Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
Kolt
Ifought the urge to turn to Skye as the Zagrath smiled at her like a serpent eyeing prey. She knew this man? The back of my neck prickled with unease, and my grip on the blaster tightened.
Like many of the Imperial leaders I’d had the misfortune of encountering during our conflict, the man’s skin had been stretched smooth and his lips injected with something to create the illusion of a mouth that was not thin and lipless. He appeared both perpetually startled and smug.
“It is a surprise,” Skye said, her voice steady. “I can’t say that it’s a pleasant one, though.”
The Zagrath made tsk-ing sounds in the back of his throat. “Come now. Don’t tell me our first chat wasn’t pleasant. It was certainly illuminating.” His gaze slid to me. “And you’ve accomplished the task I gave you.”
Without glancing away from the Zagrath at the other end of my blaster, I noticed Skye’s entire body stiffen. What task had this old man given her?
“As usual, you’ve got it all wrong,” she said, but her voice wavered.
The Zagrath’s mouth pulled into a strange, distorted smile.
“Do I?” He steepled his bony hands, wrinkles scoring his fingers and betraying the illusion of youth.
“From the looks of it, you’ve successfully ingratiated yourself with the Vandar, which was precisely what I asked of you. What am I misunderstanding?”
My finger twitched near the blaster’s trigger.
She’d told me what the enemy had requested of her, but I’d pushed that from my mind.
I also hadn’t known who had tasked her with seducing me.
Seeing the Zagrath who’d instructed Skye to seduce me cast the request in a different light.
Had it been about controlling me or putting a wedge between us?
I refused to think that Skye would take part in manipulating me, but my faint distrust of humans hummed persistently in the back of my brain.
“What you’re misunderstanding is that none of this is about you or what you thought you asked me to do. I had no intention of doing your bidding.”
The man shrugged one sloping shoulder. “But here you are, looking quite cozy with the Vandar you assured me didn’t like you.”
Confusion muddled my mind as his words hit me. So, Skye had been telling the truth when she’d told me we hadn’t been lovers before and that I hadn’t liked her. Even this Zagrath had known it.
But you didn’t believe her, a scathing voice hissed in the dark recesses of my brain.
You were so sure that she’d been something more to you.
You let your feelings take over, and now…
Now what? Had I allowed myself to be manipulated by the human female because I desired her?
Had I let myself be led into a trap set by my enemies because I hadn’t remembered the truth?
Humans cannot be trusted.
The thought floated up, somehow both familiar and unsettling. Was that the crucial truth I’d forgotten all this time? Was that why Skye had believed I disliked her before? Had it been because I knew not to trust her kind? Had I truly disliked her because she was human?
I gave my head a gruff shake. This was just what the Zagrath wanted. This was just the type of doubt he wished to foment. This was the trap I couldn’t allow myself to be led into.
“None of that matters,” Skye snapped. “Just like me being here has nothing to do with what you told me to do. I didn’t have any plans to work for you then, and I don’t now. So, unless you want to get shot, I’d suggest you stop talking.”
Her sharp words doused my growing anger. She was right about one thing. It didn’t matter what the Zagrath thought. We were there to take the ship and send word to the Vandar horde. I would have to sort out the truth and my confused emotions later.
The pilot shifted one hand closer to the controls, but I flicked the nose of the blaster at him. “I’d listen to her if I were you.”
The elder Zagrath merely smiled and lifted his hands higher. “As you wish, but I’m afraid you won’t get very far in this ship. As my colleague and I were discussing, it wasn’t properly fueled.”
“We don’t need it fully fueled,” Skye said. “We only need to—”
I cleared my throat to interrupt her. Even though the enemy was at the wrong end of the blaster, I did not want to reveal our plans to them. “It does not matter. You should only concern yourself with the very real possibility that I will put you out the airlock.”
The pilot’s eyes widened in horror, but the other Zagrath didn’t flinch.
“Don’t you Vandar pride yourself on honor?” he drawled. “I know you claimed it was honorable when you murdered my brother.”
I had murdered his brother? Before I could ask anything, Skye sharpened her gaze at him.
“What are you talking about?”
The Zagrath’s expression was one of cold fury. “In the last Vandar conflict, the one in which you decimated our fleet, my older brother was an admiral.” Spittle flew from his lips. “An admiral your hordes killed.”
“Kolt wasn’t even fighting then, so you can keep your vengeance to yourself,” Skye snapped.
I leveled a gaze at him, a surge of fury bubbling up within me. “Your brother would have been trying just as hard to kill my Vandar brothers. You do not have my sympathy.”
“I never asked for it,” the man said through clenched teeth.
“And you will not get mercy either,” I said. “Killing the enemy is honorable, especially one who has taken you captive. I assure you I have killed for less.”
I knew I spoke the truth. I could not remember specific battles or death blows, but flashes of violent fights darted through my mind. I was a battle chief of the Vandar, and I was both lethal and brutal in dispensing justice.
Something akin to worry skittered across the Zagrath’s face, but he quickly schooled his expression. “We will not fight you, Vandar.” He flicked his fingers toward the transport’s console. “Do as you wish.”
My mental debate was brief. It would be simpler and safer to bind them than to force them out an airlock in such a small vessel. I motioned with my blaster. “Stand, but do it slowly. Any sudden moves and I shoot.”
Both Zagrath did as I ordered, but the elder one kept his gaze locked on Skye as he rose from his seat.
“Turn,” I barked, keeping my weapon trained on them as they obeyed.
I produced the steel zip ties I’d snagged in the storage closet and handed them to Skye. “Tie their hands.”
My tone was harder than I’d expected it to be, but she did as I asked without question. I couldn’t bring myself to meet her gaze or even glance her way as she yanked their wrists together and looped the metal ties around them, tugging hard to fasten them.
I knew I should not let the Zagrath’s words get to me.
It was precisely what he wanted. It was always what his kind wanted—to sow division and foster hate and suspicion.
But Skye hadn’t denied what he’d said. He had told her to get close to me.
It was information I already possessed, but there was a small part of me that wondered if I’d been too trusting.
Had I let my hunger for her cloud my better judgment? Had I forgotten the belief that now seemed to taunt me? Had I broken my own unwavering rule not to trust humans?
Had I fallen for a woman who would be my downfall?