Page 31

Before Benet could take any action, the door splintered open and a phalanx of police and private security guards rushed in, weapons at the ready.

“I killed him,” Benet said calmly, stepping in front of Marushka. She shrieked and tried to push him aside.

“He’s lying to save me,” she yelled at the police captain. “It was self-defense.”

“They’re both lying,” Dmitri roared at the top of his lungs, silencing everyone else. “I did it.”

Kyden shook his head but didn’t join in the mass confessions. Brandishing his blaster, the police officer turned to him. “What do you have to say?”

“Not a thing. We want to speak to a lawyer.” Kyden’s calm demeanor seemed to upset the police even more than the multiple confessions.

The Alpha focused on Benet and the two Outliers and pushed a burst of Alpha power at them, judging by the jolt Benet received to ensure compliance with the forthcoming order.

. “No one says another word until we have a lawyer.”

The four of them had been hustled off to an imperial prison, taken in separate groundcars, handcuffed and shackled.

Benet was outraged Marushka had been treated in such rude fashion but he was helpless to do anything about the rough treatment.

Now they waited in a large cell, all four of them.

He was seated on one of the wooden shelves serving as beds and Marushka was using his lap as a pillow while she tried to nap. Water had been brought but no food.

Dmitri had insisted the four had to be allowed to remain together and the police captain eventually agreed.

No one knew exactly what the Badari’s status or his authority might be and he did after all report directly to the Empress so the officer obviously took the safest route until more could be learned.

Until the Empress weighed in.

Dmitri was pacing the length of the spacious cell, which had obviously been designed to hold a large group of detainees.

Back and forth he went, much like a giant predatory cat, which he said his inner beast was.

Kyden leaned against one damp wall, motionless, deep in thought.

He hadn’t been charged with anything but was detained as a material witness.

Benet speculated whether there was anything Kyden could do to get them help.

Did his relationship with Prince Pargen offer any hope in this dire situation?

Benet was determined to see Marushka walk free and he’d tell any story it took to accomplish that end result.

He and Dmitri shared the same goal and they needed to put their heads together and come up with a unified story to present to the authorities, making it clear Marushka was a victim who was in shock and an unreliable witness to the night’s events, having been assaulted and being present at a murder scene.

He wished the lawyer Kyden had demanded would show up.

Kyden had been allowed one call and told them quietly he’d left a message at the Five Systems Prince’s office.

At this hour of the night and not knowing anyone else he could trust in Outlier there was nothing more to be done.

There was a rush of footsteps in the corridor outside the cell and excited voices, which was all the warning they had before a police officer unlocked the door.

Five imperial security guards swept in, weapons hot and for a minute Benet feared they were all going to be executed here and now.

He tried to shield Marushka and calculated the odds he and the other two Badari could fight their way out.

Suicide.

The guards forced them against the wall in a line and he was even more apprehensive they were going to be put to death in the next few minutes. Frantic futile ideas for saving Marushka’s life flashed through his mind.

“Her Imperial Majesty Empress Ekatereen,” a new voice announced and the ruler herself swept into the cell, followed by another phalanx of guards with weapons at the ready.

The empress was impeccably dressed in a slightly more restrained version of her massive Court gowns, wearing a satin and fur trimmed cape as well and with her hair done up in her usual complicated style of curls and jewels.

Her makeup was flawless and she was totally out of place in the grimy cell but fully at ease and in command.

Her face was inscrutable as she assessed them with one eyebrow raised.

Dmirtri bowed and Marushka curtseyed, nearly losing her balance before Benet caught her. He and Kyden stood shoulder to shoulder as if about to enter combat in the arena.

“Do not waste my time,” she said in a sharp voice.

“I am aware Marushka stabbed the prince and I don’t wish to hear any more of these false confessions from anyone else.

The DNA evidence is quite clear who was and who was not involved.

This entire situation got quite out of hand and now it’s fallen to me to clean things up.

I warn you, people rarely like my methods.

” She pointed at Marushka. “Stand forward, girl.”

Benet wanted to hold her back but she slipped around him and stepped three paces in front of him and the others.

“I’m here, your majesty. I admit my guilt but it was self-defense. I was trying to break my engagement to him and Vasili took it badly. I’ll accept whatever punishment you deem proper but please let the others go. The Badari were only trying to help me.”

“Did I give you permission to speak?” Ekatereen’s tone was harsh and her frown epic. She fiddled with her long ropes of pearls and tapped her toe impatiently. “What if I offer you freedom? I’ll execute the others and the whole affair will be hushed up.”

She can do it too , Dmitri said in Benet’s head.

Marushka swayed and rushed to Benet’s arms. “I’d rather die with my man.”

Throwing her head back the empress laughed as if she’d been told a good joke. “Of course you would. So dramatic, so young.” She beckoned to Marushka. “Come here, child, don’t be afraid. You’ve been dear to my heart for a long time.”

Glancing uncertainly at Benet, Marushka squared her shoulders and walked to the empress, the line of guards parting to allow her access. Ekatereen embraced her in a hug and kissed her cheek in a grandmotherly fashion.

She’s as likely to slide a knife through the girl’s ribs, Kyden said grimly. If she does, we kill her. The guards can’t get all of us before we get her.

“Brace yourself,” Benet heard the empress whisper to Marushka right before she pushed the girl away.

