Kozav (11 page)

Perhaps that was best. The urge to release his fire, to bellow to the skies and take to his wings, nearly overwhelmed him. Fury battled jealousy in his heart and he struggled to breathe past the emotions.

Yes, for now, space was best.

“Ship, reveal senchamber door. Monitor progress and notify guards standing by.” He knew she would not like the
baybee sit-hers
, but he could not have her unprotected.

Grace continued on, not pausing a moment to glance back at him. Her steps remained smooth and unhurried as she approached the exit and left him in the senchamber.

Alone. As he had been for so many years.

But his mate was right, he would have done anything—sacrificed anything—to have his
sire, dam,
and sister back with him.

Kozav stared at the digitized sun in the distance, the last rays disappearing beneath the Gor Ari. He didn’t take his attention from the glittering colors, letting the different shades calm him while he sought rational thought. His body remained attuned to emotion, but emotion wouldn’t solve his problems with Grace. Emotion was the source of his problems at the moment. He’d never experienced jealousy before. He’d never suffered such strong feelings. And now his reaction to her hardship pushed her away.

He spun and stomped toward the exit. He should not have allowed her to leave. They could be mad at each other within the same room. They did not have to be apart when angry.

“Ship, locate Grace joi Kozav Hall,” he barked out the order as he strode from the senchamber, anxious to locate his mate. This was their first disagreement and Jarek revealed that
make-up sex
was the best part of an argument. “
Ship?
”

“Unable to locate Grace joi Kozav Hall.”

Kozav stumbled to a stop. “Explain.”

Perhaps it was merely a malfunction.

“Grace joi Kozav Hall is no longer part of the Third Fleet. She was last tracked to section
coru
.”

Section
coru
. A storage area near engineering that held nothing but supplies. It was also an area plagued with sensor outages and malfunctions.

Impe
.

Kozav nearly doubled over in pain at those words. He didn’t believe Grace left voluntarily, and Impe had already proven himself to be a violent and dishonorable warrior.

Instead of waiting for the rest of the ship’s explanation, he launched into new orders. “Primary Warrior Kozav to broadcast comm.”

“Broadcasting.”

“Warriors of the Third Fleet, this is Primary Warrior Kozav joi Grace Hall and we must hunt for one of our own. Impe sen Viz’on has taken my mate and he
will
be found.”

Kozav did not have to question whether the warriors heard his message. The answering roars, the trembling of the ship, told him more than anything else could.

By his claw or another’s, Impe would be dead and Grace would be back in his arms. He would then have to convince her to stay there.

“
L
isten
, you piece of shit, overgrown lizard with wings!” Grace yanked in Impe’s grip, fighting his firm hold. She kicked, aiming for his shin, and missed. “I’m going to kick your ass and feed you to a great white shark.” She jerked and dug her heels in, throwing her weight back in an effort to stop him. “I’m going to turn you into chum and watch—”

Impe jolted to a stop and bent until his face was an inch from hers. Reptilian eyes narrowed and he hissed as he spoke. “Sssilence.”

She didn’t want to be silent. She was pissed and frustrated and she’d never admit it, but she was scared, too. And hurt. Fuck, she’d already been backhanded by the guy once and he really rang her bell. He hadn’t hit her as hard when he snatched her as she left the senchamber, but it was enough to make walking interesting.

Grace curled her lip. “Or. What.”

She was gonna die either way, right? She didn’t imagine the male who’d evaded capture for days and had already hurt her twice would just release her and flit away. Whatever his plans, she didn’t have high hopes about getting away unscathed—or alive.

“Female,” he growled and snapped his teeth, acting as if he’d bite her and she fought the need to flinch.

Grace Hall was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a weakling who backed off when faced with what appeared to be a dire situation. Otherwise her mother would already be out of her life. But she’d fought when the doctors told her there was no hope. She was ready to fight again. Unfortunately, this fight involved actual bruises and cuts so… not fun.

With every step, she resisted as much as she could, trying her best to break free of his immovable grasp. Strong aliens were sexy, but did this particular alien have to be
so
strong? His fingers dug into her flesh, the punishing hold sure to leave her arm covered in bruises. Though, if she somehow managed to get out of this with only bruises, she’d count herself lucky.

