Their Elders spurred people on to locate their fated mates and bring them back to be nothing more than breeders.
They desired only to kill, maim, and steal.
I needed to bear that in mind when I entered the Citadel.
There was no telling what I might need to do to spring Emma free.
A light flashed on the captain’s console and a plume of smoke erupted from the ship’s rear.
She shuddered and screamed, making a loud wrenching noise.
These were Computer’s forced malfunctions but they still put me on edge.
“Take it easy,” I said. “We don’t want to overplay our hand.”
“Order confirmed,” Computer said.
The shuddering lessened to a faint shiver and the plume of smoke thinned to a mist.
The Shadow engineers on the ground watched us approach as we descended and the ship sat down.
The landing struts hissed, easing into a twisted landing position.
The ramp lowered and I descended down it.
A trio of Shadow engineers approached.
The first raised one ear of his muffs and yelled at me over the screaming ships taking off and setting down on either side of us.
“You came in a little unsteady,” he bellowed. “What’s wrong with her?”
It made my skin crawl to be this close to so many Shadows.
Think of Emma, I told myself. Just think of Emma.
“I had a run-in with an aquisus warship,” I said. “My bird had no chance against that.”
“You failed to capture your fated mate?” the engineer said, unable to restrain his disgust.
“She slipped through my fingers. She was right there and I lost her.”
The engineer spat.
His thick spittle landed just an inch shy of my boot.
“Failures don’t land here,” he said. “You’re going to have to shift it.”
He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the next launching pad on the other side of the Citadel.
I wasn’t about to do that.
It would waste too much time that I could have used to find Emma.
“I can’t reach it,” I said. “I’m lucky I landed on this pad.”
The engineer shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s not my problem. Shift it.”
He dropped his earmuff back on his head and turned to leave.
The Shadow were mirthless creatures who took offense at the drop of a hat.
If I was going to fool them, I was going to have to play by their rules.
I shoved the engineer from behind.
He lost his balance and stumbled forward, his face grazing the landing pad floor.
He was up on his feet in an instant, blood dripping down his chin.
His buddies helped him to his feet.
He shoved them aside and smirked as he reached into the shadows.
His hand emerged with a dark dirk.
He swung his arm around.
Shadows were powerful creatures and this engineer was no different.
But their aggression was also their weakness.
I let him swipe at me and stepped to one side.
I caught his foot and his imbalance knocked him over.
He fell and dropped his blade.
It turned to dust the moment it struck the ground.
Unable to win in a fair fight, his buddies were at the rescue.
One gave me a bear hug from behind and pinned my arms to my sides.
A third engineer pulled his fist back and planted it under my ribs.
The blow knocked the wind from my lungs.
He pulled his large fist back to plant another one on me when the first engineer shoved him aside.
“Quit hogging him!” he snapped. “He’s mine!”
I threw a leg out and caught the engineer on the shin.
He howled and backed away.
“You little—” he said as he swung forward with his wild winding blow.
I thrust forward and spat him in the face.
I threw my head back and connected with the bear hugger’s face.
He released me and stumbled back.
“He broke my damn nose!” he screamed.
The first engineer wiped my spittle from his face and stepped down, letting his buddies surround me on three sides.
I couldn’t hope to defend against them all and prepared to get pummeled.
“What’s going on here?”
A tall figure strode over wearing a black sash and a black expression.
His chin ended in a sharp point and he had strange sprigs of hair that protruded from his head like the foliage of an unkempt wild plant.
The engineers relaxed but did not take their eyes from me.
“A troublemaker, Captain,” the lead engineer said.
“Looks like he got the better of all of you,” the Captain said.
He ignored the scowls and turned to me.
He looked me over and made me feel nervous about what he might see.
“You went on the Hunt?” he said.
Hunting was the term they used for when they struck out to find their fated mates.
I nodded.
“Is she on board?”
“No.”
I massaged my ribs that would feel sore come morning.
“That’s what I was… discussing with your men here. I was attacked by an aquisus warbird. My damn weapons locked up and wouldn’t fire. I might have stood my ground if these jokers hadn’t messed up the targeting system.”
“That bird had nothing wrong with her when you took her,” the lead engineer said. “Whatever problems she’s got, it’s due to your error.”
The Captain raised his hand for his man to be quiet.
His dark eyes were focused on me, searching for any sign what I said was false.
“I suppose your log reports will detail what happened,” he said, his eyes drilling into mine.
“They will,” I said with a curt nod.
The Captain pursed his lips and stepped down.
“Then we apologize for the malfunction. My men will look your ship over and fix you up in no time. In the meantime…”
He took me by the arm and led me across the launch pad and toward the Shadow Citadel.
“Naturally, you will file your incident report. I only hope my intercession will be fully accounted for?”
He didn’t want to get blamed for any mistakes his men might have made.
It was likely it was a serious offense to accidentally impede a Shadow from finding his fated mate.
Just as it was back on my homeworld.
I nodded but said nothing.
He escorted me to the front steps that led to the main entrance.
He straightened up my jacket, dusted off my shirt, and slapped me on the back.
“I wish you
