24. Hugo

As the days ticked down until our arrival on his—no, our —planet, Roark’s apprehension only grew. Following him around like the pet I’d used to think I was, helped a little—but it made it difficult for Roark to do his job. And he had eventually put a stop to that. He wanted me to act normal.

So…normal I acted.

I’d spend time with the other humans, telling them stories about the places Roark and I had visited. About him in general, because I knew some of them were still wary of the Sahrks and worried that they had traded one captor for another.

Ushuu’s presence helped. He was less threatening than the others, and when I wasn’t in the lab with him he was down with the humans, sharing food with them and telling them stories about his life traveling the stars.

There was no stopping my anxiety about the threat of pirates—but I could admit, even that fear was outweighed by my excitement.

Which made me feel guilty.

Don’t get me wrong—of course, I was deeply concerned for Roark and his very real fears. This entire situation had to be awful for him. Not that he regretted saving the humans—because I knew he didn’t—but because it brought up things from his past he’d had to bury for the sake of his own sanity.

The nightmares were a testament to that.

I was concerned—and empathetic—but the part of me that had never been loved, that had never even left the city he’d grown up in, was elated to visit my new home for the very first time. And with every day that passed, that home grew closer, and the likelihood that we’d be attacked grew slimmer.

Some of the humans asked about returning “home” to Earth. Which had caused me a lot of mixed feelings. Ushuu, thankfully, had explained that wasn’t possible. I hadn’t wanted to be the one to broach that subject. Truthfully, I didn’t know how.

Though I’d become kind of a defacto leader for the small group of Earthlings, I was still just…me. The only leadership positions I’d ever had had been for the chess and robotics clubs back home, and that felt like a lifetime ago. I was doing my best, but there was only so much I could do.

I seemed to be one of a select few who felt no remorse at the discovery that we would not be returning to the place of our origin. I wasn’t a good actor, and I didn’t think I could believably fake being sad about it for long.

Truthfully, even if I’d had the means to return to Earth, I had no interest in doing that. My life there had been like peeking through a pinhole. I couldn’t see the possibilities, not with my vision so limited.

Now I could.

My world had expanded. There were endless adventures, endless opportunities. If I’d thought the planet and customers on F’ukYuu were fascinating, the universe and species outside it was infinitely more so.

Even more than that though…it was the little things that enticed me to stay. Not the extraordinary. Not the stars, or the space travel, or the exploration.

But the mornings in bed. Days spent incorporated into the pattern of Roark’s life.

I could envision our future as easily as I saw the view from the helm spread inky black and glittery. And it was a beautiful, wonderful thing to be so enchanted by the way a person snored, or the way he held himself stiff and at attention, or the way he was ready to give his life for the people he loved.

I’d learned a lot of things while out in space.

But the most important thing I’d learned was that happiness tasted like Roark’s laughter.

It was a precious thing.

And it needed protecting, just like he did.

Even if the person I was protecting him from was himself. I did my best to distract him—using my arsenal of lingerie and new toys to entice and tease. And for a few hours each night, it worked. He’d smile, he’d spend time with me, we’d fuck and fall into bed.

But every night, like clockwork, when I lay curled inside his arms, doing my best to comfort him—it was never enough. The humming helped , but that was only at first. Eventually, I’d succumb to sleep, and Roark’s nightmares would return with a vengeance.

Several weeks in, Roark had given up resting at all.

And I was out of new lingerie to distract him with.

He’d lay with me, yes, but he’d remain stiff as a board. Blue eyes, unseeing, stared up at the stars on the ceiling, and as far as I knew—they never shut. His demons refused to let him free. Not when he had such precious cargo aboard.

I got the feeling he thought he had to face them alone.

But he didn’t.

Not anymore.

I was thinking about that fact, my heart tied in knots as Ushuu spoke softly. I knew what Ushuu was to Roark, but even before that I’d always shown him the utmost respect. As our journey neared its end, I hung on his every word, listening to everything he taught me with rapt attention.

Ushuu was brilliant.

He knew things.

Crazy-ass space-y things.

About tech, and biology, and more recently since the humans had boarded—the fuel he created on the ship to replenish the supply when we were running low between ports. According to Ushuu, it was a volatile substance—highly poisonous—and the most important thing he produced.

