safety.”

With that, I turned back to the warren, only to run into Elaine’s hand. “Where do you think you’re going, Karkonar?”

“My sister is in there.” I tried to step around her, and she moved to block my path.

“You mean the sister who was behind your kidnapping, the one who’s trying to steal your throne?” Elaine didn’t sound pleased with where this was going, and I didn’t blame her. I didn’t like it much either.

“That one, yes,” I confirmed. “She is still family, and I refuse to let her actions keep me from treating her as my sister.”

Elaine grimaced at that but didn’t answer straight away. She put a hand on my chest, holding me in place. “Don’t be an idiot, Kark.”

Shocked, I looked down at her. “I cannot?—”

“—leave your sister to die, yes, I know. But crawling back into a burning building isn’t the way to save her.”

Looking at the toxic smoke in the smuggler’s tunnel, I had to agree. If I tried to crawl back in that way, it would likely kill me. “I take it you have a better idea?”

Her grin was shaky but confident, and her eyes gleamed. “Get me back to the Dashing Rogue and I’ll show you.”

Outside the warren of tunnels, the dock was in chaos. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if I’d taken a moment to think about it. There’d been an explosion, and now toxic smoke billowed out of the storage warren. Anyone who could reach a ship was boarding, negotiating with the crew, or hammering on an airlock.

The ships currently docked would carry perhaps half the people crowding around them, and that was only a small slice of the population of the Harry’s Moon. If the evacuation proved necessary, many people would die.

We didn’t help things by pushing our way through the near-riot, but I was not about to let Elaine get caught up in the serious violence that was threatening to erupt at any second. If I had to throw others out of our way, I would.

The Dashing Rogue wasn’t immune to the rush of people desperate to leave. Three enterprising youths were partway through hacking the door when we arrived. My growl brought their attention off the circuits they’d exposed, and the data display they’d projected onto the hull.

“Oh fuck,” one said, eyes wide. She was human, lean and hungry, her hair chopped short in a way that owed nothing to style and everything to practicality. I recognized her from the market, and the Liil behind her as the pickpocket Elaine demanded I spare.

The human carried a thermal blade too big for her hands, but she held it steady, pointed at us. I bared my teeth, my growl louder and angrier.

She swept her left arm out to keep her two companions behind her.

“Steal your own ship, big guy. This is ours.”

The thermal blade glowed white-hot, and she kept the tip pointed at me as I stalked forward. I didn’t want to hurt the child, but the weapon was dangerous, and I didn’t have time to disarm her safely.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, kid, you’re as bad as he is,” Elaine said, exasperated. “This is my ship, right? I’ll trade the three of you passage for you not picking a fight with my demon-alien boyfriend.”

“The fuck should we trust you?”

“Because it’s a good deal all-round, and because I already let your Liil friend there go once.”

The girl blinked, her knife hand dipping as she took in the offer. I breathed a sigh of relief when she straightened up. “Okay, deal, but I’ll be watching you.”

As my mate opened the airlock, I stepped up close behind her. “Your ‘demon-alien boyfriend,’ huh? I think I like the sound of that.”

The pretty pink flush that rose on her neck was ample reward, at least for the time being. The airlock swung open, and we all rushed inside. Elaine didn’t stop to talk, running for the bridge, leaving me to catch up while leading the kids. Giving them the run of the ship would be a terrible idea.

“My name is Karkonar,” I said as we walked. The youths exchanged glances, then the knife-wielder answered.

“I’m Bex, this is Trur, and we call her Dance,” she said, gesturing first to a lanky Akedian male, and second a Liil whose gaunt face and blank stare worried me. I’d seen that expression on soldiers who’d been through too much, and no child should wear it. “She doesn’t say much, but she’s quick and nimble. Anyway, anything happens to one of them, I’ll gut you. I’ve done it before.”

“Noted.” I restrained my smile with difficulty, knowing she would take it the wrong way, and led them onto the bridge just in time to see the dock fall away. Time to see what my beloved had planned to save my sister.