Chapter 44
Fire enveloped his back unlike anything Mace had ever experienced. An agonized bellow worked its way through his lung and lodged in his throat. Broken images filled his brain: the infiltration team, Nia arriving in a Condor, the attack from defenders. Fuck.
Must be dying.He’d come to the end of his run. It had been a good run, full of family, love, and successes, but he regretted not being able to share more of his life with Nia. If only he could see her face one last time…
Breathing through the pain, inhaling a medicinal scent, he opened his eyes. The room around him blurred. An outline of a med bed sharpened, gray bulkheads beyond. He tried to move, but only managed to lift his head, then gasped when new agony shot through his spine.
Hurried footsteps neared. Legs came into focus with small feet in flat black shoes. He knew those feet. Nia’s wan face came into view as she crouched in front of him, her eyes shiny with tears.
It’s true. I’m dying.She wouldn’t look so anguished otherwise.
He lifted his hand, tried to touch her face, pull on a curl, but all he got was another stab down his spine.
“Lie still,” she said, pressing a cool hand to his cheek. “The less you move the better.”
He tried to say her name, but a rasped sound escaped his lips instead.
“This will help.” She twisted off the top of a ration tube and held it to his mouth. Relief filled the insides of his cheeks and he swallowed. Soothing goo slid down his throat. Mace closed his eyes, then opened them again to make sure she hadn’t left.
If he was dying, if his time left on this plane were counted in minutes, then he needed to say a few things. “Nia,” he whispered, the word shaky.
“Shhhh.” She touched her finger to his lips, then pressed a dermal syringe in his neck.
Mace blinked. She’d shushed him? The thought melted away, the pain in his back receded, and his eyelids drooped. “Dona wanna sleep cuz imma dying.”
“You’re not dying.” The words preceded the hiss of another dermal syringe in his neck. “You might have, but I saved you.” The room brightened, then she added, “But you saved me first, so I guess we’re even.” A tinge of humor laced her words.
The bulkheads of a medical bay came into sharp focus. “What did you give me?”
“A stimulant. It will give you a few minutes of lucidity before the pain killer kicks in again.”
When she would have moved off, his hand snaked out to grab her wrist. She gasped. He pulled her close. “Why does it feel like my back has been ripped off?”
“Because it was.” She brushed her knuckles along his cheek. “You’ve got a sizable amount of new tissue growing right now, and you’re covered in regeneration gauze. You need to stay still,” she asserted. “Doctor’s orders.”
Mace took a deep breath, his spine protesting the expansion of his lungs. “You returned.”
His words brought her eye level. She rested her chin against the med bed in front of him. “I had to. There was an agent after me. I couldn’t get to my transport, and—”
“And you’ll go as soon as you have the chance? You’ll use Betel’s contacts to return to your family?”
She huffed a breath and shook her head. “No, I’m not going to do that.”
His fingers clenched around hers. “Why not?”
Her throat bobbed in a swallow. “Because…I’m not going anywhere.” Her hand cupped his jaw, and shivers spread through his skin. “I love you and I don’t want to leave. You scare me, and aggravate me, but when I’m with you I’ve never felt more alive.”
He closed his eyes, his body slumping against the med bed. She wasn’t going anywhere. When he opened his eyes, a smile quirked her lips. “Does that sound about right?”
Mace nodded. “We’re still married.”
“What?” She stood, pink highlighting her cheeks.
He turned his head to keep her gaze. “I didn’t divorce you during the emancipation process. I forgot. Or maybe I didn’t want to. I don’t know.” Each word came out like a flood. “But I want to marry you again. Properly. I want to make you mine the traditional way.”
Her expression softened. “That sounds about right.” Leaning forward, she brushed his lips with hers.
Electricity shot through his body. When she straightened this time, her gaze darted over him, cheeks darkening in color.
He tugged her closer with his hand. “There’s someone else in the room, isn’t there?”
“It’s Betel.” She cupped his cheek. “He’s been watching over you.”
Betel grunted.
Mace was glad it was someone he trusted because of what he wanted to say next. “Admiral Krispin said there’s a way to protect you even with your lineage. I know he’d help as a sponsor, or whatever we need.”
A frown puckered her brow. “Someone said the Admiral was hurt and is in surgery.”
His stomach dropped, and he realized his eyelids were drooping again. He squeezed her fingers tighter, not wanting her to leave him, even for a minute.
“Where are we?” Mace didn’t recognize this particular sickbay.
“Orion. Section A. We’re headed to Saturn with the Mercenary and Rebel.”
So they’d gotten the thing moving. If anyone could have done it, it was Cache. She was too fucking stubborn to fail at anything.
“How long have I been out?”
She glanced at the control panel at the head of the med bed. “A little over an hour.”
“What about the traitor you saw?”
Her brow furrowed, a tinge of fear entering her eyes. “He wasn’t on board any of the medical vessels. He might have changed his plans after he saw me. Or maybe he wasn’t heading here at all. I don’t know. But he’s not on board. Cache made me look at all the personnel files of those who’ve returned.”
