Fated Mate Conquered - Luna Voss Page 0,16

sure what they’re moving, but it takes them several trips. I want to lift the shade so I can peer out my cabin’s viewport into the hangar, but I can’t work up the nerve to do so, worried that I’ll give myself away. My ultimate priority is that none of the male Vostra members find me here, secluding myself before I go into heat. If I can get through this experience without being discovered, I’ll consider myself lucky.

Maybe it’s silly, but I decide to hide in the closet. That way, even if one of them comes into my room, they won’t see me. It’s actually the biggest closet I’ve ever seen on a starship before, so it’s not as uncomfortable as you might think. Maybe that’s normal for Epeshi ships. I grab my headphones so I can listen to music, shut the closet door behind me as quietly as I can, and curl up with a blanket and a pillow.

Turan

Plasma blasts ring outside as Gordulla soldiers charge the mansion, their weapons blaring. Our group of Butarza Family members makes its way to the hangar, the smell of smoke thick in the air. This isn’t just a hit squad, it’s a full-on assault. I take the lead, my gun at the ready.

We reach the door to the hangar just as a group of Gordulla soldiers bursts through a window in front of us. I raise my weapon instinctively, spraying them with plasma, just as the two men next to me, Rojan and Geddion, do the same. A moment later, five enemy Voorians lie dead on the ground.

Once we’re in the hangar, we have a moment to catch our breath. Blasting through the hangar doors would take our attackers hours. I order Rojan and Geddion to assist me in transferring all the equipment we can from the captured UPE prison ship over to the Epeshi pirate vessel. Guns, ammo, riot shields, even Imperial armor. Hard to say what could be useful. Once that’s done, I say goodbye to Milana, Fulgetio, and Lorvyta, and then catch up to my brother.

“Everyone is accounted for,” he says, running up to me. “I have Kora on my ship with Aspen. Are you ready to go?”

“Ready,” I confirm.

We share a moment of meaningful eye contact and a hug. And then I run back to the Epeshi ship and Draga boards his yacht, where Aspen and Kora are riding with him.

I’m pleased to see that Rojan and Geddion are already at their stations on the bridge of the Epeshi ship. I take the captain’s seat just as Draga’s voice comes through the radio:

“Opening the hangar doors. We’re jumping to hyperspace as soon as we leave the atmosphere. Travel safe.”

“Ready for takeoff,” Milana’s voice crackles through in response.

“Let’s go,” I say into the radio.

Draga opens the hangar doors, and our ships are immediately greeted by a barrage of plasma fire that dings pointlessly off our reinforced hulls. I ignore the attacks, piloting the ship up through the atmosphere and out into space.

Time to find Rizban Gordulla.

8

Kora

I wake up in a dark room, burrowed into a comfy little nest with my blanket and pillow. For a moment I’m confused, and then I remember: I’m in the closet in my cabin on the Epeshi pirate vessel. I hid here when someone was loading up the ship, and I must have fallen asleep. Hopefully they’re gone now.

A quick listen at the closet door reveals nothing, so I open it and creep out into the cabin. It’s empty, dark, and the door to the rest of the ship is shut, just as I left it. Good. My movie is even still paused on the screen. I sit down on the bed with a sigh, relieved to have the ship to myself again. Now I can finally have some privacy as I wait for my heat to begin.

I turn off the movie. I’m not in the mood. I just want the whole next week to be over, and my heat to be finished. Hiding in this cabin on this ship in this fucking hangar is killing me, and it hasn’t even been a day. I open my window shade, wanting to at least get a different view, even if it is just of the other spaceships docked at the Butarza villa.

My heart practically skips a beat. Outside the viewport, stars streak past, extruded into thin, glowing lines.

The Epeshi ship is in hyperspace.

Turan

“I’ve never been to the Tajiki Comet before,” says Geddion, the streaking stars