“Maybe we should adjourn for middies, and come back later to finish reviewing the plan?”
I didn’t know what ‘middies’ was but I guessed it was a meal of some kind. The Carlogians seemed to like lots of meals throughout the day.
Tara wasn’t dissuaded. She held my gaze then folded her arms over her chest. “None of that is going to make me change my mind. I’m not sitting this one out, so you can either accept that I’m going with you, or prepare yourself to be chased the entire way.”
I turned away from her, cursing the day I’d decided to spare her ship and her crew and take her as my captive. I had not been expecting to form mating marks with her, but I’d hoped for a few nights with her underneath me. Not only had she not been a pleasant diversion, my balls were so blue I suspected they might fall off. Verbal sparring with her was all well and good, but now she was threatening to ruin my plan to bring down the imperial hold on Carlogia with her stubbornness.
The villagers muttered farewells as they left the front room, passing through the curtained doorway and exiting through the tunnel. When the room had emptied—Fenrey’s muffled voice wishing all his guests well from the back of the shop—Tara stomped around the table to face me.
“You do know we’re in this together, right?”
“If you mean we crashed on this planet together, then yes.”
She threw her hands in the air. “I mean, that I care just as much as you do about this plan and defeating the empire. I want the soldiers off Carlogia, too. And to make that happen, you need to let me be a part of the plan.”
I looked at the fiery curls spilling down her shoulders and the pink splotches on her cheeks. Thinking of her running toward danger with me made my stomach twist into a hard ball.
Tvek. Why did I care about a female who had been nothing but trouble? I should let her come with me and risk her life. If she was killed, she would be one less thing for me to worry about. But I knew I couldn’t. The thought of her being hurt again made the hard ball of fear in my gut churn. Having her by my side would only be a distraction that would make me a weak warrior. I could not battle the Zagrath if I was worried about her safety.
“I have made my decision.” I shook my head at her. “It is done.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tara
“That arrogant asshole.” I jumped the last rung of the ladder and landed on the packed ground. I was pleased that my ankle had made a full—and miraculously quick, thanks to Coxley’s ointment—recovery, but it was another reminder that Kaalek was being ridiculous. Not to mention sexist and insulting.
Who did he think he was, telling me I couldn’t help with the plan to sabotage the imperial forces on Carlogia? I was the one who made friends with Fenrey first. If I’d had to rely on the Raas’ charms, we’d still be huddling outside. Or shot by imperial soldiers.
And he knew I wasn’t some weak woman who fainted at the sight of blood, or ran when faced with danger. I’d stood up to him, hadn’t I? Multiple times.
“I should have killed him when I had the chance,” I said under my breath, the tunnel echoing my words back to me.
Not that I’d ever come close to being able to kill the huge warrior. He was fast and strong and battle-tested—all things that made me want to strive to keep up with him. I’d always pushed myself and found others to help me level up. I believed in doing things before you were ready for them and never backing down from a challenge. I hadn’t known anything about captaining a ship before I won my freighter, but I’d learned on the job and taken advice from other commanders I’d met at outposts and fueling stations. The fact that Kaalek refused to let me be in the thick of the battle with him was frustrating beyond belief.
I heaved in a breath and leaned against the wall, slapping one open palm against the dirt. I hated feeling powerless. It was something I’d been running from my entire life. The fear of not being in control of my destiny was something I despised, and I’d done just about anything I could to avoid it. I’d take risk over