Chapter 15
Leah
My heart slammed against my ribs as I waited for the guards to move down and stepped off of my ship’s gangplank onto Numae's cracked concrete landing pad.
I ducked behind the landing gear, then slipped around the big blue metal junction box where they stored charging equipment, my fingers trembling against the surface as I peeked over the top, peering toward my ship, where they were still holding Aano and Yahn. Fuck.
Less than a week ago, I'd been a pampered heiress whose biggest concern was avoiding her overprotective moms. Now I was crouching on the dirty concrete on an outer rim planet, about to attempt a rescue mission that would probably get me killed.
But I couldn't leave them. Not after everything we'd shared.
I pressed my back against the cold metal, forcing myself to breathe.
Four counts in, four counts out, just like my martial arts instructor had taught me when I was a teenager.
I'd loved those classes, and I dug down deep, trying to remember the things I'd learned over the years from classes, and from my security detail.
Of course, running a scenario with my security detail or sparring with my martial arts instructor was a far cry from real life, high stakes situations like this one.
A distant metallic clang yanked me back to reality.
A guard patrolled the perimeter of the landing pad, a bulky Tholkon with a swagger that screamed overconfidence.
I cataloged details automatically, the way my security team had drilled into me since childhood: blaster holstered at his right hip, knife strapped to his left calf, communication device on his wrist. Standard bad guy thug, just like in the movies.
Just like the men who’d kidnapped me. Well, except he was blue.
Crouching lower, I mentally reviewed my assets: the slim taser disguised as a cosmetic tube in my pocket that my mothers had bought me when I was a teenager, the ship’s computer, which was programmed to obey me, and my face—the face that had launched a thousand unwanted conversations with men.
I inhaled deeply and made my decision.
My hand slid to my blouse, unfastening the top three buttons with practiced ease. I pinched my cheeks hard, bringing tears to my eyes, and deliberately smudged my makeup. Then I stumbled out from my hiding place, wobbling dramatically on my heels.
"Hello?" I called, my voice high and breathy with feigned disorientation. I waved a key fob in my hand. "I can't find my shuttle. I must have parked it here somewhere. Please, I need help!"
The guard's head whipped around, his blue face registering first suspicion, then appreciation as his gaze traveled over my disheveled appearance and exposed skin. A predatory smile revealed pointed Tholkon fangs as he approached.
"What's a pretty human doing all alone in Numae?" he growled, his massive frame deliberately crowding my space.
I swayed slightly, leaning toward him with a helpless flutter of my eyelashes.
"I'm so grateful to see someone. I was so scared when I couldn't find my shuttle...
" I showed him the remote key and pretended to fumble it, dropping it by my feet.
Then I leaned over and quickly executed that classic movie technique—the bend and snap.
His attention fixed on my ass, as planned, and I slipped the taser out of my boot, palming it as I stood and flipped my hair.
While he was tilting his head to check out my rear, I stepped closer, waiting for his eyes to drop to my cleavage before my hand shot out, quickly pressing the taser to his neck and triggering it.
The sparking electricity jolted through his body.
He convulsed, a startled grunt escaping before he crumpled to the ground.
The rush of success made me wonder if I could rescue the guys all by myself. Maybe I was good at this.
I crouched, quickly stripping the guard of his weapons—two blasters and a wicked-looking knife with serrated edges.
The largest blaster felt awkward and heavy in my grip, but the smaller one fit my hand perfectly.
I wasn't the best at firing blasters, but years of spending time with my own security detail meant I knew how they worked and I’d practiced with them.
This one was a model I was familiar with.
Once again, I had my mom’s paranoia to thank for that skill.
I stared at the knife for a long second, then threw it as far as I could, not sure what to do with a huge-ass knife, but not wanting to leave it with the unconscious thug.
I winced as it landed on the pavement with a clatter, bouncing a few times. Yeah, so I wasn't a pro like Aano and Yahn. But that didn't mean I couldn't be a hero.
