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Oh, God. Nani had put so much trust in him. How far could she trust him now? Certainly not with her daughter’s life.

“Take her to Medical,” Mikiel started.

“No,” Nani said, quietly but firmly. “Mikiel, take her back to theSword Breaker.Your doctor there can assess her injuries.”

“Dr. Zabin --”

“Is not to touch her.” For the first time since her rebirth, she found herself. She wasn’t a weak woman, and not one to lie down and meekly let others decide her fate or the fate of the ones she loved. “Take her back to your ship and see to her there. I want her away from here.”

Mikiel looked hard at her for a long moment. “As you wish.”

Nadira looked at her, and Nani almost lost the control she’d only just reclaimed. She wanted to run to the young woman and throw her arms around her, but she wasn’t sure Nadira would welcome her. They exchanged looks, but didn’t approach each other. Nani inclined her chin slightly in acknowledgement, but otherwise didn’t say anything. She’d figure out what to do when they were in private.

She turned her attention to Viktor now. Five slow, measured steps later, she stood almost toe-to-toe with him. He was so massive, she had to crane her neck to look him in the face, but she didn’t care. His face was impassive, but she could see some of the vulnerability she knew lay underneath. It didn’t make her next action one bit harder.

With one swift movement, she drove her hand hard into his chin. His head snapped back, but otherwise, he didn’t move.

So she did it again.

“Nani!” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon take a step toward them, but Mikiel stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Nadira breathed in sharply, and Mikiel reached for her immediately, bringing her into the shelter of his body.

“You will never put my daughter in that kind of danger again.” Her words were quiet when she wanted to scream at the vampire. More than once, she’d wanted to knock some sense into Viktor, so she took the opportunity she’d been given.

“Feel better?”

“Not even close.”

“You could hit Mikiel, you know. He was part of this, as well as Darian.” Viktor sounded petulant, like he always did when he knew he couldn’t argue with her. To be the scariest person she’d ever seen, to have the worst possible reputation, Viktor really wasn’t a bad guy, and he didn’t deserve to be hit like she’d done. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to apologize. He might not have done anything this time, but he’d infuriated her enough in the last few months to have deserved it at some point.

“Mikiel, at least, had the good grace to put himself through it before exposing Nadira to it,” she snapped. “And I’ll deal with Darian, have no worries.”

“And if I’d done it to myself, who the hell was supposed to run the bloody thing?” Viktor gritted out his response. He was tense now, but unless Nani was greatly mistaken, it was his usual exasperation with her and not the dangerous, out-of-control anger she associated with his “time of the month,” as she’d come to think of Viktor’s Blood Burning. A vampire’s need for sex and blood when they’d been denied them for too long was an emotional, violent thing, scary in its intensity. This was just Viktor wanting the last word, but unsure how to get it.

“Even without me, the computer is perfectly able to make the necessary calculations.”

Viktor threw up his hands and turned away from her. “I don’t fucking believe this!”

“Let it go, Viktor.” Mikiel chuckled. “You never could win an argument with her.”

“We bloody well saved Nadira’s life!” He rubbed his jaw. “That was uncalled for.” He was pouting now, Nani knew.

“Maybe this time,” she conceded, “but I can’t tell you how many times you’ve needed it over the past few months. Consider us even now.”

She looked one last time at Nadira, who was suppressing a smile, and strode out of the cargo bay and down the corridor. Back to her room. She needed time to think.

She needed Darian.

Chapter Four

By the time she reached her cabin, Nani was actually sorry for what she’d done to Viktor, but there was no help for it now. He had been a pain in her side on more than one occasion, but this wasn’t one of them. She’d taken out her fear and feelings of helplessness on him. She definitely owed him an apology.

He knows. And he’s not really mad. It’s a reflex on his part. The two of you have made your way like that together for several months. He didn’t expect it would be any different.

Darian’s voice caressed her mind. His love for her filled her, but he had to pay for his little part in the amazing but crazy feat that had ultimately saved her daughter, too.

“You could have warned me, you know. I’d have liked to have been part of planning that little stunt.”

And what would you have done, hmm?