She glanced up and down the hallway, searching for anyone who could help her. On a ship of two thousand Preors, she’d think there’d be a big winged guy nearby. Or at least close enough to hear her.

“Help! Somebody help! He’s trying to kidnap—” Her head banged against the metal wall, shoulders immediately following and then the rest of her caught up. Pain radiated along her body, overtaking every nerve and shutting out any other sensations. She slumped to the ground with a groan and brought one hand to the back of her head. It was sticky and wet and she pulled her hand away, glancing at her red-coated fingertips.

Impe crouched down. “That was not smart.”

Grace gathered saliva in her mouth and spat it at him, coating his face in the clear liquid. That earned her a roar and another strike. At least this one knocked her out, but not before she heard other male voices, shouts to
stop
,
halt
, and
go no farther
. Grace passed out with a small smile on her face. They’d found her and they’d save her.

Except instead of a warm cocoon of blankets and Kozav’s scent filling her nose when she woke, she found herself strapped into a seat on a short flight shuttle. It bounced and jerked on its way through space, jolting as they passed through Earth’s atmosphere. Growls and curses—some she knew and others she didn’t—filtered back to her from the pilot’s seat.

She hadn’t been saved, then. Had those voices merely been imaginary?

The shuttle shook, veering left and then Impe overcorrected pulling them back right.

“Curse you to the seas, Kozav.” Impe’s voice reflected his anger, but she heard something else in there too—crazed fear. “I will show
you
.”

Yeah, she didn’t want Impe showing anyone anything. “What’s going on? What are you doing?” The first words were hardly a whisper and it hurt to form each one. She ghosted her fingers over her lips and winced when she found the large split. He must have hit her again while she was passed out. She cleared her throat and tried again. “What are you doing, asshole!”

She could be obnoxious. It wasn’t like he could hit her while he tried to navigate and avoid whatever kept sending their shuttle swaying through the air.

“
You
.”

“Me. What are you doing? Where are you taking me? What—”

“
Do you ever fall silent?
”

“Sure. Usually when I’m not held captive by a poor excuse for a Preor warrior.” Yes, she poked the dragon.

“I will kill you in front of him. I will show him what happens when a Preor deserts his race. I will show him what happens when a Preor takes a human to mate. I will show them all.”

Cue the maniacal bad guy laughter
.

No, Impe didn’t laugh, maniacal or otherwise. He did curse more though. Another tremor shook the shuttle, sending them into a spin that had her stomach protesting and the contents threatening to make an appearance. She clutched at the straps holding her in place, gripping them tightly in an effort to ground herself. She didn’t have time to get sick. She had to focus and figure out a way to get out of this mess and… back to Kozav.

A resounding thud echoed around the shuttle, vibrating everything, and Impe shouted, joined by the sound of a fist striking a console. “No, no, no!”

“Having a little trouble up there? Men have problems asking for directions? Want help?” She couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d tried.

“You will quiet your mouth or I will rip your tongue out and feed it to you.” His yell was nearly as violent as the next tumble of the shuttle.

He’d have to get to her first and she didn’t see Impe getting a chance to leave his post and attack her. “Promises, promises.”

The angrier he got, the more likely he’d be to make a mistake. At least that’s what old vids said.

They pulled out of yet another tumble but still listed to the left, pulling hard on one side. “We lost an engine.”

Fear that’d been threatening to overwhelm her didn’t give her a choice now. She was gonna be scared and that’s all there was to it. Funny thing—Impe seemed afraid, too. His voice rose in pitch, sounding like a frightened woman instead of an in control warrior.

Grace’s body seemed to take fear cues from her kidnapper because that’s when cold sweat broke out to coat her skin and her teeth chattered as terror overtook her. Tears welled in her eyes and slithered down her cheeks while a knot formed in her throat. She would die like this—strapped to a chair by a madman and plummeting to the…

She peeked past the pilot and navigator chairs, trying to determine their location on the planet. Maybe they’d go down near an Ujal station and the sea-living aliens could save them before the sharks really did turn them into dinner. Maybe…

That’s when she saw it—salvation or the continuance of her torture, depending on the way she looked at things.

