Page 21 of Victoria's Embrace

Meeting her gaze, he murmured, “Rukeel is the one who tortured him in his lab.”

She understood now.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she walked around Rukeel’s body then stopped in front of Snitch, intentionally blocking his view. When she did, he blinked and jerked his head up, looking at her wide-eyed, as though realizing she was there for the first time.

He made a sound in the back of his throat. It was a questioning, panicked sound of fear and confusion. It broke her heart to hear her brave little friend make such a noise. Tears welled in her eyes, and she could scarcely breathe around the tightness in her throat.

“It’s okay, buddy. He’s dead. You’re safe now,” she whispered thickly. “C’mere, I’ve got you.”

She held her arms open for him. With another whine he pushed up to stand on his hind legs and surged to her, pulling her against his chest then enfolding her in his wings.

Trusting her guys to watch over them, she stroked gentle circles on Snitch’s back, whispering softly that he was okay, that he was safe, over and over again until the awful tension in his body began to wane. Finally, he gave a long, quavering whuff against the top of her head, warming her scalp, and straightened from where he’d been hunched over her.

Tipping her head back, she searched his scaly face. “You okay?”

He made a low trill, his voice deeper in his big form, and gently thunked his forehead against hers before setting her on her feet. Taking that as a ‘yes,’ she smiled, relieved, then glanced around.

The bodies were gone. Catching sight of Vi’kail and Sindri kicking sand over a blood trail leading to the nearest building, she realized they’d stashed the bodies there. Not a perfect solution, but a hell of a lot better than leaving them out in the open for anyone to stumble upon.

They’d obviously already stripped them of weapons, because everyone was holding a gun.

“We need to go,” Thegan murmured lowly.

It was a needed reminder that their night had only just begun.

They still needed to infiltrate the slave market, find an extractor to remove the tags from their arms, and find Rykar’s friend, all while avoiding capture. After all that, they’d need to steal a cargo runner—or three, to fit the lupka—and make it back to the complex then sneak in there and…

Victoria tried to roll the tension out of her shoulders.

It was going to be a long, long night, and she was about to add more to their already full plate.

She waited until they were all gathered around the rear entrance then drew in a breath, bracing herself for the argument she expected was coming.

“We’re taking over the market.”

Chapter 14

Thegan, along with everyone else, jerked around to look at Victoria. She met his gaze, then Thorn’s and Vi’kail’s. Even in the dark, he could see her squaring her shoulders.

“We can’t just go in there and only help the people we conveniently come across. We need to help everyone. And, tactically, it makes sense. We’ll have another uh, asset. Or safe zone? We could pretend it’s still an operational slave market while Aria is in the process of taking over the world and ask for volunteers to run it, but when sellers or buyers come in, they could capture them and put them in stasis tubes and free the slaves and, uh… ”

She trailed off and shifted her weight when none of them said anything.

For a moment, Thegan could not speak and was left blinking down at her in stunned silence. It was not her insistence they take over the market. That did not surprise him. Hells, he had already decided that needed to happen himself.

It was her idea to put freed slaves in charge of it, to turn it into a trap, that staggered him.

Finally, he gave up trying to find words and just scooped her up, taking her mouth in a kiss. When he pulled away, he gazed at her in the dark, a proud smile stretching his lips.

“Did I not say you are a warrior? That is brilliant, my Vee.”

She blinked then blew out a breath and returned his smile. He followed her gaze when she looked to Thorn and Vi’kail. Thorn, unsurprisingly, appeared grim, but he knew his friend well enough to see the pride and approval alongside his worry for Vee. He answered her questioning look with a simple nod.

Vi’kail, however, was giving her narrowed eyes.

Setting her on her feet so she could face off against the green male properly, Thegan stood at her back, resting his hands on her slim shoulders in a show of support.

“Crik me. Should’ve known your fire hair meant you’d be trouble,” Vi’kail growled, but his lips were quirked up in something like a smile.

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