Star Kissed (35 page)

Something huge smashed into her, driving her through a panel. Mandy groaned and pushed herself up. If she was hurt, the adrenaline buffered her from feeling it. She’d landed in some sort of open bay with no other entrances she could see.

A towering guard in gold climbed to his feet near the door.

“Shit,” she muttered, sensing he wasn’t there to defend her from the invading men.

Mandy looked around for anything she could use to defend herself. The bay was empty.

Something soared over her head and clanged against the floor behind her. She whirled, terrified it was some sort of weapon she should run from.

It looked like a pipe. Mandy stared at it for a second then turned to face the guard. He faced the doorway. A dozen of the smaller men crowded into the room, their weapons trained on the guard.

Unable to figure out what was going on, Mandy’s gaze settled on Hichele. The woman and her father were ushered into the room, along with two more guards in shackles.

“Your weapon,” one of the smaller men said, addressing her. He pointed past her and grinned.

Mandy followed his finger and saw the pipe. Not understanding, she turned once more to face him. Another half a dozen smaller men had entered.

“I don’t get it,” she voiced, beyond confused. Her mind raced too quickly for her to process what was happening, and her body quaked from the drug the healer gave her.

“They want you to fight,” Hichele said. “Him.” She nodded her head towards the guard.

Mandy looked anew at the guard in gold. She swallowed hard then retreated to grab the pipe-like weapon. She looked it over, guessing it was something far more advanced than a pipe but uncertain what.

“Kini only respond to violence,” Hichele’s father said. “Their insistence on physical confrontation is irrational, a battle no respectable Naki will fight.”

I’m not a Naki,
she said silently. Out loud, she asked, “Do I get a free hit in?”

The guard beckoned her forward in an affirmative answer. Mandy gripped and released the pipe weapon, hands clammy, doubting her one hit was going to help her cause in the slightest. At least she couldn’t feel anything with the drug in her system. Maybe this beat down would be painless, and then she’d be dead.

Was this really how her life ended? Without knowing if Akkadi was alive? She was too juiced up to cry.

“Only seen one Naki fight,” one of the smaller men said.

Laughter rippled around the latest alien invaders to capture her. Their eyes were on her.

“Never seen a Naki woman fight,” another added.

“I’m definitely not a Naki,” she snapped.

“You look like a Naki.”

“Now those are fighting words.” Mandy glared at the man who spoke. “That is the single most offensive thing anyone has ever said to me!”

“A challenge!” someone cried gleefully.

The man who called her a Naki appeared thoughtful then nodded. He stepped out of the group and tugged off some of his weapons.

“I accept,” he said. He pointed to the guard. “Step back!”

Mandy suspected this was the worst in her series of bad decisions. At least the robed guard could kill her with one blow. She was about to be beaten to death slowly by the smaller man who accepted a challenge she didn’t know she was making.

“For the record, I’m a purebred human, not a Naki,” she told him. “Does that mean anything to you?”

“No.”

She sighed and raised the pipe. “Let’s get this over with.”

Someday, she’d wake up from this nightmare, but it didn’t look like today was that day.

If I don’t die here, I want to be with Akkadi.

It was the most irrational of her latest thoughts. There was no way she was getting out of here alive.

Chapter Twenty One

Five minutes passed before the Kini responded.

“Akkadi, my friend!” a voice boomed.

He exchanged a look with the navigator at the overly familiar address. A form appeared on the hologram device, that of one of the grizzled, small men with a full beard and a grin. The barbaric Kini had responded, and Akkadi assessed how to handle the situation.

“Greetings, Mackle,” Akkadi replied. “It is not appropriate to attack a ship in our solar system.”

“They put up no fight,” Mackle replied with a shrug. “You Naki are no sport.”

“We prefer a different form of diplomacy,” Akkadi reminded him.

“It is not diplomacy to back down when challenged. It is cowardice. You, Akkadi, did not back down then and you do not now. I am proud to know the one Naki who isn’t a coward.”

“Much appreciated, Mackle, but I must insist you cease attacking that ship.”

“You want the craft we possess?” A shrewd gleam appeared in Mackle’s eyes.

