Page 85 of Tempting Jupiter
Lo tilted his head and held his ears alert as he watched Fee. “Is the human broken?”
Sen shook his head, but his eyes were on Jupiter. He yipped reassurance to let Jup know their mate was safe.
Jupiter fell to his knees beside her. He brushed her forehead with the back of his hand. His fingers smeared blood across her caramel skin. “Talk to me, Fee.”
She turned her head into the caress, but her eyes stayed shut tight. Her jaw flexed, then she spoke through gritted teeth. “Using the security system to lock down the crew and keep out reinforcements.”
Mercury and the others came to stand with them. Merc’s gravelly voice rumbled in his throat. “Let them come.”
Her eyes snapped open and she took in the group. “Oh, my.” Her eyes shut tight again. She stretched out a hand and Sen took it. “Explain it to them.”
***
Jupiter worried over the strain in Feeona’s face. He’d seen how using Bug and her neural implant could fatigue her before, but there was something else. She was stretching beyond her usual abilities and she’d lost weight since Petro-5. Earlier he’d been too distracted by the glory of seeing her and Sen again to notice her condition.
Seneca wove his fingers with Fee’s momentarily and they both seemed to draw strength from it. As he released her and stood, there was no sign of the submissive role Sen had played before as he addressed their Alpha. “I assume you eliminated the security team in the landing bay, but there are at least another dozen guards that were assigned to other areas of the ship. The ship also has a crew of fifty. And we don’t know how many of them will defend the ship. This ship carries plenty of arms and any person can pick one up and do damage.”
Lo yipped. Mercury nodded and Lo took off toward the landing bay. “My mate and Hera are still in the shuttle with the pilots. Lo will make sure they are safe.”
Mercury had a mate and Hera was with them. Jupiter soaked in the wonder of it. Their pack was together and free. They would not be defeated this day.
“Fee will make sure Lo can get back to them,” Sen assured them without consulting her. Making it clear they had planned and prepared for their rescue mission together. Their bond had grown strong.
“Whatisshe doing?” Carn rumbled the question.
Jupiter answered from where he still knelt at Fee’s side. “She has a neural implant that allows her to interface with computers. She’s using it to control the ship’s security systems.”
“Icy!” It was the human hacker that spoke. “So, she was the one controlling that drone earlier. Wha—”
Mercury silenced the man with a look. “Even if the humans fight, a dozen trained men and fifty untrained humans are no match for six Arena Dogs.”
There was a swell of noise from the green aliens. Creek waved a hand at them to quiet them down. “And eight Dreats.”
Mercury looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Just telling you what they said. They want to help.”
Sen barked respectfully to regain their attention. “There’s also a small team of mercenaries, sent by Roma, planting enough explosives around the ship to destroy it. We must have less than thirty minutes now.”
Mercury growled in disgust and concern. “Then we warn the ship’s occupants and leave now.”
The Dreat grunted and muttered. Creek spoke over them. “There are more Dreat in the slave hold.” He rolled his shoulders. “And some humans.” He shifted his weight looking eager to move. “I can take the Dreat and we can retrieve the slaves.”
Mercury frowned. “Is there time?”
“Yes,” said Seneca.
Mercury nodded toward Fee. “The female can give them a clear passage to this slave hold?”
Sen answered with another, “yes.”
“Good,” said Mercury. He hesitated a moment with a look they’d all seen before. Strategy was whirring in his head. “Can we stop the explosions?”
Seneca nodded. “Yes. With Fee’s help.”
Mercury chuffed a pleased noise in the back of his throat. “The ship will be a good asset in the fight to free our people.”
Jupiter’s heart skipped. That meant it would also be a good asset for Fee to save her children. He and Seneca helped Fee to a sitting position as she peeled her eyes open. “I need to get to the security station. I can control things much better from there.”
