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Chapter Twelve

J ust by Nerx’s expression, Britt knew something was wrong.

Handing her a gun confirmed it. The damn thing was heavy, but she didn’t question why he’d given it to her.

Rather be armed than sorry. She sucked in a sharp breath, her gaze fixed on Lily still fast asleep in the chair.

Britt was tempted to carry her into the pod, strap her in, then let her sleep in safety.

Here, she was still in the open, vulnerable.

Mom gasped, tapped her tablet, then cupped her mouth.

“What is it?” Britt crossed to her then leaned over her shoulder. Matir did so from the other side.

On the tablet, images played, of Nerx speaking to a man, whose soldiers circled him. That didn’t look good, especially the way they clasped their guns, like law enforcement did back home. Movement in the medical snagged her gaze. Aldur tapped the yellow button and preparing to fire.

She glanced at the strangers, who hadn’t yet noticed his presence.

Nerx was grabbed, his arms twisted behind his back, and forced to kneel while the man unsheathed a wicked-looking dagger. The way Nerx’s braid was touched meant only one thing.

She froze, horror dawning. “No, not his hair.” Losing it would devastate him. The pride on his face when he’d unclipped his braid revealed as much.

“Why not?” Mom asked.

“The length is a measurement of their honor, like a medal.” Britt palmed the yellow button, not actually wanting to kill anyone, even a baddie. She hurried to the door. “I’m just going to peek, to make sure Aldur and Nerx don’t need backup.”

“Britt, no,” Mom said, flicking a glance at Lily still fast asleep.

“I forbid it,” Matir said, stomping toward her.

Britt scowled. No man forbade her from doing anything she damned well wanted to do. And Nerx losing his most precious hair was a hell-no in her book. “I can do this. Working at Stay Alive taught me much.”

“On how to be stupid.” Mom scoffed, her gaze on the tablet. “Nerx said to stay, and dammit, that’s what we’ll do.”

“And watch him and Aldur die?” Britt planted her feet when Matir tried to nudge her out of the way without touching her.

“He’s got everything under control,” Mom said, but her voice quavered. Then she paled; the tablet almost tumbled from her hands. “They shot my Aldur.”

Matir leaped across to confirm this on her tablet.

Now was Britt’s chance. With him distracted, she opened the door and bolted, sidling along the side of the shuttle far from the common.

“Stop, Lady Britta, I beg you.” Matir rushed after her, while casting glances ahead and behind them.

She ignored him, ducking between crates to listen for approaching footsteps. None came.

When Matir lunged for her, as if he had every intention of throwing her over his shoulder, she jabbed him with the muzzle of the gun.

Right in his ribs. He grunted and staggered back, clutching his side.

“This is foolhardy. You will only endanger yourself and the supreme commander. I also have my orders,” he snapped.

“You’re wasting precious moments.” She slid over the crate.

“Then come with me. Take down the one with a cape. Do something other than waste my time.” She snuck through the door that had been sealed shut just yesterday, not even waiting to see if Matir followed.

Along the short passage, she plastered herself to the wall, clasping the heavy gun and trying to keep her breathing quiet.

A peek locked her tongue in place. On the floor at Nerx’s knees was his braid. Already his hair, now past his shoulder blades, darted out like knife points, as if in attack-mode. Then in slow motion, he lunged forward, a massive greatsword in hand, and swung, slicing the closest soldiers in half.

Blinking at the spilled guts and blue blood, she swallowed the bile pooling at the back of her throat. It was now or never. She strode into the common, hefting the gun.

Nerx’s eyes widened. Fear contorted his expression.

It was too late to rethink her life choices, so she shot twice.

From hours of testing Stay Alive’s demo weapons, her aim was true.

When she spun her arm to stun the man who’d cut Nerx’s hair, fire exploded in agonizing white heat in her side.

She stumbled back when Matir ran past her, his gun extended.

He shot once sending the purple dude flying.

He sprawled on his back even as Nerx charged her.

“What did I say?” he roared at her. “And you, Sub-Commander? Willingly endangering my Dar Eth. I will have your hair for this.”

She dismissed his anger while running an admiring gaze over him. The sword hung at his side as if it weighed nothing. Muscles bulged in his arm though. “He tried to stop me.” She skimmed her fingers down his bicep, her touching not softening his scowl.

Mom scampered past to reach Aldur.

“Is he—?” Britt called, not taking her focus from Nerx. He’d swung that greatsword like an ancient warrior.

