24. Ozadus

Every molecule of my body is consumed with purpose. With rage.

The moment Zaraq’s voice came over Lisa’s comm pad, my whole world felt like it was being turned inside out.

He had gotten to her. The very thing I had hoped would never happen had come to pass.

Zaraq wanted to meet? Good.

With the way I’m feeling right now, I can think of at least a dozen ways I want to kill him for threatening my fated mate.

Except that he has her. Everything I do from now on has to be carefully thought out or I could lose Lisa.

So I make my way to the docking bay and the ship Zaraq had told me to meet him at. The ramp is already open, just waiting for me to step inside. And with little choice, I do.

I take all of two steps into the entry of the ship when a familiar gravelly voice speaks. “That’s far enough for now. Weapons on the crate beside you.”

I glare at where Zaraq stands with a gun in his hand pointing directly at my chest. Clenching my jaw, I reach inside my jacket and place my own gun on the crate just as he asked.

My old boss just raises an eyebrow and then gives me a sardonic smile. “Ozadus, come on now. How long have we known each other? I know for a fact that that’s not all the weapons you’re carrying.”

I straighten. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a changed man.”

Zaraq laughs. “You may have walked away from your life in the syndicate, but that doesn’t mean everything’s changed. There’s too much of that killer instinct in you still. You knew you were coming here to meet an adversary, and you would never come unprepared.”

He gestures with the gun. “So I’ll say it one more time. Put your weapons on the crate if you want your little human to live.”

I grit my teeth. If I only knew where Lisa was this would be a whole lot easier. Then at least I could form a game plan of how to save her and get out alive.

But I don’t. So reluctantly, I pull the knife from my boot and switchblade from my sleeve and place them on the crate.

“Good,” Zaraq all but purrs. “Now we can get down to business.”

As if on cue, the light above us flickers ominously.

“You don’t just get to walk away from this syndicate,” Zaraq continues. “Especially not someone of your skill. And if you ever want to see your little human woman again in one piece, you will cooperate with me.”

The lights continue to flicker, rather annoyingly actually. The ship looks beat up, but damn, if he can’t even get the lights to work –

My thoughts come to a screeching halt as I notice that the flicker of the lights isn’t random. It’s a pattern. A merchant code to be exact. One I picked up while I was working as a courier.

As if to prove I’m not imagining things, the lights flicker again in the same pattern. My whole body nearly collapses with relief at the message.

On ship. Safe. Be careful.

It’s an effort to keep my face neutral and continue paying attention to Zaraq like nothing has happened. Lisa is here on this ship. This means getting her out and to safety might be a lot easier than I first anticipated.

But I still have to be careful how I play my cards. If Zaraq suspects for even a moment that I know more than I should, Lisa could be in danger.

And so, I continue to stare down my former crime boss with a look of barely concealed rage. It isn’t difficult. It also helps that while I’ve been having this revelation, he’s been monologuing about the consequences of leaving the syndicate.

“I get the picture,” I finally snap. “What do you want from me?”

Zaraq’s smile is full of teeth. “I want you back in the fold.”

I narrow my eyes. “And what about Lisa? If I go with you, will you let her go?”

My old boss chuckles. “Oh, Ozadus, you know I can’t do that. She is my magic key to making you do whatever I ask. I’m not about to let a prize that valuable walk away. No, she’ll stay right where I’ve got her. I will only promise her continued survival and good health so long as you cooperate. But I will promise to leave your little daughter out of it.”

I nearly snap at that. He knows about Zhara, too. Every instinct in me screams to rush him, kill him, and make sure he can never come near my family again.

But I know where Lisa is, and I have a plan already in the works. Now is not the time to lose my head.

Forcing myself to calm down, I hang my head. “Fine, I’ll do it. Just promise me no harm will come to Lisa.”

Zaraq gives me a triumphant grin. “Now that’s a promise I can make.”

Believing he has secured my newfound cooperation, the gun is now held lazily in his grip. “Good to hear. Now get to the cockpit. We’re leaving now. And remember, try anything and I’ll comm my man who has your girl to start cutting off her fingers.”

I almost want to snort at the threat. Lisa is here, and if she was able to send a message, there’s no one watching her.

But I keep a straight face. “I understand.”

We begin to walk in the direction of the cockpit. I get just close enough to him, and in a flash, I grab the arm holding the gun and twist it.

Zaraq cries out in pain, and the gun drops to the deck. He clocks me in the side of the head and my grip on him loosens just enough for him to pull away.

He goes for the gun, but I kick it away before he can. Then I’m rushing him and tackling him with all my might. We roll around on the ground, punching and kicking at each other with furious sharp blows.

Zaraq gets a grip on my throat, and I try to pull him off. He’s too strong, though.

I know I have to find another way to get loose before I lose consciousness. Instead of trying to pull him off, I twist his wrist with one hand. With the other, I punch him on the side of the head.

He howls in pain, and I finally shove him off of me. I roll him over so that he’s the one lying on the ground. Then I bring my elbow down hard on his head. Zaraq’s head hits the deck hard and his eyes flutter shut.

Breathing hard, I get to my feet and look for something to secure him with. I find some thick-looking cords and tie Zaraq up against a wall. There’s so much more I want to do to him, so much pain I want to inflict on the man. But I have a mate to find first.

Now I can look for Lisa without fear of my old boss sneaking up behind me. She made the lights flicker which means she’s somewhere with access to the electrical system.

In the courier ships I’ve worked on, most of the electrical seems to be in the front of the ship. But Zaraq was taking me to the front, and he would have never put me so close to her.

I did have a client with an old beat-up ship like this once who complained about the electrical being all the way in the engine room.

Deciding that is the most likely place she could be, I run to the back of the ship. I find the door leading to the engine room and see a lock on the door. This is definitely it.

I pick the lock and fling open the door.

“Ozadus!” Lisa flings herself into my arms, and I hold her against me like she could disappear at any moment.

“You’re alright,” I murmur into her hair.

“I’m alright,” she repeats. “I see you got my message.”

I chuckle and pull back just enough to look into her eyes. I cup her face with my hands. “I did. You beautiful, brilliant woman.”

Her smile is so bright and wonderful. I kiss her hard, and she presses up against me and kisses me back just as fiercely. When we finally pull away, she buries her face in my chest and I hold her close.

After a few minutes, she speaks up. “Um, where’s Zaraq? Is he dead?”

My jaw clenches at his name. “No. Just tied up.”

Lisa pulls away, her thinking expression on her face. “Well, we can’t just leave him here. Maybe I can set something up to knock him out until the authorities arrive. Then they can deal with him.”

She hesitates then and gives me a wary look. “Unless you were going to…”

I grimace. Unless I was going to kill him. I want to. I want to do more than that. I want him to suffer for what he put me and my family through.

But despite what Zaraq may believe, I am a changed man. I left behind a life of violence, and I have a much better one now. I’m not about to give that up for the sake of one man. Especially not that man.

I squeeze her hand. “What did you have in mind?”

A relieved look passes across her face before she goes back into thinking mode. “I could release some of the gas from the fuel canisters in here, make it look like he got a leaky one. That stuff will keep him knocked out and he’ll be super disoriented when he wakes up. He won’t be sure what happened in the last hour.”

I nod. “That sounds like a plan.”

Lisa enacts her plan and then calls the authorities to report the ship as stolen.

It isn’t my usual style, but looking at the proud look Lisa gives me as we walk away, it’s something I could get used to.