Makar

MAKAR

I felt like such an idiot.

I walked the corridors of the station for hours, trying to get my head clear.

I left the room. I left her behind. How could I leave her alone and afraid like that? Who does that?

But I scared her.

Lost my temper.

I never did that. For an assassin, it wasn't a healthy habit to have.

I should never have included her in this job.

Should never have brought her into my world.

It was my fault. My whims that involved her in this mess.

That made her think I'd ever be all right with her putting herself in real danger.

Grinding my teeth, I rubbed the base of my horns, willing the headache to go away.

I was selfish, wanting to find a way to spend more time with her while on recon.

And now, my own heedless desires backfired on me.

Never in my life did I feel so much terror as when Sophia offered to go to Goran as a distraction.

Or so much fury at the idea of his hands on her.

Still, I should have listened to her, not let my emotions erupt.

I was a danger to her because I couldn't picture her in some other sort of danger. What a sick type of paradox.

And as I trudged through the crowds on the never-sleeping station, I had a realization that pierced every nerve in my body.

I was in love with her. Madly, deeply and purely in love with her. She was my mate. How didn't I realize it before?

There was nothing I wouldn't have done for her, and I needed her to know that.

I only hoped she hadn't completely written me off after my blow-up.

Breaking into a run, I headed back to the Fallen Star.

I had to see Sophia. Had to talk to her, explain it all. I came up with a new plan for the job, and explained it all to Alkard.

Even if he was furious, he'd understand.

And if he didn't… well, I'd figure something out.

Nothing mattered more than Sophia. Nothing.

Thoughts whirling, I tried to figure out what I could possibly say to her.

It had to be perfect. Anything less wasn't good enough for a woman of her caliber.

How does anyone do this? Talk about these things?

Then, I thought of the first night I saw her. I knew I had to have her when she leaped onto that asshole Maeux from the stage, but I was unaware of all the deeper parts of her soul I would fall in love with.

She wasn't just a beautiful dancer. She was funny, witty, feisty, sexy, and downright amazing. I couldn't let her go.

I was the luckiest Vinduthi ever. I had just been too blind to see it before.

"Sophia, I've been thinking…" I cleared my throat and shook my head.

"No. That sucks," I sighed. "Sophia, I've wanted to tell you…Ugh." I ran my fingers through my hair while ignoring the funny looks passersby gave me. "Why don't I just say it? Why does it need an introduction?"

I shook my head and stopped walking, throwing my shoulders back and standing tall. "Sophia. I love you. I want to claim you as my mate."

I paused for a moment before rolling my eyes and continuing to walk. No matter how I said it, it sounded stupid. Maybe stupid was the wrong word. No matter how I said it, it felt scary. It was vulnerable, something I never experienced before.

When the Orbitus sign caught my attention in the distance, I sighed and rubbed the back of my head before looking at the floor. It was far too early for my shift, but maybe I could get some work done, get my mind straight.

My eyes lifted back to the restaurant's entrance, and I frowned, stopping in my tracks. The lights were all off, and there were no guards in front of it. Normally, Treton was always there by this time to clean the kitchen and prep for the day.

Maybe he's running late, or he's out sick…but why aren't the guards there? Maybe Goran stayed out too late with one of his mistresses last night.

When I walked in, the eerie silence made my nerves tingle.

Something's not right.

A bright light blinded me, shining from the hallway to Goran's office, lighting up the restaurant, halting me in my tracks in the reception area.

The enhanced senses of a Vinduthi were a strength, but sometimes it took a moment to adjust. It wasn't the first time someone had tried something like this, though. But why now?

My arms covered my eyes, and I threw out an easy laugh.

"Very funny! Good morning to you, too!"

"Very funny, indeed," Goran's voice sounded over the intercom, his tone disturbingly cheerful.

I didn't like it, not at all.

"Welcome to your shift for the day, Makar. I'm sorry to inform you that it will be your last here at Orbitus. Your last shift anywhere, really."

Makar.

Not Maddox.

Fuck. How did he find out?

"What are you talking about, Goran?" Maybe there was a way I could play it off.

"Do you want to tell him?" Goran chuckled into the intercom.

Who is he talking to?

"Ah, your girlfriend's being a little shy right now, Makar."

Girlfriend? What? No. Sophia's not here. "I don't have a girlfriend, Goran!" I wasn't about to give him any hints that might make him hurt Sophia.

"Ah, come on, that has to make you a little upset, doesn't it, sweetheart?" Goran said before some rustling came over the mic.

The sound of fabric tearing.

A hiccup of fear in a voice I knew.

"Makar?" Sophia's voice choked over the intercom.

"Sophia!" I shouted, feeling my way through the blinding light of the restaurant to the hallway. "Sophia, where are you?"

"Makar! Don't come!"

"Ah, that's enough, love birds. You know, Makar, you have great taste in women. She's been very brave so far."

Sophia. He has Sophia. I never should have left her side.

I held my arms over my head, turning slowly. "You've got me now, Goran," I shouted. "Let her go. She's just a human woman, doesn't mean anything to you."

"But she means quite a bit to you." Mocking laughter filled the air. "I'm going to enjoy watching you try to fight to get to her. Will you make it in time?"

As if on cue, the sound of doors opening all around filled the restaurant. Spinning, I caught glimpses of various silhouettes walking toward me from every direction.