“You are hereby declared a nonperson in Outlier, stripped of your titles,” she said, pointing at Marushka with a beringed finger.

“To be exiled forthwith from my empire, never to return. Your estate is forfeit, the entire Nichevsky estate is forfeit and while I’m at it, Prince Vasili’s estate is forfeit as well.

His parents should have curbed their foolish prince’s ambitions and his dark desires.

They certainly shouldn’t have allowed him to create this mess which I have to clean up.

” Looking Marushka up and down, she said impatiently, “Well, girl, do you understand the sentence?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

Benet moved to her side and put his arm around her as she seemed about to faint.

“You will leave my empire on the first available outgoing ship, never to return, am I clear?” Ekatereen turned her attention to Kyden. “I believe yours is the next ship with clearance. You will take her.”

Every inch the Alpha, Kyden said, “It will be my pleasure.”

“You’ll all be taken to the spaceport under guard now,” the empress said.

She moved to stand in front of Dmitri, who gazed at her with his eyes glowing.

Ekatereen reached up and used the imperial seal on her ring to unlock the heavy gold chain.

“You are no longer an asset of the crown.” She handed him the necklace and pendant.

“This is worth something, even outside my borders. Do with it as you will. I banish you from Outlier. I condemn you to live with your people and dream of the glories you knew here. You must also travel on the first ship, with them, tonight as you’re no longer welcome here. .”

The pack bond was wild with mixed emotions from Dmitri—exploding joy at being freed and sorrow at leaving his life in Outlier, and its Empress. The impact gave Benet a blinding headache until Kyden exerted his control to make the emotional storm bearable for the others along the link.

Dmitri went down on one knee. “Thank you, your majesty.”

She unbent a tiny fraction and Benet thought he saw a glint of sadness in her eyes.

“I hoped we might receive word of your people again. After all this time you deserve to live out your life with them.” Her whisper was barely audible.

Ekatereen touched his cheek with one fingertip and then swung around, strolling from the cell without another word or a backward glance, as if she was leaving a boring garden party.

Most of the guards exited the cell with her but five stayed behind to herd the prisoners out of the cell at gunpoint and down the corridor, outside to a groundcar park, where a large limousine waited.

A clerk handed out their personal possessions, which had been removed when the group arrived at the prison.

Benet helped Marushka into the car first and then he and the other two Badari followed.

He was barely seated when the vehicle was in motion, speeding through the streets, surrounded by a fleet of police groundcars with sirens screaming.

The motorcade drove onto the landing field and to the remote space where Kyden’s shuttle waited. As the group piled out of the car, Benet noticed a second shuttle and a lot of activity going on under bright lights. Talinn came up to them as the police got in their vehicles and drove away.

“Thank the goddess you’re all here. I’ve got orders from the spaceport authorities for us to leave as soon as the last of the cargo is loaded,” he said.

“Cargo?” Kyden asked.

“We’ve been inundated with cargo for the last few hours,” Talinn told him.

“No idea what’s in any of the crates but we scanned it and there’s nothing explosive.

No shipping manifests and all the guys delivering the stuff will say is it’s by the order of the Empress.

The captain says we can make room for it all but he was pretty upset about the horses?—”

“Horses?” Marushka lifted her head from Benet’s shoulder and showed interest in her surroundings for the first time since leaving the cell behind.

“Six of them, real beauties. I guess we’ve cleared part of the hold to house them for the trip. There was plenty of bedding and food sent with them. Two dogs too.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Kyden said, “But we’re getting out of here while the going is good, before the empress rethinks her generosity.”

“I need to see to the proper care of the animals,” Marushka said. “So yes, we need to hurry.”

Relieved she was showing an interest in events again, hopefully coming out of her shock a little, Benet took her by the elbow as the others moved toward the shuttle. “I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to your father or anyone else but I’m grateful she took pity on us.”

Marushka shivered. “We’re so lucky. I think maybe losing her granddaughter to the man she loved might have touched Ekatereen’s frozen heart a tiny bit.

To our benefit, for which I thank Alessandra.

” She bit her lip. “I won’t lie, it’s hard to leave my homeland with no notice but I’m going with you, the man I love, so I have no fears and I’m absurdly happy for an exiled nonperson with no estate to bring to marriage. ”

“You’re not a nonperson to me,” he said, pulling her in for a kiss. “You’re my mate, soon to be my wife. You’re my whole world. We’ll make a new life in the Five Systems. You can be a vet and I’ll keep my day job working for Kyden and we’ll be happy.”

“Ever after,” she said with a smile.

Not to interrupt this tender moment but hurry the hell up , Kyden said in his head. The Empress could change her mind any time according to Dmitri.

Benet took Marushka’s hand and they ran to the shuttle’s ramp. The other cargo shuttle lifted into the sky as the couple stepped into their flyer and a few minutes later they too were airborne, on their way to freedom and a future together neither had thought would ever be possible.

The lights on the ground grew more and more distant as the shuttle ascended to the huge Vasclavian ship waiting in orbit. Benet thanked the Great Mother for all her help, from Kyden finding a way to rescue him to meeting his mate and bringing her home.

It might not have been pretty but everything worked out and they were leaving Outlier alive with no regrets. The future held infinite possibilities now and he and Marushka would make the most of them together.