Page 4 of Akur

The qrakking Tasqals and their allies.The Council’s wrath on them all.

They couldn’t go back. Accepting defeat felt like betrayal. His pride refused to let him. But they’d searched every outpost and space station in every direction and foundnothing. No ion trails. No whispers of that ship or the human captives trapped on it. It was as if the ship with the females had simply…vanished.

His gaze slid to E’lot sitting over at the secondary controls. They stared at each other, golden eyes meeting brown, a silent battle of wills. When Akur didn’t respond, E’lot released a breath of hot air through his nose.

The humans were out there, lost among the stars. And it was up to him and E’lot to find them. There was no one else.

There was no one left.

“We’ll find them,” he grated. And they would. They’d find them before the Tasqals could use them for whatever purpose they intended. Because he wasn’t going to sacrifice everything only to end up losing in the end.

The Tasqals had finally revealed their weakness—their obsession with both the “orb” weapon and these humans from a distant world. The Restitution had possessed both. Now, retrieving those humans was the only way to deny their enemy what they needed most.

But…that wasn’t the only reason for his stubbornness, was it…

Shewas out there. Kon-stahns. The one that had looked at him like he’d failed. The shame ate at him like acid. He was Akur the Undefeated. And she was just another human. Someone else he had to rescue.

Yet…

Akur frowned, staring out the viewscreen.

Yet he remembered her face. Those bright eyes. Couldn’t get past that final look she gave him.

And that’s probably why he wanted to get her back so badly.

Flexing his bloodied hand, he fought to still the tremor that went through it. Just thinking about the state of everything he left behind made the nefre running along his nape writhe and pulse with agitation.

They had to find that ship.

“There’s still nothing on the scans,” E’lot’s grim voice broke through his thoughts once again, causing his gaze to refocus on the viewscreen. Out there, the endless void stared back at him. Cold, empty, and lifeless, just like the organ that should be beating at the center of his chest.

“Keep looking,” he growled. “They couldn’t have just disappeared.”

But…they might have. That new tech the Tasqals had—the one that allowed them to warp right into the Restitution’s base, past all their defenses—that technology meant anything was possible.

Staring blindly at the console before him, his claws spasmed again, desperate for an enemy to tear into. There had to besomethinghe could still do. Somewhere he could channel this simmering rage and guilt into action.

“They must have gone into hyperspace.” E’lot glanced his way.

Akur kept his gaze on the viewscreen because E’lot’s suggestion was a possibility he refused to consider. If that ship had managed to jump, any chance of ever finding the qrakking scum was gone.

“V’Alen damaged the engines,” he said instead.

“And if that didn’t slow them down?”

But E’lot’s logic only stoked his anger.

Releasing a breath, Akur closed his eyes for a moment, but those anger management classes the Council had forced him to take were obviously useless.

Without a word, he slammed a fist into the control panel before him, momentarily causing the buttons to blink in staggered confusion as his command went unrecognized. Pain shot up the wound in his palm, and he welcomed the sting.

E’lot glanced his way before a breath heaved in his chest once more. Running a hand over his curved horns, the ring in his nose jangled once more as he exhaled and stood.

“If we can’t find them…” There was an edge to E’lot’s tone as he stood there, facing the rear of the ship. It was a note he hadn’t ever heard in the warrior’s voice before. One etched with doubt. Defeat. Was he giving up, too?

A growl rumbled in Akur’s chest. “Wewillfind them.”

Them.Her. He had to believe that or spiral into the same despair he was sensing in E’lot’s tone. The Restitution was gone, but they were still alive.That had to mean something. The urge to see every last Tasqal die at the tips of his claws was all that was keeping him focused on this desperate journey.

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