"I did have to get some sort of army together to prepare for you. That much I'll give you credit for," Goran chuckled. "But now, we have the best assassins on the station hired for your last shift. My money is that you'll get through maybe three out of the five before they kill you. What about you, sweetheart? Any bets?"

"Let me go!"

"Sophia!" I yelled. "Hang in there. I'm on the way!"

"Ah, she doesn't want to play," Goran said, voice dripping with amusement. "No matter. Why don't we let the show begin?"

I whipped around to a large Mondian charging at me with a sword. The light made the tip of the weapon glow purple. Plasma poison, made to cut through the heavy plates under a Vinduthi's skin. It was a smart move. He struck down at me, and I dodged it before kicking him in the back and stealing his sword.

I slashed his throat with his own weapon and turned to the right to meet a fellow Vinduthi, his eyes shielded from the light, a needle gun in hand.

This was more of a risk.

Even if they weren't a member of our syndicate, Vinduthi were born killers.

Diving over a table, I tilted it up, thinking fast, before throwing legs that had broken off the chairs fallen around me.

The first one, I threw to the attacker's side, making him spin, his blaster shattering the projectile to shreds.

Which left him open for the next one, hitting him in the temple.

Not hard enough to do any damage, not to a Vinduthi.

But enough to knock off those light shields.

He swore, staggering back, but before I could dash forward and snag them for myself, his boot landed on the thin device, crushing it.

Damn it.

At least the playing field was even now.

Needles sprayed around me as I ducked and rolled, coming up behind him to swipe his legs with the sword.

The poison seeped through his system, and he fell to the ground, twitching.

"Traitor," the Vinduthi said to me before laying his head back down.

Another scream echoed from the hallway.

Sophia. He hurt her.

My head shot towards her direction before someone took advantage of my distraction, a thin arm wrapping around my neck, striking the sword from my grip with a heavy clanging sound.

I elbowed whatever held me in the abdomen, but it only chuckled quietly before hissing into my ear.

"I didn't think it would be this-ss eassssy."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

He hired an Ewani? You have to be kidding me.

I angled my elbow up to the beast's nose and hit it perfectly before spinning around and stomping on its neck, leaving it broken on the ground.

A sharp pain entered my back, and I collapsed on the floor, locking eyes with the dead Ewani while running my hand over the injury site. I was bleeding heavily.

Someone hit me with a bullet. I couldn't be sure what type, but I knew it stung.

I ripped the makeshift weapon from the Ewani's cold claws and spun around, stabbing randomly and luckily spearing a second Mondian in the heart. He dropped his gun, and before it hit the floor, I picked it up and examined it.

Not plasma bullets. Thank the seven galaxies.

"Come on!" I screamed, reloading with bullets from the Mondian's chest pocket. "Who else is out there?"

A shot sounded from the restaurant's entrance, and I rolled behind a booth and hid while listening for footsteps. I peered out from behind the booth and fired three rounds, hoping to hear a scream from an assassin dying in the main area, but no luck.

Silence filled the room instead. They're not dead. They can't be.

I stood up slowly and looked around, squinting in the blinding light to try to make out any sign of movement. Before I could turn around to survey the other side of the restaurant, a sharp pain shot through my left leg.

I screamed and fell to the ground, hearing the weapon slide across the tile floors of the restaurant. My hands clutched at my wounded leg before I looked up and saw a Volek standing over me with a sinister grin.

"They have a good bounty on your head, Vinduthi. Glad I'll be the one to take it."

He pointed his gun at me, and I made the gurgling sounds I knew all too well. My eyes rolled back into my head, and my body shook.

"Shit," the Volek said over me. "Already dying? But it doesn't matter who kills you, just who brings in your body."

While he probably thought I was bleeding out, I reached up and grabbed his gun from him. I fired a bullet between his eyes, and he fell backward. The sound of his body slamming onto the floor gave me relief.

That was number five. Goran said three out of five.

I stood up and heard another scream from the hallway. Limping, I made my way to the bright light and passed it, seeing it was a sunlight projector. Normally used for lighting up dance halls when placed indirectly at the ceiling, but I guess it had use for blinding someone you were trying to kill, too.

While limping down the hallway, I checked how many bullets were left. Only one remained.

It didn't matter.

I needed to get to Sophia.

She'd been alone with that bastard for far too long. Everything was going to stop, now.

I stalked into the waiting room and then used the side of my body that wasn't injured to break down the door to his office.

Sophia was all I saw, her tear streaked face slicing through my heart before I noticed Goran standing behind the chair she had been forced into.

Her clothing was in shreds around her, the lingerie she wore before everything turned upside down showing through.

"Back down, Makar," Goran commanded before pointing the gun at Sophia's head. "Or she gets it first."

Breathing heavily, I looked at the woman I loved and the man I hated the most. I could have tried to shoot him, but the second I raised my arm, I knew he would kill her.

I spent my life trusting on my speed and strength, but I couldn't risk it now.

Not with Sophia's life at stake.

Screens covered the walls of the room, showing the ruined restaurant, and I flinched.

He made Sophia watch that. No wonder she was terrified.

"Makar, shoot him," Sophia begged through tears.

"Shut up," Goran yelled while hitting her in the temple with the blaster.

I raised my arms while his blaster lowered, but my hands trembled. I couldn't take the chance. She had to live.

I dropped my weapon, sending it clanking onto the ground.

"Makar! What are you doing?"

"He's being smart, little human. Not something you would know anything about." Goran smiled even wider. "Now." He raised the blaster. "Anything you want to say to your lover before you die?"