Page 5 of Keeping Freya
I step back; this is enough to jolt me out of the spell he had me under, and I raise my gun.
“Oh, hell no!”
CHAPTER 3
T’Rak
Istep forward. Of all the places I would have thought to find my mate, a Sternotheri Ship is not one of them. And instead of looking like she needs rescuing, she points a gun at me. “Stay back, buddy, I will not hesitate to shoot you.”
She looks anything but unsure, so I raise my hands.
“Be careful, these humans are armed,”I inform my crewmates D’Var and O’Rec through our psychic link, while I put my hands up in surrender.
“I am not here to hurt you, female.”
“Yeah, right,” she huffs. “That’s what they all say.” She gestures at me with the barrel of the gun. “Move. That way.”
I slowly turn around to start walking in the direction she’s pointing me in.
“In there,” she says as we come across another hallway. It reeks of Sternotheri in here, mixed with blood.
“Stop!” she shouts as we near a door. “Pick that up andopen the door,” she commands, nodding toward a foul-smelling object lying on the floor.
I bent down and for a moment I hesitate, because she wants me to pick up a severed hand, which by the smell of it, has not been attached to its owner for a while.
“You cannot use this to open the doors much longer.”
“Quiet!” she shouts as she pushes the gun into my back. “Throw it down, over there.”
I gladly dispose of the heinous thing, and she pushes me towards a barred cell. She closes the door and then slumps against the wall. My protective instincts immediately go into overdrive.
“Are you well? Are you hurt?”
She blinks at me in confusion. “Why do you care?”
“Because you are my mate.”
“No, thank you,” she says gruffly. I just grin at her. We will see about that.
“We have encountered the humans,”D’Var comes through on our mental link.
“Let them imprison you. I am already in their holding cell.”Amusement rolls through our bond—a special connection Arracate crews can sometimes form.
“I will tell you when you get here, just cooperate.”
“What did you just do?” she asks, but I ignore her question.
“You really need to reprogram those key panels. It is a simple task D’Var can do for you.”
“I don’t need your help, I need answers,” she bites out, her agitation growing, and I smirk. It is very easy to get under her skin, and I am already enjoying it very much. I lean against the bars and cross my arms, determined to wait for the arrival of my crew.
I hear muffled chatting and shuffling footsteps long before they enter the prison area. Two humans enter, bothpointing guns at my crew.
“Careful,”O’Rec sends through our link.“They know how to use the weapons and are not afraid to use them.”
Pride rises in my chest; my mate is fierce.
They shove D’Var and O’Rec into the cell with me, and they look at me expectantly. I shrug and wait to see what the humans are going to do.
