Chapter 22 Wrexxon
Wrexxon
What was ringing? I lifted a leaden hand to one ear, hoping to muffle the high-pitched whine, but it was as persistent as a Dengi fly. Then came the smell of smoke, acrid and burning, filling my lungs with each breath.
I blinked, and the command deck slowly swam into focus above me. Red sparks showered from the ceiling, a hiss of steam extinguishing them.
Then a face appeared over me, brow furrowed. Venik’s mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear him over the ringing.
He extended his hand, which I took, allowing him to hoist me upright. My body protested, although instinct told me nothing was broken. I’d be bruised, but I doubted I would add another jagged scar to my collection.
Kolt materialized on my other side, and I caught fragments of his tactical update through the fading ringing: "...shields holding... injuries reported through the horde with two Imperial cruisers destroyed... third fled into hyperspace..."
That meant the immediate threat was gone.
"Raas." Venik leaned closer, his voice low enough for me to hear but not to be heard over the cacophony by anyone else. "You might want to check on the human."
I looked at him sharply. "What—?”
“She has been screaming to be released from her restraints.” His gaze flitted to her for only a beat. “None of us wished to release her without your approval.”
My gaze snapped to Jasmine wrestling against the straps like a spitting cat. I guessed there were a few reasons none of my warriors had dared approach her.
Venik's expression shifted from wry to serious. “There's something else you should know." His voice remained low, pitched for my ears only. "We intercepted communications between the Imperial ships during the battle. They were looking for her.”
Ice flooded my veins. "What?"
"They weren't here by accident. They were hunting us because they know we have her.” He glanced at Jasmine, then back to me. "They want her badly enough to risk three battleships against our entire horde."
I'd known she was on their execution list, but I hadn't realized the depth of the Empire's interest. Wanting to eliminate a rebel annoyance was quite different from hunting her down through space. What had she done to make herself such a high-value target?
I nodded curtly at my majak. "I'll take her to my strategy room.
Instruct the horde to engage stealth mode while we repair and assess damages.
And Venik—" I paused. "I want to know everything about why the Empire wants her.
Pull all intercepted communications, any intelligence we have. I want answers."
"Yes, Raas."
I crossed the command deck to Jasmine, her gaze on me just as intently as everyone else’s. When I reached her, I unhooked the straps and she stumbled forward, as if she’d forgotten how to hold herself upright. Her hands splayed against my bare stomach before she snatched them back.
“Vaes,” I rasped, jerking my head for her to follow me across the command deck toward a door to the far right that was almost invisible unless you knew where to look, much like the door to Kolt’s oblek on the other side.
The door I was leading her to did not have weapons strapped to the walls or chains hanging from the ceiling just waiting for prisoners.
I pressed my palm to the door’s access panel, and it slid open, revealing my private strategy room. The narrow sliver of a room was dimly lit, with a desk, a viewport showing the stars, and a single chair.
The door closed behind us when she stepped in behind me, sealing us in sudden quiet and blocking out the frenzied noise of the command deck.
"You're not hurt?" she asked. “I thought for sure you were hurt. The explosion was so close and—"
"I am unhurt," I assured her, keeping my voice even. “I have taken much more powerful hits before.”
She released a breath, all the fight seeming to leech from her. “I guess that isn’t surprising since you’re…”
I eyed her, waiting for her to finish the sentence. “The Scourge?”
She didn’t look up or meet my gaze, her shoulders twitching. “I don’t think you’re as cruel as they say.”
I took a step closer to her, remembering the feel of her body next to mine and her delicious trembles. “Even though I took you from your home, even though you vowed never to submit to me?”
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Even so.”
Every cell in my body wanted to lift her onto my desk, hike up her dress, and show her just how much of a scourge I could be, but I bit my lip and turned away from her.
I snatched the data pad from my desk and swiped my fingers across the smooth surface, pulling up the file I'd been studying before I’d gone to the surface of her icy planet. The one that had set all of this in motion.
I held it out to her. “In case you doubted the reason I rigged the lottery.”
She took the pad hesitantly, her eyes scanning the screen and the Imperial kill orders. Then her expression shifted as recognition set in. Her name was first on the list.
“The Empire wants you, and they know I took you. Because they are Zagrath, they won't stop hunting you, and they just proved that by attacking my horde."
She glanced toward the door and the command deck. “That was because of me?”
I took back the data pad, tossing it onto my desk. “It was.”
She shook her head, her gaze unfocused. “I don’t understand. I’m not important.”
I tilted my head as I assessed her. “You were the leader of an underground resistance, and now you’re the war bride of the Qeth’rex. I think the Empire disagrees about your importance.”
“But I’m not really a war bride,” she stammered. “I mean, you just said that so you could take me and get me away from Zagrath. It’s not like you’re going to make me your Raisa.”
The corners of my mouth quivered. “No?”
She licked her lips and stared at her hands. “I’ve heard about Astrid and Tara who married Raas brothers. I’m not like them.”
“Why wouldn’t you think you belong to me just as much as they belonged to the warlords who claimed them?”
She opened her mouth and closed it before speaking. “Because I was taken for political reasons. You said so yourself that you only picked me for the lottery because I was at the top of the Zagrath kill list.”
“I did not say that was the only reason.”
She blinked a few times. “Oh.”
“You were never supposed to be anything more than a political move, a war bride in name only. You were never supposed to be mine.” He cupped my face in one massive hand, his rough fingers surprisingly tender.
“But now there is nothing and no one who will stop me from making you my bride in every way possible. Not even you.”