Page 104 of Stars in Nova

As he spoke, a ruffian crumpled at the shrouded man’s feet, groaning.

As if alerted to their presence, Sax glanced at Kisan and gave his mate a head jerk in acknowledgment.

With a grunt, he grabbed another whining gangster by the collar and threw him into a nearby cargo crate.

Two priests stood a short distance away, their robes dusty and rumpled. Their eyes were fixed on their unlikely savior.

The cloaked man hauled the secondkinaito his toes, growling into his face. ‘Think you can rob holy men?’ he growled, his face cold, dangerous. ‘Not on mysacri-fokkin-legiouswatch.’

With a push of his sinewed, muscled arms, he shoved the sniveling goon toward a pair of approaching constables clad in dark uniforms with polished badges.

‘Here’s your trash. Do something useful with them.’

The law enforcement officers nodded and hauled the thugs away, nonplussed by the shrouded man’s intervention.

Sax dusted off his hands, his gaze sweeping the crowd before landing on Kisan and Samira.

‘You’re late,’ the Rider said, his tone even.

Sax’s eyes narrowed. ‘This her?’

‘Brother,’ Kisan began, stepping forward, ‘behave.’

Sax crossed his burly, sinewed hands over his inked skin, which showed under his flowing tunic and cassock. His presence was as unyielding as the mountains looming in the distance.

Samira studied him. Damn, he was arresting. Brutish and rugged, too, an untamed and unholy soul.

She estimated he had legions of women chasing after him, and she also imagined he flicked them off, focused on his causes. Making him even more irresistible.

Thankfokkfor Kisan and her solid attraction to him.

The holy man’s forbidden aura might have led her astray without it.

‘Why am I risking my blessed existence for your girlfriend?’ Sax drawled, his eyes glittering, raking her as if he’d read her thoughts.

She glowered at him in a warning.

Kisan’s glowing emerald eyes, also assessing the unspoken exchange with a smirk, flicked to his mate. ‘Because the enemy she fights is made up of soldiers kitted with crat tech.’

Sax’s eyes squinted with menacing intent. ‘Fokk, why didn’t you lead with that?’

‘Couldn’t risk our chatter getting picked up. So I’m saying it in person.’

Sax’s expression remained skeptical. ‘Regardless, is this freakin’ mission essential?’

Kisan cursed under his breath. ‘We’re up against our darkest enemy, brother, sonaam, it’s freakin’ essential.’

Sax snorted. ‘I’m not convinced.’

Kisan moved with a speed that belied his size, gripping Sax’s arm.

Samira’s brows shot up as her man’s glowering menace spilled from his flashing eyes.

She was reminded of how tall, muscled, and savage he was as he faced off with his mate, an equally terrifying brute in his own right.

‘I’mma transmit a data packet to your neural node,’ Kisan growled.

Sax stiffened, his scowl sharp enough to cut steel.

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