Chapter Six

The reception was slow and torturous, filled with schmoozing and sucking up. It reminded her of the political dinners and rallies she had to attend over the years for her mother’s benefit. This time, her mother was observing quietly, remaining on the outskirts of the crowd, though they occasionally exchanged glances. The confidence in her mother’s eyes always bolstered Jordan’s resolve, and she was almost eager to follow Aryk into his chambers when he deemed enough time had passed not to be rude. She was frankly surprised he cared about such niceties, but she was glad to have the entire situation over.

Not the entire situation, she reminded herself as she slipped into the room Aryk indicated, preceding him across the threshold. Her room was ridiculously lavish, and this was obscenely opulent. It was clearly the bedchamber of royalty, and no expense was spared. She almost cringed at how luxurious it was, knowing she would feel embarrassed to sleep in this place if their marriage had been real.

As soon as the door closed, his hands settled on her shoulders. She braced herself, turning to face him, and freezing in mid-step. Two of his guards flanked the inner door, and she frowned at him. “What are they doing here?”

He seemed startled by the question. “They’re my personal guards. They’re always there.”

She shook her head, pulling away from his fingers as they tried to trail up her arms. “You promised we’d be alone for our wedding night.”

He arched his brow ridge. “Did I? I don’t remember that, but if you say I did, my charming bride, I must have.”

She nodded, and then waited for him to dismiss them. And waited a little longer, and he still made no move to do so. “Well?”

“Well what, Jordan?”

She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Aren’t you going to get rid of them?”

He chuckled. “Never. The guards stay.”

She was flummoxed and had clearly been outmaneuvered by Aryk. She needed a chance to regroup and find another opening. Straightening her shoulders, she tried to move around Aryk. “Fine, if they aren’t leaving, I am. I’m not sharing my wedding night with two strangers watching us.”

His hand fastened around her arm when she tried to walk past him, his fingers biting into her skin so sharply he must be crushing the bone. She let out a small cry and tried to wrench herself away, but he held her firmly. “Let go of me.”

“You’re going nowhere.” His voice had lost any hint of indulgence, and he dragged her deeper into the room. She struggled against him, making eye contact with one of his guards. “Help me,” she called out to him. She wasn’t surprised, but was disgusted, when the guard’s gaze flicked away from hers, and his expression remained neutral. She would clearly get no help from them. Their presence stymied her efforts to assassinate Aryk, but would do nothing to deter him from consummating the marriage. She was in trouble.

Sash moved quietly behind Orix and in front of Ryland, aware of the need to remain undetected for as long as possible, though he was impatient to be done with their part of the mission so he could find Jordan to see if she had succeeded with hers. If she hadn’t, consequences for her would be dire, and it sent a chill through him.

It took everything he had to remain in formation as they moved quietly through the halls toward Jorvak’s chambers, having heard from another strike team that he had left the reception early to retire to his room. His place was with the strike team, but he really wanted to be with Jordan. He knew she had to complete her mission, and his arrival could ruin everything, but his insides were screaming at him to find Jordan.

If he hadn’t had such a shrunken latrael gland, he would have been certain his shea was trying to tell him something. Since he’d never experience that, he knew it was far more likely just his own imagination and paranoia had combined to give him a sense of urgency.

Finally, they reached Ha’s quarters, and Orix paused at the door for a moment, getting an image of the inside layout and determining where Ha was before plugging that data into the folding bands Karsh had made them. It worked with a different technology than their usual folding devices, allowing for a more precise arrival and stealth, but still required foreknowledge of the area to where they were folding, to avoid ending up molecularly fused to a piece of furniture or each other. Even worse, he couldn’t imagine how hellish it would be to end up fused to Jorvak Ha.

A moment later, Orix nodded, and Sash put his hand on the general’s shoulder as Inquisitor Breese did the same, clapping a hand over his other shoulder. As soon as they were all touching, Orix pushed the button on his folding band, and they appeared in Ha’s quarters a moment later.

The doctor had just emerged from his bathroom, and he stumbled to a stop in mid-step as they appeared before him. He opened his mouth, clearly planning to scream, but didn’t have the chance. Orix charged, jumping onto the doctor and knocking him to the floor before Ha could even get out a single syllable. His large hand clamped over the other man’s mouth, and Sash moved closer to help secure Ha. Ryland was behind him, and they quickly cuffed the scientist before dragging him to his feet.

“Jorvak Ha, you’re under arrest for war crimes against humanity.”

Sash allowed Orix to deliver the speech, wanting to tune it out. He understood the need to follow guidelines, but for his part, he would have been perfectly content with assassinating Ha just as Jordan had been tasked to do with Aryk.

