Corvak’s eyes flashed with longing. “I am honored you would offer me a place in your horde, especially after I was—”
“Bron was the wrong Raas for you.” I cut him off. “You need a leader who values breaking the rules.”
His lips quirked, and I wondered how much he’d heard about me. It was no secret that whispers had reached the other sectors that I was lunori, the Vandar word for deranged. The Vandar had a reputation for being violent raiders who showed no mercy to their enemies. That was true of every horde. But it was said that I’d gone beyond that with my madness. That I tore my victims apart with my teeth, and that my horde feasted on the flesh of our kills. It was said that patrolling the hinterlands had made me lose my grip on reality and that I wandered my warbird raving and wailing. The rumors were only partially untrue.
“Your offer honors me, Raas Vassim.” He lowered his eyes. “But my mate has agreed to leave the planet with me, and I have promised that I will not take her too far from her home. We will be joining the bounty hunters, who will remain near this sector.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Your mate is from Kimithion III?”
He raised his eyes to meet mine, obviously fighting the smile teasing his lips. “She is human. I have been training her as a warrior since I arrived.”
Now I smiled, a rare occurrence that surprised even me. “A human female who is also a warrior? At least that explains her appeal.”
He shifted from one foot to the other. “I was as surprised as you. I never intended to find my true mate on Kimithion III, and before meeting Sienna I would never have believed I could care for a human.”
“You are sure, then?”
He clicked his heels and bowed his head once more. “I am grateful for the offer, Raas, but I promised my mate that we would stay closer to Kimithion III.”
I grunted but nodded. “I do not understand the appeal of these human females, but I respect your mating marks. If you have made a promise, you should keep it. It is true we will be returning to the hinterlands once we leave this primitive place.”
I glanced back at my raiders, who were preparing our transports for departure. As rewarding as it had been to battle the empire, I was more at home in the wild sector of space. It was the fate I deserved.
“The residents of Kimithion III extend their gratitude for your assistance, as do I,” Corvak said. “We would not have defeated the empire without you and your raiders.”
“That is true.” I unfolded my arms and rested one hand on the hilt of my battle axe, drumming my fingers. “Destroying a Zagrath battleship was its own reward, as was cutting down the soldiers they sent to the surface. It has been too long since my warriors and I tasted imperial blood.”
Corvak’s gaze dropped to my chest and the blood that was no doubt splattered across it, but I ignored the flicker of fear that crossed his face. “If you ever tire of hunting bounties, you always have a place in my horde. Your lust for vengeance and talent for torture would be put to good use, battle chief.”
“It would be an honor to serve you, Raas.”
I spotted a human female walking purposefully toward us, her golden-brown hair spilling across her shoulders, and black marks peeking up from beneath the neckline of her shirt. “Once you have sated your lust for your mate, of course. There is no place for a female on a Vandar warbird roaming the hinterlands, even one who fights.”
He twitched, and I suspected he could sense his mate approaching. “Yes, Raas.”
I turned to board my ship, then swiveled back around. “One more thing, Corvak. The empire sent a lot of firepower to take a planet of caves and dirt. I suspect it does not have anything to do with their plentiful algae.”
His face contorted. “It does not.”
I raised a palm to silence him. “You do not need to tell me. It is better I do not know. That way, I do not have to deny anything.” I twisted my hand to reveal a thin scar across the back of it. “I suspect it has something to do with my vanishing scar.”
He opened his mouth, but I shook my head. I’d surmised the planet’s secret, and my healing scar had only proved it. “Do not worry, battle chief. Their secret is safe with me. The last thing I would wish for is immortality or regeneration. Not when I chase death with such determination.”
I left him speechless as I joined my warriors and the crates of gifts that the Kimitherians were insisting we take as expressions of their gratitude. The last thing Vandar raiders wanted was kelp jerky, but we also did not want to dishonor them.
“We take it all with gratitude,” I told them, bowing to the natives standing off to the side who bobbed their scaly heads. Then I proceeded up the ramp and into the largest transport, the one I’d had specially outfitted for longer journeys.
Loading the crates would take some time, which meant we couldn’t depart immediately. I huffed out a breath, scolding myself for being impatient, as I stalked to the private Raas chamber in the back. Why did I want off the planet so desperately? Especially now that I
