silence. Nova had the attention of not only the group that had come to meet them, but also all the others within listening distance. Axis wasn’t sure if they were shocked because she was literally laughing in the face of the elder councilman or because she was simply that amazing. Most likely a bit of both, he realized.
Her fury was a sight to behold. From the curls swirling around her head down to the tips of the boots he’d bought for her on Euphoria, she left an unforgettable impression on everyone.
“How dare I?!” Nova growled once she’d gotten over her hilarity. “How dare you?! Who do you think you are coming at us like that? Do you know the hell we’ve been through the past few days? Do you have any idea the hell I’ve been through the last few months?! No? Well then, sit down and shut up.”
Kaine’s brows shot up on his forehead as he looked to Axis.
Axis shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”
“I’ll have you—”
“You’ll have me what?” Nova laughed, shaking her head as if she’d just been told an incredibly funny joke. “Starved? Beaten? Whipped?”
“I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing, Councilor Krilis.” Kaine’s voice held a booming authority that rang over the entire bay. “You may be an elder, but on-board Phaeton One, I am in charge. Now,” he said, giving Axis a look, “you’ve brought a prisoner for questioning?”
“I’ve brought a traitor to question,” he corrected, ignoring the stunned silence around them and nodding toward Bosch. He saw Krilis bristle at his words.
“I was under the belief that Axis was no longer your master interrogator, Councilor Kaine.” Krilis’s mouth twisted in a sneer.
“You believed wrong,” Kaine shot back without hesitation, frowning at the elder councilmember. “You were invited here to observe, not interfere.”
“I have no choice but to interfere, considering your master interrogator for whom you’ve placed so much faith has detained a member of my security entourage.”
“Wait,” Nova interrupted. “Bosch is one of your guards?”
Axis kept silent as he waited for an answer to the question that Nova had asked before he had the chance to voice it himself.
“I didn’t say—”
“Yes, you did,” Axis said when Krilis began to backtrack on the words that had slipped out of his mouth. “You just said that we’ve detained your—”
“He is one of the guards that accompanied both me and Councilor Cramer here for this meeting,” Krilis growled, his cheeks tinged red with anger. He gestured to the other member of the council who was watching quietly from where he stood. “Bosch is often assigned to us when we leave Prime as he’s one of the more trusted skrammon the council has to call on. One whose judgment hasn’t been called into question.”
Axis stiffened at the unspoken insult but didn’t reply.
“Pfft,” Nova snorted, the sound bringing the elder’s attention back to her.
“Your captivity didn’t teach you to curb your tongue at all, did it?”
Axis only had a split second to react. He knew his wife was going to either shoot the dumb bastard or just rip him apart with her bare hands. When she tucked the blaster in the holster on her hip, he grinned and acted before things were too out of hand. With one hand, he shoved the prisoner towards Paine and Rowe. With the other, he grabbed Nova.
It was close, but he was able to catch her mid-lunge and ensure the prisoner was secure.
“You’re lucky my husband is fast, or I’d be snatching those braids right off your head,” she growled in a deadly voice, assuring everyone around her that she meant every word she said.
“Are you going to allow a mere human—”
“She is more than a mere human. She is a bride.” Kaine’s announcement cut through the air like a whip, instantly silencing the elder Phaeton’s words before he could finish spilling them. “Much worse, one whom we’ve failed to protect.”
Axis lowered his wife to the ground, dropping a kiss on the top of her head before he stepped away. With a nod of thanks to Paine and Rowe, he grabbed Bosch’s arm pulled the warrior past Krilis.
The old warrior looked around the now quiet bay, seeming to notice for the first time they had a large audience. Not only that, but a majority of the crowd frowned in disapproval his way. The elder Phaeton kept his place on the council due to his past accolades, but Axis sensed he would be facing retirement soon enough. How could they ignore his outright disdain for the humans?
“Is my interrogation