Page 70 of Rescued By the Convicts
She’d already laid him down across five chairs and strapped him in for the impending flight, which wasn’t going to happen without a pilot.
“He’s got a chance, thanks to you and Ivan.”
One day he needed to ask her why she never gave herself credit for all her hard work. She’d known what Jayce had needed. Ivan had only forced the doctor at the med-center to comply. If Jayce survived, it would be because of Melina.
She started mixing a few medicines she’d taken from the bag and then pulled the tube of nanites from her pocket. Her brow creased as she diligently added the solution to the tube of nanites and watched for. . . Well, he had no clue, but he trusted she knew what she was doing. Jayce was in good hands with her.
Reece returned to the hatch before Namir got any stupid ideas about trying to board the ship. He aimed his rifle and waited. One of Namir’s men held a knife to Ivan’s throat. The question was, what would they do if Reece shot Namir through the head. At this distance, Reece couldn’t possibly miss.
“Give me the woman, now,” Namir insisted as he signaled his guard. The guard dug the knife in deep enough that Ivan’s eyes went wide. The man looked as if he didn’t dare breathe with how hard that knife pressed against his artery.
As Reece steadied the rifle with his right hand, he felt a pinch against his neck.
“I’m sorry, Reece,” Melina’s sweet voice said as his body sank to the floor. His rifle clattered loudly. Then he and the rifle were being pulled into the belly of the ship. He could see, hear, and think, but not move.
“I drugged you with a paralytic. I’m sorry, my sweet baby, but I had no choice. You’ll be fine in a few minutes. Please understand, Reece. I have to do this.” She kissed his lips.
He couldn’t even kiss her back. Nothing fucking moved!
“I love you, Reece,” she said as her lips brushed his one last time.
Melina!His mind screamed as she headed toward the hatch, but he couldn’t make a single sound to call out to her. Then she was gone. . . turning herself over to a monster who’d kill her without thought, without mercy, without hesitation.
Chapter Seventeen
MELINA
Melina hated injecting a paralytic into Reece, but she had to keep Namir from hurting anyone else she loved. And she did love all of her men, very much.
After she kissed Reece goodbye, she checked Jayce’s vitals one last time and kissed him on the lips, even though he remained unconscious.
“Namir?” she called from the edge of the ship. “If you send a pilot here and release Ivan, I’ll come out.”
“Ah, my little kuvak? Do you really think you’re in control here?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
Namir’s laugh made her skin crawl. She glanced over her shoulder at Reece, at those loving hazel eyes that looked mad as hell right now. He’d never forgive her, but if she handled Namir right, Reece would live. As would Jayce and Ivan.
“We’re at a stalemate, Namir. I have no incentive to leave the ship, and you can’t get in here without a slaughter. My man is a sniper, and he’s got a fully-charged ice rifle.”
The rifle could produce its own bullets as long as she had a supply of water, which she did onboard the ship. Of course, her sniper was currently paralyzed, but Namir didn’t know that.
“Perhaps I should slit the soldier’s throat.”
“Then what incentive do I have to leave the ship? I know how to start the engines, how to lift off even. I’m guessing I can cause a lot of damage to those bay doors, maybe enough to cause a breach. I’d survive that breach, of course, being inside the ship. Can you say the same?”
She heard cursing from Namir, and a few soldiers moved Ivan toward the ship. They stopped halfway.
“Where’s the pilot?”
A new man took over for the two guards holding Ivan, who had his hands bound behind him by shock cuffs.
“That’s my pilot. When he reaches the ship with Perilov, you exit, or he’ll kill him. Is that clear?”
“Melina, donotdo this,” Ivan said as the pilot shoved him forward, stopping him again ten feet before the ship.
“Leave, female,” the pilot said.