Roark had fueled up when we were on Sha’hPihn, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t run low. It was better to be prepared than sorry. That was Ushuu’s favorite thing to say. He said it all the time. About everything—including how high he piled his plate full of snacks to get him through the day.

There were big empty vats for “Ushuu’s special fuel” lining the back of the lab. Briar and I had worn hazmat suits to get them into place—and Ushuu had activated a holo-shield to act as a guard between them and the rest of the lab, so no one could accidentally knock into them during the period when we were finishing brewing the viscous substance.

Ushuu and I had spent the better part of the current day refilling the barrels with the fluorescent green liquid. We’d gotten to use these giant, frankly amazing, funnels to do it—and my worries had been the last thing on my mind while we worked. One mistake—and I could seriously injure both me and Ushuu. The hazmat suits helped, of course, but accidents still happened.

Meanwhile Briar stood in the corner judging us. He had no interest in actually helping out. He reminded me of a cat, most of the time. Which was apt, considering the fact that I was pretty sure the ears and tail he had were feline. I figured those weren’t his only “upgrades” and the one and only time I’d asked him, he’d clammed up so tight I’d made a vow to never bring it up again.

I still couldn’t get a read on him.

It was like…he had these walls . More walls than I’d ever had, even though we’d come from the same place. I couldn’t imagine what he’d been through that would cause him to become an impenetrable fortress—but I hoped with enough time and patience he’d realize he was safe here with us.

“Too much,” Briar told me. I jerked the vial I was pouring back, startled. Ushuu made a soothing noise, his wrinkled eyes squinting softly at me with affection.

“Careful, please,” he murmured, reaching out with one hand to ruffle my hair.

“Sorry,” I smiled back, heart thumping unsteadily, determined now to keep my mind present as we finished our work for the day.

This was one thing I did not want to fuck up.

If I could prove myself useful then maybe…maybe I could earn my place here. Maybe I could actually take over for Ushuu like Roark wanted me to. It was a new dream. Just like I’d hoped I’d one day get. And it was my most brilliant dream yet.

Briar and I were leaving the lab to meet Roark for lunch when I sensed something was wrong. Unease twisted tight as a noose around my throat, cutting off my airways and making it hard to breathe. My gut churned, this swirling, awful burn that threatened to climb high enough it spilled free.

I’d experienced something similar to this feeling only once before.

The day I’d been taken.

Three years later and a galaxy away, that day still felt crisp in my mind. Maybe it was the terror I’d felt that memorialized it—or maybe it was simply because nothing like that had ever happened to me before. Either way, even though I didn’t often allow myself to recall what had occurred, the memories remained frozen in perfect detail.

It had been a boring day—maybe a little brisk, but nothing memorable. Autumn in my hometown had always been brutal. Colorful leaves littered the ground, my footsteps disjointed as I hopped over cracks—my acceptance letter to Harvard tucked safely in my backpack.

The mailbox was a shared one, positioned at the end of the cul-de-sac. I’d just opened it—just pulled the letter out after arriving home from school, and I was elated.

One moment I was waltzing up the sidewalk toward home—my heart pounding—and the next I was…

I was?—

In space.

The only warning I’d received before everything changed was the same exact curl of dread I felt now. Like instinct.

“Ushu—” my words cut off as I twisted back toward the lab, where the elder Sahrk remained, but before I could even finish uttering his name, history repeated itself.

Not my history.

But Roark’s.

One moment, the world was illuminated, and the next we were enveloped in sudden darkness. Different than the time I’d accidentally hit the switch, this was the oppressive kind. The kind that suffocated. The kind that tasted like death.

Fuck.

Fuck-fuck-fuck.

Above us, the door attempted to shut, an awkward beeping sound escaping it when it noticed there was something obstructing its movement. It returned back up, leaving the doorway open, the only indication anything was wrong, the little red light blinking in the dark.

With sweaty palms, I jerked Briar into the lab with me and its relative safety. He made a startled noise.

If we’re quiet enough, maybe they won’t know we’re here, even without the door.

Ushuu’s worried rumble echoed from behind us as we all slid along the back wall. Thump, thump, thump. The beat of my heart felt impossibly loud as we stayed quiet.