Moving low and fast, I sprinted toward my ship. I pressed my palm against the ship's access panel, breath catching in my throat. For one terrifying second, nothing happened. Then the biometric lock beeped quietly, and the door hissed open with a pneumatic sigh.
Silent darkness greeted me. I slipped inside, every nerve ending screaming with awareness. The metallic tang of recycled air filled my lungs as I switched theblaster to stun.
Voices drifted from deeper within the ship. I pressed my back against the wall, edging toward them with my heart drumming a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
"—don't understand what you're dealing with," Aano's familiar voice, strained but defiant. "The IUC already has copies of the evidence."
"Lying won't save your skin, Zek." A harsh laugh. "We know you haven't transmitted it yet. Your team was compromised from the beginning."
The shuttle only had four rooms, and I knew the layout intimately, but I was still surprised to come around a corner and find a massive Tholkon standing right there.
I pressed back into an alcove, watching as he stalked by, then quickly set the blaster to stun and fired.
He quietly crumpled to the floor. Damn, I was brilliant at this!
The next guard went down without even turning, the stun blast catching him squarely between the shoulder blades.
The second spun, confusion morphing into alarm as I fired again.
He dropped like a stone. Time compressed into crystalline fragments of action.
Third guard, blaster rising—my shot hit his chest, sending him sprawling.
Fourth guard, diving for cover—I tracked his movement, squeezing the trigger with newfound precision.
Four shots, four Tholkons down. My body hummed with adrenaline and something darker, more primal: power. Power. Is this how Aano and Yahn felt in combat? This electric certainty flowing through veins and muscle? Maybe I was a natural talent. A genius at tactical rescue.
"Nicely done, little human," a voice purred against my ear as cold metal pressed against my temple. "But I think this is the end of your fun."
I froze, the blaster suddenly useless in my hand. Okay, maybe slightly sub-genius.
The Tholkon thug shoved me forward into the cargo hold where Aano and Yahn could see me. The blaster dug painfully into my skull as thick fingers wrapped around my upper arm, squeezing hard enough to bruise.
"Look what I found sneaking aboard," my captor announced. "A pretty little spy. She got Shu by wiggling her cute little ass."
The other thug in the room chuckled, but Aano's reaction was immediate and visceral.
His massive body strained against his restraints, muscles bunching under blue skin.
"Touch her again and I'll rip your fucking throat out," he snarled, the lazy drawl I was accustomed to completely absent.
In its place was something ancient and terrifying—the raw fury of a predator.
Beside him, Yahn's response was more controlled but no less lethal. His red-orange tail whipped in agitation. His eyes, usually so analytical and composed, burned with cold rage.
"Three for the price of one," the Tholkon mused, yanking me closer. "The boss will be pleased. Maybe he'll let me have the girl when we're done with questioning."
The implied threat hung in the air for one second before chaos erupted.
Aano lunged forward with such force that the metal he was bound to groaned and bent. Yahn's tail, which the idiots hadn't bothered to restrain, shot upward with lightning speed, wrapping around the Tholkon's wrist and jerking the blaster away from my head.
I reacted on instinct, driving my elbow back into my captor's solar plexus. A strangled gasp rewarded my effort. The grip on my arm loosened just enough for me to wrench free, spinning away as Yahn's tail whipped again, this time striking the Tholkon across the face with a sickening crack.
The guard staggered, blood streaming from his broken nose. Aano, still partially bound but now standing with the damaged chair hanging from one wrist, delivered a devastating blow with his free hand. The Tholkon crumpled, unconscious before he hit the floor.
For a moment, we all froze in tableau—Aano with his fist still extended, Yahn half-risen from his chair with his tail uncoiling from the guard's limp form, and me standing between them, shaking with adrenaline and something dangerously close to exhilaration.
"There are four more in the ship, plus at least one of them," Aano barked as he rooted around in one of the thug's pants, finding a key and an assortment of weapons. He unlocked what remained of his cuffs, then freed Yahn.
"Um..."
