Fenturi Fate (Spacestalker Saga Book 1) (10 page)

Jace? We’re back.

She stopped in her tracks hearing a fuzzy kind of static. Odd. Jace hadn’t mentally greeted her upon docking the shuttle, and he hadn’t answered her either. Even as she told herself she was probably being paranoid, she withdrew her Ton and crept silently down the corridor.

As she neared the front of the ship she stilled, but sensing nothing out of the ordinary, she continued toward the control room.
The door opened easily and she found Shea and Jace sitting where they normally would.

“Jace?
Shea?
What’s going on?
” she asked their backs, concerned that they still hadn’t turned to face her.

It’s a trap, Dare. Run!
she heard in her mind before Jace yelled, “Go! It’s a trap. Get out.”

Then a sudden blow from out of nowhere rendered him unconscious.
In the blink of an eye the rifle that had struck Jace vanished.

What the hels?

The air around the control room shimmered, and she sensed the enemy though she couldn’t see them. Suddenly two large men and one smaller man appeared in front of her, one binding Shea in ropes while the others faced her.
She quickly took in the details even as she fired a blast at the man nearest her.
He and his twin shocked her by dodging the Ton’s blasts. And then a fourth figure enveloped her in massive arms from behind, quickly disarming her.

She kicked behind her and earned a muffled grunt and freedom for her troubles.
Jerking away and b
acking quickly to the wall, she faced the intimidating group before her.

The twins, two tall, muscular men with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes, stood over Shea and Jace.
The man who’d taken her Ton looked familiar, his eyes wrinkled at the corners, showing her a joy for life not present on his warlike face.
He had a barrel of a chest, a large frame like the others but wore a mustache that gave him a menacing appearance.

Another male, blue, small and curled into himself simply stared with interest around him.
The air shimmered again, and a new intruder appeared.

“Shorhu shit.”
Dare recognized the Legionnaire from Vembi, the same man who continued to haunt her nights and plague her with erotic dreams.

He stared at her, his features grim, his hands at his sides…weaponless.
A glance round her showed
all of his men without weapons.
Then where had the Bylaran rifle gone that had struck Jace?
And what about Roc? Had anyone captured him yet?

Without any more thought, she succumbed to her instinctive need to fight and protect her own and released the holds on her Fenturi blood.

She crouched low and stared unerringly at their weakest link, the small blue man with bulging eyes.
Before she could think to capture him, he vanished.
Her gaze narrowed when she realized he must have worn a beacon, like the others did.
Apparently now everyone had teleporters.

“Where’s the Rovi?” the dark Legionnaire, Green Eyes, asked, his voice calm.

When she made no move to answer him, he nodded to the twins, who suddenly vanished.
Swearing under her breath, she tossed a knife from her sleeve with deadly accuracy into the alarm panel right next to Jace’s prone form.

Lights and noise filled the room, and Shea’s fear receded enough to nod approvingly at her action.
The added frowns of her two captors buoyed her spirits as well.

“I doubt it would do us any good to tell you the Legion has need of your ship and your assets?” Green Eyes asked.
At Dare’s silence, he shook his head.
“No?
Then know we are commandeering this vessel and taking all of its occupants and equipment on behalf of the Legion.
Some of the equipment, I’m sure you’ll agree, already belongs to the Legion.” He sounded amused.

Tired of his wordplay, Dare acted. Without warning, she executed a perfect low sweep with her legs that caught the brawny mustached man to her right.
He tried to regain his balance, but a short jab rendered him immediately unconscious.

Green Eyes scowled at her and his now prone man.
That’ll teach you not to underestimate me
. To her bafflement, the challenge felt…right. She didn’t fear this confrontation. Instead, she was eager to engage in the pending battle.

The warrior had moved smoothly on Vembi, but here in her ship against a Fenturi she wondered how he’d do.

She circled him warily, keeping her distance from his lethal hands and feet.

He mirrored her actions and studied her.
She struck out quickly, aiming for a vulnerable spot on his chest that he narrowly blocked.
Sh
e swore to herself. With just one touch there he’d have been too sick to stand.

She ducked as he kicked at her head.
In a test of strength the warrior would surely win.
But Dare had been in battles before with larger men.
Strength worked not half as well as speed and strategy.

