Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Kolt
Igaped at the female reclining on the bench. Was she truly sleeping at a time like this? I swallowed a curse, allowing only a rough sound to slip from my lips as I stalked back and forth in the small cell like a caged beast.
The Zagrath might have ambushed me and taken me captive, but they could not hold me for long.
I was a battle chief of the Vandar, a trained raider who had led incursions against enemy ships and colonies.
I was a trusted officer of the Qeth’rex, The Scourge, who had set terror skittering through the hearts of—
“Do you have to do that?”
The human’s sharp question jerked me from my thoughts, and I stopped my pacing to see her eyes open and her head tilted toward me, her fiery curls spilling across the bench behind her. “Do I have to do what?”
She flapped a hand at me. “That. That stomping back and forth like you’re going to escape by wearing a path into the floor.”
My jaw dropped as she blinked at me. She was serious. I tempered my outrage enough to stammer a reply. “I…I am thinking about a way to get us out.”
“Mmmhmmm.” She did not appear impressed by my answer. “Well, I’m managing to plan an escape without all the huffing and stamping.”
My brows popped high. “You are planning an escape?”
Now her eyes narrowed, and she sat up, swinging her feet off the bench and onto the floor. “Of course, I am. Planning is one of my many strengths.”
I did not take my gaze off the slight human with her pale skin and tousled curly hair.
She no longer wore the thick parka she’d had on Lexxona, so she wasn’t hiding a warrior’s build.
If her thin shirt and clingy pants revealed anything, it was that her curves were soft and generous.
“And you are using this talent for planning to come up with an escape?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “You have a problem with that, big guy?”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
The gods of old were having too much enjoyment at my expense.
That much was clear. If I’d thought it was bad being trapped in a cell with a human female, and one who made my pulse race, I hadn’t considered that she would also be delusional.
“You are a human,” I finally said without smirking.
“Nothing gets by you,” she said dryly, her stance remaining stiff. “You must be one of the clever Vandar. Are you the genius who came up with the strategy that got us both captured?”
I flinched at the insult. “There was nothing wrong with…” Before I could finish, she swept one arm wide as if to remind me where we were. “I did not come up with the plan to rescue you on Lexxona.”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s one point in your favor. And my great crime is, what, being human?”
My face flooded with heat. I was the battle chief of a Vandar horde. I was accustomed to being respected, being trusted by the Qeth’rex. I was not accustomed to being insulted.
I braced my hands on my hips and stared her down. “And you are female.”
She actually grinned at this. “Another astute observation.” She took a step closer.
“But before you spout off some ridiculous crap about women being weak or fragile or not ruthless enough, I should remind you I was part of an underground rebellion on Lexxona. A rebellion run entirely by women. Oh, and we were never caught. Not once. My first experience being caught was the moment you and your boys showed up.”
Boys? Outrage surged through me. “You mean the fierce raiders of the Vandar who—?”
“I mean the aliens who stole my best friend as a ‘war bride’ and then failed when it came time to mount a rescue.” She held two fingers up on each hand and flicked them quickly when she said ‘war bride,’ giving me a clear idea of what she thought of the concept.
“Your friend is content as a war bride,” I snapped.
She choked back a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“She has taken Raas Wrexxon’s mating marks,” I said.
“You marked her?” Red splotches mottled her cheeks. “Is that like a brand you give your women?”
My jaw tightened. “We did not mark her. Mating marks appear on a female’s skin when she is a raider’s true mate. Her Vandar mate’s marks expand across his skin. It is impossible to get marks if one is not happily mated.”
She looked at me as if she didn’t believe me.
Finally, she blew out a breath. “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change the fact that things were better off before you came to Lexxona.
Everything had been manageable before our outpost agreed to a deal with your Raas.
Sure, we had too much Zagrath interference, but it was nothing our rebel group couldn’t handle.
It was nothing we hadn’t been handling. Until you flew in with your war bride lottery and your promise of protection.
” She waved a hand in the air. “I’m not feeling very protected, big guy. ”
I glared at her for a few beats, but she glared right back.
