Chapter 14 #2
“Now,” Aano said, standing, “I need to deliver this evidence to a secure IUC contact. And Yahn needs to find his brother.”
“And me?”
Yahn rose as well, his tail swishing in what I was learning to recognize as nervousness. “We’ll get you home safe.”
“Or not,” Aano said.
Yahn elbowed him. “What do you mean, jackass? Of course we’ll get you home safe, Leah—”
“Unless that’s not what you want,” Aano interrupted. “Tell us what you want, and we’ll do everything in our power to make that happen. After we deal with this slight loose end.”
Yahn snorted. “Slight loose end! My brother is having his fingernails ripped out one by one! There’s no place for Leah in this. It’s not safe. You can’t just luck your way through this, Aano.”
Aano leaned in, his eyes sparkling. “It’s not luck, it’s skill.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Yahn groaned. “You wouldn’t know skill if it bit you in the ass. You just stumble through life, playing the hero, and somehow it all works out. That’s not a life for Leah.”
Aano shrugged. “Why don’t we ask her? What do you want, princess?”
The question caught me off guard. What did I want? To go home, maybe. Or to continue to travel. I balked at the thought of returning to life as Annaleah Sheffield, pretty heiress with a trust fund and no real purpose.
Or...
“I want to help,” I heard myself say. The words felt strange in my mouth, but right. For once in my life, maybe I could do something that mattered. “If you’ll let me.”
“But—” Yahn started to protest, but Aano clapped a hand over his mouth. He punched Aano’s forearm.
“It could be dangerous,” Aano said, shaking his wrist. “And fuck, man, that hurt.”
“You may be my commanding officer on the shift, but not when it comes to protecting our... I mean protecting Leah.”
Aano smirked at him. “Don’t worry, no one heard that slip. Someone’s caught feelings!” He said the last bit in a ridiculous sing-song voice.
“Shut up. I didn’t catch feelings, I’m just concerned for someone I have a sexual relationship with. That’s normal for those of us who aren’t philandering dickwads.”
Aano burst out laughing. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been called a philandering dickwad. Don’t hate it.” Then he turned back to me. “Don’t worry, I’ve caught feelings, too.”
“I have NOT caught feelings!” Yahn protested.
As they continued to bicker, something tight in my chest loosened.
These guys weren’t playing me or messing with me.
They were genuine, silly, tough... spies?
Or heroes? I thought about the fear I’d felt running through the market.
The thrill that had come with it. The strange, powerful feeling of being needed for something beyond my family name or pretty face.
“So, how do we get Yahn’s brother back?”
“You aren’t trained. You get him back by staying in the shuttle,” Yahn muttered.
“As our escape pilot,” Aano added. “Put those flying skills to the test.”
They kept bickering as we started to walk towards the shuttle parking area, and I walked between them, my steps matching their longer strides with newfound purpose.
The sun beat down on Numae’s dusty streets, warming my skin through my thin jacket as I processed everything they’d told me.
Aano determined to deliver the evidence to the IUC.
Yahn determined to find his brother. And me?
I was determined to help them both—a strange, unfamiliar feeling for someone who’d spent most of her life being underestimated and dismissing her own capabilities in turn.
For once, I wasn’t just Annaleah Sheffield, a trust fund princess. I was part of something that mattered.
“Still with us?” Aano asked, his eyes crinkling with concern as he glanced down at me.
I nodded, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. “Just thinking.”
“Dangerous pastime,” he teased.
“What’s the plan once we reach the shuttle?
” I asked, sidestepping a puddle of something that definitely wasn’t water.
Numae had a charm to it, but it was rough around the edges, with mismatched architecture that spoke of function over form.
Buildings of weathered stone and synthetic materials pressed together along narrow streets, a far cry from the gleaming metropolises of Earth’s wealthier districts.
Yahn’s tail swished in what I was learning to recognize as his thinking motion. “What’s first?”
“First up is a plan of action for your meetup with the guys who have Ruhn. We need to make sure he’s safe.” Aano reached out and rubbed Yahn’s back. “I need to make sure he’s safe. I still feel badly about the ropes...”
