Chapter 23

Harper

My mind was in chaos on the walk back to the cell. It felt like I had just fought a war with myself, with my memories, and with the terrifying crimelord. All I'd done was stand there, and I felt completely wrung out. I kept thinking that my grandma would be disappointed that I hadn't done more, shown more spine. She would have gone in there, guns blazing, and torn that crimelord a new one.

Then I tried picturing that and couldn't. I realized that even my indomitable grandmother would have been scared of an alien like him. Being brave didn't mean not being scared, or being a total risk-taking badass. She would have been shaking in her sensible shoes, and she would have been impressed with Nick's cool attitude. I was too hard on myself for being scared. I'd hidden it really well, I should be proud of that.

I needed to focus on my strengths, the things I was good at that would be useful in this situation. I was good at talking, good at asking questions, but this wasn't an interview for an article. What else could I do? I'd distracted those guards enough to steal something from their belt, even if I didn't know what it was. Maybe I could do that again.

Nick was so cool this entire time, in control of himself. That made me feel like he was certain we'd get out of this situation just fine; he knew things I didn't. His instincts had ruled him so much before… But maybe that was different now that I had slept with him. I hadn't told him he couldn't call me his mate; I guess in my mind I really was his now. It just felt right. No, it felt more than right, and a clawing terror gripped me at the thought of losing him.

As my grandma would say, "You've gone and done it now, love. Taken the big leap." I'd heard her say that phrase a hundred times while she watched her soap operas to unwind, commenting on each silly thing the characters did as loudly as if they were her family. I didn't feel the pang of pain and grief that thinking of my grandmother, my parental figure, usually brought since her passing. For the first time, I felt okay, because I wasn't alone anymore. I wasn't lonely.

I felt relieved when I realized how big my feelings had grown, not even the slightest hint of fear. Nick and I worked, and we'd keep working well together. The profound thoughts were ruined when one of our guards started talking. "You smug bastard, you better hand over that information. Even if Batok doesn't kill you right away, he'll eat that skinny thing in two bites."

I glanced from beneath the curve of Nick's wing to the male who'd spoken and refrained from telling him to shut it. That wasn't going to help. Besides, we couldn't hand over that information, we needed to stall for help. I wanted to use that information to take Batok down. That was going to be my ultimate revenge, and it would save a lot of lives in the process.

"He's the one sending us away while he thinks…" Nick drawled. "If he lets the two of us go, he can have the data. I don't care about it. Just make sure he knows that killing us will see that information spread to every corner of the quadrant." I missed my next step when I looked up at Nick in surprise. I was sure he was trying to stall for more time. That's what he said we needed, more time. But was he seriously considering giving Batok that data? We couldn't do that. His wink said it all, so quick I almost missed it, but it invited me in on a secret. It invited me to trust him.

We reached the door to the cell block, and the gloomy, dark atmosphere made me want to back away. It was making the brig on the Varakartoom seem downright cozy; while this place shouted misery and despair. My eyes sought the only occupant of the cells, the gargoyle-like alien. He was pacing the back of his cell and glaring as the guards hustled us closer.

Nick's hand tightened around my middle, his fingers slipping in an undulating motion against my skin. I looked at him again, certain he was asking for my attention. His tigerite eyes glowed, the yellow stripes shimmering in the sharp artificial light. "I need a distraction," he whispered, the words nearly soundless. Then he jerked his chin at the guard in front of us, the Kertinal with the orange stripes. "Now," he said as we came abreast with the Tarkan's cell door.

I jerked into action instinctively, my heart rate soaring with adrenaline. We were on the move, and I didn't even know what the plan was. He wanted a distraction? He was going to get one hell of a distraction. Words started spilling from my mouth rapid fire and I jerked in his grip, stepping away and flinging out an accusing finger. "You're crazy! We can't hand over that information! No way! He'll kill us as soon as he has it." I flapped my arms while Nick started uttering denials and backed away. That wasn't good enough. It wasn't believable, though the pair of Krektar began to laugh and jeer.

I spun toward the Kertinal male who was ordering us to settle down in a loud, heavy bass voice. It vibrated over my skin, sub-harmonics striking me deep in my gut when I approached him. I grabbed his arm. "Listen, you get me out of here and I'll make sure you get it. But you get me out first," I told the male. "You've got the power. I know you do. You're his right-hand man!" He started to jerk his arm out of my tenuous grip but froze when I must have hit a sensitive nerve with my words.

"Think of the glory you'd receive for solving this situation for your boss," I added, staring into those orange eyes and giving him my best honest expression. Nick had started a scuffle, I could hear his wing strike the bars nearby, and the grunts of pain as his fists hit the Krektar. The shark-like guard standing next to my Kertinal mark was on the fence, unsure what to do and looking to his boss for guidance.

"You know that being his right hand is only one step removed from being crimelord yourself," I tried to cajole. The Kertinal was undecided himself, but it was obvious that he needed to get control of Nick, and soon. He started to shrug me off, yanking on his arm, and I did the same grab for his belt that I'd done with those other guards before. My fingers skimmed the handle of his laser pistol, then snagged on the hilt of a knife.

"No, you won't," said the Rummicaron shark guy. His hand snapped out so fast I had no time to react; he snatched my wrist and squeezed tightly. I felt the rough sandpaper texture of his skin scrape against my flesh and dropped the pilfered knife in reflex to the pain. The Kertinal was between us and it was my luck that the male jerked in reflex too. I fought the iron grip on my wrist, while the Kertinal whipped with his tail and struck the Rummicaron male.

As far as distractions went, this had turned into complete chaos. The Rummicaron's grip on me slipped when I dropped myself like a sack of potatoes on the floor. Then he was roaring and attacking his boss, and I was suddenly kneeling in the middle of an all-out brawl.

