Vindicated (War Brides of the Vandar #3)

1. Lorken

Lorken

“You are sure you want to do this, Raas?”

I glanced at my majak and grunted. It was rare that I ventured to planets on away missions anymore, and it was unheard of that I involve myself in a minor mission that should be over with relative ease.

There was no rational reason why I should join the landing party heading to Gollun Prime. But reason wasn’t what drove me.

I thought of the image of the dark-haired human and fought the urge to whisper her name.

Athena. She was the reason I’d insisted on joining my raiders, and she was why my boot tapped rapidly on the steel floor of the transport as we descended through the planet’s atmosphere.

The ship was full of raiders standing pressed together with hands gripping bars and straps overhead.

Heat and anticipation for battle pulsed from bare chests etched with black marks as the leather straps of kilts rustled across heavily muscled legs.

“I am sure.” I shifted my weight and adjusted the grip on my battle axe.

“I gave my word to Raas Wrexxon that we would liberate the people who saved his battle chief.” Before my majak reminded me that I could direct the mission from the command deck of our warbird, I huffed out a breath.

“I owe it to them to oversee the mission personally. Our battle chief can handle things for me.”

Dawz made a rough sound in the back of his throat, but he didn’t ask any further questions, although I could feel his gaze on me.

My majak knew me better than anyone. It was his job to know me like no one else.

But he also knew better than to question me too hard.

Especially when I set my mind to something.

As the transport shuddered and we plunged through a haze of cloud cover, I pivoted to face him. “Besides, I need to appear every so often and terrorize some Imperial forces. If not, they might stop calling me The Demon.”

Dawz choked back a laugh. “You do have a reputation to uphold.”

I released the overhead bar and thumped my first officer on the back, loosening the mood and provoking a crooked grin. “And it is as much yours as it is mine, my friend.”

His grin widened, and his dark eyes glinted with a familiar hunger for battle. “It will be good to fight like Vandar raiders were intended to fight. I tire of defeating our enemies from the sky.”

I couldn’t argue with him. It had been too long since we’d raided a ship or sent warriors to the surface of a planet. And even longer since I’d gone myself.

“I hope we aren’t too rusty.”

Dawz swung his head to me, his brows pressed together. “As if we would ever forget how to fight.”

Now I grinned. “You are right. It’s in our blood.”

He gave me a single, sharp nod. “Just as it was the birthright of the raiders who fought and died before us.”

My pulse quickened as I thought of the generations of my people who’d been battling the Zagrath and of the countless deaths at the hands of the cruel Empire.

The shuttle pitched to one side, and I returned my hand to the overhead bar to keep from stumbling into other raiders.

“If we eliminate this Imperial outpost, that’s one less to worry about. ”

“One less talon in the enemy’s claw,” Dawz said under his breath, as the ship banked to the other side and every raider adjusted their stance to stay upright.

“Approaching the surface, Raas,” the transport pilot called. “As discussed, I’m landing outside the city.”

“Kashara,” I said, as much to myself as to him. “Any signs the Zagrath detected us?”

“None, Raas. Our invisibility shielding evaded the sensors.” He shot a quick glance over his shoulder. “The sand storm we flew through didn’t hurt either.”

So, that’s what that had been. I’d read all the briefings from Raas Wrexxon and his battle chief, but neither had mentioned sandstorms. Gollun Prime had struck me as a simple planet with no unusual features, but I hoped I hadn’t underestimated it.

I did not relish a repeat of the lava rivers on Zalaxian Three or the acid beetle swarms on Varga Varga.

“Environmental readings show what we suspected, Raas,” our copilot said as he peered at the ship’s console. “Hot and dry with temperatures in an acceptable range.”

“Acceptable to who?” Dawz asked in a low voice.

Vandar were a hardy breed. Our nomadic ancestors had originated on a harsh world known for brutal cold. Our hordes of warriors had battled over ice-covered plains and survived in tents. Bitter temperatures barely fazed us.

I cleared my throat. “Our mission is to free those who aided in saving our Vandar brother, but what would be the fun in that if we also didn’t rid the planet of the Zagrath scourge? And what kind of freedom would exist if the Empire remained?”

A rumble of agreement rippled through the raiders surrounding me.

“Do not harm the civilians, but do not show mercy to the enemy,” I said, my voice rising. “We do not take prisoners of war or give quarter to the Zagrath who have terrorized our people and so many others.”

The rumbling became louder as everyone readjusted their feet, clutched their axes, and set their minds to battle.

“You have all been briefed on the layout of the city, and you have your teams and assignments. I will lead the team to the theatre. Dawz will lead the team to the prison. We will rendezvous back here after we have purged the planet of the Zagrath and restored freedom to the people.”

My majak’s grin flashed wicked. At first glance, the prison team was the plum assignment. It guaranteed armed resistance and soldiers to slay. I had given it to Dawz because he deserved the chance to draw blood, but I had also ceded it because I wanted what was inside the theatre.

As soon as I thought about wanting a female, I fought the urge to sneer.

The last thing I should desire is something that weakened me and brought only misery.

I’d seen the tortuous result of poorly chosen mates with my own parents.

I’d heard my father lament about their forced, loveless union enough times to know that females were like the lightning sand on Kavarka and would suck a mighty warrior down until they were a husk of themselves. That would never be me.

Then the image of Athena flashed in my mind, and all the vows that had been my sanctuary crumbled to ash.

The ship shuddered as it touched down, jostling hard enough to rattle my teeth. Blood pounded in my ears as the ramp lowered and sent up a puff of brown dust when it slammed down on the surface.

I had missed the rush of excitement before a battle. I had missed the metallic taste of adrenaline. I had missed being surrounded by restless feet and quick breath and tension coiled so tightly it hummed.

“Ready, Raas?” my majak asked, as the hot wind whipped into the transport, bringing with it dust and the odor of a land-bound storm.

I shot him a savage grin. “Time to spill some Zagrath blood.”

“Past time,” he agreed.

I thrust a fist overhead. “For Vandar!”

Dawz lifted one clenched fist into the air to join mine. “For Vandar!”

Every raider echoed our cry and pumped their fists overhead. “For Vandar!”

We swarmed from the ship, our boots thundering on the parched, cracked ground as we barreled toward Kashara and the unsuspecting enemy.

Then I remembered Athena and the real reason I’d come. The Zagrath would not be the only ones surprised by our arrival.