Page 41

Theme holds up his hands. “No! It’s not like that—no one will get hurt. I’ll open the bay just enough to start venting, then I’ll openoneway out for them. They’ll have no choice but to rush out, thinking the loading bay is about to vent. Then, I’ll close the door behind them, re-engage the airlock field, andpresto—no more Aurelians.”

Tasha nods. Smart—very smart.” She steps forward and puts her hand on his shoulder, and the guilt melts from him. He’s redeeming himself. “I believe in you, Theme. That’s why I hired you to be on my crew in the first place. We’re going todothis. Tomorrow is the last day we’re stuck onThe Instigator. We won’t get away with the Orbs, but we’ll at least get out with our lives. That’s all that matters.”

I smile, hiding my nervousness. “What about Chris and his cronies? I used to have a thing for Felix—before he was laughing at you takinghispunishment.” I shake my head. “You know, that lot always did kind of piss me off. I’m glad they showed their true colors before we risked our necks for them any further.”

“Chris and his little group are going to be Captain Aelon’s problem once we’re gone.” Tasha nods grimly. “Alright, are we all clear on the plan?”

Theme and I both nod. I swallow, dry, trying not to think of my part of the plan.

“Good,” she grins. “Then, Theme, you go to your chambers. Sawoot, I need to talk to you.”

Theme looks like he wants to run to the next room over. He’s relieved to be free of us and our talk abouttanglingwith Aurelians. He gives us a little wave as he opens the small door to the servants’ quarters, slipping through. I glance at the room—it’s maybe a third of the size of this one.

The door closes, and Tasha’s suddenly quiet.

I refill her cup of bitter tea, and she sits on the couch with a wince. The poor girl got her ass spanked until it was bright red, and I can tell she’s still feeling it.

She’s got a million thoughts rushing through her brain. It’s always like this, when we’ve made our plan but it’s not yet time to put it into action.

But right now?

I don’t think she’s worrying about the plan.

I sit down next to the woman I view as my sister. “You want to talk about the captain, don’t you?”

She winces, and I know I hit a nerve. “Yes. Well…I hate him… But there’s something about him, isn’t there?”

I can’t help but laugh at that.

I’ve never been one to go after pretty boys. Tasha’s always had a soft spot for the too-damn-handsome-for-their-own-good. Give me a rough and ready bastard whose hobby is knocking heads and a nose that’s been rearranged at least a couple times. A real big, strong man who can take care of himself. “He’s got too much swagger for his own good. I don’t pretend Aurelians have no effect on me—that’s for prudes, and there are a lot of women who’d never admit their attraction. I think it’s because once you do, people automatically assume you’re going to run off and join a harem.”

No…

It’s not my attraction to Aurelians that scares me. Seven feet of chiseled, marble-hewn abs and muscles, huge beasts made to fight and fuck that emanate strength? It’s enough to make any woman wet. I’ve never felt guilty for having needs, or for sating them with the kind of hard, brutal man who thinks he can tame me, bad boys used to breaking hearts.

It scares me that for once in my life, I don’t want to leave them behind.

“You think Aelon has a harem?” I can hear the nervous energy in Tasha’s voice. She’s stronger than anyone I’ve met, but she’s scared of my answer.

The question jolts me out of my thoughts. I think through it carefully. If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have said yes in an instant. I thought all Aurelians built harems of submissive little toys to play with.

Now? I can’t picture the brutal captain collecting dozens of women, for a very different reason than Garrick.

Garrick’s triad didn’t feel they deserved a harem yet. They didn’t feel like they built enough to keep women safe.

Captain Aelon?

He’d just get bored. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. He doesn’t seem like the type to spend more than a single night with the same woman. Can you imagine him sitting around, surrounded by dozens of them? He’s way too intense.” I sigh. “He’s a delicious cocky bastard, though, isn’t he?”

Tasha snorts. “Worse than any I’ve seen! Gods, those men who tried to rape you… I think he wasfriendswith them.”

I saw the way he looked at Kit with respect born from centuries of service together. I remember Kit’s head rolling, his eyes filled with hate.

My stomach roils, and I look down.

It’s the smell. The stink of him that’s lodged in my mind. I don’t know how to get it out. Rotten and beastly, like it’s stuck to me, like a hundred showers couldn’t cleanse it. “I’m trying not to think about that. It was bad enough living it—and it’s only thanks to Garrick that I’m still...unmolested. That fucker Kit was abeast,and so was his triad. They’d have ripped me apart.”

If Aelon hadn’t cut their heads off, Garrick would have. I saw Tar’ank’s rage.