“The training platform.” Impe acted as if he hadn’t heard her and she battled to raise her voice. “
The training platform
.”

He had to see it, right? It was massive, easily two football fields long and wide, a space where the Preors could shift, train, and run drills as dragons. There wasn’t space on the ship to really get in a good workout so the Preors installed several training platforms above the middle of the Gulf of Mexico for just that purpose. There were no humans around to scare them and the warriors enjoyed the challenge of the salty air and sure death if they failed.

Impe roared but the shuttle soon turned toward the hovering metal platform, which meant he’d heard her.

Their approach was jagged and jerky, the ship bouncing up and down while sliding from left to right. She didn’t tear her gaze from the front of the ship, staring at the projections of the world outside their small pod. The platform grew larger and larger until it nearly filled the view screen and that was when they finally landed. Sort of. The ship pounded down on the flat platform, sliding across the expanse while spinning like a top. Metal grated against metal and she held onto the restraints as hard as she could while they skidded over the training station.

The rolling went on and on, each second feeling like a year passed until their speed gradually slowed, easing until they came to a jarring, rocking stop.

Then it was just Grace and Impe—and he was no longer distracted.

Grace wasn’t one to sit around and wait to be rescued. She pushed and prodded her restraints, searching for a way to crawl free of the webbing that held her captive. Clip after clip slowly released, giving her more space to breathe while she tried to get away. Groans came from the front of the shuttle, the sounds spurring her to go even faster than before.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” she mumbled and then released a shout when the last buckle popped open. “Yes!”

Impe snorted and growled. “Female!”

She should learn to keep her mouth shut. She tossed off the straps and pushed to her feet, stumbling forward when wooziness overtook her. She listed right and then left, catching herself on a nearby seat for a moment. She straightened and pushed one foot in front of the other. She’d get away. There had to be others on the training platform. It wasn’t like they Preor would leave it unattended, right?

Grace poked, prodded, and pounded the identipad beside the shuttle door, silently begging it to let her free already.

But it didn’t do anything. I remained passively red, denying her the chance to escape. “Open.” She pressed. “Open.” She slapped. “Open, open, open.” She punched the identipad with each word. More tears, more pain, more flat-out desperation. “
Ship, open the fucking door!
”

“Confirmed.” When the mechanical voice filled the area, Grace didn’t question its response or next actions. She simply took advantage of them. The doors parted and she hobbled away, fighting to go as fast as she could before Impe realized—

The roar seemed to vibrate the platform and she stumbled forward, catching herself on her hands and knees. She grunted and shook her head, trying to banish the dizziness that came with the new position. She didn’t have time to sit down and rest. She had to keep moving. Had to keep running. Had to keep—

A fist snatched her hair, fingers digging into the strands and yanking her backward until her back slammed against a hard front. Her head was jerked aside, exposing her neck, and a rough cheek scraped her throat.

“Did you think I would let you escape? Let you make a fool of me again?”

“If you don’t let me go, they’ll…”

“They, who, breeder?” he purred. “There’s no one but me and you.”

“But I thought…” Her lungs froze and she snapped away from him, wincing when he held her fast. “The training platforms are staffed.”

Impe snorted. “A
her-eh-cane
forced evacuation. They do not even know you are missing. The shuttle had mechanical malfunctions and was not monitored by the battleship.” He lowered his head and a wet, warm tongue traced her skin from shoulder to jaw. “No one will save you, breeder. No one even knows where to look.” Sharp fangs cut into her skin and she hissed with the pain.

He released her hair and shoved, sending her sprawling to the scraped and damaged metal ground. His shoulders grew in width, scales slinking over his skin and eyes fully that of his dragon. He spread his wings, stretching them outward, and gave her a smile that chilled her to her bones. “And no one can stop me while I teach you how to behave.”

Grace froze, heart stuttering to a stop and lungs refusing to work. This was it. This was where she’d die. At this crazed monster’s claws and with no one around to stop him.

Not even Kozav.