“What’s done?”
“This.” I looked intently at her. “You and me. There’s no undoing what I feel for you or what you feel for me. It’s too late.”
Her gaze darted to the door as sounds of battle drifted up from the cliffs below. “It’s not too late. Let me go and draw their fire. They’ll follow me, and leave your raiders alone.”
Dropping her wrist, l lowered my lips to hers, kissing her softly. “Do you really think I could ever let you go?”
She whimpered as her lips sank into mine, kissing me back with a sad yearning. When she pulled away, she blinked up at me. “You’d rather die than let me go?”
I cupped her face in one hand, stroking the pad of my thumb across her jawline. “I would rather have a valiant death defending the female I love, than live a life of emptiness without her.” I shrugged. “Besides, eternal life in Zedna with the old gods is not such a bad fate.”
The noise of battle grew louder.
“Any chance I can hitch a ride with you to Zedna?” Alana asked, giving me a weak smile.
My heart squeezed as I memorized the lines of her face and the curve of her lips. Then my eyes wandered to the dark lines curling up her throat beneath the sheer fabric of the veil.
“Alana.” The word was choked as I gaped at her, then tore at her veil.
She let out a small yelp, looking down at the bare skin I’d exposed—skin that was emblazoned with my mating marks. We were both silent for a moment, then I opened the white robe covering my chest.
Alana sucked in a breath. “Your marks are…growing.”
A swell of possessive pride filled my chest. “We will share the same marks. There will be no doubt to anyone who sees that you truly belong to me.”
Her stunned expression didn’t change, so I grabbed her by the shoulders.
She finally tipped her head back and locked her eyes on mine. “It’s been so long since I mattered to anyone.”
“You more than matter to me,” I said, pressing a palm to her marks, the heat of her flesh making my own skin ignite. “You are my mate. You are my world. And I won’t let anyone take you from me for even a second.”
She hitched in a breath and drew herself up to her full height. “Then we have some Zagrath ass to kick.”
I grinned at her. “That’s my bad little assassin.”
“When I’m killing Zagrath, you can call me Mantis.”
Chapter Forty
Alana
Bron tossed off the white cloak as we ran from the house, but there was no time for me to change from the elaborate silks of the pleasurer. But it was better if my appearance confused them, so I hooked my veil across my face.
“Stay behind me,” Raas Bron growled, as the thudding footsteps on stone grew louder.
I laughed, stepping out from behind him. “As if.”
He opened his mouth to argue, then groaned and shook his head. “What did I do to earn such a stubborn mate?”
“I’m assuming that’s rhetorical, or would you like a list of reasons?”
He gave me another tortured look and pulled me with him into a tight alley between the houses.
“The element of surprise,” I said, nudging him in the ribs. “Good thinking.”
There was no time for him to respond as the first imperial soldier crested the top of the cliff. Sun glinted off the familiar helmets as the faceless fighters ran up two-by-two, their crisp, smoke-blue uniforms out of place in the idyllic setting.
“I would say to wait until we see the whites of their eyes,” Bron whispered, “but in this case, that won’t work.”
“Watch this,” I said, stepping in front of them before he could stop me.
The soldiers skidded to a stop, clearly startled by the appearance of a Laurinian pleasurer.
“The Vandar warlord ran up there.” I waved a hand toward a narrow passageway a few houses down.
The lead soldier nodded, and they ran forward, not even glancing to the side where Bron stood.
“One good thing about the imperial helmets,” I told him as I waited until the soldiers had passed us. “They can’t hear for shit.”
When the last soldier had entered the narrow alley, Bron ran forward, slashing at their backs with his axe. Since they were pinned in, he was able to mow them down before the ones at the front even noticed or heard.
“Stupid helmets,” I muttered, then spun around as I heard more fighters coming over the top.
They hesitated when they saw me, then stopped fully when Bron emerged from the alley with blood dripping from his blade. He walked to stand next to me, and I gave them a wide smile.
With a yell, the Zagrath soldiers surged forward. My heart pounded, and my hands tingled with excitement. This is what I’d been missing—a real fight.
The Raas swung his axe wide, knocking down the first soldiers. I dodged blaster fire, dipping low and sweeping my leg out and sending two fighters to the ground. When one dropped his blaster and it skittered across the stone, I dove for it.
I closed my fingers around the familiar, cool metal, spinning and firing at the imperial forces battling Bron. My aim hadn’t suffered from lack of practice, my chest shots killing several instantly.
Bron glanced at me and grinned. “Nice shooting.”
“We can’t all be badasses with a battle axe.”
We couldn’t celebrate for long. More soldiers appeared from the stairs, rushing forward. Bron deflected their blaster fire while I fired off as many shots as I could.
Suddenly pain seared across my shoulder, and I dropped the blaster. Glancing at my bloody sleeve, I quickly assessed that it wasn’t a deep wound, but it was bleeding, and I couldn’t see where the blaster had fallen.
Ducking low, I ran for one of the alleys as heat scorched
