Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Karkonar

B efore the stasis field hit me, I roared in anger and pain. Not physical pain, but my attackers had no sense of propriety or restraint. I’d seen my assistant blasted apart, my driver caught in the hovercar’s explosion. The attackers gunned down the Royal Guard, catching them off-balance and giving them no time to react. Bystanders fled, trampling each other in their haste to get clear of the trap closing around me. In mid movement, something slammed into me and carried me backward to trip and fall into some kind of pod.

They’d regret taking me alive, I swore to myself as the pod closed around me. Then, nothing.

Time snapped back into existence. With a roar of rage, I flung the lid off and burst through to face my attackers.

The disconnect was bizarre. As far as I was concerned, no time had passed since the ambush on my car in Kingstadt five seconds earlier. My brain insisted I must still be nearby, surrounded by the same black-uniformed attackers who’d dragged me from the wreck.

Instead, I was in a tiny room, mostly full of stasis equipment. I didn’t even give it a look — as soon as I saw the figure standing at the stasis controls, I leaped to the attack. The small being squealed as my hand closed on her throat, then fell silent as I slammed her into the nearest wall.

“Where am I?” I demanded, shaking her. “How long have I been here?”

Whoever and whatever she was, she had courage. Rather than fainting or surrendering, she grabbed for her tool belt. I caught her wrist in my free hand, snarling at her, our faces inches apart. She snarled right back, and headbutted me. I reared back, more from surprise than pain, and something flew into my face.

“No Hurt, No Hurt,” the fuzzy attacker screamed at me, putting a lie to its own words as needle-sharp claws scratched my cheeks and wings battered my ears. Releasing the human, I raised my arms to protect my eyes and grab the creature, which twisted in my grip and bit my wrist, hard.

Instinct took over, and I flung the beast away. It had done no damage, but it had bought its mistress the time she needed. A familiar click and hum announced she had a plasma gun at the ready, and I turned slowly to look at her.

“Hold it right there, buddy,” she said, voice deadly serious. “Let’s talk this through.”

I took a breath, pushing back my rage and examining her. My body responded to her instantly, and I wanted to do so much more than talk. The human female was stunning. Her heart-shaped face was pale, dusted with freckles, and framed by fiery red hair which she wore in a practical braid. Or tried to — loose curls sprung free, giving her a delightful, disheveled appearance. Emerald green eyes flashed as she fixed me with a gaze that seemed to reach into the depths of my soul, weighing me.

She wore a utilitarian, dark gray jumpsuit, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Fitted to her form, it gave enough hints of her figure to make me want to tear it off her and inspect her in detail. A sturdy tool belt and a scuffed pair of boots added to her practical appearance, so unlike anything I was used to.

Her blaster, too large for human hands, wavered in her grip. I’d have bet the recoil would knock her on her shapely ass if she fired it, but at this range, that wouldn’t matter. She’d be bruised, but I’d be dead.

I straightened and looked at her again. The human was dangerous, yes, but not like the professional assassins who’d thrown me into the stasis chamber. If I moved fast, I had even odds of disarming her before she fired.

“You’re not with them, are you?” I asked, opening my fists. Her pale cheeks reddened, making her even more desirable. “Is this some kind of rescue?”

“I’m not with anyone,” she said, a note of defiance in her voice. “I’m just doing my job, that’s all. And no, this isn’t a rescue.”

“So what is it? Where am I?” I lifted an arm, let it drop, and nodded to myself. The artificial gravity had that slightly sticky feeling, giving it away. “Aside from ‘in space,’ that is. Whose ship?”

“Lots of questions for a man with a blaster in his face,” she said, gesturing with her weapon. I smiled but stayed silent, and after an awkward pause, she continued. “Fine, whatever. Yes, you’re in space, aboard the Dashing Rogue. I’m its captain-owner, Elaine Jessop, hired to take you, or rather, this container, to Harry’s Moon. Your turn — why? Who?”

I opened my mouth, confident I’d have something to say, then shut it again, realizing how little I knew. “Those are good questions, Captain. When I answer them, I will know who to skin. Whoever they were, they killed far too many innocents capturing me.”

My voice hardened, jaw clenching at the memory. However long it had been for the world, for me, mere moments had passed since the attack. It was all raw, new, and painful. “Why they kidnapped me, I do not know. There are too many possibilities. My father is near death, and I am heir to the throne. Do they intend to control me, somehow? Or did they go to this much trouble to extort a ransom? If so, they’ll get a rude surprise from my sister.”

Something didn’t add up, and that irked me. But the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off, and I felt light-headed. I leaned against the wall, and seeing that, the human Elaine lowered her blaster cautiously, then holstered it in her tool belt.

“After you.” She gestured toward the door.

Outside, I found myself in an almost empty cargo hold. There were only a few other crates, none even half the volume of mine. I looked back at the crude wooden container, eyes narrowing when I saw the bill of lading declared me to be ‘dehydrated industrial fertilizer.’ That had to be an intentional insult.

I wheeled on the captain as she exited the container. “How the hell did you get hired to ship a prince?”

She held up empty hands but held her ground. Few people could take my angry gaze so calmly. “I took a contract, same as always. It’s not like they said what was in the box. I figured it was drugs or firearms or something.”

“You could have — ” I cut myself off before I said too much. The human was a criminal and a smuggler, but she had released me. If she’d turned down the job, I’d probably still be in stasis in the hold of a different ship, and on my way to Harry’s Moon, wherever and whatever that was.

Rage burned in me, hot and deep and raw. I was still in fight mode, yearning for enemies to strike and hunt and kill. But the human wasn’t a fair target. She hadn’t attacked me, hadn’t harmed me, and something about her called to me as no other female ever had.

Was this my mate? Had fate taken a hand in my kidnapping? No, she cannot be. I am a prince royal, soon to inherit the Black Throne. She isn’t even Arisran. I cannot be mated to her.

With a snarl, I stalked away to think.