Page 9 of His Clever Captive

Ryz blows out a breath. “Twenty-five krellium. The ship. No routes.”

“Thirty-five. The ship. Limited routes. And—” Vex leans closer to the screen, “—you publicly acknowledge me at your next summit.”

“You know I can’t do that, Vex,” Ryx spits.

“You have some nerve, pirate!” Iris shouts. “I take back what I said about your hotness.”

Vex blinks. “Fine, no deal. Sorry Lacey, you’re stuck with me.”

Oh no…

Ryz looks ready to combust, but Gwen lays a hand on his chest. “Do it.”

“But Gwen, he’s nothing but an arrogant, greedy, thief! He only cares about himself and what he can steal from them. Why must we negotiate with such an inconsiderate heathen!?”

Ouch. I look over at Vex, who’s acting very bored with this all. Still, there’s something in his silence that tells me hearing these words from his brother is affecting him more than he lets on.

“Ryz, please. For Lacey.” Gwen whispers.

Ryz’s nostrils flare and he throws daggers with that glare at Vex. “…Agreed.”

Vex squeezes my arm—triumphant. “Pleasure doing business with you,brother.” He says the word with such contempt it makes me sad. “Any hint of ambush or deceit and we’re gone.”

“There’s no need to question my honor,” he says, jaw clenched. “I need to go.”

Ryz vanishes off the side of the screen, muttering curses. Gwen exhales. “Vex, we’ll send you coordinates of a neutral drop off point outside of the kingdom. Lace, just…hang in there, okay? We’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“I love you, too,” I reply.

Iris grins. “And don’t let Captain Goldilocks sweet-talk you. We’ll find you a nice Ydrin mate once you’re here. Love you!”

“Love you, t?—.”

Static crackles and the screen dies.

“Oops, we lost them,” Vex says, fingers hovering over the control panel.

“We’ve received the coordinates,” Berrix announces.

“We should be there in two day cycles.” Nor’Veth adds.

Vex turns to look out over the stars. It really is incredible knowing I’m traveling in a ship, through space.

“Will you be safe, Vex?” I ask. “Ryz won’t come after?—?”

“Worried for me, my dear?” His tone is light, but there’s a rawness underneath.

I don’t answer.

Instead, I stand up on my toes and press a kiss to his cheek.

CHAPTER 4

VEX

The dream starts the way they always do when my Xi decides to visit me—with the scent of burnt ozone and the crackle of a dying holoscreen.

Xi’s face flickers into view, her features distorted by static, those bright yellow eyes of hers glowing like twin moons. Her lips move, but her voice skips, fragmented.“Foolish brother…can’t outrun…fate.”

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