His calm voice reminded me that he was my loyal first officer, and would never betray me. Not only that, but seduction was second nature to Taan, a skill he employed to get females to do what he wished. It didn’t mean he planned to claim her. He was merely charming her to make her easier to handle. His honeyed words had been the reason we’d gotten a warm welcome from the queen on Sobari, and a deep discount on our supplies from the female clerk at the last outpost we’d visited.
“You can escort her.” I locked eyes with him for a moment. “Then join us on the command deck.”
With a quick tap of his heels, he turned and guided the human away from me and out of the hangar bay. I watched her go, curious when she gave me a final glance over her shoulder before the door swished shut behind them.
Once Taan and the female were gone, I turned to the nearest officer. “Alert the command deck that we’re changing course.”
“Yes, Raas. Do you have a new destination for our navigator?”
“Qualynn,” I said, not looking at the surprised expressions I knew would cross my raiders faces.
It had been a long time since the horde had visited the mystical planet of Qualynn, but I needed to speak to the witch again. I had to know if my stowaway was also the one female who could save me.
Chapter Four
Juliette
After the door to the Raas’ private quarters slid shut behind me, I stood in place without moving. Part of me was rooted to the spot in fear after what had just happened, and part of me was startled by the large space in which the menacing warlord lived.
“What is this place?” I whispered to myself, the hush of my voice cutting through the quiet.
The walk through the Vandar warbird had been enough of a shock. After living in stone dwellings cut into beige stone all of my life, the dimly-lit ship that seemed to be all exposed iron and lurking shadows was something I’d never seen before. Trekking up the suspended walkways and open-weave corridors reminded me a little of the winding path up the rock face on Kimithion III, but that was where the similarities ended.
While my home planet had two suns that provided endless rays of light, the Vandar kept the labyrinth of their warbird dark, with only glowing blue-and-purple lights to provide any illumination. The core of the ship was open, so I’d been able to tip my head up and see the outlines of walkways and spiraling staircases crisscrossing overhead. Heavy boots and deep voices echoed off the metal as raiders moved around, adding to the throaty rumble of the engines.
I allowed myself to release a breath and the fists I’d been holding tightly by my side. The walk to the Raas’ quarters might have clued me in that I wasn’t on Kimithion III anymore, but it hadn’t prepared me for the place where the Raas who’d referred to himself as lunori, or deranged, lived.
Like the rest of the Vandar ship, the room was bathed in darkness, the only light coming from a fireplace built into one glossy, ebony wall. The crackling flames sent gold light flickering across the expansive room, showing me flashes of weapons mounted on walls, and a single wall of curved glass that overlooked space. There was no bed that I could see, only black, cushioned pallets topped with a profusion of pillows and swaths of haphazardly tossed fur throws. Open books were scattered on the pallets, and pewter goblets rested on the floor next to them.
I eyed the setup. “I guess there’s no maid on a Vandar warbird.”
I fought the instinct to close the books and straighten the blankets. Not only did I not want to risk moving something and angering the Raas, but I also wasn’t here to clean up after him. Not that I really knew why I was here.
I took tentative steps around the room, brushing my fingers over a board of tiny steel spikes hanging on the wall and a target with slender blades protruding from the pockmarked surface. What kind of games did the Raas play in here? I shuddered, trying not to let my imagination run wild imagining Vandar entertainment. Although the Raas had promised not to force me to do anything, he hadn’t convinced me that he wasn’t a violent brute, and the collection of weapons strapped to the walls didn’t change my mind.
“It’s just a Vandar thing,” I told myself, as I dared touch a metal orb covered in knobby bumps hanging from a bar.
For the briefest moment, I considered using the weapons on display against the Raas. He’d come in here eventually, and he’d never expect me to attack him with…I looked at a curved blade fastened to the wall, the shiny blade glinting in the firelight. I didn’t even know what any of these ancient weapons were called. No way could I use them effectively against a battle-hardened, Vandar warrior. I’d never even thrown a punch.
I shivered as I remembered the way Raas Vassim moved, his tail twitching almost imperceptibly and his pupils so huge they’d swallowed up almost all of the brown iris. Nope. I didn’t stand a chance against him, and I suspected he wouldn’t appreciate me attempting to kill him.
Knowing that I was stuck on a ship with a warlord who lived and breathed battle to the point that weapons were his only room decor did not help quell my nerves. I cursed my stupidity. How had I gotten on the wrong ship? I should have known it was too small to be the bounty hunters’ cruiser, but I’d doubted my instincts. Besides, what did I know about spaceships? Nothing. Which was why I’d ended up sneaking onto the wrong ship and getting caught by the Vandar.
“This never would have happened to Sienna.”
My sister was too shrewd and clever to do something like this.