“Not the ship,” Akkadi said calmly. “I want what’s on board.”

“Energy? Shards?”

“A person.”

Mackle considered. “Come over. We’ll talk.”

“Very well.” Akkadi agreed. He closed the channel before Mackle could say anything else, aware he needed to pretend to keep the upper hand.

“You’re going, my prince?” The navigator appeared taken aback.

“Dock with them.”

Akkadi stood and armed himself. He had never been on a diplomatic mission that required proving his resolve with such a primitive form of combat, but he suspected he’d have to again.

If that’s what it took to free Mandy, he’d fight every Kini in the galaxy. He waited impatiently for the ships to dock and the sounds of the seals hissing to reach him.

“Tell my sister not to attack,” he said, starting towards the bridge between ships. “If the Kini fire on you, fire back.”

“Yes, my prince,” his navigator said in hushed tone.

Akkadi waited for the doors to open and crossed the bridge into the Kini ship. Mackle and a few others awaited him.

“We came to see you,” Mackle told him.

Akkadi bowed his head. “May I ask why?”

“About our agreement. The energy cells.”

“Our agreement.” Akkadi considered, not expecting this was why the Kini came to the solar system. “You turned me down.”

“I said we’d think about it.” Mackle waved for him to follow him into the ship.

Akkadi had to duck once they were out of the cargo bay. The ship’s ceiling was no more than six feet tall.

“Tell me, what do you wish from the ship we captured?” Mackle was upbeat.

Akkadi glanced around. The ship’s interior was as rough as the people manning it. He wasn’t certain how it stayed together; the floors and walls uneven in a sign of subpar metal work and the air chilled, the way it was in cargo ships not intended for carrying people. The gravity controls weren’t set correctly, and he pushed himself off the ceiling more than once to keep his feet on the ground.

He saw why the Kini were asking for Naki help with ship making.

“There’s a person aboard who was taken from me. I want her back,” he replied.

“What are you willing to trade?”

“You can keep the ship.”

Mackle gave a sound Akkadi took to be approval. “Just one? There are more than that aboard.”

Akkadi hesitated. The Naki side of him said he had to bargain for all of them. The human side of him wanted Hichele and her family thrown into space after learning she’d tried not only to kill him but had kidnapped Mandy.

“I will let them bargain their own way free,” he decided. It was probably not what his father would choose. For once, he wasn’t concerned about his duty. He just wanted Mandy back safely.

“Very well.”

Akkadi waited for the barbaric conditions. Nothing came. Mackle was humming as he led him through the ship.

“You won’t require a second battle?” Akkadi asked at last.

“You passed our test. We accept you,” Mackle replied.

About time.
Akkadi had never dealt with such aggravating people as the Kini or purebred humans. That he managed to win over the Kini by abandoning his Naki ways made him think he had to do the same to win over Mandy. He’d already started by proclaiming his intentions with his father.

Was it so wrong to be human?

They entered a round room with a document on a table in the center. Those accompanying Mackle were talking excitedly, though only their leader approached the table.

“You can sign our agreement,” Mackle proclaimed. “Then we will celebrate.”

“I prefer to know the woman I seek is safe,” Akkadi replied then did a double take. “Our energy agreement?”

“Sign then pick out your woman.”

Akkadi moved to the table. The agreement was written in the Kini language and not one he understood.

“I cannot read this,” he said.

“It says what we discussed. You get energy, we get ships,” Mackle replied.

The agreement was much longer than the summary. Akkadi knew the protocol for Naki agreements. They had to be written in Naki or a language he understood, signed in front of one of his family’s advisors and ratified by his father’s council.

“We are allies,” Mackle presented him with a pad the size of his thumb. He whipped out another one and touched his thumb to it.

Akkadi watched him touch his thumb to the document, leaving an imprint on the agreement.

Mackle looked expectantly at Akkadi. His instincts told him the Kini was the kind of ally whose loyalty never broke. Naki logic, however, dictated he do this differently.

Nothing mattered right now except finding Mandy. Akkadi pressed his thumb to the pad then to the document, sealing an agreement he couldn’t read. Like with Mandy, this, too, felt right.

