8. Valmore

8

Valmore

Kasik shoved Hazel into an empty compartment after they let us shower and dress. I spun around to pummel him to a bloody pulp, but he slammed his hand down on my chest and sent me stumbling in after her.

I barely got my feet under me before he swung his rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at us. "Don't even think about it, pal. You got one up on us this time. You won't be so lucky a second time."

Hazel sprang at me and grabbed my arm. "Don't, Valmore! Don't get yourself killed. We can get out of this another way."

Kasik laughed in her face. "Look around you, sweetheart. You ain't getting out of this no way."

With that, he slammed the door. Darkness fell over the compartment except for the wink of light coming through the porthole. Kasik's shaggy features covered the opening. He wagged his forefinger at us, then vanished.

Hazel let go of my arm and paced around the compartment. Unlike the crew quarters, this one didn't have a bunk. It was just four bare walls.

She didn't know just how hopeless it was. She ran her hands over the walls, searching for any weakness. "There has to be a way out of here."

"There isn't."

She turned around. She looked different with her hair still wet from the shower. She no longer wore her IPA uniform. She left it on the mess hall floor, and she would probably never see it again.

Now she wore plain clothing, the same rags I had been given after. The change in clothes and her hair not pulled back in that regulation knot made her look like a completely different person.

Or maybe I was a different person. What just happened between us in the mess hall changed me. I would love nothing better than to deny it, but it kept slapping me in the face.

I should have told her. I should have told her I was in on the kidnapping plot, and that as soon as I was sure she was safely back with the IPA, I'd be gone.

But worse, I should have told her what had never been part of the plan. The part where we mated, where I shared a connection with her that I would be bound to for life. It wasn't a connection I knew for certain would happen, but now I didn't know how I ever doubted it.

I should have told her a million things before I let her go through with it. Now it was too late.

She would flip if she found out—when she found out. Who was I kidding? She wouldn't gaze up at me with that hungry, worshipping expression if she knew. She would hate me for betraying her.

She went back to going over the compartment inch by inch. "There has to be something here we can use. There has to be something we can do."

I crossed the compartment—all five feet of it. I sat down on the floor, leaned my back against the wall, and shut my eyes. Now that the euphoria had worn off, all the depression and despair of our situation was painfully apparent.

I turned against my crewmates to protect her. They would never trust me again. They would take my cut of the money. They probably only let me live now because they hadn't fully realized the situation, that they'd have to kill me if they didn't return her safely. They must've expected me to go along with them sharing her among themselves.

The strangest thing was that I didn't care. I didn't care about anything as long as they didn't hurt Hazel. They could blast me into a thousand pieces as long as I got her back to the IPA safely.

I kept my eyes closed, trying to organize my thoughts. Hazel startled me when she heaved a sigh and sat down beside me. "I guess we better rest. Who knows what they'll do next?"

Her nearness demanded that I open my eyes. I turned in her direction and felt that punch in the guts when I met her gaze. I could look forward to a lifetime of that—right until she returned to the IPA. I didn't want to think about what happened after.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked.

"Not at all." Hazel grabbed my hand reassuringly. "What makes you think that? I loved it. Did you think I didn't like it?"

I shrugged. "You don't feel… you know… violated?"

Her eyebrows leaped upward. "No! I wanted it. I told you that. Don't you believe me?"

"I'm sorry it had to be that way… With everybody watching."

Now it was her turn to shrug. She faced forward and relaxed against the wall at my side. Her shoulder touched mine, but she didn't notice. "You want to know something strange? I completely forgot about them. I didn't even remember that they were there until it was all over. I couldn't stop looking at you. I couldn't think about anything but you."

My heart twisted. So I wasn't the only one. Could it be that she enjoyed it as much as I did? She kept saying it, but my mind resisted really accepting her words. I kept expecting her to blame me for defiling her.

"I wouldn't have done it," I told her. "I didn't want to do it at all except that the crew… And Jesse…"

Her face fell. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed myself on you. I understand why you would be upset about it."

"I'm not upset. I'm just worried about you. I…" I stopped myself from telling her that I wanted it too.

I told myself not to get attached to her. This job was supposed to be open and shut. Pretend to get kidnapped. Get paid. Easy, right?

Things didn't work out as planned, though. Almost as soon as she came on board, I felt this mind-blowing attraction that only continued to grow. I didn't stick close to her just to play her bodyguard. I truly didn't want to be anywhere else.

Not only that, but I wanted to destroy any other male who even looked at her. Jesse pushed me over the edge when he tried to mess with her. I would have torn Kasik in half if I wasn't still muddled over Hazel .

Then there was that look of disappointment she gave me when she expected me to protect her from the kidnappers. She thought I would fight them off. I didn't expect her to trust me that much. No one else ever did.

