Page 45 of Her Lawless Prince

“Don’t want you to worry,” Rick’s voice resumed. “The ship shooting at us is a short ranger.”

“Someone’s shooting at us?” Nyle repeated in surprise, tugging on his pants.

“Rick’s the best pilot that I—” The ship jerked and trembled, cutting off her words. They remained upright.

“We’ll outrun them,” Rick stated.

Payton followed Nyle’s lead, pulling on her clothes. She didn’t buckle the shirt.

The ship continued to shake.

“This is not how I thought we’d spend the morning,” he admitted.

Payton had enjoyed sleeping in his arms. She should have known it wouldn’t last. She tugged on her boots.

Nyle opened the door and stepped into the corridor as the ship jarred again. He held on to the frame. “We should get to the cockpit.”

“We need to find Yevgen and keep him safe,” she countered.

The ship trembled violently, and a grinding noise came through the walls. The lights turned off in the sleeping quarters, and the corridor lights dimmed to a soft green that came from beneath the floor grates. Her eyes adjusted easily to the shadows.

Nyle reached for her hand and pulled her behind him as he rushed toward the cockpit. Her feet suddenly lifted off the ground as they tried to run, and her stomach lurched. She felt suspended for a brief second before gravity pulled her feet down once more. Nyle stumbled with her and tried to run forward. They made it a few steps before they again lifted off the ground, floating weightless in the corridor.

Payton felt like she was falling. She kicked her feet, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference as she barely moved. If she didn’t see the floor beneath her, she would have assumed she was upside down.

Nyle pulled her through the air. He pushed his hand along the wall to launch them forward. They swam through the corridor as if suspended in water without moisture. Her legs lifted behind her, and she became parallel with the floor.

Dev appeared from around the corner. “Are you unharmed?”

“I haven’t done this since I was a child,” Payton said, trying to float to a stop before they crashed into him. Without something solid to push against, her flailing did little good.

“Who is chasing us?” Nyle asked.

“Looks like a Federation scouting ship. It isn’t made for deep space travel, but it’s fast. There will be a mother ship behind it.” Dev moved back the way he’d come and led them around a corner. “We need to get you strapped in. Rick’s going to outrun them, but it’ll be a bumpy, dark ride. We’re diverting all power to the engines.”

Nyle grabbed the corner and pulled them around after Dev. Her feet overshot the turn, and she kicked off the wall. Ugly creaks reverberated through the metal. They floated in the air, physically unaffected by the shaking vessel. Dev reached a doorway and grabbed the frame before holding his hand out for Payton. She took it, and he pulled her through the door. Her hand slipped from Nyle’s as she went into the small communications room.

“Buckle in,” Dev ordered.

Yevgen already waited, strapped down in a seat with two disconnected wires suspended next to him. “You should not worry, my love. I have calculated a sixty-seven percent chance of survival.”

The lights flickered, and the ship lurched, whipping Yevgen’s head forward.

“Fifty-six percent chance of survival,” Yevgen corrected.

Payton pulled herself into a seat next to Yevgen. Her body hovered weightless over the cushion as she struggled to grab the straps floating in the air beside it. Yevgen pushed on her thigh to steady her into the chair. Her hair drifted around her head.

“You too,” Dev ordered Nyle. “And don’t move from the seats unless we tell you to.”

Dev pushed out of the room.

Nyle pulled himself into a seat across from her. His eyes locked on hers. He strapped himself in as if he’d done it a million times. The ship continued to shake, each vibration rocking through her now that she was held down.

“Do you think Captain Rita somehow contacted the Federation, and that’s how they found us?” Payton asked.

“That was an alien ship that—” Nyle began.

“Fifty-three percent chance of survival,” Yevgen interrupted.

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