“Ushuu—” my voice cut off in the quiet. “Are you okay?”

He’d been handling the chemicals. Chemicals that emitted a soft glow, even in the pitch black. I worried that he’d been hurt—startled by the light going out. Vaguely, I could see the Sahrk-ish shape of his body in the back corner of the room, and I pulled Briar along with me, toward it.

I understood Roark in a new way now. The unknown sunk its icy fingers inside my chest, slicing through my heart as I waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. Pirates were aboard. I knew that. The safety systems wouldn’t have been activated if they weren’t.

Roark.

Roark has to be so scared ? —

“Huu-goh,” Ushuu answered, sounding panicked. I’d never heard him like this. And the thought made me ache.

“Are you hurt?” I confirmed, still approaching, but keeping my voice quiet enough I hoped no one would hear.

“N-no.” Ushuu was shaking. I hadn’t noticed from far away, but as I reached him, laying a hand on his shoulder I could feel him quake.

Roark had told me that he had lost his mate just like this.

The thought made me ache to pull him into a tight embrace. To soothe his fears.

But for a moment my mind…my mind was selfishly on my own mate. On my Roark. Who was on the other side of the ship, currently, and probably freaking the fuck out. With the lights off, there was no way for him to check the security cameras to ensure our safety. The glow from the fuel was enough to illuminate the vague shapes of things, but not nearly bright enough for the cameras to pick up.

With my ears buzzing, I managed to find Ushuu’s hand in the dark. It was icy cold, his fingers limp as I pulled him away from the dangerous half of the room and toward the corner least visible from the hallway. He went willingly, and Briar was silent as he helped me lower Ushuu to the floor. When I touched him, even his head fin was icy. Stroking my fingers soothingly over it, I tried to figure out what to do next.

Only…my options became increasingly limited when I heard something out in the hall.

There were footsteps approaching, slow and steady.

Maybe it’s Roark?

My first thought was hopeful, the steady thud of the feet were as heavy as his, after all.

But…somehow I knew it wasn’t him. My gut—the same gut that had told me what was about to go down before it had happened—knew the truth.

The lab was located nearer to the cargo bay than the helm where Roark spent most of his time. I was grateful. So fucking grateful, because if the danger was near me it was far, far away from him. I loved him to bits, but I knew his weakness.

If he thought I was out here unprotected—like I was—I knew there was nothing that would stop him from plowing through the pirates without a thought to get to me.

Which…could result in casualty.

Casualties I knew he didn’t want to happen.

He was a planner. He always had been. Serious to a fault, and hard to ruffle. But if there was one thing his reaction to me running from him at the auction had taught me, it was that I was his exception. Roark was the most rational person in the world—except when it came to me.

Which meant it was up to me to fix this. To stay safe. And to join him?—

I wanted to tell him that things were alright.

But I couldn’t.

It was an empty promise.

“It’s okay,” I whispered quietly to Ushuu as we waited in darkness.

“Shut up,” Briar snapped at me, his voice as icy as Ushuu’s surface was.

Thud, thud, thud —the footsteps in the hallway grew louder the closer they came.

Please, please, please pass by us.

Please, please, please ? —

Thud, thud, thud, even louder now.

Close.

So close.

Right outside the open door.

My heart was thumping loud enough I feared the intruder would be able to hear it. Briar’s breathing was erratic to my left. I could feel the panicked puff of it glancing over my shoulder. I had no doubt the other humans were faring even worse. But in that moment, I couldn’t do anything but focus on the people in my immediate vicinity.

Roark would be proud, I told myself, knowing it was true.

Take care of them.

Even in the dark, we were close enough that when I glanced at him, I could see that his eyes were pinched tightly shut.

“Found you,” an unfamiliar voice grunted.

It wasn’t Roark’s voice, though it was admittedly similar in cadence.

The newcomer’s English was clumsy—much like Roark’s was—though there was a confidence to it that made it obvious he knew more of the language than my Sahrk did.

Fear, unlike anything I’d ever known surged through my body.

Use what Roark taught you , I reminded myself. Surprise is your best friend.

