More head bobbing. “The fairest. As long as you are not his enemy, he will treat you well.”
“Then why do you think he’s refused to return me to my planet? Do I look like an enemy of the Vandar to you?”
The boy’s face flushed, and he gave me a cursory once-over. “No, but the Zagrath look very much like humans.”
“I’m not Zagrath. I’m a human from the planet Kimithion III. Your horde was just on my planet, fighting off the empire.”
His gaze darted around the room. “There must be a reason the Raas won’t take you back there. Maybe it’s dangerous.”
“Or maybe he likes holding women against their will,” I muttered under my breath, replacing the dome and straightening.
Baru shook his head so hard his curls flopped around his forehead. “The Raas is not like that. He has never brought a female on board. Not since…” His words trailed off, but he continued quickly. “He doesn’t even go down to the pleasure planets with the rest of the crew anymore.”
I threw my arms open wide. “Then why won’t he take me home?”
The horns tucked amid Baru’s curly hair were flushed almost as pink as his face. “Maybe he thought you could help.”
“Help what? I don’t know anything about battle or ships or, well, much of anything. I promise you I don’t have any skills that would help a Vandar Raas.”
The boy huffed out a breath. “He doesn’t need help with any of that kind of thing, but maybe he thought you could help rid him of his madness. You look kinder than most aliens we encounter.”
“Madness? Is that why he calls himself lumori?”
“Lunori,” Baru corrected. “And he’s not the one who calls himself the Deranged Raas. It’s everyone who sees him roaming the ship and talking to himself.”
Just great. I was supposed to share a room with a warlord of the Vandar who was so crazy he talked to himself?
“How could I help someone who’s crazy?” I started pacing a small circle as I scraped a hand through my hair. “I don’t know anything about that kind of thing. What if he gets violent?”
“The Raas saves his violence for battle. He has never lifted a finger against anyone in his horde.”
I spun around to face the Neebix boy. “But I’m not a part of his horde.”
“I would have to disagree with that,” Raas Vassim said, as he stepped inside his quarters and locked his deadly gaze on me.
Chapter Seven
Vassim
I’d almost forgotten I’d requested food to be sent to the female until I saw Baru standing with her. His cheeks looked sunburned, and his horns were scarlet.
“Raas Vassim, I…” He attempted to click his heels together but missed and almost stumbled over his own feet.
“Thank you for taking good care of our guest,” I said. “You are free to go.”
He almost tripped as he backed from my quarters, finally turning and bolting away with his tail in his hands.
“Do you terrify everyone?” The female’s voice wasn’t as shaky as it had been in the hangar bay.
“Baru was not terrified.” I unhooked my shoulder armor and draped it over the stand next to the door. “The boy knows me well.”
She made a noise in her throat that told me she didn’t completely agree. I ignored it and continued to disrobe, pulling off the studded leather sheathing my forearms and tugging my feet out of my boots.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I glanced over and noticed the water pooled around her feet and the trail leading from the bathing chamber. “I see you’ve found the baths.”
She folded her arms over her chest and took a step away from me. “I only dipped my feet in.”
“Well, I am going to dip my entire body in.” I hooked my battle axe on the stand and then took off my wide belt. “I have not bathed since the battle on your planet, and I do not plan on going to Qualynn wearing the blood of my enemies.”
“What’s Qualynn?”
I paused with my hands on the waist of my battle kilt. “The planet onto which you will accompany me.”
Her mouth dropped open slightly. “You’re letting me go?”
“On Qualynn?” I almost scoffed at the thought. “I would not be so cruel.”
The hopeful expression on her face faded. “If it’s so horrible, why are we going at all? Why are you taking me to the surface?”
I clenched my jaw. “It’s necessary.”
“Maybe for you, but not for me. I may be your captive, but you can’t force me to go with you to a dangerous planet.”
The quaver in her voice was back, but instead of making me feel sympathy, it only made me more determined. I needed to take her to the seer so that I could know once and for all if this fragile creature had any chance of saving me.
I advanced on her so quickly that she didn’t have time to back away, wrapping my tail around her waist as I loomed over her. “You will go with me because you’re at my mercy, female. Do I have to remind you of what I could do to a stowaway?”
She arched her back as if trying to get as far away from me as possible without being able to step away. “No, you already made it very clear that I should be grateful you haven’t killed me yet.”
“And so you should be.” My gaze drifted from her glistening eyes to her plump lips, which were slightly parted as she breathed in and out rapidly. The urge to taste her pulsed through me, hot and urgent, but I fought the weakness and stepped back, releasing my tail’s grip on her. “But you should also know that I am not taking you into a battle zone. Qualynn is not a violent planet, and there should be no enemies there. At least, not
