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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

T hraxar piloted his ship with single-minded focus, his hands moving across the controls with the precision of long practice.

The tracking system he’d installed on the stolen vessel pinged steadily on his navigation screen—a bright dot moving away from the planet at maximum burn.

His jaw clenched as he pushed his engines harder.

No one took what was his. No one.

The bounty hunter had a lead, but Thraxar knew these lanes better than most. He’d spent years mapping the shortcuts, the gravitational wells, the debris fields that could cut travel time for those brave or desperate enough to use them. Today, he was both.

His tail lashed behind him as he adjusted course toward the third moon’s gravity well. Most pilots avoided the area—the moon’s unstable orbit created unpredictable tidal forces that could tear a ship apart. But Thraxar had threaded this needle before.

“Hold on, little one,” he murmured, though Talia was far beyond hearing him. “I’m coming.”

The ship shuddered as it entered the gravitational field. Warning lights flashed across his console. Thraxar ignored them, his black eyes fixed on the trajectory calculations. A miscalculation of even a few degrees would crush his ship like an eggshell.

He felt the precise moment when the gravitational slingshot caught hold—the stomach-dropping lurch as his vessel accelerated to speeds no conventional engine could achieve. The stars blurred outside the viewport. His body pressed hard against the pilot’s seat.

Then, just as suddenly, he was through. The ship stabilized, and the navigation system recalibrated.

He’d cut the bounty hunter’s lead by more than half, and he allowed himself a predatory smile. The hunter was about to become the hunted.

His communications system chirped with an incoming transmission. He accepted it without taking his eyes off the pursuit course.

“Captain.” Elrin’s calm voice filled the cockpit. “I was correct. Talia is Lumiri.”

He frowned. “Lumiri? I thought they were extinct.”

“Nearly. Their homeworld was devastated by civil war fifteen standard years ago. The ruling faction, the Concordat, destroyed most of the resistance forces. There were rumors that the resistance leader’s family escaped offworld, but they were never confirmed.”

“Until now,” he said grimly.

“Be careful, my friend. If she is who I suspect, powerful forces will want her eliminated.”

“They will have to go through me first.”

The transmission ended, and he increased his speed. The dot on his navigation screen grew closer with each passing minute.

Three hours into the pursuit, his sensors detected the bounty hunter’s ship changing course—heading toward an uninhabited moon orbiting a gas giant. Perfect. No witnesses, no interference.

He ran a quick weapons check as he followed the vessel down through the moon’s thin atmosphere. The barren, cratered surface offered few hiding places. His sensors tracked the ship to a narrow canyon where it set down beside what appeared to be an abandoned mining facility.

He landed his own vessel a kilometer away, concealing it behind a ridge of jagged rock. The air was thin but breathable, the gravity slightly less than standard. Both would work to his advantage.

He strapped on his weapons—a plasma pistol at his hip, a vibroblade in his boot, and a pulse rifle slung across his back. He hesitated, then added a neural disruptor to his belt. He wanted the bounty hunter alive long enough to answer questions.

The canyon walls provided good cover as he approached the facility. His enhanced vision picked out the security measures—motion sensors at ground level, a thermal scanner above the main entrance. Amateur work. He disabled them without breaking stride.

The facility’s layout was also simple—a central processing area connected to storage bays and living quarters. Thraxar moved silently through the shadows, his senses alert for any sign of Talia or her captor.

He heard them before he saw them—a child’s frightened whimper, followed by a harsh voice.

“Quiet! One more sound and I’ll sedate you again.”

His blood boiled. He slipped around the corner and saw them—Talia, her translucent ears flattened against her head in terror, crouched in a small holding cell.

The bounty hunter stood nearby, checking readings on a portable scanner.

He was humanoid, heavily muscled, with cybernetic enhancements visible along his jawline and arms.

He aimed the neural disruptor and fired. The bounty hunter convulsed as the charge hit him, then collapsed to the floor. Talia scrambled back against the wall of her cell, her big eyes wide with fear.

He holstered the disruptor and approached slowly, keeping his movements calm and deliberate.

“Talia,” he said softly. “It’s me. You’re safe now.”

Recognition dawned in her eyes. “Thraxar?” Her voice was barely audible.

“Yes, little one. I’ve come to take you home.”

Her ears shifted from frightened gray to a hopeful blue. “Kara? Rory?”

“Waiting for us.” He moved to the cell controls, disabling the energy field with a few quick keystrokes. “They miss you very much.”

Talia rushed forward the moment the barrier disappeared, wrapping her small arms around his leg. Something in his chest tightened as he placed a protective hand on her head.

The bounty hunter groaned, beginning to regain consciousness, and he gently disengaged from Talia’s grip.

“Stay back,” he told her, drawing his plasma pistol. “I need to speak with him.”

Talia retreated to a safe distance as he approached the fallen man. He pressed his boot firmly against the hunter’s chest, aiming the pistol at his head.

“Who hired you?” he demanded.

The bounty hunter’s augmented eyes focused slowly. Recognition, then fear crossed his features. “You’re supposed to be dead,” he rasped.

“Disappointing for you.” He increased the pressure on the man’s chest. “Answer my question.”

“The Lumiri Concordat.” The hunter winced as Thraxar’s claws extended slightly into his flesh. “They’ve had a bounty on the girl for years.”

“Why?”