Ha was as arrogant as ever as he glared at them. Even with his wrists confined behind his back, he hadn’t made any attempt to scream. Perhaps that had something to do with the pulser Orix held against his neck, but it was probably more from the other man’s own certainty he was more powerful than they were. He sneered at them. “You can take me through your kangaroo court trial, but I’m not afraid. I’ve done nothing of which I’m ashamed, and everything was to ensure the survival of our race. The humans will do nothing to me.”

Ryland stepped forward. “The humans will do a great deal to you. You’ve permanently altered their DNA, along with causing twenty percent of the population to die. I have a feeling they’ll reinstate the death penalty for you, though only a few of their countries still use it.”

Ha actually laughed. “The emperor will never allow that.”

Sash glared at him. “Your emperor has nothing to do with it. He’ll soon be in a position to help no one.”

Ha arched his brow ridge. “The Emperor is never alone or unprotected, so whatever you have planned, it’s bound to fail.” His eyes widened suddenly, and a hint of comprehension appeared in his gaze. “Is the human supposed to assassinate Aryk?”

He laughed again. “She’s no match for Aryk, especially with his personal guards. He would never trust her enough to be alone with her, so your plan is doomed to fail. Once Aryk disposes of her, he’ll raise the alarm, and you’ll be the ones in cuffs. I can promise you there’ll be no trial, because none is needed. You’re all guilty of sedition, and the penalty is death.”

Panic surged through Sash at the doctor’s words. He wanted to think it was simply a tool Ha was using to throw them off balance, but the words resonated with sincerity. Jordan’s plan was contingent on being alone with her new husband, and though he hadn’t been privy to the finer details, he could infer she was going to catch him when he was vulnerable and lost in arousal.

If she couldn’t get him alone, she wouldn’t be able to assassinate him. There was no way Jordan could handle three Dazon males, especially since two of them would be armed and heavily trained to guard their emperor. He traded a panicked glance with Orix, who nodded his permission. Technically, the general led a different part of their structure, but for this mission, Sash was at his command. Even if Orix hadn’t given him permission to leave to find Jordan, he would have done so anyway and risked charges of insubordination later. Those were the least of his concerns.

As he started to leave the chambers, he froze when Ha let out a small cry, turning to glance over his shoulder. His eyes widened with surprise as he saw Ryland slipping a pulser back into its holster. The doctor slumped forward, and he looked at the Inquisitor. “What happened?”

Ryland smiled. “I didn’t feel like hearing him all the way back to Earth. He isn’t dead, unfortunately. That honor belongs to the humans.”

Without another word, Sash left the chambers of the doctor, moving quietly through the halls as he made his way to the emperor’s bedchamber. He was certain Jordan would be there, and he was also sure there would be several guards between him and her. He pulled his pulser from his holster, setting it to maximum power as he vowed they wouldn’t stand in his way.

Jordan wondered if Aryk was part octopus, because he seemed to have hands everywhere after he tossed her onto the bed and pinned her down. Her dress was torn, but she didn’t care about preserving the garment as a memory of this horrible day. She just cared about preserving her modesty and hiding her body from his leering gaze.

She tried to shove his hands away, but he was certainly stronger than she was. Fighting was doing no good, and she was certain he’d soon conquer her. Her strength was already waning under the brunt of his, and she knew she had to switch tactics.

As loathsome as it was, she forced herself to relax and stare up at him as he pinned her hands to the bed. “If you insist on having your guards here, I’ll try to ignore their presence then.”

He eyed her warily, not releasing her just yet. “How surprisingly accommodating of you.” His tone revealed skepticism.

She frowned. “It’s not like I want them to be here, but it appears they’re a fixture, and I agreed to this marriage to secure the peace.”

His grip softened slightly, though he was still on the edge of striking at any moment, as evidenced by his body language. “Perhaps you should show me how dedicated you are to this notion of peace, Jordan.”

She almost heaved as her stomach churned, but she tried to keep her expression neutral and her tone impassive. “What do you want?”

He flipped her over on top of him, settling his back against the headboard in a semi-seated position. “Pleasure me, wife.”

She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she nodded. She would do that if she had to, but she hoped to have an opportunity before it reached that point. When his hands dropped away from her, though he was still cautious, she scooted up his body so that she was straddling his thighs.

Being that close to him in such an intimate pose made her skin crawl, and she buried her face against his chest for a moment as she drew in a deep breath, struggling to hide her expression of disgust. She hoped he would take it as her clumsy seduction attempt as she kept her face hidden and breathed in deeply, waiting until the surge of nausea had passed before lifting her head again.

