Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I’m not going to leave the ship,” I promised Zeke.
Zeke scowled, the most worried out of them all about me staying on the ship alone.
After our dates, the bond that Gage had mentioned seemed to form stronger.
I didn’t fully understand it, but it felt nice.
I’d spent a lot of time with each of them, mainly just being in each other’s presence while doing other things.
Wayne and I had spent several days napping together in the jungle room.
It was the most relaxed and safe I had felt since leaving my planet.
“Here,” Gage said and held out a small communication device that went inside an ear. “In case you need to contact us.”
I took the comms device and put it in my pocket. “Thanks.”
Zeke’s brows furrowed. “Aren’t you going to put it in?”
“I don’t want to listen in on you guys while you’re out. If I need you, I’ll put the device in.”
Gage nodded once. “Okay.”
“Do you want or need anything while we’re there?” Wayne asked.
“I don’t need anything,” I said.
“You want anything?” he asked again, pressing me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“I’ll bring you something,” he said and turned to leave my room.
Despite my attempt not to, I smiled.
“In any of the rooms, if you place your hand on the door panel and hold it there for five seconds, it will lock and won’t be able to be opened by anyone, except one of the four of us, by a biometric scan,” Preston told me.
Well, that seemed like overkill, but I supposed it did make sense to have a room they could hole up in for emergencies.
“Okay. Guys, you really should stop worrying so much. I can protect myself. As long as you don’t tell anyone you’re traveling with a princess or mention my real name, you should be fine,” I said.
“Come on,” Wayne urged them. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back.”
“Have fun!” I called just before my door closed with them outside of it.
Exhaling, I flopped down onto my bed and closed my eyes. In the past few days, the guys had grown increasingly nervous about our trip. No matter how much I tried to reassure them, they just got angry.
They made me train even harder with them every day, too.
I wasn’t complaining. Getting to see them work out, get sweaty, and growl was my new favorite part of the day.
“Scout, can you hack into their comms and let me know if they get into trouble?” I asked.
It beeped twice sadly.
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep my inquisitive nature in check,” I muttered.
Instead of staying on my bed and wallowing in my room, I jumped to my feet and headed to the jungle room to try to relax in the hammock Wayne had made for me.
I’d taken dozens of naps in that room. It was now my favorite place on the ship.
However, as I swayed in my hammock that day, I just felt more on edge. Probably because it was the first time I’d been in the room alone since Wayne had installed my hammock.
“This is ridiculous!” I shouted and hopped down from the hammock. “You’ve been alone for years and after a few weeks you suddenly can’t exist without one of those Dragonkin nearby? Get ahold of yourself, you … you … hussy!”
Scout screeched in shock.
“Not you,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head. “I’m talking to myself.”
Scout made a soft beep and went silent again.
I made my way to the main deck and sat in the captain’s chair, Preston’s chair. After snooping for a bit through their files, I came up with absolutely no clues as to what item they could be searching for.
What could be so important that they wouldn’t even have files on their ship about it? Was it like my necklace?
No, they didn’t wear any jewelry.
I made my way back to the jungle room and sat at the table, working on the second bracelet I’d started.
My first one wasn’t very good, but my second one was looking much better.
The more I practiced, the better it got.
I knew I wanted to at least make one for Wayne as a gift, but part of me also wanted to make one for each of them.
I knew it was a mate thing, and I wasn’t certain I was their mate, but I thought it would be a nice gift for them to keep even if we did part ways. Something for them to remember me by.
They had their own quirks and issues, which were drawing me to them even more. Being with them made me feel safe. Something I’d longed for throughout my entire life.
“You think they really have a sex slave on board?” an unfamiliar male voice asked.
“Scout,” I whispered.
Scout chirped softly and zipped out of the room, headed towards the direction the voice had come from.
I quickly hid among the bushes, trying to squat down as low as I could to avoid detection.
Scout’s surveillance came on, showing me two men in Exostalon royal guard uniforms.
Frak.
Had the guys sold me out? Had they sent these men to collect me while they collected their payment?
Half of me thought that was the case, while the other half argued that they wouldn’t have treated me the way they did the past week if they were just going to sell me.
Right? They hadn’t been lying and playing me this whole time, had they? They hadn’t just been placating me until we reached Exostalon?
