for them.
I’d asked him if the natives were barbarians since they were not technologically advanced, but he’d only shaken his head, his brow furrowed. Not comforting.
I put my fingers to my lips as the ship dropped sharply. If I’d thought I was going to be sick after our ship had somersaulted, I really felt like losing my lunch now. I forced myself to keep my eyes open as our ship brushed over the tops of trees, dropping faster every second.
“I hope this works,” the Raas muttered as he tapped away at the screen.
I didn’t have time to ask him what he meant, before the fighter jerked back as if it had been tugged by a string. The thrust seemed to have slowed our forward momentum, and we almost hovered in air before starting to glide forward again, this time more slowly.
“I don’t know what you did, but it was—“ I didn’t get the chance to tell him that I’d been impressed by his trick before we crashed through a copse of trees. Branches scraped the hull, but the ship didn’t stop, plowing through the lush forest and skimming across a pond. Water flew up behind us as the bottom of the hull bounced a few times, rattling my teeth and slamming me up and down, before hitting the pink-sand beach on the other side, flipping over once and skidding to a stop.
Kaalek and I hung upside down from our safety restraints. The sirens spluttered out, and then there was only the sound of our heavy breathing.
“That was not the worst landing I have had,” he said, after a moment.
I stared at him from my inverted position, my hair hanging so that it almost touched the ceiling. “Then remind me not to go on any more ships with you.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I would not have had to take out the fighter.”
“This is my fault?” I tried to glare at him as all the blood continued to rush to my head. “If you’d believed me, neither of us would be in this position.”
“How was I supposed to believe you, when your cargo was what led the empire to my horde?” His voice was a bellow that filled the cockpit.
“I told you I didn’t have anything to do with that. I’m just as much of a victim of the empire in all this as you are.”
He shook a finger at me then started to work the clasps on his safety straps. “No, you collaborated with the empire. And now you don’t like it when you discover that they’ve deceived and used you. But it was always your choice to work for them.”
“It’s not that simple.” Now I was screaming as loud as he was. “I did what I had to do to survive and keep my sister alive. Maybe you aren’t crazy about your family, but that’s your deal. I had to take care of mine, so I made sacrifices and did things I hated. And frankly, I don’t give a teeny, tiny rat’s ass if you approve of my decisions, but I didn’t have anything to do with that cargo, and I didn’t lie to you.”
I heaved in a breath. Shit. I’d just screamed at a huge, Vandar warlord who wore a battle axe and had a fierce temper. I forced myself not to look away from him.
He’d stopped yanking on his straps and stared baldly at me. “Teeny tiny rat’s ass?”
Even with the blood rushing to my face, heat creeped up my neck. “I think you got my point.”
“I did.” He pulled again on his straps and they came loose. He spun gracefully in mid-air and landed in a crouch on the ceiling. Turning to me, he nodded to my straps. “I can help you.”
“I’ve got it.” I tugged at my own, expecting them to be stuck. They weren’t. I dropped instantly, not flipping gracefully, and instead landing in a heap on the hard ceiling, a sharp pain shooting up from my ankle.
Kaalek bent to help me up. “Your hostility is only matched by your stubbornness.”
I waved him off as he tried to hoist me up. “I think I twisted my ankle when I landed.” Reaching down, I touched my ankle and flinched from the pain. “Yep. It’s twisted, all right.”
The Vandar warlord frowned at me. “Are all human females as difficult as you are? I cannot imagine my brother dealing with this.”
I snapped my head up to meet his gaze. “You mean the brother who took my sister?”