She stretched, bringing herself higher so that her lips brushed against his jawline. She kissed him there before moving her lips closer to his, reminding herself what was at stake when she neared his mouth. The last thing she wanted to do was kiss him, but if it gave her the opportunity she needed, she had to take it.

With a deep breath to control her nausea, she pressed her mouth lightly to his, unsurprised when his lips consumed hers in a greedy kiss. He was the type to take and take, and he’d never give, and her life would have been miserable if she’d actually been there to try to coexist with him as his empress.

His octopus hands returned, roaming freely over her body and requiring every ounce of strength she had not to pry his hands from her breasts when he cupped them, his fingers tugging roughly at her nipples. She wasn’t certain if he was unskilled or just uncaring, but he would certainly be a terrible lover. She was certain it wouldn’t get to that point. She’d rather drive the hair comb into her own brain first.

She continued kissing him and stroking his shoulders, ever alert to his deepening breath and clear loss of control. His pace was growing more frantic, and he was clearly lost in lust. She stretched her arms, lifting a hand up to her hair decoration, and he didn’t even flinch. He didn’t pay any attention to what she was doing, and she could have been anyone or anything. As long as he received pleasure, he didn’t care about the identity of his partner, and he certainly wouldn’t care about ensuring his lover was gratified too.

She was thankful for that, having no wish to experience Aryk’s attempts at tenderness, if he even knew how. She didn’t want his hands on her, and she would require the hottest shower she could stand after this was over.

That was assuming she survived it. She knew her odds of doing so weren’t great as she pulled the hair comb from the twist she’d used to secure it, holding tightly to the handle as she pulled it back with all her strength. As soon as the guards realized what she had done, they would arrest her, and if they didn’t kill her, she’d probably be subject to some gruesome form of public execution if Ysaak and the others weren’t successful.

She steeled herself, finding surprisingly few doubts about her ability to carry through with this now that the time was at hand. As Aryk roughly palmed her breasts, she put all of her strength into her arm, driving it around and down, wincing as the blade penetrated his brainstem, and his hot blood splattered on her hand.

He jerked and spasmed, his eyes going wide with shock as he stared at her. It didn’t take long for the light to dim from his eyes and disappear completely, and then he slumped backward. It was over in less than a minute, but time seemed to have completely stopped during those handful of seconds.

It resumed abruptly when hard hands clasped her wrists, dragging her away from Aryk’s body. One of the guards focused solely on Aryk, while the other one confined her hands with cuffs before hitting her in the face as hard as he could. Stars danced behind her eyes, and she swayed on her feet. She was certain she would have fallen if the guard hadn’t maintained his cruel hold on the too-tight cuffs, making chains dig into her delicate skin.

It was worth it, whatever they did to her. Aryk was dead, and as long as Ha had been captured, or even better, killed while trying to escape, this nightmare was mostly over. She had to find a way to communicate with the others that Ysaak should step in, but she wasn’t certain how she’d manage to do that with her wrists bound and the two angry guards flanking her as the one gave up any attempts to resuscitate Aryk.

“He’s dead,” the one guard said to the other, looking shocked.

“His nanotechnology should repair the damage.”

Jordan grinned at him, though there was no humor in her voice. “It would, except one of our people figured out a solution that dissolves the nanotechnology, forcing the nanos to disintegrate. That’s why I had to stab him in the brainstem, destroying the hive of where the nanotechnology starts building itself so it wouldn’t have a chance to repair or warn the rest of the nanotechnology.”

The other guard slapped her with his hand across the mouth, making blood spatter and the taste of copper blossom on her tongue. She turned her head and spat, wincing at the pain from doing so. Maybe she should keep her mouth shut for now.

With that resolve in mind, she marched quietly between them, offering no resistance as they led her to the exit of the chamber. She was trying to be pragmatic. If the others’ plans had succeeded, she wouldn’t be in the custody of these guards for long. If they hadn’t succeeded, she was likely marching to her death, but it would just be that much faster than what many of the other people on Earth would face.

After assassinating Aryk, if someone else took over and wouldn’t follow Ysaak, there would probably be a full-scale war, because they wouldn’t care about what happened to the humans. Not that Aryk had cared either. He had simply cared about acquiring her, which had made him present the façade of being willing to work together for peace.

She was lost in her thoughts, dreading the possible future, so it took her a moment to realize one of her guards had dropped to the floor beside her. She looked down, stunned and trying to figure out how that had happened, as the other guard beside her stiffened and raised his pulser. Before he had a chance to use it, he grunted and slumped forward, and as he fell onto his stomach on the floor, she saw the gaping wound in his back, grimacing at the gruesome sight.

