Page 10 of Touch the Stars (Ghara Empire #1)

Kaitlyn.

A t least make sure he’s breathing.

But, how did one check for an alien’s pulse? It wasn’t like that’d ever been covered in basic first aid. She had to do something, though. Carefully, in case he wasn’t really unconscious.

“Of course he’s unconscious, you idiot.” No one fell that hard if they were awake.

Unless he had faked it. Then he’d deserve an Oscar for that performance, which she’d personally award him…once she got out of traction. Because, yeah, he was gonna throttle her.

She took a step closer, then another. Not so much as a muscle twitch from him, but his chest was rising and falling, so he must be alive. She gave his leg a nudge with her toe. No response. All right. He was probably not faking unconsciousness.

There was only one sure-fire way to be sure. She reached down and grabbed his balls through his pants. Not so much as a twitch. Dude was out cold. And fucking hell, there was a lot of junk in his trunk. She jerked her hand back, and a flush of heat raced up her neck to her cheeks.

Nice going, dumbass. Feeling up the guy I just practically killed.

She straightened up and let her gaze roam the command center.

Now, where to stash him? Had to be somewhere where he couldn’t get to her and stop her after he woke up.

He’d probably just pick her up, dump her sorry ass in her room, and lock the door.

Then they’d be back on the road to Ghara, and Kris would be lost forever.

Nope. It’d be a bitch to move his oversized ass, but he couldn’t stay in here. It took a few minutes to get him laid out. Once he was in position, she leaned against the command chair, panting.

“Damn, you’re as heavy as you look.” And as sexy.

Her gaze drifted back to his crotch. Fuck, she was doing it again. What was in his pants wasn’t going to help move him to a secure place.

She positioned herself at his feet, grabbed him by the ankles, and pulled with everything she had. Five minutes later, she’d only made it to the common area twenty feet down the hallway. She bent over, hands braced on her knees for support as she panted from the exertion.

It would be better to lock him in her cabin, but it was so far down the hall and time was wasting. The common area had to be good enough. She cast a glance at the floor-to-ceiling viewing window at the far end of the space. Bright points of light glowed in the blackness outside.

She refocused on him. “All right, Sleeping Beauty, you’re staying in here while I figure out how to reprogram the command center locks and go find my sister. Don’t worry. The view in here is killer, so enjoy.”

She ran her tongue over her lips. A good-bye kiss was out of the question, with him being unconscious and all. Bet his kisses would be hot though.

Jesus, where is my head?

There’d be no salvaging even a civil relationship with him, now.

“Maybe in some other life, my warrior.”

Five hours later, she slouched sideways in the command chair, her shoulders propped against one armrest and her legs dangling over the other.

The cruiser kicked ass. It hadn’t started out that way, because a certain AI thingy hadn’t cooperated, but once she’d figured out how to override the controls, the vessel itself purred like a kitten.

And she’d managed to reprogram the door lock.

She’d bet money Baatar didn’t know that the translator worked with binary language, too.

Now they were speeding through space hot on the Bajiki trail of…what was it? Artificial propellent? Well, whatever. Kris was at the end of that trail. That was all that mattered.

A huge yawn rose up and she succumbed to its jaw-popping force.

If there was any fault with the cruiser, it was that a pilot was almost unnecessary.

Space travel really was that fucking boring.

It’d almost be a relief if Baatar banged on the door right now and bellowed to be let in.

But, she hadn’t heard even a whisper of sound from outside the locked door.

He was either still out cold, or awake and plotting her demise.

Bing.

“Incoming transmission.” The AI’s tone had returned to emotionally neutral, as if it was suddenly fine with its newest captain.

Shit. If someone was calling the ship, they’d expect Baatar…

“ Wait .” She swung her legs around to sit upright. “Don’t put it through!”

A shimmer formed in the space between her and the main screen. It towered above her by at least a couple of feet, and it had to be over five feet wide.

“Fucking AI.” She gripped the armrests and pushed herself to stand.

The shimmer solidified into a hairless, gray creature that looked like the love-child of the Hulk and a granite boulder. Except it had three arms—all different sizes. And it wore a loose-fitting, white tank top and matching pants.

“Well, bite me.” Her words came out in a whisper.

She’d bet her entire bank account that it—he?—could pulverize boulders with one swipe of his humongous upper right arm fist. Hell, any of his arms could do some serious damage.

The creature’s golf ball-sized obsidian eyes focused on her, and the corners of his mouth turned down. “ You .”

There was a lot of disdain in his deep, gravelly, most definitely male voice. What had she done to deserve that?

She cleared her throat and moved to put the command chair between them. “Yeah, me. Who the hell are you?”

Red flared in the guy’s eyes. “Where is Warrior Baatar?”

Great, a get-to-the-point kind of guy. No social niceties or exchanging, oh, say, names .

“He’s, um…taking a leak.” That was the best she could come up with? The rock creature curled his upper lip. Not a good sign on Earth, so probably not a good sign here, either. “You know, going pee? Urinating? Indisposed?”

A glint of suspicion flashed in his eyes. “You have disposed of my warrior?”

“Disposed? What, no .” Not disposed disposed…exactly.

Who was this fucking guy anyway?

“It is just as well.” A calculating gleam replaced the suspicion. “You have saved me the unpleasantness of that task. Now there is only you.”

Okay, that was definitely bad.

The stone-like lips parted farther and farther until his mouth was open so wide, a couple of basketballs could fit inside.