If she could only get her Ton back…
She spotted it near Jace.

She needed to keep Green Eyes occupied until Roc arrived.
She had no doubt he would make short work of the twins, even if they did have a savage look about them.

Green Eyes aimed at her throat, a little slower than she’d have though him capable, no doubt hoping to disable her with the same move she’d used on his man.
She ducked back again and frowned at his less-than-enthusiastic follow-on punch.
She sensed he meant to immobilize but not hurt her, for his movements seemed stiff, restrained.
Not at all the way he’d fought the Shorhu Lord.

Using this knowledge to her advantage, she waited for his next attempt.
He aimed a punch to her stomach to incapacitate her.
Leaning into his fist, she seemed to absorb most of the attack, yet backed away from it too quickly for human eyes to witness.
Then s
he made the pretense of succumbing to the blow and fell to the ground with a muffled moan.

Shea’s horrified shriek worked to cover as a distraction.
Green Eyes seemed hesitant
.
Dare panted, as if with pain, and sent Jace a mental shout to kick the Ton toward her, praying some part of him would hear her.

Luckily, the Goddess was with her today. Jace managed a short kick.
The weapon slid into her hands as she turned to fire a blast at the Legionnaire.
Unfortunately, he’d moved from where he’d just been standing.

“By the Dark World,” she cursed and quickly looked around her.
Nothing.
T
he mustached man had disappeared as well.
She hurried to the alarm board and switched off the wailing.

“Roc?” she called into the intercom.
“Can you hear me?
Roc?” she repeated but received no answer.
Then another thought came to her.
Mra?
Can you hear me?

Between heartbeats, Roc and their attackers suddenly appeared.
Even as she pointed the Ton at them, the twins aimed Bylaran rifles at Jace and Shea.
Swearing as Roc’s large body slumped to the floor, Dare let the Ton dangle in her hand, her finger no longer on the trigger.

“Slowly,” the man with the mustache growled and eyed her with caution.
Green Eyes glared at her next to him.
The Legionnaires looked none the worse for wear.
Great, just great.
Roc and Jace were unconscious, Shea sat tied up in her chair, and Mra was nowhere to be seen.

Just then a low growl rumbled through the room, and the intruders froze.
Dare could feel Mra stalking the room and used her Fenturi inner senses to detect Mra’s movements—invisible to the naked eye, but not to the Fenturi to whom she’d bonded.

“Whatever it is, call it off or I’ll blast it.
And trust that I will find it, even if I have to shoot through all of you to do it,” Green Eyes promised with a throaty growl.
Dare glared at him but didn’t want to chance Mra and the others’ safety.

“Mra, leave off,” she warned and sent the guidecat a mental note.
Go back to your jungle and wait there.
You may provide us help yet.
 

She could only wait and watch, keeping her expression blank as Mra ignored her and moved quietly toward Green Eyes.
To Dare’s amazement, the cat made no noise and only sniffed curiously at his feet before turning on her tail and sauntering back out the door, all while still invisible.

“Don’t move,” Green Eyes ordered, and Dare watched as the weapons turned as one toward
her
.
Careful to stay out of the line of fire, Green Eyes stepped around her and pushed her against the wall, face first.
He spread her feet apart and put his hands on her shoulders.

“What are you
doing
?” She tried to turn around, but his hands tightened on her shoulders, and his large body pressed her against the wall, so that she was unable to move.

“Now, my little Kre cat,” he said softly in her ear, “I’m going to make sure you don’t have any other weapons on you.
One move out of line and I’ll have to injure the pretty little redhead over there.
You don’t want that now, do you?”
 

Dare turned her blazing eyes to meet his calm ones and clenched her jaw tight.
“I’m going to make you pay for this.”

“Promises, promises,” he said with a husky laugh. Then he placed her hands above her head on the wall. “Don’t move,” he added, no longer amused, but merciless.

She felt a curious warmth as his hands roved thoroughly over her body.

“Watch it,” she warned and cursed him a time or two to watch his hands. A curious heat invaded her, that need for something out of reach. Her breasts felt heavy, her stomach fluttery, empty, and a tingle grew into a tease between her legs.
Goddess, what is he doing to me?
After what felt like forever, he turned her to face him and stepped back, allowing her room to move.

