captain knew she had a communicator or something else on her, maybe even a weapon, and he didn’t take it away? Was he so sure she meant to use it on the Hollbrd and not against him? Did he expect her to signal Violet so she could cause a scene and give Faros a reason to not send EJ to the Hollbrd?
Her thoughts whirled until she couldn’t focus on anything, couldn’t unstick her boots from the floor where she stood. She couldn’t even look around at Nokx’s quarters to remember something positive before she faced the gen ship guards. EJ swallowed the knot in her throat and shoved down the uncertainty over Faros’s actions. It could have been a plot. Who knew with a pirate captain?
She straightened her shoulders and started walking.
Chapter 28
His head pounded as he sat up. Nokx stared into the darkness and struggled to make sense of the silence. The air didn’t smell or feel right. Nothing felt right, including his arms as he tried to lift them.
He growled without knowing why, based on the unsettled feeling deep beneath his scales. He flexed his arms and growled more as they stopped short with a clank. Chains.
He’d been chained.
His fury burned brighter as he tried to remember why he was so furious. Something about Faros. Faros and Harzt, meeting in the office to talk about...
The gen ship. Closing in.
Returning EJ.
Returning EJ.
Nokx bared his teeth into the darkness. The cowards knocked him out. Knocked him out to keep him from his mate, to keep him from protecting her like he needed to.
He stood as much as he could and searched the inky black room with his feet to find purchase and leverage. There was no telling how much time had passed since Faros knocked him out. Possibly enough time for the Sraibur to have docked with the Hollbrd. EJ might already be out of his reach.
But he couldn’t live with himself—wouldn’t want to live with himself—if he didn’t try. If he didn’t do every sandblasted thing in his power to save her, to make her safe.
Nokx braced himself and wrenched at the chains with all his strength.
Nothing moved. He gritted his teeth. Tried again.
The metal groaned but held, although he felt like something began to move.
Again. And again.
Over and over until his muscles ached and he panted for breath and he started to believe maybe he wouldn’t be able to get free. Maybe his need to reach EJ couldn’t defeat the reinforced chains and whatever they’d been secured to.
He closed his eyes against the darkness. The strength ran out of him. Defeated.
The silence in the room mocked him. That dark, silent room was his future without EJ. The universe lost its stars if she wasn’t there with him. His throat ached and Nokx tilted his head back to breathe deep one more time.
He would not give up.
“Ellie Jane,” he whispered, taking refuge in her name and the lingering scent of her hair where her head had rested on his chest. “I’m coming for you.”
Nokx roared and wrenched at the chains. They gave under the onslaught and sent him tumbling into the darkness, crashing into something hard and nearly cracking his scales apart.
A strange madness came over him. Closer. He was one step closer to reaching EJ. There was still a door and a fight to the loading bay before he could find her, but it didn’t matter what obstacles stood between them. He’d find her in time. He had to. There was no other choice.
Chapter 29
EJ
EJ walked behind Faros, with the other hulking bruiser on her heels in case she tried to run, as he led the way through the ship. It was hard to believe it had only been a matter of hours since she and Nokx had worked in the loading bay together, since Violet and Gemma stayed and talked with her among the crates, since she and Nokx had dessert together. It meant nothing to him, but it still... The memory brought her some warmth.
Just enough that her stomach twisted with regret that Nokx betrayed her in favor of his crew.
She shouldn’t have been surprised. She vaguely remembered a lesson from the instructors on how the barbarians always stuck with their kind. Warriors before any other Xaravians, but any other Xaravian over any other species. It was just how their kind were.
She couldn’t blame them, not really. She’d been selfish enough on her own, putting her needs and wants above any other consideration. She might have