In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,76

him, Your Highness,” Pax said. “The same reason you left your mate on your ship.”

Kylon gave Pax an angry glare, but he didn’t deny it. He couldn’t. He did want Rasc protected as much as was within his power. And he had no wish to discuss this with anybody.

“Is this true, Kylon?” Larz asked.

“I’d rather not discuss it. Can we get back to the Tygerians, sir?” Kylon said, deflecting as much as he could. “The guards all seem to think they’re here because they have them on the boards where they keep up with all the prisoners. According to those boards, they’re on the island.”

Larz nodded. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“We? Surely you’re not thinking of going out to the island.”

“I am. And I’m taking my men with me. That’s the extraction point, after all.

“How will you ever get the commandant to go along with that?”

Larz turned a look on Kylon that was so royal—and so Tygerian—that he had to smile. “I’m the Tygerian ambassador. He’ll do as I say. And I wish to inspect this part of the prison, so he has no say in the matter.”

Kylon grinned at him. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“It will be interesting to see his reaction though, when I tell him.”

Chapter Twelve

When they all filed out a half-hour or so later, they used the hostages as shields as they went to meet the commandant and the “ambassador.” Pax walked beside Kylon, and Kylon made sure that Rasc was just behind him, on his right. These next few minutes would be tough, and he didn’t trust Rasc not to get himself beaten half to death or worse if he reacted with anger or tried to resist. He was such a strange mixture of fear and hotheadedness.

He’d once decided that a relationship with Rasc was unsuitable, and yet he couldn’t quite convince himself of the fact or stay away from him. Giving into his urges before Larz had come in hadn’t helped—in fact, it seemed to have made the situation worse. He reminded himself again that a relationship with Centarlo was a terrible idea—the only problem was, his heart didn’t seem to give a damn. Rasc was his nobyo and he may as well stop fighting it.

Prince Larz, in his role as ambassador, stepped forward to greet them. “Thank you for choosing this course.” He bowed slightly. “The commandant and his guards will take you and your men into custody now and get you ready for transport to Zargoff Island. I’ll be going along with you to stay for a few days at the commandant’s home as his guest while I inspect the prison. Do as they say and your time on the island will pass quickly.”

The hostages were yanked away, and the disruptors were pulled roughly away from Kylon and the others. Kylon was shoved backward a few steps, and he realized the same thing was happening all over the yard with the others in his group.

“Don’t struggle, Bonnett,” Larz called to him. “They’re merely taking you to the transport. It’s the only way to get us to the island.”

He nodded, then glanced over at Rasc and saw that the guard who had approached him did the same thing, only had taken it a step further and also used the butt of Rasc’s disruptor to hit him a glancing blow on his barely healed chestbone, knocking him to the ground. Rasc scrambled back to his feet, his face furious, and came after the guard, pulling his fist back. Kylon nearly did himself an injury by leaping so quickly to put himself in front of Rasc and grabbing that fist, holding it down. He looked down in his face and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, love,” he whispered to him, leaning in and putting his finger on a pressure point at the back of Rasc’s neck. He abruptly pushed Rasc’s face to the same side as he applied pressure. This was a knockout hold, well known even to humans as a way to render a human unconscious almost immediately if the hold were properly applied. Rasc’s face registered dazed surprise and then, as his legs collapsed beneath him, also a momentary glimmer of betrayal in his eyes.

Kylon saw his eyes blink, then roll back in his head, and he caught him as he fell. Kylon pulled one of Rasc’s arms around his neck and put a strong arm around his waist so he could keep him on his feet. He turned to face the angry guard