My only comfort aside from imagining their deaths was the knowledge that Juliette had gotten away, along with Baru and the Carlogians. My heart swelled with the knowledge that she was safe and would be taken care of no matter what happened to me.
The imperial soldiers hadn’t returned from their scouting missions with Juliette, the Carlogians, or any of my raiders. Not all of the imperial soldiers had returned, though, and I suspected my warriors had taken them out.
If the general suspected the same, he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he waved his arms and threatened punishment to all those who were late returning. When night fell, his threats became fewer and farther between as half of his contingent of soldiers remained missing. It was a small comfort as I stood immobilized with guards walking around me.
Even as the planet fell into quiet, the only sounds that of bugs chirping into the night and the water lapping the sand, muffled booms continued overhead as the battle in space raged on. I couldn’t tip my head back, but I could lift my eyes enough to see the occasional faint red glow high above us, and I knew my majak fought on.
After a while, two of my guards sat down with their backs to each other. My legs ached from being forced to stand for so long, but I closed my eyes and thought of Juliette to distract me and keep me from drifting into tumultuous sleep and gut-wrenching nightmares. Her gold hair spilling around her head, her blue eyes wide with wonder and desire, her luscious curves that begged to be caressed. My arousal—and the throb of my cock—might be sweet agony, but it was better than the madness of my dreams. I was so lost in my visions of her that I almost didn’t hear the snap of the twig.
My eyes flew open. The guards both on the ground and slowly walking around me hadn’t heard it. Their plodding pace hadn’t altered, and the seated ones appeared to be close to nodding off. I swiveled my eyes, trying to see through the darkness into the nearby woods. Had I imagined the sound? It could have been anything—an animal, an imperial soldier finally returning, a Zagrath coming back from relieving himself. But I sensed that it wasn’t. It was too quiet to be either a creature or a Zagrath. I suspected it was even too subtle to be one of my bulky raiders, who were not accustomed to moving silently through undergrowth.
When the pacing Zagrath turned away from the forest, flashes of movement jerked them back and two sharp snaps were the only indication of their swift deaths. Even that sound didn’t alert the soldiers who’d dozed off on the ground and in a blur of gold, their throats were cut, and they slumped silently to the sand, blood pooling around their heads.
I wasn’t completely surprised when Corvak appeared in front of me, his finger to his lips as he knelt at the base of the contraption and disengaged the energy field. My knees gave way once I was no longer being held up by the currents, and Corvak caught me under the arm before I toppled. The two Dothveks who’d dispatched the sleeping guards joined us, nodding to me and glancing over at the imperial transport ship and the rest of the dozing soldiers sprawled on the beach.
“Do you wish us to kill them all, Raas?” Corvak whispered, as he helped me down.
I looked at the bleeding bodies on the sand. As much as I wished to storm the imperial ship and kill the general who’d tormented me, I had more important matters on my mind. I straightened, my strength already returning to me, along with my anger. I tamped it down even as my fingers tingled to swing my axe. “Leave them. They mean nothing.”
I followed the Dothveks and Corvak into the forest, walking for a way until we reached a slight opening where the rest of the Dothveks and some of the female bounty hunters were waiting.
“We found your axe, Raas.” Corvak handed it to me.
I gratefully took it and hooked it on my belt. “How did you find me?”
“These guys are kick-ass trackers,” a female with a mane of dark curls said, flashing me a grin. “We saw your ship go down and then we saw the Zagrath ship that followed. By the time we made it to the water, you were being held in that machine.”
“Tori is right. We were too late to prevent your capture, so we have been watching at a distance,” K’alvek said. “We waited for nightfall to strike.”
“Some of your raiders are already at our ship,” another gold-skinned Dothvek said, this one with black bands ringing his biceps.
“You ready to join them?” Corvak asked.
“I am grateful to you all,” I said, “but before I go to your ship, I need to locate Juliette and the Carlogians.”
Corvak looked at me like he hadn’t heard right. “Juliette is here?”
“Yes. She followed me to the planet’s surface, and as far as I am aware, she is with the Carlogians now.”
The Vandar rubbed the side of his head, his expression dark. “You did not take her as a spoil of war, did you, Raas?”
Fury flared inside me at the suggestion, but I shook off the emotion. “I did not take her at all. It is a long story, but she is here with me, and she escaped with some Carlogians. I need to find them and make sure she is safe.”
A female stepped forward, her hair pulled up high on her head and her hands on her hips. I recognized her immediately as Corvak’s mate and Juliette’s sister, Sienna. Her eyes blazed with anger.