As the creature approached, his shape became more apparent. If I hadn’t been able to guess from his voice alone, the broad shoulders would’ve betrayed him. There was no denying that whatever creature this was, was a male. His silhouette blocked the door entirely, and as I dragged my gaze upward, with startling clarity I realized I recognized the shape of his head.

A Sahrk?

Was it one of ours?

Maybe someone else had tripped the door mechanism like I had?

Maybe we weren’t the only ones running free?

I tried to hope, but that hope was quickly dashed by Briar’s immediate response.

“Fuck,” Briar swore quietly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck?—”

And then he was being yanked around my body like a fucking rag doll. Tendrils snaked inky black around him, yanking him close to the beast in the doorway.

Before I could react, the new Sahrk was speaking again.

“ Safe ,” he said, garbled and rough.

“What…is… happening ?” My words were maybe a bit frantic as the unfamiliar Sahrk hugged Briar to his chest and took a few more steps into the room. “Briar?”

There was a beat of silence as I debated if I could go for this guy’s knees with Briar still held aloft.

“He’s safe,” Briar said, sounding like it pained him to do so. Immediately, I stopped planning my attack.

What the hell was going on?

“He’s safe?” Was Briar hooking up with someone on board already? Did he know Sahrks mate for life? He had to know that. We’d talked about it. Extensively. As the resident Sahrk expert, I’d relayed all the information I’d gathered about the species to every human present to prepare them.

Oh well.

At the moment, it didn’t matter whether or not Briar was the next in line for a Sahrk wedding. What mattered was our current predicament—and the fact that Roark was somewhere on the ship more than likely locked inside the helm, terrified.

It was, admittedly, odd that the newcomer Sahrk spoke as much English as he did—but then again, so did Ushuu—so I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

Maybe, like I’d hypothesized, he’d simply been stuck in the doorway when the lights went out. That was why he was free. Briar wouldn’t say he was safe if he wasn’t. He was a prickly person, but he was loyal. He’d never hurt me, or Ushuu for that matter.

The Sahrk’s presence didn’t mean he was a pirate .

Besides, I doubted Sahrks became pirates. They were peaceful as a species, and Roark had told me as much.

“They’ve boarded,” the newcomer said, his voice growly like he’d been deep-throating a carton of rocks. Or like he never talked. At all. Ever. “They’re here for your people.”

“They’re not my people,” Briar scoffed, though his voice sounded small and frightened.

That pissed me off a little. “Of course they’re your people, Briar.”

“They’re—ugh. Fuck. Fine.” He gave in reluctantly.

“I will take you away—” Growly-guy promised.

“Fuck you,” Briar hissed. A sound emitted from between them—kinda like a smack?—and I squinted to try and figure out what the fuck was happening. Did Briar just hit that dude? “Set me down.”

“This isn’t the time to flirt,” I admonished, responsibility settling on my shoulders as the situation came into focus. “Roark is out there—and he…fuck. He needs our help. The humans need our help—” I stroked a hand over Ushuu’s chilly fin. “Ushuu needs our help.”

If we didn’t do something the pirates were going to take the humans.

They were going to take the cargo that Roark had just spent months gathering.

They would hurt people.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“The helm is safe,” Growly informed me, already turning around with Briar in tow, like he was about to make good on his promise to leave with the human, the rest of us be damned. “Humans not so much.”

Where was he going? I didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?” I didn’t mean to grab him—except that I did. My nails dug into his forearm, stomach churning with worry. Ushuu rumbled softly to soothe me, but it wasn’t the right pitch. It wasn’t Roark’s pitch. “How do you know where he is?”

“Let me down,” Briar made another smacking sound when he hit Growly, and the Sahrk snapped his teeth at him. At least —that’s what I assumed that awful sound was. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Growly growled—making his nickname apt.

“Please,” my fingers jerked in the back of his vest. His vest . On board The Dreamer, I hadn’t seen a single Sahrk aside from Ushuu wear clothing on their torsos. It was odd. Even odder than the fact he knew English enough to communicate to the both of us.

“Please,” I said again, holding still. He could’ve ripped out of my grip. It would’ve been easy. He could’ve hurt me—abandoned Ushuu and I in the dark, and been done with us both. But he didn’t. “My mate…Roark is my mate . I need to…I need to understand what’s happening so I can help him. He’s probably so scared—and I…I have to get to him. I have to save the humans on board.”