Mace’s chest seized at the thought of having the man go free, someone who’d tried to kill Nia and almost succeeded. He deserved to die just for touching her. A long, agonizing death.
The door opened behind him where he couldn’t see, and Nia jumped, letting go of his hand to raised hers surrender-style.
What the fuck? He tried to lift his head to see what was going on, but the drugs she’d given him were taking effect.
“Euphenia Jannex, you’re under arrest for treason. Hands on your head.”
The male voice wasn’t familiar. Mace struggled to sit, to protect her, his brain foggy. Whatever she’d shot into his neck made his limbs weak, refusing to cooperate. “Betel,” he mumbled, knowing his friend would understand.
Hands on her head, Nia’s eyes flicked to his and Mace saw the fear there. His anger mounted.
Then Betel was beside her, partially shielding her body.
“Stand aside, Lieutenant,” the same voice said. “If you interfere, we’re going to have to take you down.”
Betel’s hand hovered over his weapon.
“It’s okay,” Nia said, expression tight, but resigned. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I’ll go with them.”
“No.” The word was wrenched from Mace.
Thankfully, Betel didn’t seem to be listening to her. “She’s not going anywhere,” he said, his gravelly voice cutting through the sickbay.
“Stand down, Lieutenant. This isn’t any concern of yours. The charges have been formalized. She will stand trial.”
“Like hell.” Mace tried again to push himself up, this time moving his arms under his body.
“Mace, stay still.” Nia stepped toward him but stopped when the sound of a weapon charging echoed in the sickbay. “You’re going to rip your back open.” She replaced her hands on her head.
Steps moved toward her, and Betel pulled his weapon.
Nia shouted, “No!” at the same time Mace did. Shots echoed. Betel crumpled. Two warriors came into view, one grabbing her upper arm, the other holding bonds.
“Don’t touch her,” Mace shouted, pushing against the table.
“Sorry, Commander. We have our orders.”
“I rescind your orders.”
“You’ll have to go through proper channels, sir. We’re taking her.”
They pulled Nia to her feet, and she met his eyes with a wobbly expression before they took her out of sight.
His heart ripped from his chest. “Let her go!” He tried to scream the words, but they came out wrong. His back speared with pain as he raised himself.
The door slid shut on a whoosh.
“No!”
Mace struggled, ignoring the burning sensation through his spine, the tearing of newly formed flesh. He shifted his weight, bringing his legs to the side. Excruciating tingles shot to every part of his body. He had to get to Nia. He had to stop them. Nothing else mattered.
His feet swung over the edge. The sensation of his back ripping in two felled him. His legs gave out on a groan. He fell on top of Betel, his head hitting the deck with a thunk. Pin prick stars dotted his vision, then blackness.
Mace tried to stay conscious, didn’t know how long he lay on his lifeless friend when the door opened again, feet hurrying toward him. “Nia?” he asked, voice hoarse.
Cache came into view. “You’re bleeding all over the place,” she said as she squatted beside him.
“Cache. What did you do?”
Her hands stilled in the air as they reached for him. “Fuck. You think I had something to do with this? I came here as soon as I heard, thought I could put a stop to it.” She rolled him to a seated position, pain lancing through his shoulders where she touched him. “Shit. Seriously, stop bleeding. That’s an order.”
On a groan and a hiss, she hoisted him up, her shoulder under his, staggering under his weight even though she was as tall as him. Cache leaned him against the med bed. Once he nodded he could stand on his own, she bent to check Betel’s pulse.
“Stunned.”
“If you didn’t issue the warrant, who did?” Mace wanted blood so bad he could taste it. For the charges to be formalized already, they would have had to be in the works since before the Orion op.
Cache’s face paled. “I thought you knew.”
Not much could faze Cache and the look she was giving him solidified the dread resting in his stomach. “Knew what?”
“The warrant came through Admiral Ricker. Foley’s behind it. He took her off station.”
Mace roared, blood rushing to his head. He pushed away from the bed.
“You can’t even walk, fuck, slow down.”
“Nia. I got to get to Nia.” His heart hammered in his chest like it never had before, threatening to break free.
“We’ll get her, but you need to be able to walk first.”
He pushed away from the bed, shaky but standing. He needed to get to Nia. “Krispin can pardon her. He has the power. He said the old laws could protect her.” Getting anyone else would take way too long. As soon as Foley had Nia alone, he’d—
“Krispin’s in surgery. Has been for a while.”
The way she said it made it sound as though she didn’t think Krispin would be coming out of surgery either.
No! No! No!He had to get to Nia. He had to stop Foley, the sick fuck. “Then pump me full of something. We’re in a sickbay. They’ve got every kind of drug here. Adrenaline-synth will work.”
“If I pump you full of something, you’ll probably die.”
Mace grabbed her by the shoulders. “You do this for me, Cache. You get me there. I’m not going to lose her. Not like this.”
He stared into Cache’s eyes—green eyes he’d known for close to three decades—and willed her to understand. If Nia got hurt, if Foley touched her in any way, he wouldn’t be able to go on.
Cache gave him one nod. “You won’t lose her.”