“I should go,” I whispered even though there was no one in the room to hear me.
The only time to slip out would be when Bron was gone. Once he returned, he wouldn’t listen to my arguments, or care that it was a deadly mistake to keep me on his ship. He was as stubborn as I was, which was infuriating.
I didn’t want to go, which was a strange sensation for me. Usually I would be itching to leave and get to my next mission, but there would be no next mission, this time. If I didn’t kill the Raas and lead the Zagrath to the Vandar horde, my life as an imperial assassin was over.
I mulled this over for a moment. Would I really miss a life spent hiding and running and killing? My fingers twitched as if reaching for a blade. Maybe parts of it. I had been trained for the job since childhood. It wasn’t so easy to shake it off. Then again, it also wasn’t easy to think about killing Bron.
I closed my eyes and my heart squeezed. Why couldn’t I kill him? He was the enemy, wasn’t he? He actively worked against the empire, and I worked for them. I’d been bred to hate his kind, and I should have no problem killing him in his sleep.
But I couldn’t. He wasn’t what they said about him. None of the Vandar were. I’d seen glimpses of the person beneath the armor and battle axe. Raas Bron did not deserve death. Not by my hand.
My eyes flew open. He also didn’t deserve to have the empire pursue him doggedly because of me. My presence in his horde and his bed only put him in greater danger. I ignored the hard ball of regret gripping my belly as I glanced around the room. He would be upset to return to his quarters and find me gone, but he would survive. I thought about the intensity of his gaze, and the sharp lines of his handsome face. For some reason even I didn’t understand, I needed him to survive.
Once my mind was made up, I hurried to the door. Holding my breath, I pressed a hand to the side panel. “Please open.”
When it did, I stood motionless. I peered out into the open air corridor. In his haste to get to the command deck, he hadn’t locked it. Or replaced the guard who’d been killed.
As I left the room, I gave one final glance back, my gut clenching at the bed where his body had warmed me. “I am truly sorry, Raas.”
Then I turned and hurried away, running on the balls of my bare feet to make as little noise as possible. The ship was quiet with few raiders moving around, so it didn’t take me long to find my way to the hangar bay. I no longer cared about finding a way to send a message to the empire or activate any type of beacon. All I wanted to do was get off the ship and far enough away that I wouldn’t draw the empire’s attention. Maybe I’d even leave some clues to confuse my superiors and send them spinning in a different direction—one far away from the Raas who’d pledged to defend me.
My heartbeat quickened as I entered the wide-open space of the hangar bay, exposed piping rising high overhead, and the mouth at the far end humming with the energy forcefield. I quickly scanned the black-hulled ships, picking a small one that should be easy to maneuver and making a beeline for it. I needed something fast and small, so I could escape undetected and then drop cosmic breadcrumbs for the Zagrath to follow—away from the Vandar and Raas Bron.
I was so caught up in my plan to that I didn’t hear the footsteps until they were practically on top of me. Whirling around, I kicked out, but the raider easily dodged my blow, spinning me around and clamping a thick arm across my throat. Stars danced in front of my eyes as the battle chief squeezed, making it hard for me to draw in air.
“Now why would the Raas’ captive—an untrained miner and a victim of the empire—be sneaking onto the hangar bay?” The raider’s breath was hot and heavy on my neck as he held me in his punishing grip. “Don’t worry, female. I have a feeling you’re going to tell me everything once you and I are talking in my oblek.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bron
“A success, Raas,” Svar said as we descended from the raiding ship with the other warriors.
I nodded, although I was not filled with the same exhilaration that a battle or raiding mission provided. I cast my gaze at the raiders’ chests, unmarked with the grime of battle and axe blades devoid of blood. None of us were.
My tail twitched in unfulfilled anticipation. “I am glad we were able to provide aid to fellow rebels, but I almost long for the Zagrath to invade an unarmed planet so we will have an excuse to attack.”
The Valox resistance ships had been repaired, and their crews redistributed to the strongest ships. Our engineer had even added upgrades to their engines, to aid in their ability to escape quickly from imperial attack.
Svar laughed as we strode across the hangar bay. “Our success at damaging the Zagrath fleet does have disadvantages. We continue to make the enemy weaker, so we will eventually be fighting a foe that is so weak there is no challenge.”
“And that will make us weak,” I growled.
“There is a universe beyond our