She turned to face whomever had taken out the guards, hoping it would be one of her allies. Even better, it was her mate, and she threw herself against Sash with a small cry of relief, burrowing against him as his arms came around her. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“As am I. Are you injured?”

She lifted her head, which must have clearly shown him the damage the guards and inflicted on her face. “I have a heck of a headache, but I’ll live.” She grinned at him. “That’s more than I can say for Aryk.”

“You succeeded?” At her nod, he grinned. “I’m so proud of you, Jordan. It was too much to ask of anyone without training, but if anyone could accomplish it, I knew it was you.”

She laid her head against his shoulder again, wishing she could wrap her arms around him. “I don’t suppose you have a key for these cuffs?”

He stepped back. “Lift your arms above your head and spread your wrists as far as possible.”

Her eyes widened when she saw him lift his pulser after changing a setting, and she braced herself when she did as he had directed, stretching her wrists as far apart as possible so he’d have several inches of chain at which to aim. Less than a second later, he had pressed the trigger, and the chain gave way, allowing her to drop her arms at either side of her body.

That pose didn’t last long, and she threw herself against him again, this time wrapping her arms around him and enjoying the safety of being in Sash’s arms. “I’m sorry I hit you,” she whispered against his chest.

He must have heard her words, even though they were spoken softly, because he laughed. “It’s all right. I understand why you did it, though I wish we’d had a chance to talk more about the plan.”

“I was afraid to say too much in that bedroom, not knowing if I was being watched or recorded.” She lifted her head, holding onto his shoulders as she did so. “I couldn’t risk Aryk finding out I was there to assassinate him, or I would have told you everything at that point.”

He nodded. “I understand, and it’s not like you had a chance to tell me before the guards folded in and took you. I’m just glad Karsh was able to replicate their technology so we could use it against them.”

“What about Ha? Did you get him?”

Sash nodded. “Ryland and Orix were folding back with him to the ship when I left them to find you. I had to make sure you were safe, and there were quite a few guards that wanted to make sure that didn’t happen, but they won’t be a problem.”

She thought about asking for details, but decided she didn’t want to know. She felt the same way about what she’d had to do to Aryk. Unless Sash needed or wanted all the details, she didn’t intend to share them. It was a traumatic event, and she’d be happy to forget about it for the rest of her life, rather than dwell on it or discuss it endlessly. No doubt, she would have to debrief someone with the details, but she hoped it wouldn’t be Sash. They didn’t need the ugliness between them, from either of their actions. They were justified, but better forgotten as quickly as possible.

“Let’s go home.”

She hesitated for a moment at his suggestion. “Is everything done on the planet? I mean everything we had to do?”

He nodded. “All the teams have checked in, and I heard updates as I was dealing with the people keeping you from me. Every one of our strike teams succeeded. Ysaak is at this moment in the throne room, reclaiming the Dazon Empire, and the ambassador is with him, though I’ve heard the emperor is fussing about her insisting on traveling with him this late in her pregnancy.”

“Their baby needs to be born on Dazonia Major, because it will cement the child’s future claim to the throne.”

He nodded, seeming pleased with her perceptiveness. “That’s exactly what Embeth said. Were you part of her plan?”

She shook her head. “No, but it makes perfect sense. If you were about to become the emperor, our children would have to be born on Dazonia Major as well.”

His arms tightened around her, and he regarded her solemnly. “Is that something you want?”

She frowned in confusion. “To stay on Dazonia? No, not really. The Moon feels like home to me now.”

He smiled, but shook his head. “It does to me as well, but I wasn’t talking about staying on Dazonia. I was asking about children. Do you want to be my mate and have my children?”

She arched her brow. “Yes, of course. I thought we established that already.”

He shrugged. “I’m just making sure, I guess. That wasn’t really time to reach any firm decisions earlier. We were too busy doing other things to talk much on Outpost 182, and then you sent me back to the consulate, because it wasn’t safe to speak in your room. I’d like to know that we’re on the same page. Is that the correct saying?”

She nodded. “It is the correct saying, and I believe we’re firmly on the same page. Isn’t this the page where it says happily ever after?” He seemed confused by the reference, and she waved her hand, making a mental note to tell him about human fairy tales at some point. For now, she would just have to show him, she decided, as she pulled him close for a very deep kiss, sighing with pleasure to feel Sash’s arms around her and his mouth over hers. This was definitely the happily ever after point.