My heart thundered in my chest, even as I couldn’t help but admire that the woman gave as good as she got.
And part of what she said was right. I had failed to rescue her.
I had been caught off-guard. I grunted and spun on one heel so that I was facing the bars and not her.
“It was a trap,” I admitted.
“No shit,” she said, but with much less heat. “If it makes you feel any better, we didn’t know the Zagrath were there until it was too late. It was the first time I'd ever allowed anyone to sneak up on me.”
I recognized the reluctance in her voice. “Then we have one thing in common.”
Her laugh held little mirth, but it was a laugh. “That we’re both angry we got outsmarted by imperial cocksuckers?”
I turned slowly to face her. “I might not have put it that way, but yes.”
She blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her curls. “They think they can take over any planet they want, impose any taxes they want, and abduct anyone they want. Can you think of a better word for them?”
I actually couldn’t. Not even the Vandar language—which had many words for blood and blade—had as many colorful ways to insult people as humans did. It was one of their most redeeming qualities. “They are imperial cocksuckers.”
This seemed to please her, as the smile she gave me was wide and genuine and lit up her entire face. My breath hitched in my chest at the sight of her pleasure, and I had to remind myself exactly why humans did not make good allies.
I’d only had to be betrayed once by a human-led convoy to know that they were treacherous. It had cost me several honorable raiders, but I’d vowed to never be tricked by them again.
I cleared my throat. “Having a common enemy does not make us friends.”
“Perish the thought,” she said, but she was still smiling. Was her grin now a mocking one?
“Infuriating female,” I snarled.
“I’m going to take that as high praise.”
Of course, she would. I focused on taking slow, steady breaths so I would not be tempted to throttle her. My gaze drifted to the curve of her pink lips. Or tempted to crush that mocking mouth with my own.
“You might have been part of an underground rebellion,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean you know anything about the Zagrath and how they operate on other worlds. Have you ever even left your planet?”
This sobered her, and her smile faded. “No, I haven’t.” Then she straightened. “But just because you’ve been flying around in badass horde ships doesn’t mean you’re good at subterfuge. I’ll bet I’m better at being sneaky than you are.”
I thought of my experience with duplicitous humans. “I will not argue with you there. Humans are talented at deception, if nothing else.”
She eyed me, her lips scrunching to one side. “I’m getting the feeling you have real issues with humans. You feel like sharing why?”
“No,” I said quickly.
“I understand that the Zagrath descended from humans, but they aren’t much like us anymore.”
I didn’t remind her that, despite their larger stature, the Zagrath still looked very human. It was hard to look at our enemy and not confuse them with the humans scattered throughout the universe.
“They were the richest assholes back when Earth was falling apart,” she said, her own expression darkening.
“They pillaged what they could from our planet and used technology to make themselves live longer, be stronger, and look younger. You can’t possibly think we have anything in common with those silicone freaks. ”
I knew all of this, and I also knew that the humans who’d finally escaped Earth had suffered on the decimated planet before finding a way off.
They were victims of the Zagrath as much as anyone else.
That didn’t change the fact that some humans had tried to ally themselves with the Zagrath while the Vandar were fighting against them.
That didn’t change the fact that there were some humans who had forgotten who the real enemy was.
And it didn’t erase the raiders I’d lost to human deception.
The female locked her gaze on mine. “I promise you, I despise them as much as you do.”
I allowed myself to get lost in her green eyes long enough to feel the truth in her words. “Okay.”
She tilted her head. “Okay, what?”
“Okay, we are not enemies. We can be allies.”
The smile that split her face was almost feline. “I can do allies.” She held out one hand. “I’m Skye.”
I took her hand, the buzz from her touch shooting straight up my arm. “Kolt, battle chief of Raas Wrexxon, the Qeth’rex.”
“How about I just call you Kolt?” She dropped her gaze to her still-clasped hand, which I released instantly.
I schooled my quivering tail as I folded my arms across my chest. “Okay, Skye. Now that we are allies, why don’t you tell me your escape plan?”