Page 18 of Pursued by the Dragon Alien (Zarux Dragon Brides #4)

EIGHTEEN

Razion

Razion stood at the central console of the Darkslip, the familiar sounds of the ship intertwining with the electric tension in the air. His arms braced on either side of the screen that he stared at. His heart raced. None of this was familiar or comfortable. He wasn’t prone to stress. Composure and calm were his usual way of being, but not this cycle.

The faint signal they had picked up was like a beacon pulling at him, and he needed to know what lay at the end of it.

“Did you get anything useful from Ulo’s family on the Zaruxian ship?” he asked Cozax, who leaned intently over the controls.

She shook her head, frustration evident on her fierce features. “Just the same information we already had. They learned about the Zaruxian ship when we did. It caught them by surprise too.” She hesitated. “They were disappointed to find they hadn’t been able to visit with the Terians.”

Razion clenched his fists. He understood their disappointment. He echoed their sentiment—his mind burned with questions about why Lilas had just left without telling him. It had been a common goal, he thought, that they would seek the Terians and Zaruxians who had joined forces.

“The ship’s registration number was a dead end,” Cozax continued, raking a hand through her hair in frustration. “Nothing leads back to them.”

“ Yet ,” Razion murmured, his fingers moving over the panel as he brought up the scan results. He had a feeling, a deep instinct that something was just beyond his grasp. The urge to follow this signal was almost a physical force pulling at him.

“Are you sure this signal is even worth pursuing?” Cozax asked, glancing at the flickering display. Doubt colored her voice. “It could just be background noise.”

“It’s faint,” Razion replied. “But it’s there.” He felt the energy vibrating through him, that unshakable feeling that they were meant to be on this path. “Something is pulling at me. I need to chase it.”

“We want to find Lilas, too.” Cozax crossed her arms. “But we’ve already risked a lot on this trip. What if it leads us nowhere?”

Razion ground his teeth together. The quadrant was huge. That ship could be anywhere and it wouldn’t take a genius to plant a false trail for him to find. He couldn’t afford to let doubt creep in. “It could lead us to Lilas. I know it.”

Vedd turned his head, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “You have a gut feeling about it?”

“More than that,” Razion said, pressing a hand to his chest. “I can feel it in my bones. The direction it’s coming from… It’s off the beaten path, which means fewer eyes, less traffic.”

Cozax crossed her arms, skepticism in her stance. “Alright, but if this ends up being a wild chase, don’t expect us to be in a hurry to come back.”

Razion nodded. Urgency pulled in his chest. “Just get the coordinates. And prepare for a fold. We’ll scout the sector and follow any signals.”

“On it,” Cozax said, turning back to her console. Krask used to do these things, but the weapons officer filled in well. It wasn’t a permanent solution, however.

Razion watched the readings shift, numbers flowing across the display like a torrent of hidden information. Silence settled between the three of them. Cozax’s expression was tense, while Vedd was huddled over his screen with uncharacteristic rigidity.

“Captain,” Vedd said in low voice. “I have something to show you.”

Razion pried his clenched hands off the console and turned to Vedd. “What is it?”

“I was finally able to decrypt and clarify the video imagery of the Axis elite member taken from Gribna’s databanks.” His expression was not triumphant, however. “You need to see this.”

“Show me,” Razion said, stepping toward Vedd’s station.

But Vedd held out his hands. His expression was serious. “Razion.” Vedd rarely called him that. “You’ve been through a lot. I need you to be prepared for what you’re about to see.”

Well, that was ominous. Razion sighed and ran a hand over his face. He needed sleep. He needed Lilas back by his side. He did not need something horrible and revelatory, but that seemed to be the theme lately. “Consider me prepared,” he said dryly.

Vedd slid his chair to the side and Razion peered down at the screen. His breath caught in his throat. There stood a Zaruxian with aqua-colored scales. Even with a hood, his silver-gray eyes were visible, and so much like his own.

“Well, isn’t that the most fekked up thing you’ve ever seen,” Razion breathed.

Cozax leaned in beside him, brows furrowed. “Are we sure this is an Axis leader?”

“Look at the attire. You can’t miss the Axis emblem on his chest. That is a member of the Axis command council,” Razion said, flicking a hand toward the screen. “And one of my brothers.”

“What do we do with this?” Cozax asked incredulously, throwing up her hands. “We can’t kill him. ”

“Yes, we can,” Razion confirmed, his expression hardening. He closed his eyes as emotions scraped through him—confusion, anger, and an overwhelming need to understand how this was possible. “If he’s truly with the Axis, he’s an enemy.”

Vedd’s eyes widened. “Now, just wait a minute,” he said, clearly intrigued. “He must have been indoctrinated, like many others.”

“If he’s one of them, he knows what they’ve done,” Razion murmured, focusing on the face on the screen. “The raiders who adopted me told me this was how it would be.” He blinked and looked away, unable to stare into that face that was so much like his own, but whose path had been so different. “That could have been me.”

“It’s possible he’s working against them from the inside,” Vedd said slowly, glancing at Cozax. “This could be a big opportunity.”

Razion shook his head. “Don’t expect him to be on our side.”

“Do you want to continue on the current course?” Cozax asked. “Or shall we begin trying to track this male?”

Razion inhaled sharply, feeling raw and tired and wrung out. He’d lost his first officer and mate in one cycle. Now, he was seeing proof with his own eyes that the Axis had one of his brothers, too. This was far more excitement than anyone should have to endure.

“Stay on the current course,” Razion said, voice firm. “Lilas is the priority. We find her, we find the Zaruxians who aren’t with the Axis. I don’t know what their story is, but we have a better chance of reasoning with them. If they turn Lilas over, that is.”

Cozax nodded and checked their course on the navigation console. “We’re still tracking it.”

“You may not want to hear this,” Vedd began, and Razion closed his eyes again. “But Lilas is not their prisoner. She went with them. If— when —we find the Zaruxian ship, it’s Lilas you’re going to have to deal with, not the Zaruxians. Not the Terians.”

Vedd was right. He did not want to hear this. “If she doesn’t want me, so be it,” he ground out. “But I will hear it from her mouth.”

“Really makes me wonder if she heard part of that discussion you had with Krask,” Vedd murmured.

Razion said nothing, but he wondered that, too. It was either as Vedd said, and she overheard something and misinterpreted it, or she just chose her Terian friends over him. Both were possible. Both were devastating.