He stepped back, aware of the sounds of the others laughing and cheering behind him. The document kept his attention, and he realized he’d found another way to help his family with the energy crisis, one that let him keep Mandy. The instincts that made him accept the Kini challenge on the planet had been beyond his ability to understand at the time, but right now, he understood how powerful the human side of him could be, if he let it.

Akkadi smiled.

“Come! Pick a woman!” Mackle said, waving him into the hallway. “Then we’ll celebrate.”

Akkadi went, accepting the back pats and shouts of congratulations with what patience he had remaining. He made it into the corridor and joined Mackle, who began walking.  

“How many are on board?” he asked.

“Fifteen or so,” Mackle replied, upbeat. “Four women.” Mackle took his arm. “Akkadi, you are too strong for a Naki woman. Why do you not take one of my daughters instead?”

“Your offer is kind. I’m not after a Naki woman, though,” he admitted. “There’s a human on board.”

“Ah, the human.”

Akkadi glanced at the smaller man.

“Good choice,” Mackle said with a nod. “She put up a fight.”

“She’s well, isn’t she?” Akkadi asked tersely, tensing.

“She’s alive.”

Akkadi bit back the urge to throttle the Kini. Oblivious, Mackle led them through a bridge into the Naki ship belonging to Hichele’s family. It reeked of smoke and grader damage, and he braced himself to see carnage. He straightened to his full height, not surprised to see the ship was swarming with Kini.

“I want the ship,” Mackle said.

“Consider it a gift,” Akkadi said, taking in the damage expertly. “It won’t get you home like this. I’ll send someone to repair it.”

“They said she’s in here,” Mackle said, motioning to an open doorway.

The bay was packed with more Kini. Akkadi wasn’t certain how so many were jammed into their ship. His gaze fell to Mandy, and he started forward.

She wore Urik’s black uniform and sat between two Kini, one of who was trying to get her to eat something while the other laughed. Her nose was bloodied, her uniform ripped in a couple of places. She appeared dazed but otherwise healthy, her hair mussed and her features flushed.

She froze when her eyes fell to him. Hope crossed her features before they shuttered suddenly. Mandy handed back the food to one Kini and rose, crossing to Akkadi. She met him in the middle of the bay.

His body responded in a way that made him want to take her into his arms, Naki discipline be damned. He didn’t, aware there was much he had to explain. Mandy cleared her throat, a pink blush spreading across her features beneath his direct gaze.

“Today was rough,” she said. “But I think I made some new friends.” She motioned to the Kini. “If you beat the shit out of one of them, they become your best friends.” Mandy touched her nose and winced.

Akkadi almost smiled.

“It doesn’t quite work that way for us, does it?” she continued, ducking her gaze. “If you came to save me, I’m okay. They said I can go home with them, so you don’t have to worry about sending me to some far corner of the galaxy.”

Akkadi drew a deep breath to steady himself then twisted a sash. He caught the energy cells that fell from it. He took Mandy’s hand, and placed them in her palm. Next, he removed his teal medallion, the one that acted as a catalyst for releasing the energy contained in the cells. He placed that, too, in her hand.

“What is all this?” she asked, puzzled.

“It’s what you need to open a star gate.”

Her eyes flew up to his in shock. Akkadi studied her perfect features, caught by her beauty. She smelled of sweat and her own musk, a combination that made his body hum with desire.

“I want you to choose,” he said quietly. “With enough energy, I might be able to get you home. Or, you can stay with me.”

“With you,” she repeated.

“I broke off the agreement with Hichele.”

“No shit,” she said. “She only tried to kill you and everyone you know.”

“I broke it off before. I told my father the truth.”

“Which is …” Mandy searched his features, as if trying to decide she could trust him.

“I love you, Mandy. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.” It was the first time he had spoken the words allowed. They felt good – a different kind of release.

Mandy’s eyes misted over. She cleared her throat and looked at the energy cells in her hand.

“What about your energy marbles?” she asked in a hushed voice. “What about saving all those people? This is like twenty billion lives.”

“There is another way,” he replied firmly, not wanting to tell her about the Kini agreement. The barbaric people tested those they intended to ally with. Standing before Mandy, Akkadi understood why.