"Fuck, I can't believe we let them get the jump on us. Did you see any out in the hall before they grabbed you, princess?" Yahn asked, rubbing his wrists as he armed himself and peeked out the door.
"Uh, guys?"
"Where did they go?" Aano asked, cautiously rounding the corner towards the bridge.
"That's what I was saying!" I said. "I ... took care of them."
A beat of silence, then Aano's face split into a grin that was equal parts pride and disbelief. "Well, fuck me running," he drawled, the familiar cadence returning to his voice. "Our princess is a badass."
Yahn's eyes traveled over me with new appreciation, lingering on the weapons strapped to my body and the determination in my stance. "Impressive," he said softly.
I felt myself flush under their gaze. Not with embarrassment, but with something warmer, more complex. "So, um, what do we do with the unconscious guys? Like, throw them in a pile or something?"
Aano burst out laughing, and I found myself fiercely embraced by the big Tholkon, his massive arms engulfing me. The scent of him—warm skin and faint metallic tang—filled my senses. Beneath the surface of his skin, I felt him trembling.
"Don't ever do that again," Yahn said. The tremor in his voice made the command all the more meaningful. "If they had hurt you..."
"But they didn't," I whispered, my hands splaying across the broad expanse of his back, feeling the tension there. "I'm okay. We're all okay."
Yahn approached more cautiously, his tail curling and uncurling in agitation. When he touched me, it was with deliberate gentleness, his fingers tracing the bruise forming on my arm where the guard had gripped me.
"This should never have happened," he said, his voice tight with controlled fury. "You should never have been in danger."
I turned within the circle of Aano's arms to face Yahn directly. "I made my choice," I said firmly. "Just like you two made yours when you manipulated me into letting you on my ship."
Something shifted in Yahn's expression—surprise, followed by a deeper emotion I couldn't quite name. His hand moved from my arm to cup my face, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with unexpected tenderness.
"So you did," he .
We stood there for a heartbeat, then two—the three of us connected in this strange, intimate tableau amid unconscious bodies and the aftermath of violence.
The fear that had driven me here began to dissolve, replaced by something I wasn't ready to name but couldn't deny.
Something that felt dangerously like belonging.
Aano broke the moment with a practical grunt. "Tender feelings later," he said, though his hand lingered at the small of my back. "We need to get to Ruhn before the Ducal realizes their team went silent."
Right. Yahn's brother. Reality crashed back with dizzying force.
Yahn, methodical as always, paused while checking a blaster to brush his tail lightly across my wrist—a gesture so subtle yet deliberate that it sent warmth spreading through my chest. "He'll be fine. We'll make sure of it."
The bleat of a radio cut through the silence that followed, and the ship's computer routed the communication to the speaker system. "Celestial Mini? This is Magdalena Kax, requesting communication with Yahn Wakalai."
"Wakalai? That's your last name?" I gasped, then turned to Aano and narrowed my eyes.
"Zek, Aano Zek. But we need to talk to Mags, maybe she has good news?" He pressed the coms button on the console nearest to you. "Mags, it's Aano, please tell us you have Ruhn before Yahn flips out."
"I'll do you one better," Mags said over the speakers. "I have Ruhn and Uso Ducal."
Aano blinked. "The Duke's son?"
"A rescue and an abduction! It's perfect. Listen, I have to tell Relzo the good news. Just wanted Yahn to know his brother is safe. See you at the Ennotheas."
"Mags, I'm not sure taking the Duke's son is—" Before Aano could say more, a beep let us know that she'd signed off. We both turned to Yahn, who was standing there, blinking like he was trying not to cry.
"Do we hug him?" Aano whispered. "I don't know the proper protocol with guys I tied to a bed and fucked."
"I can hear you," Yahn huffed, and leaned over, grabbing one of the unconscious Tholkons by the hands and dragging him to the door. "I guess we need to get back to BIS."
"I feel like we missed the hug opportunity now that he's dragging an unconscious guy," I whispered to Aano. "But I still want to hug him. Let him cry it out."
"I can still hear you," Yahn grumped.