Page 60 of A Redemption for Ulrek

Behind him were two more armed males. They were woefully outmanned.

He grinned when he saw Tahra. “Well, well. Looks like I didn’t waste a trip to this hellhole after all. Tuhror’s sweet little sister.” He looked over to Delaney. “And you must be the female they said was new to his ship. He did always have a thing for human females.”

“See, they are not so useless after all,” said the owner of the warehouse, a crafty look on his face. “You can trade them for Ulrek. Ask for him as ransom. How about I get part of the pay?”

Gritarr ignored him. He addressed his guards instead. “Take the two females.” He marched toward the door. “Oh. And kill the owner.”

Ulrek

Ulrek watched his navigational screen as the other ship disappeared away behind the planet. The deal had gone exactly as planned. He’d recognized the buyer right away. They were part of an alliance of mercenaries who had blacklisted the Dominion.

The pair he and Berus had met up with had recognized Ulrek immediately too. The female looked ready to kick him in the face…or lower down…with all her claws extended but had managed to keep it civil long enough to complete the transaction. The male kept a semblance of courtesy; Ulrek was sure he’d have gutted him under any other circumstances.

It was always nerve-wracking to conduct these missions as himself and not as Uzzar, but it was necessary. The more the players in the outer planets interacted with him, the better. They needed to see that he was on their side now and not with the Dominion. Delaney had shown him how important that was.

Kean had once been an enemy of the outer planets too, but he was well respected now, so Ulrek decided there might be hope for him yet.

That was one of the benefits of completing tasks on Kean’s behalf: it usually meant the other party was less likely to forfeit whatever deal was in progress just to have a chance to strangle him.

Ulrek checked the scanners, but there was nothing yet at either of the locations they’d leaked to the compound and his fleet. There were no ships incoming either. Gritarr and his hired goons were nowhere to be seen.

“He didn’t take the bait.” Emil looked as disappointed as Ulrek felt. “Should we wait a little longer?”

“No. If he was coming, he’d be here by now.” Ulrek knew Gritarr. He would’ve been here early, eager to snatch both parties and collect multiple bounties. “We knew it was a gamble.”

He made the announcement to his crew and then contacted the destroyer class stealth ship currently acting as backup. The other ship turned and headed back to Vosthea.

“No problem,” Emil said, rubbing a hand over his short, buzz-cut hair. “We’ll try again next time. At least we’re still close to Vosthea. If you’re willing to go through the asteroid field, we can get back there in half a day. Just give the word.”

Ulrek deferred to Tuhror, since he’d be the one piloting through the maze that separated Vosthea from Phaeta Outpost.

“I don’t mind the challenge. I’m kind of disappointed nothing happened.”

“Aren’t we all,” Emil agreed grimly.

“We’ll keep trying. I really don’t plan on giving up so easily. I want him dead.” Ulrek hadn’t named his ship theRevengefor nothing.

Besides, he had a mate to protect now. Delaney didn’t think of him as one yet, but for Ulrek, the mate bond had solidified. She was it for him forever. Gritarr would pose a big danger if he ever found out about her. He wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Delaney just to get to him.

He’d hated leaving Delaney back on Vosthea, but it was the safest option. He’d given her, Tahra, and Gavin a list of things to pick up for the ship, including their order from Ship’s Alive. Gavin and Tahra knew their way around the city, and they’d been working with the same vendors for the past two galactic years. He trusted them.

He’d announced to his crew that he and Delaney were a couple but refrained from calling her his mate. Yet. He wanted to give her time to adjust to the idea.

Gavin’s comm contact flashed on the screen, and Ulrek connected the call. It was audio only.

“He has Delaney and Tahra.” Gavin sounded winded. “Gritarr was at Ship’s Alive.”

Ice-cold dread flooded Ulrek’s veins.

“I…” Gavin groaned in pain. “I tried to stop them.”

“Stop moving,” said a panicked female voice. “You’re going to bleed out.” There was a shuffling sound. “Stupid male, you’re all the same, Tallean or Human. Oh, Stars. There’s so much blood.”

The comm ended.

“Fuck. We need to comm Kean.”

Emil was already doing it. As he did so, Tuhror searched for the signal coming from the tracker embedded in the side of Tahra’s leg. The signal still showed she was on Vosthea. They would have to get closer to pinpoint its exact location, but it was a start.

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