Page 12 of Mated in the Stars
"Promises. Promises." She clucked her tongue.
Did she think he was all bark and no bite? She was a damn fool.
"Breath deep, Vrak’rir and it will all be over soon." She murmured.
"So, you are killing me." He growled through clenched teeth as he eyed the swirling white above him. He was almost laying on the floor now.
Her laughter filled his cell and for a moment his heart sped up and a flicker of delight filled him at the sound. The sound sparked a dark corner of his mind, but then he scowled. The female was an irritant. There was nothing to enjoy about her.
"I'm not killing you." She sighed. "Breath deep, Vrak'rir. You will wake alive and well in a little bit." Then the comm crackled as she ended it.
Gritting his teeth, Ak’kel fought to hold his breath, desperate to outlast this white mist. Damn human. Sucking in a quick breath, surprise shot through him when the mist didn't cause him any breathing issues. It filled his lungs as easily as air. His eyelids drooped until he finally passed out. His last thoughts were violent images of ripping her head from her shoulders and laughing while her blood coated his hands.
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"Did you get it?" Sara asked Hunter from her position on the bridge, her tone sharp with anticipation. She leaned toward her comm, resting her elbows on her knees.
Hunter’s voice crackled through the comm, calm but efficient. "Got it. Force field is back up, and we should expect a very irate Vrak’rir to wake in an hour or so."
"Good. Now get his blood tested and let me know when we have a match." Sara met Cat's eyes. "Damn, Vrak'rir, would have had it easier if he'd just given me his name."
"Would you have trusted him to have given you the correct name though?" Cat raised an eyebrow. "I know I wouldn't trust him."
"No, I probably wouldn't have trusted him." Sara confirmed.
"Then it would have come to this at some point." Cat shrugged.
"Yeah." Sara shifted in her captain's chair, a little uncomfortable with the whole situation they were dealing with. "We normally deal in stuff, not people. I guess thinking about finding a buyer for him... well it puts me off a bit."
"Again, he would have died if we hadn’t rescued him,” Cat pointed out. “If someone does buy him and kills him, does it really matter?"
Sara scowled. "Yeah, because this time it would be my fault he's going to die."
Berg snorted, breaking the tense mood. "It wouldn’t be your fault. None of us would shoulder the entire blame. If he dies, we all share it.”
"Not really making me feel any better." Sara murmured as she rubbed her temples. The closer she got to finding a buyer for the Vrak’rir, the more she had a crisis of conscious. Like she’d said, she sold objects not people. She wasn’t sure she had the stomach for this.
"Once you see the credits,” Cat assured her, “you'll forget about it."
Sara wasn’t so certain that was true. She supposed they would see once it happened.
"How long for Hunter to perform his blood test?" Berg asked. "Wondering if I have time to grab a snack before things get interesting."
"I think you have time, yes." Sara rose to take his seat as he left the brig.
"Fetch me something." Cat called out right before the lift doors closed behind Berg.
Sara rolled her eyes. Her crew cared about credits, food… and well alcohol.
Suddenly her comm crackled back to life. "Captain."
Sara blinked down in surprise at the console down. She hadn’t thought to hear Hunter's voice so soon. Poor Berg. Guess he didn’t have enough time to grab a snack. He’d be so disappointed to learn he missed the big reveal.
"Problems?"
"No.” Hunter assured her. “I have an answer for you regarding the Vrak’rir’s name."
"And?" Sara turned her seat so she could see Cat as they waited for Hunter to fill them in.