Reaching into my pocket, I put the communication device into my ear. As soon as I did, their shouts of pain were all I heard.
Had they been captured and the information about me tortured out of them?
The guards were closing in on the door to the jungle room, but I didn’t want to lock myself in here. I needed to get to the guys. The sounds of their pain enraged me.
“Scout, check the back door,” I ordered.
Scout zipped away from the Exostalon guards and around to the other door into the room. The path was clear, so I quickly and quietly ran out that door, just as the guards entered the jungle room.
Thankfully, they didn’t see me due to all of the thick foliage.
Running down the hallway, I followed the map in my display to the emergency exit hatch instead of the ramp. Knowing the Exostalon royals, they likely had a few guards stationed on the ramp to try to prevent someone from sneaking out.
“What’s going on?” I asked the guys quietly.
“Hide,” Gage ordered me. “Hide.”
“Guards captured us,” Wayne panted. “Can’t shift.”
“How did they capture you?” I asked. “How did they know I’m with you?”
All four cried out in pain again without replying.
“Where are you?” I demanded.
“Throne room,” Wayne answered.
“Hide, pet,” Preston urged me in a quiet whisper. Even in pain, he sounded calm and collected. I didn’t understand how he did it. “Lock yourself in. We’ll escape.”
Were they whispering so their captors couldn’t hear what they were saying to me?
“I’m tired of hiding,” I said. “Just hold on. I’ll be there soon.”
“No!” all four yelled simultaneously and then cried out in pain again.
I climbed out of the emergency exit hatch and found it luckily empty. There were voices by the ramp just as I’d expected, so I ducked behind some tall containers and slipped away from the ship and down the dock.
The dock was four blocks from the castle, which I was able to thankfully walk to without incident since the regular citizens and visitors had no idea who I was.
However, at the castle there was a stone wall with a single gate guarded by two guards as well as two guards stationed at the doorway into the castle itself.
I needed a diversion to get those guards away so I could get into the castle.
“Scout, I need you to find a guard building near the entrance and blow it up. You have to revert to disc size right after, so they don’t capture you, and return to me. Can you do it?”
Scout chirped happily, excited about getting to blow something up again after so long. I needed to remember to allow it to blow off some steam every now and then.
Keeping my head down, I waited, trying to ignore the few guards who walked from the castle into town.
A few of the guards nodded at me and I smiled and nodded back.
The explosion Scout caused was so large that it made the ground shake like an earthquake. I squatted down to keep my balance as fire and smoke flared up into the sky immediately causing screams of panic.
The guards at the gate rushed towards the scene, but the ones in front of the main castle doors held their post.
“Well, I guess two is better than four,” I muttered to myself as I raced inside the gates.
Scout returned to me, playing a happy little song, obviously proud of its self.
“Good job, Scout,” I praised. “Now, can you zap the two at the door and knock them out?” I asked.
Scout chirped in what sounded like a laugh and immediately did as I’d asked.
The guards fell with their mouths open to shout for help.
Scout two, Exostalon guards zero.
Pushing open the doors, I hurried down the hallway, which was full of Exostalon people looking out of the castle windows to see the explosion aftermath, whispering about what could have caused it.
Keeping my head down, I continued down the hallway and to the throne room. The doors to the throne room were closed and two guards stood before it.
Without hesitation, I ran forward and punched one in the face while kicking the other. Scout chirped, letting me know they were going to stun them, so I leapt back. The next second, their bodies convulsed and fell to the ground.
“You’re the best, Scout,” I praised.
Pushing open the doors, my eyes widened at the sight before me.
Wayne, Preston, Gage, and Zeke were on their knees, arms behind their backs in weird black and teal constraints. A guard stood before them with an electric baton in his hands and a sinister smile on his face.
On the throne sat the King of Exostalon, Almarst, to his right sat his son, Prince Alton, who I’d been betrothed to.
King Almarst looked old and frail, his hair stringy and sticking up all around his head while his skin sagged off his bony face.
Prince Alton looked just as I remembered him, but the baby fat was replaced by a sharp jaw and his eyes were full of delight as he watched the Dragonkin getting electrocuted.
Their heads all whipped in my direction as I entered.