He was quiet for a moment. A moment that felt like a century.

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just held Briar aloft, ignoring the increasing frequency of his slapping as he debated with himself. When he turned back around, I dropped my grip on his clothes, sagging a little when it was clear he’d made the choice to help me.

Ushuu was in shock, this…creature was the only person big enough and with enough knowledge to help me save the people I loved.

“It is how it works.”

“How what works?”

“Sahrk spacecraft.” He sighed, switching Briar to his other side. The blond had stopped hitting Growly about the same time he’d decided to help me. “The helm is the most secure part of the ship. They designed it that way so that no more casualties would befall the craft during invasion.”

“Okay.”

“Roark is Captain. He is at the helm. He is safe. The invaders will make their way to the cargo hold,” he added. “They have no interest in the ship itself. The cargo you carry is worth more.”

I nodded, my head swimming with worry.

“How do you…know all of this? Do you work here?”

Briar huffed out a long suffering sigh. It sounded like he hit the dude again. And then again. And then again. “He knows because he’s a pirate. It’s his job.”

“He’s a…” my head was spinning. “ What ?”

“Independent space traveler,” Growly corrected, obviously not pleased by the term “pirate.”

“Yeah, an independent space traveler that boards ships and steals shit,” Briar snarked. “Which makes you a pirate .” They had both moved close enough that when Briar’s fingers found mine and he gave my hand a tight squeeze, I wasn’t surprised.

“So, you’re not…”

“With the other pirates? No.” Beast huffed in annoyance, syrupy tendrils reached out, wrapping around Briar’s wrist and my hand by extension. He growled unhappily, retreating when he realized Briar wasn’t about to let go of me. “I am here for one human, and one human only.”

“Yeah well, I’m not going with you, dipshit.”

“You said these were not your people.” Growly sounded adorably confused.

“They’re not.” Briar’s hand tightened around mine. “But Hugo is. And I’m not fucking leaving him in a ship full of assholes with no protection.”

The raw loyalty in Briar’s voice shocked me for a moment. I hadn’t realized he cared so much about me. Maybe I should have. As grouchy as he was, he very rarely left my side, always guarding me—even going so far as to try and protect me from my own mate.

“ You cannot protect,” I could literally hear Growly’s eyeroll. “You are small . Tiny wings. Big temper. No claws. No weapons.” I could feel the Sahrk’s eyes running over me even in the dark. “Your friend is worse. He is somehow smaller . More pathetic. You will both fail. You will die.”

He was right.

He was right and it was terrifying.

Except—

Except—shit. Maybe he wasn’t right. Maybe we did have weapons. Unorthodox ones. But…my gaze slid toward the back wall and the funnel stuck inside the barrel Ushuu had been filling when the lights went out. Briar and I were still halfway inside our hazmat suits, for god’s sake.

And that shit could…fuck.

That shit could probably kill someone, couldn’t it?

It was the reason Ushuu had been so careful with it—and us.

“We are leaving,” Growly reiterated as a plan began to form inside my mind.

Chemicals were dangerous.

I may not be able to incapacitate most of the species I’d met, but I’d taken Roark to his knees. I could do the same. Not many creatures were his size—and if I could get them on the ground, I could pour the fuel on them, couldn’t I?

If they didn’t see me coming…

Yes.

Roark had said the element of surprise was my greatest strength.

No one would look at me and expect me to be capable of this. Hell, I never would’ve thought myself capable. But with adrenaline running in my veins—with Roark’s voice in my head giving me strength—with the fear I could feel, thick in the air—I…

Yes.

I could do this.

I could.

“No, we aren’t,” Briar continued to argue, oblivious to my murderous thoughts.

I should feel bad, shouldn’t I? Thinking about killing pirates.

But…

I didn’t.

How could I? When they didn’t feel an ounce of regret for hurting what was mine. For coming after us—like we were objects and not people—for invading Roark’s ship. His safe space. For causing him more nightmares.

It didn’t occur to me then that I could get hurt.

