Page 9 of Pursued By the Dragon Alien

Razion arched a brow at her. “You planning to help?”

She shrugged. “Wouldn’t mind. You planning to let me?”

Cozax laughed again, clearly relishing the way Lilas held her ground. “She would have turned Gribna’s harem upside down,” she said, nudging Vedd with her elbow. “Almost a shame to not see that.”

Razion’s gaze lingered on her, steady and unreadable. He was a mystery, locked and closed, but Lilas held his gaze and refused to fidget under his scrutiny. If he was trying to decidewhether or not to let her stay, that was fine. She could decide whether or not she even wanted to.

Finally, he gave a slow nod. “You can stay, if you want. For now.”

Lilas arched a brow. “Oh, wow. That’s so generous.”

He raised one dark brow, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “Provisional crew member,” he clarified. “Don’t expect instant trust. You’ll have to earn that.”

Lilas shrugged. She hadn’t expected anything different. “Fair enough. But I assume if I’m part of this crew, provisional or not, I should know what exactly it is you do.”

“We disrupt trade routes of criminals,” he replied. “We redistribute wealth to those who’ve been harmed, and step on the Axis whenever we get the chance.”

Cozax grinned, propping a boot up on a nearby chair. “In simpler terms? We make life miserable for the bastards profiting off people likeyou.”

Lilas absorbed that, tapping her fingers against her forearm. It wasn’t exactly noble, but it wasn’t evil either. They weren’t scavengers preying on the weak. They were vultures circling the rot of the galaxy. It wasn’t a bad gig.

“So, what?” she asked, tilting her head at Razion. “You give your stolen treasures to the poor and starving?”

Vedd snorted. “If there’s any left after keeping the ship running, paying off those who help us, and making sure we don’t starve.”

Razion didn’t deny it. “We do what we can.”

Lilas narrowed her eyes at him. She had spent her entire life surrounded by people who made their motivations clear—greed, survival, and desperation. Razion didn’t fit neatly into any of those categories, and that bothered her. She liked it when people made sense. He didn’t.

But if this crew was already fighting against the Axis, then she was exactly where she needed to be.

“Alright,” she said. “When do I start?”

A slow smile spread across Razion’s far too attractive face. It sent an alarming flush to her neck. “You already have.”

Lilas glanced around the room again, at the crew she wasn’t sure she trusted yet, but who at least didn’t seem eager to toss her out an air lock. That was something, at least.

She was still stuck in a situation she hadn’t chosen. Still in a life that wasn’t hers.

But for now?

She’d play along.

FOUR

Razion

Razion wasn’t sure why he felt such relief when Lilas agreed to stay. It wasn’t like he’d been waiting on her decision. She was one female, and his crew had run just fine without her before. But now that she was here, something in his chest settled. Maybe it was because she was Terian. A species that had all but vanished from the galaxy at the same time period as his own. Plus, Teria was in the same star system as Zarux, and both were now Axis territory. Neither could be a coincidence.

She wasn’t just rare. She was a potential link to his own past.

Razion glanced at her as she stood with her arms crossed, radiating skepticism beneath that too-loose tunic Cozax had dug up for her. Her fuchsia eyes gave nothing away, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t thinking. She was sharp. He needed to keep that in mind.

He turned to Vedd. “That encrypted transmission—scrap whatever else you’re decrypting and focus on the Axis contact. I want to know who Gribna was working with.”

Vedd arched a brow. “Like I need an excuse to crack open Axis secrets.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ll let you know when I have something.”

Razion nodded, then turned to Lilas. “Come on. You need to know your way around the ship.”

---