“The civil war ended fifteen years ago. Her father led the resistance. When the Concordat finally crushed them, her father sent her and her mother into hiding.”

“Her mother is dead.”

The bounty hunter nodded. “Died about a year ago. We’ve been tracking the girl ever since.”

“We?”

“There are others looking. The Concordat doesn’t want any of the royal bloodline surviving. They’re afraid the resistance will rally around her.”

His eyes narrowed. “How did you find her?”

“Got lucky. Recognized her species when Wren Dox was shopping her around to collectors. Paid him for information.”

“And?”

The hunter hesitated, and he pressed the pistol hardest against the male’s temple.

“Dox implanted a tracker,” the male said quickly. “Standard procedure for his merchandise. Subcutaneous, near the base of the skull. Military grade—works across multiple systems.”

Cold fury washed over him. “So the others can find her too.”

“Only a matter of time.” The hunter’s mouth twisted in a pained smile. “You can’t protect her forever.”

“I do not need forever.” He leaned closer. “Just long enough to deal with anyone who comes looking.”

The bounty hunter laughed, a harsh sound that echoed in the empty facility. “You don’t understand what you’re up against. The Concordat won’t stop. They’ve eliminated entire families, destroyed whole cities to get what they want.”

“Then I will have to eliminate them first.”

“You’re either brave or stupid.”

“I am Cire.” His voice dropped to a dangerous growl. “We protect what is ours.”

Understanding dawned in the hunter’s eyes. “You’ve claimed her as family.”

“Yes.”

“Then you are already dead. You, the girl, the woman, the boy—all of you.”

Thraxar straightened, his decision made. “Where is the tracker’s signal being monitored?”

“Central command on Lumiri Prime. But there are receiver stations throughout the sector.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

The bounty hunter’s expression turned calculating. “Let me go, and I’ll tell them you killed the girl. Buy you some time.”

Thraxar considered him for a moment. “An interesting offer. But you’ve already proven yourself untrustworthy by taking a child.”

“It was just business?—”

“It was a mistake.” He pulled the trigger.

The plasma bolt left nothing but ash where the bounty hunter’s head had been. He holstered his weapon and turned to find Talia watching him, her expression unreadable.

He approached her slowly, crouching to her level. “I am sorry you had to see that.”

She studied him with those large, knowing eyes. “He was a bad person.”

“Yes. But killing is never something to take lightly.”

She nodded, then surprised him by reaching out to touch his face. “You came for me.”

“I will always come for you.” The words emerged from somewhere deep inside him, a promise he hadn’t known he was ready to make until this moment. “You are part of my family now.”

Her ears flushed a deep purple—happiness, he’d learned. Then they shifted to a worried blue. “He said others will come.”

“They will try.” He stood, offering his hand. “But first, we need to remove that tracker.”

Her hand felt small and fragile in his as they made their way back through the abandoned facility. He scanned the area for medical supplies and found a basic emergency kit in what had once been an infirmary.

“This will sting a little,” he warned as he prepared a local anesthetic. “But it is important to get the tracker out.”

She sat perfectly still as he administered the injection at the base of her skull, then used a scanner to locate the tiny device. It was smaller than he’d expected—a sophisticated piece of technology that pulsed with a regular signal.

With steady hands, he made a small incision, extracted the tracker, and sealed the wound with a dermal regenerator. The entire procedure took less than five minutes. He placed the tracker in a containment box—he had plans for it later.

“All done,” he said, helping Talia down from the examination table. “You were very brave.”

She touched the back of her neck gingerly. “Will they still find us?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” He lifted her into his arms. “Let’s go home.”

The journey back to his ship was uneventful. Once aboard, Thraxar set Talia in the co-pilot’s seat and prepared for takeoff.

“Secure yourself,” he instructed, showing her how to fasten the safety harness. “The ride might get bumpy.”

As they lifted off from the moon’s surface, Thraxar spotted another ship entering the atmosphere—sleek, heavily armed, and broadcasting no identification. Another hunter, right on schedule.

He smiled grimly and opened a channel to the approaching vessel.

“Attention unidentified ship. The bounty you seek is no longer available.”

There was a pause, then a response. “Identify yourself.”

“Captain Thraxar var’Chatakan. The Lumiri child is under my protection. Spread the word—anyone who comes for her will meet the same fate as your colleague.”

He ended the transmission and accelerated away from the moon, plotting a course that would take them back through the gravitational well. Let them follow if they dared.

Beside him, she watched the stars with wide eyes. “Are we going home now?”

Home . The word resonated in his chest like a physical thing.

“Yes, little one. We are going home.”

He set the autopilot and reached into a storage compartment, retrieving a small ration pack. “Are you hungry?”

She nodded, accepting the food with both hands. As she ate, he studied her—this small, resilient child who had endured so much. The daughter of a resistance leader, hunted across the stars. Now his to protect.

His tail curled protectively around her chair as he turned his attention back to the controls. The ship hummed beneath his hands, eating up the distance between them and the planet where Kara and Rory waited.

He had never been one to believe in fate or destiny. But looking at Talia, he couldn’t help but wonder if some greater force had brought them together—these broken pieces forming a new whole.

He had left Ciresia behind, abandoned his people when they needed him most. He had wandered the stars alone, convinced he deserved nothing better.

Now, against all odds, he had found a new purpose. A new family.

And nothing in this universe would take them from him.