“Fuck it,” he snarls. “I wouldn’t want a coward for a Fated Mate anyway. You’re in.”
My heart lifts. Whatever now lies ahead of us – we’re facing it together.
“Vinicus! Iunia!” Aelon barks. “Get a team together to bring the Orbs to the loading bay and booby trap them. I suggest Garrick and his men - they’ve always been loyal, and they’ve got a lot to fight for.”
“Aye, captain.”
Aelon holds up his hand.
“Select unconventional explosives – nothing that can show up on a scan. Remember, we don’t need to blast through shields or armor. We just need to cripple them from the inside.”
Vinicus slaps Aelon hard on the back. Their auras are calmer now that they have a plan.
I realize now that when they winked out of my mind – as a result of that Toad blocking device, I must have winked out of theirs. They’d probably thought their Fated Mate had been killed – and that split second of grief was when they’d imagined they lost me.
I realize that I mean everything to them. All three of these magnificent warriors would trade their lives for mine in a heartbeat, and I’m putting myself in danger to make sure they keep themselves safe.
There’s no time to explain to my triad why I ran, and also no time to tell them why I came back – but I’m here, now, and that’s all that matters. The three of them can feel my new commitment through our Bond, and our auras are all excited and in harmony.
“To work!” Aelon claps his hands, and the loading bay is suddenly buzzing with Aurelians preparing for battle. Vinicus and Iunia rush away to secure a team to rig and pilot the Orbs being carried in the second Reaver, behind us, and Captain Aelon presses his watch to his face.
“Listen up!”
He barks out the words, and they boom through every speaker in The Instigator.
“My second in command is taking control of The Instigator while I lead a trap against the Toads. We’re going to turn their greed against them. We’re booby-trapping a payload and they’re going to take it right into their Mothership. Now, I need you guys to be hungry – hungry for blood. We’ll cripple them, but you need to finish them off. Get ready to charge out at the signal – you’ll see those fuckers blown apart, and you take your Reavers and pick off anything that’s left.”
There’s a roar from the Aurelians – one that echoes across the landing bay, and that we hear from the corridors beyond. I imagine every Aurelian on this ship is cheering. It’s as if the precarious atmosphere from when I’d left – when the crew of The Instigator seemed on the knife edge of mutiny – has been resolved.
Aelon keeps talking – outlining the plan and strategies as his battalion prepares for battle. All around us, the Aurelians are lusting for blood and battle – and they’ll get it.
Even if we cripple the Toad Mothership, we’ll still have to deal with the fleets of Toad assault ships. Without the Mothership supporting those assault ships, however, it will be a one-sided battle for Aelon. The Aurelians will hunt the Toads like their ancestors used to hunt the giant tigers and beasts that were once native to Colossus.
As his men prepare, Captain Aelon takes my hand, looking down at me.
“Tasha.”
“Yes?” I feel nervous. Aelon has a challenging look in his eyes, and I’m suddenly worried he’s going to tie me up and make me sit this battle out.
“I’m driving.”
A laugh – ninety percent from stress alone, bursts out of my lips. I realize that Aelon’s got Sawoot’s way of dealing with stressful situations – wit, and dry humor.
“Gods, Aelon,” I shake my head, “you almost gave me a heart-attack.”
He shakes his head in disbelief, like he can’t believe I’m real.
“If I can’t make your heart skip a beat or two, there’s no reason to exist. Now, why don’t you tell your little friend to come down. She should give Garrick a kiss before he pilots out with the Orbs. Poor guy was ruined by her, you know.”
The doors of the Reaver open before I can even tell her, and Sawoot hits the ground running. She rushes past me.
Summoned by Vinicus and Iunia, Garrick and his triad are jogging into the loading bay, followed by three more triads lugging the stolen Orbs behind them.
Garrick staggers to a halt, and his eyes widen as he sees Sawoot standing there. I forget that the last time he’d seen her, she’d just betrayed him and locked him in her bedchamber.
There’s no anger or resentment, however. Sawoot jumps into Garrick’s arms, kissing him, and he kisses her furiously back.
I don’t know what she’s saying as their lips smack together, but I can see in her body language. She’s begging Garrick not to transport the Orbs. It will be a dangerous job, and he and his triad will be the second closest to the Mothership behind our own ship.
Garrick eventually lowers Sawoot to the deck, as more Aurelians stream past, loading the Orbs into a second Reaver.
“Sawoot,” Garrick purrs, “whether you are Bonded to me or not, I want you – but I cannot shame myself by refusing this assignment. I have served Aelon for two-hundred years because he’s an honorable man. I will not stop now. I must play my part.”
Garrick – the big, bloody idiot. I hope those two do turn out to be Bonded, because Sawoot and him have the same dumb, oblivious courage.
Sawoot listens to this and crosses her arms. “Garrick, if you go, I’m going with you. Just like Aelon and Tasha. Either you take me in your ship, or I’m getting into a Reaver and following right along behind you. You just try to stop me.”
The poor, gallant man. He’s never dealt with a firebrand like Sawoot before. She’s not the type to bow