“He’s breathing,” Mom cried out, joy claiming her face even as her tears flowed.

“Matir, get Aldur in the med-E.D. We will discuss your disobedience later.” Nerx caught Britt’s free hand, then dragged her to the communications room. The door opened before they arrived.

“Edon, prepare to get us to the asteroid belt but do not hide. I want you to fly along its field, weaving between its largest debris. I do not want to find out firsthand what that ship’s canons can do.”

“Acknowledged, Supreme Commander.” He stared at Nerx’s hair, then spun on his seat to hit the many buttons on the console.

Nerx tapped his forearm, summoning holographics. “Sena, get down here. And you, my silly, brave Dar Eth, may have helped me start a war with an unknown race.”

On the black screens was a scary-looking ship, like an ice pick with bits plastered to its pretty-blue sides. Gigantic tubes shaped like canons were easy to spot amid the flickering lights. Something cinched her chest. Had she really started a war with…that?

“Unknown? When they look Etterian? And to hell with war, Nerx. They attacked first when they shot Aldur and…y’know.” She gestured to his head.

He barked a laugh that was by no means warm. “For Aldur, I would kill them again. For my hair… It is but a slight.”

“I thought it mattered to you. Next time, I’ll let them shave your stupid head.” She huffed and slid the gun onto a nearby table. “And what did you expect me to do? Watch you die?”

His nose twitched, then he dropped his sword and yanked a black box out of a pants pocket. “I scent your blood, ensa .”

“Oh.” That’s right. She’d been shot. Only now did the incessant pulsating pain register. She cupped her side and blinked at the red staining her palm. “They’ve ruined the silk,” she muttered.

“Supreme Commander,” Sena said from the doorway.

“Toss the dead into their shuttle except those stunned—lock them in an unallocated quarters in the barracks but make sure they know how the rehydrator works. We need them alive. And see if you can set their shuttle to return to its bay. Failing that, we need to jettison it off the scimitar and explode it. I can deny any involvement as the ‘inferior’ race.” He grimaced at her when Sena left.

“Your garment is not conducive to healing, ensa . I must remove it.”

“Ninety-eight percent,” Ziot said.

Nerx grunted, then hoisted Britt into his arms, one hand under her knees, the other above her wound.

“I can walk.” Although, she was grateful. For some strange reason, her knees were weak.

Ignoring her, he carried her to Mom’s quarters and waited at the door for Britt to palm it open.

Once inside, he lowered her to her feet, then kneeled.

He gripped the hem of the dress, his touch hot where he brushed her skin.

With one yank, the silk split up the side.

Cool air rushed in, sending a flood of goosebumps all over her body.

She swayed as nausea blossomed in her stomach.

Catching herself on his shoulder, she forced herself to inhale and exhale slowly while he ran the black box over her.

His hair reached for her, the strands stroking any part of her they could reach.

“Foolish woman,” he chided, sliding his fingers up her inner thigh to hold her still. “You could have died.”

“So could you have.” She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.

“I am trained for war.”

Was he angry that a woman had come to his aid? “So I cannot save you?”

“No. You had one task, Britta. To protect Lily. Where is she now?” He flicked a glance at her, made sexier by his narrowed eyes.

“She’s where you put her. And… And I didn’t leave her alone.” Her face flushed then chilled. Was this thing healing her or what?

He arched a brow at her, made more compelling by the beauty of the black-winged slash against bronzed skin. “I have to trust you to do as instructed. I cannot worry you will endanger yourself and our daughter.”

Her heartbeat stilled then bounced. He had trusted her wholeheartedly to care for Lily, and she’d abandoned the girl the first chance she could.

She opened her mouth then snapped it shut with a wince.

“You’re right. Lily comes first.” She twitched her fingers.

“Give me the device-thingy. Go get Lily before she wakes up alone.”

He hesitated.

“Scan complete, Supreme Commander,” Ziot said from Nerx’s wrist. “The shuttle has launched and the hatch sealed.”

“Good.” Nerx stood and cupped Britt’s cheek. “Aldur will complete the healing when the med-E.D. is done with him. You need synthetic skin to ensure no scarring.”

He marched to the door. “Stay here. I mean it, Britta.”

“Fine.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the door after he left.

The pressure crushing her chest didn’t ease.

Would those men have stopped at cutting Nerx’s hair?

Her instincts screamed no. Still, diplomacy had fallen to the way side.

Her fault? Perhaps. But Nerx and Lily were alive. That was all that mattered.