The gargoyle's cell was open, and he barreled out of it and jumped a Krektar male with a roar. It appeared that one was holding a remote and desperately hitting a switch to no effect. It was his downfall; the Tarkan took him down with a vicious snarl.

Nick had the other Krektar on the ground and was slamming his head into the metal floor panels. When he rose and spun, I could see the blue glow of his visor over his left eye. It did not seem to block his vision as he roared and charged the two remaining guards.

It appeared the Rummicaron was bleeding badly from a deep wound on his shoulder, and the Kertinal charged him with his horns, striking him in the belly. Then Nick was on him, and with an awful crunch, he snapped the guy's neck. The gray Rummicaron had gone all pale and white around his shark mouth. His small black eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he thudded to his knees and collapsed.

Then we were left with the sound of fists hitting flesh, over and over. I didn't really want to look, but it was instinct to turn and face the threat. Ouch, that wasn't good. The gargoyle male was kneeling on top of one of the Krektar, raising his fists over and over to punch him in the face. If I had to guess, I'd say the guy was working out some unresolved issues.

Nick ignored him, dropped his opponent to the ground, and rushed to sweep me into his arms. "Are you harmed anywhere? I didn't mean for you to get into a physical altercation…" He ran his hands over my skin and then hissed in anger when he discovered the red ring of abraded skin around my wrist. He glared over his shoulder at the already dead Rummicaron who had caused the injury, and for a moment I wondered if he contemplated kicking the corpse.

"I'm fine. It's nothing. And it worked, didn't it?" My words brought his attention back to me, and I took the opportunity to cup his chin so I could pull him down for a kiss. He came immediately, his mouth meshing with mine, his tongue sweeping between my lips, tangling, stroking. I felt my body respond as it always did, eagerly, and with immediate arousal.

"It did, marvelously," he agreed when he drew back and pressed his forehead to mine. I hadn't even realized it, but he'd drawn his wings around me and cupped me close. Always sheltering me. "And now we need to secure our escape route." He didn't pull back far but kept me tucked under one arm as he guided me around the still-raging Tarkan to the exit.

His visor was already glowing, or rather, it still glowed. He'd been working on something since the moment this fight started. "The Varakartoom is nearby and engaged in talk with Batok right now. They're serving as a distraction while we make our escape. We'll have to steal a shuttle, but I've got a path plotted to the hangar bay. I'm clearing it now."

I didn't know what he meant by that, but it was soon obvious. We encountered absolutely no one. Our path was literally clear. Since he'd confiscated a com device from one of the dead guards, he was also in constant contact with his ship; conferring in low tones with his captain or the second-in-command, the creepy Sineater. I didn't understand how Nick could casually talk with that male after the last time he'd seen him. He'd been the one pummeling that creep's face into a pulp then.

When it was silent for a minute, I ventured to ask what I really wanted to know. "We are making sure Batok can't ever eat anyone again, aren't we? We're turning that information over to all the authorities in the quadrant?" I needed to know that this guy couldn't lock up any more unsuspecting people in vaults and that he wouldn't eat that pretty green-skinned girl that had been sitting next to him earlier. Even if that gargoyle guy had gone on a little mental back there, I didn't want to see him eaten either. He had helped us in a way.

Nick tilted his head and his eyes took on a feral cast, his mouth pulling into a silent snarl that displayed all his sharp canine teeth. "That male is going down. But we have to do it in a way that doesn't tarnish the Varakartoom's reputation." He grumbled the last words with obvious annoyance, but I understood. The ship and its crew meant everything to Nick, they were his family in this quadrant. That's why he'd tried to remove the danger to them, to the Captain's mate, by sneaking away with me.

"How?" I asked him, but I hushed when I heard the sound of voices from around the corner. I heard the shuffling of many footsteps and the clink and clang of metal chains. Boots thudded more heavily in the lead, and it came from around the nearby corner.

"This is weird. Don't you think this is weird, Hak?" a deep voice grumbled. Someone answered, but that voice was too muffled for me to understand what was said. Nick pressed me to the wall and covered me with his wing, and now I couldn't see a single thing. The footsteps passed quickly, but I got the impression there were at least a dozen of them. "Why would Batok order us to take all the slaves to the hold?" the deep voice demanded even more loudly, but his words trailed off as they turned another corner.

"You're going to take him down," Nick said as he lifted his wing and let me away from the wall. "You're going to write the best article ever and expose all his secrets to the quadrant. Then I'll put the evidence in the hands of every single authority, including a pretty map to his location." He grinned as he pointed his finger to the floor, indicating the ship we were on. "Not as satisfying as ripping him to shreds myself, but you deserve the honors."

The pen was going to be mightier than the sword this time. I liked that idea very much. It made me feel all warm inside to know that Nick trusted my ability to write a good story. Of course, he already knew exactly what was in that encrypted data source we'd stolen, he knew what power we held. The power to destroy the entire empire of a crimelord.

"You know, Nick. I love you so much for that. It's going to be awesome!" My fingers already itched for my tablet so I could get started. We shouldn't stand around in this hallway, but when Nick swung me in his arms for another kiss, I gladly went. It wasn't every day I told a guy I loved him, the moment deserved to be marked with a little passion. Sealed with the tangling of our tongues and the mixing of our breaths.

"I love you, my little Novi. My bright, beautiful mate. I love you so very much," Nick said when we pulled apart. I was breathing rapidly, my entire body tingling with desire. I vowed I would drag him to the nearest bed as soon as we were safe, this called for all the sexy celebrating. For more of that honeymoon magic I'd experienced with him in the shelter of that tiny little tent.