“You okay?” Screw asks as he sidles up beside me. I flex my hand, bruised knuckles adding to my existing collection.
His question is loud enough that everyone waits for me to respond. So I nod. “Mac’s right. I probably….” I clear my throat and correct myself. “We all probably need some rest. I’ll take the first shift on watching Star.” I hide my shudder as best I can by crossing my arms in front of my chest.
“No,” Bedlam protests. He raises a bandaged hand and gives me a stern look that halts my coming argument. “You get some shut-eye. I’ll take the first watch, then wake you for the second. All in favor?” He scans the rest of the room as if this is some kind of twisted democracy. I say twisted because they all reply “Yea” as if we’ve jumped several centuries back in time.
“Traitors.” I sneer at the gathered, who I consider family, yet there’s no heat in my voice. Then I shrug. “Since I’ve been outvoted, I’ll be at my tent if you need me.” I walk out of command center into the brisk night air, leaving grinning faces behind.
A yard away from my tent, a whimper reaches my ears. Panic fills my blood, encouraging my feet to move faster. I head straight for Zamara’s tent. I haven’t seen her since Star led me out of the command tent to get cleaned up, among other things. Breathing hard, I push aside the flap in time to witness Star slipping her nasty tongue into a protesting Zamara’s mouth. I see crimson.
Rushing them, I close both my hands into Star’s pink hair and pull as hard as I can. The force sends her flying back with a sharp yell. Before I can leap on her and start pounding on her face, arms wrap around my waist, restraining me. Strands of Star’s hair cling between the fingers of my shaking fists. Her eyes grow wide—the same expression she wore when I sent her packing.
“What the hell?” she asks.
“That’s my question,” I spit back. “What the hell are you thinking attacking Zamara like that?”
“And who says I was attacking her?” she challenges with an incredulous look on her face. “For all you know, she was asking for it.”
“I didn’t….” Zamara can’t finish her sentence; she’s shaking as badly as I am.
With a sneer, I say, “She’s not into whores.” I ignore the insult that crosses her features and start barking commands. “Get out of here and go back to your tent. Bedlam will be there shortly to take the first watch of guarding you. Or are you forgetting that there’s still a psychopath out there and you’re next?”
Swiping the back of her hand across her lips, Star pushes to her feet. She sends a menacing glare my way. I don’t care. She’s not fully out of the tent when I whirl around and take Zamara’s face into my hands. I scan every inch of her.
“You have to believe me,” she blurts out. “I didn’t invite Star in here. She just came in and—”
I cut her off with a shush. The beginnings of a bruise colors one corner of her lips pink. The stupid bitch bit her. A new wave of anger washes over me. I’m inches away from letting the killer have Star. Other than her father, she won’t be missed. I get that she’s his daughter, but how he can have affection for someone who would attack an unwilling individual just to get off is repulsive.
Because I’m beyond thinking straight, I bend down and place a chaste kiss on the corner of Zamara’s mouth that Star bit into as if the contact is all it takes to soothe her. My instinct is rewarded by her shifting to meet my lips with her own. I let the kiss happen. Taking control so it remains gentle. Apparently it’s what we both need.
Chapter Twenty-Five
KNOWING BEDLAM will find me when the time comes for me to watch over the nympho-almost-rapist, I snuggle up against Zamara in her bed. I lie on my back while she drapes herself over me, her head just below my collarbone and her arm stretched beneath both my breasts. We’re both fully clothed. I cradle the back of my head with one arm while rubbing soothing circles with the other down her spine. She sighs in contentment as if I hadn’t just saved her from being sexually molested by the underboss’s daughter.
“Why did you let her do that to you?” I ask, staring up at the tent’s ceiling.
Zamara retracts her arm slightly so her hand becomes a fist at the center of my chest. “She came in here looking for you. When I told her she should be with you, she scoffed and went on about how I wouldn’t reject her the way you did.”
I shudder. I can’t help it. “But you’re the boss’s daughter. Technically, you outrank her. Actually you outrank Ace.”
“As if that matters to Star.” She snorts, then rubs her cheek against me. “And Ace is better suited at handling this since he’s a driver. What the hell do I know about finding a psycho killer hell-bent on sending you a message?”
“That’s saying something coming from the next Boss of Terra One. You should be out there handling this, don’t you think? It’ll certainly score brownie points with your father.”
“I don’t want to score brownie points. I will take my duties seriously when the time comes. Right now, I’m not the boss’s daughter. I’m your navigator.”
Her last sentence coaxes a sigh full of lament from me. “Right now you’re a whole lot of nothing since the race has been postponed.” Hearing how flippant I sound curdles my stomach. Unwanted tears begin to fill my eyes. I blink so they don’t fall. “Why did you want to become my navigator, Zamara?”
A heavy pause follows my sudden question. But it doesn’t take long for Zamara to find her answer. “Do you remember
