Page 32 of Honor Bound

Sergi and La’Rue led them through the narrow corridor of the ship, taking him directly to the medical bay.

The moment he hit the narrow bed, Julia was at his side, cutting away what remained of his shirt.

La’Rue handed Julia an unfamiliar-looking medical device.

Julia frowned at it. “What?—?”

La’Rue sighed. “Maybe I should do this. We need to know how to get off this ship without getting blown up or having a thousand fighters using us for target practice. General Landais appears to be the only one who knows how to accomplish that at the moment.”

Roan turned his head, trying to dig into the pocket of his trousers,but Julia swatted his hand away.

An amused, pain-laced smirk crossed his lips. “You’re good at slapping my hand away.”

“Shut up,” she muttered, pulling the small data disk from his pocket.

La’Rue wrinkled her nose. “That is just so wrong on too many levels to mention. He’s flirting while lying here about to bleed out and we could be captured again at any moment.”

Sergi stepped forward, taking the chip. “Where does this need to go?”

Roan’s eyes found him. “One of my former crew members helped another of your kind shut down my Battle Cruiser with a similar program. I’ve modified this with my access codes. It should initiate a full systems shutdown, forcing the crew into emergency lockdown.”

La’Rue’s brows rose. “And how do we get it into the system without getting killed?”

Roan clenched his jaw, forcing his body to sit upright.“I’ll do it.”

Julia gently pushed him back down before he could get two inches off the cot.

“No, you won’t,” she snapped. “Sergi is good at what he does.”

Sergi shot a wary glance at Julia, who was looking at him with an expectant expression. He shrugged and grinned.

La’Rue snorted. “I like you,” she muttered at Julia before turning back to Roan. “What about H? He can get into places most people can’t.”

Roan frowned. “Who is H?”

La’Rue grinned. “Only the smartest, sneakiest little rust bucket in the galaxy. And lucky for us, he’s part of the crew.”

Sergi nodded. “I’ll second that—on him being a rust bucket.”

La’Rue playfully punched Sergi in the arm before she turned to Julia. “Make sure the General doesn’t move or touch anything. We’ll be back.”

Roan muttered something under his breath, but Julia was already adjusting the medical scanner.

She didn’t meet his eyes, but he could feel the tension in her.

He exhaled slowly. “You were scared for me.”

She glanced at him then, just briefly, but enough.

“So were you,” she murmured.

Roan closed his eyes. “Yes. You can see why.”

And that was terrifying.

CHAPTERNINE

Coleridge’s first breath came in a ragged hiss, not from pain—but from fury. The moment he realized he was still alive, he reached for his weapon.

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