Page 14 of Into The Rift

“I told Dominiko that Tariq would follow them inside and that he’d never give up.”

“That’s true enough. Though he’d have to if he lost us inside the wormhole.” Rakkur began to wring his hands, and I put a hand over his to stop him.

“Sit down over here and try not to think about it. You’re going to make yourself sick.”

I helped him to sit on the floor and sat beside him, holding his hand. “Don’t worry. Tariq will do something.”

“I think that’s what I’m afraid of. You know how volatile his temper can be.” He rubbed at his back, wincing hard. “My back is really hurting.”

I helped him to sit and since he was shivering a little, I put an arm around him to keep him warm. The room was a good temperature for me, but I knew Rakkur suffered from the cooler temperatures most of us liked.

“Are you all right? Do you want me to rub your back?”

“No, it’s easing off some now.”

“Try to rest then. Do you want to lie down?”

“No, I’ll just lean back against the wall. Maybe I could close my eyes for a little while.”

I encouraged him to do that and in only a few minutes, I heard his deeper breathing and knew he was dozing. I sent up a quick plea to whoever might be listening not to let him start labor until he got somewhere safe. And this ship definitely wasn’t it.

I must have dozed off myself, because I was startled a while later when I heard the door open, and the asshole major was standing in the doorway—the major I’d stabbed—giving me a mean look and beckoning for me to come with him.

I was scared of him, because who knew what he’d do once he got me alone, and they’d taken all my knives. But I didn’t have much choice. Slowly, I got to my feet and went over to the door. Rakkur woke up a little, but I told him it was okay, and I’d see him soon.

The guard growled at me. “What is ‘oh kay?’ Was that some kind of signal between you?”

“No, it’s just a word that means everything is good.”

“Then why not say that?”

I rolled my eyes a little and didn’t answer.

“Lord Dominiko wants to see you,” he said after a second or two, and took my arm in a rough grip to pull me out the door. He yanked me down the corridor to a lift at the end and shoved me inside. It was only a short ride up to the deck on whatever level he’d punched in, but it was a really uncomfortable one for me. Hate radiated off him like actual waves of heat. The doors blessedly opened, and he took me down to another door at the end of the passageway.

Lord Dominiko called out for us to come in when he knocked, and he shoved me inside ahead of him.

“Do you want me to stay, Excellency?”

“Whatever for?”

“He’s dangerous, sir,” he said, touching the bandage on his wound.

“I think I’ll risk it,” Dominiko said, and the major bowed, giving me one, last, parting dirty look. He left us alone, and I was glad to see him go. Dominiko turned his back on me and went over to sit back down at his desk. He looked up and motioned me to a chair in front of it.

“I spoke with the Imperial colonel,” he said, leaning back to regard me.

“You did? Is he coming for us?”

“I said I spoke to him—nothing more.”

“Oh. Well? What did he say?”

“Hmm…let me paraphrase. ‘Blah, blah, blah. Touch the princes and die. We’ll destroy your ship and everyone on board. Torture, torture, mayhem, blood…blah, blah, blah.’”

I shook my head at him, trying to hide my smile. None of this was really funny, but that did sound like a Tygerian when his blood was high.

“That was the gist of it. Then he did more growling,” he continued, “made more threats, and I closed the channel,” Dominiko said.

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