Holy fuck, the guy had some wicked razors for teeth.

And what was that sound? Low in pitch, and growing…

not louder, but stronger. The tone crept over her skin like ten thousand ants and sank through, setting off involuntary muscle spasms. Even her bones seemed to vibrate.

“S-s-stop it.” She slammed her hands over her ears, but it was like the noise was coming from inside her now.

There was no way to shut it out. Her breaths came in small gasps. How was he doing this?

The pitch changed, lowered… if that was possible.

The thrum beat into the center of her brain and burned through her head.

Wetness spilled down her cheeks as she sank to her knees next to the command chair.

A weird pressure squeezed, then expanded repeatedly inside her skull.

If he didn’t stop, her head would explode.

She rolled onto her side. The rock monster was killing her and hadn’t even told her why.

A scream welled in her chest. She opened her mouth to release it...

Baatar .

Every part of his body ached as if he’d been hit by a cargo transport running at full speed. Where was he, and what was the situation? Why could he not feel his arms or legs? He forced his eyes open. There was a ceiling above him. White, the color of royalty.

Royalty.

The grand emperor.

His mission.

Heir…

Kaitlyn .

A small bubble of joy grew in his chest. The little human female with the big attitude had touched a part of him no one else had. His heart. She amused him, challenged him…

And she had shot him with his own cursed blanker.

A growl rumbled up from the depths of his being. How had she managed to take it from him? And why?

To rescue her sister, of course.

He moved his head to the right. The common room.

She must have dragged him here from the command center.

How much time had passed, and where was she now?

Was she even on board anymore, or had she absconded via one of the escape pods?

They were programmed to go to the nearest habitable planet, which was still Earth at the time she had shot him.

No, Kaitlyn was too pragmatic to launch herself into space with only the limited resources of a pod. The cruiser would be the more preferrable option. She must still be aboard, and he would find her. Just as soon as he regained control of his body.

Focus, Warrior.

He bunched his torso muscles, then rolled onto his right side.

Success. Except, his left arm had not followed through.

It hung like a dead weight against the small of his back.

He rocked back and forth to create momentum, then flung his left shoulder forward.

The force was enough to bring his arm over his side.

It was years since the last time he had taken a hit from a blanker. As much as he longed to curse her name, he would not. The only one to blame for his situation was himself.

A few minutes later, he was able to touch each finger to his thumbs, curl his toes inside his boots, and lift each leg a few centimeters off the floor.

It was less than he should be able to do, yet at least feeling was returning to his limbs.

His face too. He rubbed his mouth against his arm to wipe away the drool creeping down toward his chin.

A scream of terror and agony ripped through the quiet of the common room.

Kaitlyn .

So she was still aboard the ship, and close by. Most likely in the command center. Nowhere else made sense. But what would cause her so much pain? He struggled to pull his arms and legs under him, then pushed up onto all fours.

Another scream—the agonized sound of a soul being ripped from its body.

It tore through his heart. He launched himself forward and staggered toward the common room’s doorway, then stepped through into the corridor.

He moved forward, careening off the bulkheads until he reached the command center’s door.

“Neltai.” Even though he slurred the word, the wall wavered.

He stepped through into…what? His mind grappled to assess the horrific scene in front of him.

Kaitlyn, curled on the floor next to the command chair, her hands over her ears.

The grand emperor’s hologram transmission, bellowing the tyucilla at her.

Why would the great one use a weapon of war on her? Was he trying to kill his own heir?

Another tortured scream came from Kaitlyn. If he did not intercede now, her brain would burst soon, with enough force to shatter her skull.

He gripped the back of the command chair. “My liege!”

The emperor jerked and snapped his mouth closed. “Warrior Baatar…you live?”

“I do.” Why would he think otherwise?

“You missed your scheduled transmission with me.” The censure in the imperial words was clear.

Had he been unconscious for so long? No wonder his legs still felt like water.

Kaitlyn must have had the blanker’s setting at maximum.

Best not to mention any of what had transpired to the great one.

The penalty for her actions would be too high, and unfair for one acting on instinct without knowledge of the law.

He swiped his tongue over his lips. “You…attacked your heir.”

“I was under the erroneous impression that she had killed you, my warrior.” The emperor stood straighter and raised his chin, as if challenging any unspoken objections. “Murder made her unworthy to be the heir.”

That was, of course, true. Yet, to make such a judgment without evaluating the facts? “I do not understand your reasoning, Great One.”

Red flashed in the emperor’s eyes. “It is not your place to understand my decisions. Bring her to me on Ghara so we may resolve this in person.”

Never had he questioned the grand emperor’s logic. Now doubts assailed him. Burrowed into his mind and polluted his thoughts.

“Warrior, consider the wellbeing of your family,” the emperor said in a low rumble. “To have a second son turn traitor would mean the diseased branch would be cut. Not even I could spare your parents or sisters from the executioner.”

Another truth. A lump lodged in his throat, and his legs trembled. Fatigue would soon overwhelm him unless he rested.

The emperor nodded as though satisfied his point had been made. “I see you understand. Good. I bid you farewell, for now.”

The hulking form of the chosen imperial leader of the Gharan Empire blinked out of existence. Finally, he could allow his knees to bend, let himself sink to the floor in a controlled fall until he sat next to Kaitlyn’s curled, trembling body.

He reached out and stroked his fingers over her silky, golden hair. Yes, he understood his options with unprecedented clarity. He either condemned her to death, or his family.