The crew having their fun with her was never part of the plan, and now they knew I crossed over to the other side. I wasn't pretending to be their prisoner in this compartment. This was the real thing, and if anyone was going to protect Hazel, it would have to be me.

That unconscious touch of her shoulder against mine worked another magic trick on me. I experienced again that surge of unbridled rage toward anyone who threatened her.

These strong feelings could only mean one thing. She was my fated mate.

"You want to know something else that's weird?" she half-whispered. "I was going to do it. I thought about it and I made up my mind to do it. Isn't that strange?"

"You made up your mind to do what?" I asked. "You were going to do what?"

She turned to me and smiled—a smile she would never bestow on me if she knew the truth. "I was going to… proposition you. I was going to ask you out for drinks." She laughed to herself. "Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? It's so unlike me . I would never do anything like that on Elysium."

She wouldn't do anything like it on the Methuselah , either. She would never dream of it if she knew she was propositioning a kidnapper, extortionist, and pirate who had originally seen her as a paycheck and nothing else.

"My parents are these big shots in the IPA. Everybody thinks they're heroes, but really, they're tyrants. At least toward me. They've been studying my every move since the day I was born. As soon as I even looked sideways at a guy, they would start approving or disapproving based on the guy's career prospects. That made me lose interest in romance altogether."

Was that why she was so willing to lay with me? She wanted to stick it to her parents—or maybe she wanted to take a walk on the wild side by screwing around with someone she knew they would disapprove of. Now it all made sense.

"But after I met you," she continued, looking up at me, "I felt something different. You're not like the other guys who are just in it for themselves. I mean, you were willing to die for me."

I couldn't stand her gazing at me like that. All I could do was look away.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Just be careful what you wish for. You like me now, when we're forced together. Once we're free again, you might see me differently."

"Of course I won't see you differently. Why would I? You saved me. If anything, I should be apologizing to you for taking advantage of you."

"You—take advantage of me !" I snorted at the very thought.

"You know what I mean. You're too good for that. I'm just sorry you had to go through that."

I shook my head, too stunned to say anything. She felt sorry for me!

The door thumped and made Hazel jump. We both looked up toward the porthole as the lock shot back. The door swung open to reveal Jesse.

He leered into the compartment at us sitting side by side. "Smile for the camera, lovebirds." He held up a tablet, and a flash went off. "We just need some proof to show the IPA that you're still alive."

"You prick!" Hazel snarled. "How much are you asking for us?"

"Ten million credits," he breezed.

"Ten million is out of the IPA's budget. You should be more realistic."

"Oh, we aren't extorting the IPA, honey. We already know their budget can't handle a pay-out like that. Your mommy and daddy will be very concerned about you, though. If they don't convince the IPA to cough up the cash, they'll provide it themselves from their vast fortunes."

He gave a cruel laugh and slammed the door shut. Hazel buried her face in her hands and groaned.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Can your parents afford that?"

"It isn't the money. It's my parents. They'll probably never let me leave the station again."

"Would you like me to say a few words to them when we get back to Elysium?"

Her head swung up, and she stared at me in horror. Then she burst out laughing. "Maybe. They would definitely listen to you." Her smile then disappeared as she asked, "So… are we mated now? Or was that just an act?"

The question I had been dreading. Part of me had hoped she wouldn't ask so that I wouldn't have to lie to her. I didn't want to tell her the truth—that was my burden to bear. As a human, she wouldn't have to deal with the crushing despair that our inevitable separation would cause me, and it was better that way.

I couldn't look at her, so I shut my eyes and shook my head.

Humans didn't mate like we did, and for her, that would be a blessing. She could go back to Elysium and go on with her life. She didn't have to worry about what happened to me.

I didn't have to worry about what happened to me, either. All I had to do was get her back to Elysium in one piece. After that, I could go straight to Hell, where I belonged. That was exactly where I would be once I lost her, anyway.

"How does it work?" she asked. "Do Kavians become mated just from having sex? Or does there have to be a special connection?"

"Sex is sex. Mating is… something else. I… I put on a show so that they thought we really were mates. But it was nothing more."

Her lips trembled. That hurt her, but it was for the best. I couldn't let her get attached to me. When the time came to part ways, she had to leave the Methuselah with no strings attached, especially not to me. That would be best for all concerned.

"So… We're not mates?" Did she sound upset by that? Why?

I shook my head again. She didn't need the burden of thinking she was mated to me. If she ever found out that I went along with this scheme, she would turn her back on me. She would be more than happy to get as far away from me as possible.

"It's me, isn't it?" she breathed.

"It isn't you." I said it a lot louder than I intended to. It sounded more like a reprimand, even though I wasn't mad at her. I was mad at myself. "It's me. I'm a loner. I don't think I can mate with anyone. I'm doomed to live my whole life alone. I'm… I'm broken."

Thankfully, she left it at that.