And just like I had when I’d stepped into the pleasure house on F’ukYuu and they’d welded my collar into place, I accepted my new lot in life. As Roark’s protector. As the human’s leader. As a man, who wasn’t a slave or a pet—but executioner and judge.

“We are leaving,” Growly countered again.

“No.”

Peace settled warm in my chest as I gave Ushuu’s fin another gentle pet, curious to see how this argument played out—though my thoughts were still spinning through scenarios. Ideas about the best way to incapacitate our invaders, one by one, before they could cause lasting damage. I’d start with Growly first. Maybe if I jumped on the counter I could grab the container we’d been using to pour into the funnels? I could splash him with it—startle him enough that I could take him to his knees. If I dumped the rest down his throat I doubted he’d survive. Not when the liquid was acidic enough to eat through flesh.

“I…” Growly lost some of his steam, obviously stumped by Briar’s stubbornness. He didn’t seem to understand why Briar would choose to stay with me if it meant certain death. Totally unaware that I was currently plotting his demise, he spoke again, “But…”

During this entire exchange I could do nothing but squeeze Briar’s hand, trembling a little as Ushuu’s limbs reached out, tendrils wrapping around my ankle to comfort me. He was in…what I assumed was shock—and yet, still found a way to make me understand that I was not alone.

It helped steel my resolve even more.

These were my people.

The Sahrks, as well as the humans.

This was my ship.

If Briar stood beside me, he stood beside them .

“I won’t go with you,” Briar said. “Unless…”

Growly grumbled angrily under his breath, shifting anxiously back and forth as he decided what to do. I could hear his clothing rustle. Which was odd. Sahrk’s normally didn’t wear enough clothing for it to make sounds like that. “Unless…?” he sighed, defeated.

“Unless you help me save Hugo—and this ship. If you can do that, I’m all yours.”

“Briar, no.” I tightened my grip on his hand. “No—you can’t. We can do it without him—I have a plan.”

“Of course you d—” Briar was cut off when Growly spoke, faster than I think either of us had expected.

“Deal.”

As Growly set Briar on the ground, he let me go. The Sahrk dipped his head, the shadowy shape of it sliding in close to the pale blur of the other human’s body. I reached out blindly to stop him—only to discover Briar and the pirate were already shaking hands.

I was too fucking late.

I couldn’t help but feel like he’d just sold his soul to the devil.

“ Stay .” Growly hissed out, movements surprisingly quiet all of a sudden as he wandered around the room. He never bumped into anything, or tripped. So I could only assume he had some sort of device that was enabling him to see. “Ah.” He made a sound, jabbing at something on the counter that emitted a quiet clinking noise when it moved. “This will work.”

That was how twenty minutes later, Briar, Growly, and I ended up posed at the corners of a hallway with tiny vials of rocket fuel in our hands. I’d reluctantly explained to him what the fuel was—and what it could do—and while Briar and I had pulled our hazmat suits back into place, Ushuu had filled the vials.

“Do not miss.” Growly—whose name was apparently Grimm (a surprisingly accurate name for such a mopey dick)—warned.

“Once again, I am annoyed that my dad and I never played catch,” I muttered to myself, the weight of the bottle in my hand a little terrifying—despite the fact that this had been my idea. I didn’t trust my aim, especially in the dark, so getting up close and personal would be my only option.

Grimm shoved the gas masks he’d found covered in dust in the back of one of Ushuu’s cupboards onto our heads. They had an infrared feature—or what I assumed to be an infrared feature, seeing as I’d never used one before—so it was easy to spot both the glowing masses that were Grimm and Briar beside me.

According to Grimm, the pirates would be traveling in groups of three. He had been stalking them for weeks in his own spacecraft, and had hijacked their communications system, so he was privy to all their plans—even if it hadn’t been “common sense” as he’d put it.

They were going to work their way down to the lowest levels of the ship to the cargo hold first. As soon as that was secured, they planned to use explosives to begin searching the rooms for the humans.

I was even more glad, then, that we’d decided to act.

Ushuu, who had at some point snapped out of the fog he’d fallen into, was in the lab refilling flasks while we waited in the hallway for our first target.

The Dreamer’s emergency protocols were still in place, so we didn’t have to worry about accidentally hurting an innocent—which was…relieving to say the least. The last thing I wanted was to hurt one of the crew members who had been so sweet to me over the last few months—or god forbid, Roark.

