Page 15 of Swept By The Alien Pirate Prince

“Cyburn,” Amada’s voice came out mechanical and flat, unlike her manic laughter from seconds ago.

“Yes?” I tilted my head, straining to hear her better.

“You’ll never win.”

“Never win what?”

“Thewar.” Amada’s voice came out like a growl.

My blood ran cold.

“What have you done?” I asked.

“What I had to do,” Amada said.

I could feel her smirk coming through the receiver.

I wished I could reach through and wring her neck.

“There’s still a chance to make everything right,” I declared and held my breath again.

Amada cackled. “What, and come back toyou? No thanks. I can sniff outthattrap from a mile away.”

“I’m not like you,” I said. “I don’t set traps to where my loyalty lies.”

Amada scoffed. “Your loyalty lies with thathumanhussy, not with me. You made thatveryclear. You made your choices, Cyburn, and now you have to live with the consequences.”

“I could say the same to you,” I said, feeling my blood pressure, and my temper rising.

I was ready to punch my hand through the radio and reach out and grab her. If only that were possible. I didn’t even know what I would do if I could. Maybe it was a good thing that I couldn’t.

“You should see your ship right now,” Amanda chastised. “It’s a literal piece ofjunk. It looks like scrap metal. It’s all mangled and bent inward. It lookshilariousputtering along through the asteroid belt.”

I tried to draw in patience with my next breath, but it was excruciating. Amada made even the simplest of conversations difficult, much less a stressful situation like this.

“At least tell me why you did it,” I said. “I deserve that much.”

“You deservenothing,” Amada snarled.

There was an extended silence between us to where I wasn’t sure if Amada had hung up. The only sound I could hear was Carmela’s quick and tense breathing beside me.

“I deserve to know why you betrayed us.”

“Because you betrayedme.” The woundedness in Amada’s voice sliced through the radio and was so shrill that the radio speakers rattled in response.

“How did I betray you?” I asked, careful not to deny anything to her. If I argued too much, she might not cooperate or worse — hang up completely.

Amada went silent for another ten seconds or so. The silence was deafening and said so much, without actually saying anything at all.

“Amada are you still there?” I questioned and winced, hoping for the best.

Amada lashed out.

“You and your little human girlfriend will probably not make it through the rest of the night.” She sounded smug.

The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. “Why would you say something like that?’

Amada roared with laughter again. “Because yourshipis in shambles,that’swhy.” Amada’s voice sounded deranged.

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