Page 16 of Victoria's Embrace

Pushing up, she straddled his body and leaned over to cup his cheeks. “I didn’t know you then, but I know you now. You aren’t capable of cruelty, Vi’kail.” His expression spasmed, and he tried to shake his head, but she stopped him, holding his cheeks tighter. “I’m not saying you aren’t capable of killing or doing what needs to be done, even if it’s terrible. But you aren’t cruel or heartless or sadistic. You’re a good man. Regardless of what those fucking monsters made you do, regardless of what you had to do to survive as a child, youarea good person, Vikail. And I love you.”

The breath exploded out of him. He searched her face, his eyes wide, doubt and hope warring. When he saw that she meant it, something like wonder made his face go slack. He huffed a breathless, stunned laugh then kissed her, his mouth achingly tender on hers.

He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, both of them breathing raggedly. “Crik, woman, you could do so much better than me. You don’ know what it means that you believe in me, baby. I didn’t know if… if you’d be able to–But I’m not so good a male as to argue if you'll have me. My heart is yours, little flower.”

He cleared his throat sharply and clutched her against him, his arms tight, his heart thundering against her ear. He let his head thud back to the floor and continued his story, the brittle tension gone from his big body, and his words coming a little easier.

“I turned to bounty huntin’ after leaving the service, but that was too much like soldierin’. Wandered about for a while after that. Tried to make amends to the people I’d hurt. That, ah… didn’t go well. Eventually, I found where Snitch originated and went there. Intended to return him to his kind. He’d been with me since I found him, but life on a ship wasn’t good for him.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. She could hear in his voice how much that would’ve cost him. Snitch had been his only friend, possibly ever. But he’d been ready to set him free. She listened intently as he recounted how, after weeks of searching, they’d finally found a flock. Snitch had flown to them, all of them chittering back and forth excitedly. It’d been years since Snitch had been trapped and taken, but the other fírlarks hadn’t forgotten him.

“I started to walk away, but he trilled at me, waved me over, flashin’ pink.” He glanced down at her, explaining, “Pink means approach. Little beast wanted me to stay with him, live in the barren deserts with the flock.” He chuckled thickly, shaking his head. “I told him I couldn’t. He just stared at me for a minute then said his goodbyes to the flock and flew to my shoulder. Wouldn’t listen when I tried to convince him to stay with his kind, just gave me this look like he was sayin’ I wouldn’t last a day without him, smug little menace. Been with me ever since.” He paused to meet her eyes; his expression wry. “Till he saw you on the slave ship. Not that I blame him. I was hooked as soon as I saw you, too. Crik, I’m still surprised I got him to focus on takin’ down the ship.”

“Wait, what?” Victoria pushed up to stare at him wide-eyed.

“What?”

“Snitch is the reason we crashed?”

“Uh, yeah.” He grimaced apologetically. “I didn’t think he’d cause us to crash, but I told him to sabotage the ship, so we’d be forced to land.”

An image of the chaos in the aftermath of the crash flooded her mind, the screams, the countless people that were hurt, the ones that died. Knowing her little buddy was the cause shocked the hell out of her. She knew Snitch hadn’t intended for people to die, but they had. Then again, he’d also saved the ones that lived from a terrible fate, herself and her guys included.

Had there been any other way to free them, one that didn’t include the loss of life? Maybe. Maybe not. She’d probably never know. What was done was done.

As much as she hurt for the ones that hadn’t made it, she couldn’t be upset with her little squirrel-dragon. He’d saved her life. He’d saved Vi’kail, Thorn, Thegan, and hundreds of others. Without him doing what he’d done, none of them would be alive and free.

Chapter 11

Back in the main room of the boutique, Victoria dressed in the tight leather pants, bustier top, knee-high boots, and cloak Vi’kail scrounged up for her from the clothes left behind. None of them fit perfectly, but with some adjustments, she thought she could pass well enough.

She and Vi’kail were going to pose as sellers on their way to the market. Thegan and Thorn would play the part of her bodyguards. Rykar would act as Vi’kail’s bodyguard. And the people they’d freed would play the part of slaves being taken to the market for sale.

They’d sneak around as much as possible, but Rykar warned them they wouldn’t be able to do that the whole way, even in the middle of the night. The city nearest the market never slept, so they’d have to walk out in the open, which meant bluffing, something at which she wasn’t… great. Beads of sweat were already popping out along her spine just thinking about it.

She did feel better that everyone was armed, even if it was mostly with varying lengths of metal Thorn had spent hours sharpening and fashioning into blades. They still had the three guns, one for her, one for Vi’kail, and the last with Thegan, who was the better shot between him and Thorn, leaving Thorn holding the rope tethering the slaves together.

What she didn’t feel at all good about was the collars he made for everyone but her and Vi’kail to wear. Seeing the people they’d freed wearing the thick metal around their necks was bad enough, but seeing them on her giants brought home just how close they’d been to becoming slaves themselves.

If Snitch hadn’t done whatever he did to cause the ship to crash…

She wished, ardently, there would’ve been a way to save everyone, but as guilty as it made her feel, she was glad he’d managed to save most, even if that also meant some died.

Once she was dressed, she took a moment to check on the freed slaves that were going with them. She talked with each individually, ensuring they’d gotten enough rest and water, and making a last-ditch effort to talk them out of going. They wouldn’t be swayed.

Letting it go with an effort, she nodded and instead made sure they all had blades, were ready to go, and reminded them of the plan should things go south.

If things went sideways, they were to head back to the boutique, wait as long as possible, then, if she and her guys didn’t show up, make their way to the arena Aria was taking over with a message from her, so Aria would know they weren’t enemies.

As much as she wanted to trust them, she still wasn’t willing to send them to the complex, not directly anyway. Sending them to that second arena was still getting them out of danger, but without potentially endangering everyone at home. It was the best plan she and the guys could come up with.

Making her way to Thegan when he caught her eye, she sighed. “I couldn’t talk them out of going.”

“Did you think you would be able to?”

“I’d hoped.”

He grunted and busied himself adjusting his clothes.

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