31. Lorken
Lorken
Istomped through the warbird aimlessly as my mind insisted on badgering me with accusation after accusation.
What kind of Raas brought a stranger onto his warbird and moved her into his quarters?
What kind of warlord exposed his crew to danger for his own desires?
What kind of warrior didn’t know he was harboring a Zagrath in his furs?
I found myself back at the munitions bay without knowing my feet were taking me there. The smoke had thinned, and the raiders who'd gathered earlier had mostly dispersed to their posts, but Dawz remained, crouched near the scorched hatch with a length of melted wiring in his hands.
He looked up when I approached. "Raas."
"Where is my brother?"
"Gone to check the secondary stores, in case there are more devices planted." He set the wiring down and rose to face me, his expression more stern than usual. “I told him that he was wrong to challenge like he did, but you know Zarn.”
I grunted. I knew him all too well. He was impulsive and reckless, but he was also shrewd and cunning. If there was one thing I’d always trusted about my younger brother, it was his battle instincts. That was why his accusations against Athena needled at me.
My majak looked past me, as if expecting to see me with someone. “The woman?”
“I left her in my quarters.” I did not mention that I’d left her sobbing or that I’d done nothing to comfort her after revealing the identity of her father.
“Do you think she—?”
“She did not know about her father or grandfather,” I said before he could finish his question. “She did not grow up knowing her father at all. Her Zagrath blood was as much a shock to her as it was to us.” I took a breath. “I believe her.”
I had known she was telling the truth when I’d seen her face crumple and when she’d fallen to the floor. She might be an actress, but I believed in my heart that her pain was real.
“Is there no chance she is tricking you, Raas?” Dawz asked, his voice hesitant.
I narrowed my eyes at him, preparing to remind him who was Raas. Then I remembered that he was my majak. It was his job to ensure I was fit to lead. I trusted no one more than him.
Athena’s stricken face swam before me, and I forced it away. “I do not blame you for doubting my judgment. I risked our ship and crew by acting on instinct alone. But that same instinct tells me that she is blameless.”
Dawz gave me a single, brusque nod. “Then we will find the real culprit.”
I returned his nod and looked past him to the scorched and twisted metal. "Tell me what you found."
"An incendiary device was detonated. One of ours. One of the ones stored here.” He shook his head slowly. “If the door had not been forced open, I might have suspected a malfunction.”
“Would someone need to understand munitions to do this?” I asked.
“If it was set for a delayed detonation, which we can assume since there is no charred body in the remains, then yes. At least a rudimentary knowledge of munitions.” Then he frowned. “Any Vandar has that training, but no Vandar would sabotage our ship.”
I agreed with him. No Vandar would commit treason like this. That left only the passengers I'd brought aboard. I now knew the group contained one Zagrath, but I also now knew it contained someone who knew munitions. I was certain those were two different people.
“Remember that the female was with you, and then she was escorted to the females' quarters before the alarms sounded. There was no gap in which she could have done this.”
He was right. Why hadn’t I remembered that sooner? We’d encountered the Vandar who had escorted her to her friends’ room. Then the three had gone to the men’s quarters together. Now, all I needed to do was confirm that the three women had gone straight to see their friends.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, majak.” I was already backing away and hurrying toward the females' quarters, encountering more than one raider who flattened themselves against the corridor wall to let me pass.
When I located the door, I slammed my hand against the control panel. The beep was muffled, but the door slid open to reveal Lettie's startled face, her hand pressed to her chest, and behind her, Vallia rose quickly from the bed.
"Raas Lorken?" Lettie's eyes went wide. “I thought you were Athena.”
I did not bother with a formal greeting. “When Athena arrived to visit you, did she leave your presence at any point?”
Lettie's heavily made-up eyes widened.. "She was escorted here by one of your hunky raiders. We talked for a bit, and then the three of us went to check on the boys. That's it."
"She never left your sight?"
"Not for a second," Vallia said, her voice quiet but sure. "We were together the entire time until the sirens went off, and then we found Hal and the others right after."
"So, she couldn't have," I murmured, half to myself, "done what my brother believes she has done."
I had not meant for either of them to hear it, but Lettie's face darkened in an instant, and she stepped forward to face me. “What does he think she’s done?”
“The explosion was not caused by a Vandar, so—”
Lettie jabbed a finger at my chest even though she had to raise her arm to do it.
"You thought that our Athena sabotaged your ship?
After everything she did to save Kolt and Skye?
" Her voice cracked with anger. "If you think for one moment that she could do something like that, then you don't know her at all, and you sure as hell don't deserve her. "
I had no argument to offer. She was right about all of it. I turned and left without another word. I had let my brother's suspicion, and my own fear of being made a fool, override every instinct that had told me from the first moment she was not capable of this.
Athena might not accept my apology or my comfort, but I needed to offer them. I ran back to my quarters even faster than I’d ran from them, my heart knocking against my ribs. I was both terrified that she would reject my apologies and desperate to give them.
When the door to my quarters slid open, I strode inside, expecting to see her where I’d left her. A quick glance around the room told me she wasn’t there and a dash into the bathing chamber revealed that she wasn’t there either.
Tvekking hell.