I gasped, slapping a hand to my mouth. “Holy shit. The ropes? You...”
“I was interrogating him, and you kind of got the wrong idea.”
“And I fucking loved it,” Yahn rumbled, grinning at us. “But Aano is planning to carry the guilt with him for a bit.”
Despite the situation, I laughed—a bright, sudden sound that earned me surprised looks from both aliens.
“Sorry,” I said, not sorry at all. “It’s just...
It wasn’t that long ago that my every movement was planned, watched, and controlled.
Now I’m walking through an alien city discussing corruption and kidnapping with two guys I barely know. ”
“And yet you’re still here,” Yahn observed quietly.
I met his eyes, struck by the intensity of his gaze. “Yeah. I am.”
“There’s the shuttle dock.”
My private lander sat in its space, gleaming white against the dusty surroundings of Numae’s small spaceport.
“Wait,” Yahn said, his arm shooting out to halt our progress. His nostrils flared, tail going rigid. “Something’s wrong.”
Aano tensed beside me, his casual demeanor vanishing like mist under the hot Araced sun. “What is it?”
“The security seal on the hatch,” Yahn , eyes narrowed. “It’s been tampered with.”
I squinted at the shuttle’s main door, noticing now the slight discoloration around the edge. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s just—”
“He’s sure,” Aano cut in, his voice dropping to a dangerous rumble. “Yahn doesn’t miss details like that.”
A cold weight settled in my stomach. “So someone’s broken into my shuttle?”
Aano’s massive hand settled on my shoulder, gentle despite its size. “New plan. You stay here while we check it out.”
I shook my head, surprising myself. “No way. It’s my shuttle.”
They exchanged a look over my head—something unspoken passing between them that made me want to stomp my foot like a child. But before I could protest further, Aano nodded.
“Stay behind us,” he ordered. “If I say run, you run. No questions.”
“Got it.”
We approached the shuttle cautiously, Yahn taking point with silent, predatory grace while Aano’s bulk shielded me from anyone who might be watching from the windows.
The spaceport’s parking area was surprisingly empty—just a few maintenance droids and a bored-looking official at a distant monitoring station.
Too empty, actually. Suspiciously so.
Yahn reached the hatch first, examining the lock with quick, practiced movements. “Forced, but professionally done,” he muttered. “Standard Ducal technique.”
“How would they find us?” I whispered.
“Probably tracked the shuttle’s registration back to you after the auction,” Aano replied, his voice barely audible. “The Ducals have people everywhere.”
Great. The consequences of my privileged life—easy to find, easy to target. I swallowed hard, fear and determination warring in my chest. “What now?”
Yahn met Aano’s eyes, some silent communication passing between them. Then, with a swift movement, he punched in my entry code, and the hatch slid open.
Everything happened at once.
The clean interior of my shuttle stretched before us, but it wasn’t empty.
Three hulking Tholkons stood inside—each nearly as massive as Aano, with cobalt blue skin several shades darker than his.
They wore functional, armor-reinforced clothing, and each held a weapon that definitely wasn’t legal in IUC-controlled space.
One of them smiled, revealing teeth filed to points. “Took you long enough.”
Beside me, I felt something press into my palm—small, rectangular, warm from being kept close to Aano’s body. His fingers closed mine around it, the gesture hidden by our bodies.
“Get this to the IUC and run,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear. His eyes never left the Tholkons, but his next words were meant only for me. “Third dock, gray ship, tell them Aano sent you.”
I clutched the data cartridge, suddenly understanding. He was trusting me with everything—their mission, their evidence, possibly their lives. The weight of it was staggering.
“But what about—”
“Now, Leah,” Yahn hissed, his body shifting subtly to better shield me from view.
I had maybe three seconds to decide. Stay and likely get killed or captured alongside them, or run and potentially save not just myself but their mission too. The math wasn’t complicated.
“Don’t die,” I murmured, then slipped sideways into the storage closet just inside the shuttle door as Aano stepped forward, drawing all attention to his massive frame.