Page 21 of Mated in the Stars
"I've seen your logs, captain." Ak’kel accused her, the anger in his voice unmistakable.
Sara frowned. Freezing briefly, she tried to think of her logs and what she might have recorded.
"Nothing to say, mate? "Ak’kel questioned. "You were the one planning to sell your Vrak’rir mate."
"Didn't know you were my mate." And even if she had it wouldn't change her plan to take back her ship. Didn't matter if he was her mate. She didn't know him. Didn’t love him. He was just some stranger to her. The sex hadn’t changed any of that.
Placing the canister on the floor, Sara knelt by the panel in the wall, dug her fingernails under the panel, and popped the metal lid off.
"It's not too late, mate. I've got men working on these locked doors. I'm still willing to be lenient."
"Uh, huh. Sure." Sara muttered as she leaned the metal panel against the wall. "If you're as bad as I think, then I've already gone too far. You'll give my crew no mercy."
"Are they a part of this?"
"No." Sara answered immediately. In case the Vrak’rir did get out, she wanted to make sure she was the only one who took the fall for this. They were loyal to her, and she was loyal to them.
Okay, she was looking for... oh. Sara switched off the lever, and then she popped out the canister. She grabbed her canister off the floor and attached it to the ventilation system.
"Sleep well, Vrak'rir.” She sing songed.
It didn't take long before he growled through the intercom completely furious with her. "Damn, human. You bestmake sure this kills me. Because if I ever wake up, I will hunt you down."
"Good luck." Sara couldn't stop herself from spitting out. She’d hidden from one crazy ex, she could hide from another.
Chapter 7
Three weeks had passed since Sara and her crew had gassed the Vrak’rir and his crew and then dragged their unconscious forms onto a shuttle. They’d set the navigation to the shuttle to just go… nowhere in particular. Just in the opposite direction they were planning to head.
Three weeks of being on the run. It seemed Ak’kel was living up to his promise and constantly trying to hunt her down. Every time she thought they might be safe, they caught wind of one of his ships or his people nearby searching. Damn. He had his hands in almost every part of space from what it felt like.
Sara sat with some of her crew at a table in the common area. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of synth-ale, the faint hum of the ship’s engines in the background. "Maybe I should give myself over to him." She murmured as she glanced around the table.
"Like hell." Berg snarled as his head snapped up. "No way we'd let you." He folded his arms and scowled at her with a clenched jaw. "Even if we have to mutiny and tie you up."
"He probably won't kill me." Sara reasoned. "I'm his mate after all."
"Did you conveniently forget all the information I dug up on him?" Joana asked with skeptically raised brow. "Man's a raving lunatic. Do you really think your status as his mate will save you?"
"Yeah," Cat agreed. "He's even killed family members for going against him, and you've probably, no,” she pointed a finger at Sara, “you definitely embarrassed him in front of his men. I don't think you have to worry about him killing you. Ithink you need to worry about all the ways he can torture you without the bliss of death."
The room went silent, as each of them thought of the grim ways Ak’kel could torture her.
"We've barely been able to pick up supplies without feeling his men breath down our necks." Sara sighed, tired from the constant running around. "Every run we make is a gamble, because we all know he won't stop."
Cat closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. “We can’t keep living like this. We’re barely scraping by. Every time we stop by a debris field we have to run away. Same with the scrap yards.” She let her forehead drop to the tabletop.
"You can't be seriously thinking about it." Berg glared at the top of Cat’s head.
Cat shrugged, still face down. "Can we keep living this way? We can barely keep up with simple supply runs. We aren't able to spend time at debris fields."
Even though Sara was the one to have suggested it, it still hurt to hear Cat agree with her.
"Let's see how this next run goes." Berg glanced between all of them. “One more shot, and then we will reassess.”
"Agreed." Cat and Joana said together.
"Agreed." Sara sat stiffly in her chair. She wouldn't break down. Not while in front of her crew. Voro had been correct. Their Vrak’rir had been the doom of her existence. She should have tossed him off her ship rather than hope for a bit more credits. This was what being greedy brought her. Now she had a looming Vrak’rir shadow.
