Chapter 37
YIRI
“Oh my god,” she said, stepping forward as one of the extra boxes was deposited into the cargo hold. “Is that Andy’s handwriting?”
The words Lucky Bitch were scrawled across the side of the flimsy container. I scowled at the translation.
“Probably,” I said. “I had him acquire some things.”
“You talked to Andy?” she asked, tearing at the tape.
“What is th—oh my god. Yiri.” She pulled out a small vial of…
honestly, I had no idea what. “This is my favorite shade of polish! I tried to order some before I left, but it was out of stock. How did you know?” Continuing to dig around inside the box, she gasped.
“Organic catnip?! That’s so sweet! I almost bought this, too. ”
“I know,” I said, “It was in your search history.”
She laughed. “I guess I should have expected that.”
“You don’t mind,” I said, relieved.
She sent me a funny look. “I’d be a hypocrite if I were. I went snooping in your nexus frame, too.”
“Yes, you did.”
“You liked the surprises that came from that little invasion of privacy.”
“Very much”
She smirked. “Call us even.”
A few minutes later, however, she changed her mind.
“We are so not even. You have no idea how much I wanted this.” She hugged a book to her chest and looked up at me with the happiest smile I’d yet seen on her face.
“An Ache of Flame and Longing? How did you even get this? It released two weeks ago. And it’s the special edition?
Look at the sprayed edges!” She showed me the intricate artwork on the page edges, displaying what appeared to be archaic weaponry, some kind of flowers, and flames.
“And it has art inserts. I’m going to die. Seriously.”
I kissed the top of her head as she lovingly stroked the volume’s pages. “Andrew said it was impossible to get. But in my experience, impossible just means expensive.”
“Was it?” Her face fell.
“Not by Bion standards,” I said, frowning. “Not that it matters. I do what I do so my family wants for nothing. You more than anyone else. You’ll have anything and everything you want, Cora.”
“I don’t need everything I want,” she said. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous is thinking I’d allow anything less.” I took her chin, turning her face up to mine. “You’re mine, and I will give you everything. Understand?”
Her zibe nectar scent rose, and her irises bloomed. “Yes, sir.”
Stifling a groan, I kissed her quickly and stepped away to see to the rest of the goods. Not everything was coming aboard, and I wanted the rest of it sorted quickly. I was ready to get back to my time off with my wife.
“I need to handle a few things inside the warehouse,” I said. “Stay here, and I’ll be back soon.”
She waved me off, picking up one of the boxes she had packed.
“And don’t lift anything heavy. I’ll move whatever you want when I get back.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay.”
Brat.
“And… you think we’re going to turn a profit on this?” Nerus toed a crate full of Cora’s favorite chocolate.
“She wanted it,” I said. “Other human females will too.”
He stuck his hand in a metallic packet labeled Dill Pickle Potato Chips, withdrawing a handful of the snacks and eating several. He made a face and ate another.
“How are they?”
He offered me the packet, but I shook my head. The smell was… intense. These were some of the contraband, and from the incredibly long list of ingredients, I could guess why.
“They’re terrible,” he said, and ate another.
“I want this on the lower level,” I said. “Anything legal we can keep in easy reach. I have a few contacts lined up to—” I stopped when I turned and saw Xokat loitering with a few other soldiers, all of them laughing. “Who has eyes on Cora?”
“Xo—Shit.” Nerus cursed, already moving. “Xokat!”
“Yeah?”
“Who the fuck is watching my wife?” I demanded as I charged past him.
Cora first. I’d deal with my brainless soldier later.
“Zoddi,” Xokat started.
“Zoddi’s on leave,” Nerus growled at him, following close on my heels.
“I want him here in ten minutes,” I said.
“She’s probably fine,” Nerus said as we stepped onto a platform that would take us down to the loading docks.
“Of course she is,” I muttered darkly. “If she’s not, someone’s going to die.”
Nerus called for more crew to converge on the docks as we went, but I was still the first one to the ground floor.
Across the transfer bay, a daernir male was crossing the dock to the cruiser.
Cora stood inside the open cargo hold, shaking her head, her brows pinched. I could just barely hear her words.
“Yiri said to stay here. He wouldn’t send someone I don’t know for me.”
Good girl.
“Not as dumb as you look,” the male said, advancing.
I ran.
“He’s not one of ours,” Nerus confirmed before I ever asked. I didn’t give a fuck if he was. I didn’t tell anyone to go after her. Xokat should have been watching her, and everyone else knew to mind their own fucking business. Blood roared in my ears. If he laid a finger on her…
“You’ll get a good price on Ibaruta,” the male said as I stepped quietly up behind him. Cora’s eyes widened as I braced his shoulder with one hand and grabbed his chin with the other. One second, one lightning-quick motion, and I snapped his neck.
Cora screamed, stumbling back and falling over a box in her path.
“Aneah!” I yelled, seconds too late to catch her. I scooped her off the floor and sat her on a crate, kneeling before her. My hands traveled over every inch of her, from head to foot, checking for injuries. “Are you alright? Where are you hurt, Aneah? Tell me. Where?”
My heart raced as she shook under my hands.
Trying to push them away, she said, “Wait. I… Wait.”
I couldn’t wait. I needed to know she was unharmed. But she kept evading my hands until she finally grabbed them instead of trying to push me away.
“Wait.”
I swallowed, searching her face. “What is it, Aneah? Let me help.”
Cora shook her head. “I need… I need a minute.” Her attention settled somewhere past my shoulder, where Nerus was barking orders at our soldiers. She blanched, all the color draining from her usually blushing cheeks.
“Don’t look at that,” I said, turning her face back to me. Only… I wished I hadn’t. As soon as her eyes met mine, I understood. She wasn’t afraid of him. My hand dropped, and she touched her chin where my fingers had been.
She wasn’t afraid of him.
She was afraid of me.
“Aneah.” I searched for words, but came up short. What could I say? I thought she understood. I thought she knew what I was. I thought she knew that, despite that, I would never hurt her.
“I just…” Her chest rose and fell with sharp, staccato breaths. “I need a minute.”
“He wasn’t one of my men,” I tried to explain. “He tried to take you from me. You have to know I will never allow that. I’m not a good male, but I’m—”
“I said I need a minute!” she said, jumping to her feet and retreating to the living quarters. The door swooshed closed behind her, and the light came on to tell me it was locked from the inside.
Fuck.
“Boss,” Nerus said behind me. “You’re not gonna like this.”
I rounded on him with a snarl. “What?”
Without flinching, he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the corpse on the dock. “Got an ID on the dead guy. It’s the merc D'vinda hired to off Rava.”
An icy, lethal calm settled over me, quieting every shred of my fear. Cora was my mate. Ibar chose her for me. She might need time to understand, but she would. Eventually. For now, I had one person to blame. D'vinda.
“I’ll fucking kill her.”