Page 17 of Saving the Space Pirate

Chapter Five

Ruby

The sick feeling in my stomach was fear.

I’d learned to recognize it now, but I was also familiar enough with the emotion to know that it didn’t control me.

I could be scared half to death and I’d still function.

After all, I’d flown a spaceship. I could do anything.

Kill had even let me land, though he’d gone a little pale. He was so brave.

We’d set down outside the city and made our way to the palace. Killian had killed the guard—slit his throat—at the side-entrance we’d used and hidden the body. Now we were creeping our way through the marble corridors. It was the middle of the night and everything was dark and quiet.

With luck, we would find everyone and be out of there without any of the bad guys knowing we were around.

We had a plan, of sorts. We were on our way to the dungeons where,hopefully, we would find Zak and Rekowski and free them. Then we would go get Sarah, who,hopefully,would still be in the old room we’d shared in the palace, near the princess’s quarters. And finally, we would reacquire Yolanda and,hopefully, she’d come with us without too much of a fight. There was a lot of hoping going on, but I was optimistic.

We’d debated on the whole Yolanda issue. I’d prefer to take her with us, but the alternative was to leave her behind. We didn’t actually need her—once we’d told her father what she was really up to, that she wasn’t in danger—then he was no longer under any pressure to vote for the Earth losing its closed status. Mission accomplished. So if Yolanda proved troublesome, we would leave her behind and just get the hell out of there.

We were headed downward to where the dungeons were located underground and where it was likely Zak and Rekowski were being held, pending their imminent executions. They would no doubt be killed quietly. The imperial house wouldn’t want to admit that they were killing the ex-crown prince. Apparently, he still had supporters here.

A single guard stood at the entrance to the dungeons. Killian shot him in the chest and then dragged his body inside.

A shiver ran through me. The place stank of fear and pain and despair. The walls were bare rock, and the light just a dim orange glow. Cells lined the corridor. The metal doors had a grill on the front and we peered into each as we passed. Most were occupied, but we saw no sign of Zak or Rekowski.

We went down a set of narrow stone steps to a lower level. The weight of all that rock pressed down on me. Panic was building inside me and my heart was racing; I needed to get out of there. I needed fresh air. Then Killian slipped his hand into mine, and a measure of peace washed through me.

“He’s here,” Killian said. He’d stopped at one of the cells and stared inside. “Shit, he doesn’t look good.”

I pushed up next to him and peered through the grill. There was Zak. He was bare-chested, his blue skin marked with stripes and fresh scars. Otherwise, he looked unharmed—at least physically. Mentally was another matter. Pacing the room, each time he met the wall, he slammed his fist into it and growled. Rage positively oozed from the cell.

“What’s the matter with him? He looks sort of crazy.” Had they done something to his mind?

“Actually, that’s pretty normal for Zak under the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”

“If Groth warriors don’t get sex regularly, they can get a little freaky. Either angry or depressed. Zak’s been in here for nearly two weeks. He’s probably close to the point of not functioning.”

That didn’t sound good. We needed him thinking straight if we were going to get out of here. “Oh.”

I’d had sex with Zak before. When I was first on theHelldiver. Killian and Zak often shared women. It had been an amazing experience. But things had changed between Killian and me since then, in ways I was unwilling to analyze right now. Thinking about my feelings increased my fear of dying and not being able to explore this thing with Killian further. All the same, if sex was what it would take to get Zak out of here in one piece, I would do it. I glanced at Kill; a tic was jumping in his cheek.

“It’s not as though I haven’t done it with Zak,” I said.

“Yes, but that was before.”

“Before?”

He reached out with his metal hand and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Before I fell in love with you.”

The world came to a shuddering stop. I’d known he cared about me. I cared about him as well, but I’d purposefully not put a name to my emotions because it seemed like tempting fate. I’d never been in love before. But I knew, deep down, that I loved Killian. I felt closer to him than to anyone in my life.

“I’ve rendered you speechless,” he said.

He loves me.

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