He had an odd glint in his eyes, a flash of green that seemed to shine with an inner purple light, and Dare felt her own eyes burning.

With the need to make him pay,
she told herself, yet her gaze strayed to his mouth…and lingered.

“Okay, sweetness.”
He smirked, and she heard his crew chuckle.
“Let’s try this again.” He moved back and nodded to her to sit on a nearby chair.

She would have launched herself at him, but he cocked an eyebrow at her and glanced down at
her
Ton
his
hand.
She refused to let her temper override her sense of preservation, especially since the twins turned their weapons back on her crew.

“Very good,” Green Eyes drawled.
“I’m Captain of the
Eyshan6
, a Legion patrol looking for some very important people.
It’s curious that we couldn’t seem to contact you on Rovi.
W
e must have just missed your transport,” he mused as he stared at her two unconscious crewmembers.

“Why are you hassling us?” Dare spat.

“What do you have to hide?” Ren retorted.
“Your man over there…” he motioned to Jace “…was
extremely
unpleasant upon our arrival.”
He stared at Jace with clear menace, causing Dare to reassess the danger potential in the man.

“Just tell me what you want,” Dare bit through clenched teeth, aching to hold onto her patience.
“Look, the sooner I give you what you want, the sooner you’re off my ship and bothering some other law-abiding System member.”

“Now that attitude I like.” The captain stared at her.
“Glad to see that Shorhu bite didn’t do any damage,” he added, studying her.
Any hope that he might have forgotten the incident on Vembi or not recognize her faded.

“Can I at least tend to my crew? Or Shea can do it.” She looked at Jace and Roc.

He nodded but clamped a large hand on her arm forestalling her from getting any closer to her men.
“Let Shea do it.
Nesh, Ned?
Watch the Lynaran.”

The giant twins moved alongside Shea as she raced to Roc’s side.
After a moment, she seemed to relax.
Shea glared at her captors before moving to Jace, then she nodded at Dare. “They’re okay.”

  “Nesh, Ned?” the captain said. “Make sure Shea doesn’t do anything foolish when you escort her and the men back to her quarters.
Then lock them in until I’m finished here.”

Dare watched in amazement as the twins easily hefted both Jace and Roc over their shoulders and nudged Shea to precede them.
The mustached man leaned back against a bulkhead, keeping a wary eye on her, while the captain watched her.

“Captain,” Dare began with a tenuous leash on her control, “suppose you tell me what this is really about.
You and your men aren’t typical Legionnaires.
And since no one on my ship has been involved in anything illegal,” she lied through her teeth, “I can’t possibly know what you want from us.”

He gave her a lingering once-over that left no imagination as to what he wanted, what he’d like to be doing to her.
Dare knew that look, had been its recipient plenty of times before.
But instead of feeling insulted, Dare felt an odd…arousal…inside her flaring out, seeking the source of her need.

Not going there,
she told herself and quashed the carnal curiosity before it could rage out of control. She glared at Green Eyes—the captain—and watched his lips curl into a surprising grin.

“So you’re the captain of the infamous
SpaceStalker,
eh?
Your ship and your exploits are legendary,” he murmured, his eyes a blazing green that beckoned her to look closer.
“You know a lot of people in places where people don’t want to be known.” He paused, staring at her with such intensity she wondered if he could see into her soul. “What can you tell me about the Mari?”

“The what?” Dare blinked.
She’d been expecting an inquisition about the stolen beks, or at the least questioning about the gravity machine.
“What’s a Mari?”

He frowned. “Not a what, a who,” he explained.
“You haven’t by chance heard of a lost Fenturi wandering throughout space, have you?”

Dare purposefully kept her eyes glued to his even as her heart raced.
“No.
Not a lot of Fenturi around anymore,” she said bitingly.
“But then I’m sure you’d know all about genocide,
Legionnaire
,” she said with a bitter sneer.
Screw being polite. This guy was one of those who’d killed her people. Nothing she said would sway him from his purpose.

“And wouldn’t the world be a better place without the prideful Fenturi?” he asked in an odd voice.
His man grunted, and Dare took her gaze from her inquisitor long enough to note that mustached man kept a healthy distance from her position by the wall.