Unfortunately, because the humans were living in an empty cargo bay there were no doors to protect them from the pirates—and they’d be heading directly for them, even if they didn’t know that yet.

Which meant we needed to work quickly and efficiently.

Ruthlessly.

Luck had not been something I’d carried with me for most of my life. It was nice that today of all days, I seemed to have some.

Our plan was to incapacitate the pirates in their clusters. If we were fast enough, they wouldn’t even have time to raise the alarm. And we would work systematically through the hallways so that the others wouldn’t have a chance to discover the bodies along the way.

Grimm had bullets in his gun, but he’d informed us that it was a last resort—as the sound would attract the exact kind of attention we did not want.

It was a good plan.

Grimm had looked impressed when I’d suggested it.

Truthfully, my thoughts were nothing but selfish. I wanted this done . I wanted these fucking assholes somewhere they couldn’t hurt the people I loved.

Roark was waiting for me.

Roark was terrified.

His nightmares were coming true.

And I needed to comfort him more than I needed my next breath.

Thud, thud, thud. Just like Grimm had said they would, footsteps approached. I tapped my goggles, making sure everything was in place. My pulse was thrumming far faster than the approaching footsteps. Thud, thud, thud. Closer they came. Just as Grimm had predicted, there were three sets of footsteps, all with varying gaits.

I tightened my grip on the vial I held.

You can do this.

You can do this, Hugo.

It’s like a chess game. You just need to plan ahead.

I’d never been athletic. Never been sporty or physically talented. But when those three pirates rounded the corner I forgot all of that. I forgot my past and the walls I’d erected. I forgot my weaknesses. All of Roark’s training kicked in, and I became a man on a mission.

If I hit their abdomen it would incapacitate them long enough Grimm could tie them up. If I went straight for the head, it’d mean death pretty instantly.

My entire body screeched with effort as I launched myself at the smallest of the three glowing blobs and without remorse or hesitation, smashed the jar of fuel right into his face.

He made a gurgling noise as he hit the floor, the hissing sound of rotting flesh filling the air. I was more than a little glad I couldn’t smell it—and for a moment, worried that the next pirates would be able to.

Two more thuds sounded from behind me.

My chest was heaving, sticky blood on my gloved hands. I rose from the felled body of the alien I’d just killed and watched as the light he emitted began to dull. What was bright faded with every second that passed.

In the dark, I couldn’t see his face, and for that I was glad.

It was easier this way.

“Fuck,” Briar hissed out from my left, sounding impressed. “You just killed that dude.”

I blinked, head spinning.

“Not as weak as I thought,” Grimm hummed. I wanted to think I was a good person, but there was no denying how good that had felt. More than good. My blood thrummed as the sticky slick of death coated my gloves. The aliens that Grimm and Briar had knocked out gurgled, and Grimm, following my example, bent low. A snapping sound filled the air as he twisted their necks.

“I guess we’re killing all of them now?” Briar confirmed.

If they were dead they’d never hurt anyone again.

Ever.

It may not have been my original plan to outright murder all of them, but now that I’d done it once, the idea was easier to stomach. It was them or us, after all. It would be naive to think this could go any other way.

“Back into position,” I commanded, not responding to Briar or Grimm’s approval.

We had a job to do.

I had a pink shark I wanted to see before the day was over.

They both did as they were told without complaint.

I picked up another vial, hefting it in my palm.

And again, my focus narrowed.

If all went well—and Grimm was correct—there were less than thirty aliens to get rid of now. It may seem like a lot. And maybe later I’d feel guilty—but for now…no. No. I didn’t think about death or my soul—or how many lives I was about to take.

I thought about Roark .

My big squishy pink heartthrob.

My mate.

The beast I loved .

I thought about his smile—all toothy and wide. His broken glasses. The way he viewed the world like he was ready for it to betray him. I thought about the way he looked at me. Really looked. I thought about the future we’d have together. The things we’d share. The home that would be ours, if we could survive today.

And with every pirate I killed, I got one step closer to making that reality.

Since the day we’d met, Roark had been my protector.

But today, it was my turn to return the favor.