Tamed By the Alien Pirate by Celia Kyle Page 0,29

back at him, a wave of unbridled anger washing over me. My fingernails are digging into my palms, and my heart is beating with a murderous rhythm. If I could, I’d choke the living daylights of this nauseating silver creature. I’ve always been a rational person, and I’ve always prided myself on being above the pull of emotions, but right now I just can’t help myself.

“Yeah?” He laughs again. “With some luck, I might fuck you.” With that, he turns on his heels and waves at the six human guards trailing after him. Obediently they all march out of the room, the Kraaj bringing up the rear. Once they’re all gone, I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

You need to focus, Thrase, I tell myself, grieve Zander later.

Easier said than done, of course.

Turning around, I look at the previous occupant of the cell. Just like the Kraaj said, he’s a Kilgari although I can barely notice the golden hue of his skin. His powerful limbs are covered in dry blood and purple bruises, and there’s a lot of swelling as well. Whoever this guy is, he must have pissed off Starcop in a royal fashion.

For a moment, I almost think he’s dead, but then I see his chest rising and falling weakly. Sighing with relief, I go down on one knee beside him.

“Hey there,” I mutter, not knowing what else to say. He stirs softly and then rolls to his back. I gasp, suddenly recognizing the facial features hiding underneath all the bruises. “Lokyer? Is that you?”

“In the flesh,” he croaks, his voice coming out raspy and weak. “What are you doing here, Thrase?”

“We came to rescue you,” I reply. “Yeah, I know, it doesn’t look like it.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew?”

“At the Ancestral Queen,” I say. “Zander and I infiltrated Starcorp so we could dig for more information. We had no idea about your whereabouts, so we had to keep digging.”

“Is Zander here too?”

“Zander, well, he…” I trail off, suddenly realizing that I can’t say it out loud. It’s too soon. Lowering my gaze, I just look at the concrete floor and bite on my bottom limp, tears already stinging at my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Lokyer whispers and then reaches for me with a groan. Gently, he places his hand on top of mine, giving my fingers a squeeze. “You guys shouldn’t have come here. You put yourselves at risk because of me.”

“That’s why we’re a crew.” Forcing myself to look back into his eyes, I offer him a smile. Up close, he looks even worse. He also has a couple of deep cuts on his chest, and dark bruises around his neck. “What the hell did they do to you?”

“Everything they could think of,” he replies, and then I have to wait for him to continue as a coughing fit takes over him. He places one hand in front of his mouth as he coughs, and I watch with horror as blood sprays onto his fingers. He’s going to need a full medical examination, and I’m more than willing to bet he’ll need surgery as well. His mind seems intact, though, so at least there’s that. “I didn’t tell them a damn thing, though. The bastards wanted me to talk, but I just spat on their faces. I never broke, Thrase.”

“I know you didn’t.”

Even though I don’t know Lokyer that well, nor are we close enough for me to call him a friend, I’ve never met a crew as trustworthy as that of the Queen. The Kilgari I’ve met there might be rough around the edges at times, but they’re all honorable. Not a single member of the crew ever believed Lokyer would talk, and they were right to believe it.

“Does it hurt?” I ask him, gently brushing my fingers over the bruises on his shoulders.

“Only when I laugh.” As if to prove a point, he starts chuckling, but the sound of it is quickly followed by a pained groan. “See?”

“I’d advise you not to laugh then.”

“What’s the plan here?”

“Well, huh, I—” Suddenly, I hear a rustling in the corner of the cell. I jump back, startled, and my eyes widen as I realize a creature is there. “What in the world is that?”

“That’s Num, my cellmate.”

Slack-jawed, I look at the butterfly crawling around the floor. It’s kite-sized, much larger than the ones I’ve seen before, and its wings have a weak iridescent glow to them. It has wide tender eyes, which remind me of a