“Sit down, Nova,” he said, his voice scarily deep. “You’re making a scene.”
“Sweetheart, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”
I spun away and stalked towards the exit of the mess hall very aware that all eyes were on me. I reached into my pocket, fisted my hand around my scissors, and sped up when I heard a lone chair scrape against the floor. My gut told me it was Kol and that he was coming after me. I got out into the hallway, and something inside me screamed at me to run, so I did.
“Nova!”
Chapter Four
“Stay the hell away from me!”
Two males who were walking down the hallway parted and allowed me to run between then. I could have sworn they were grinning, but I didn’t pause to find out. I screamed when I was suddenly lifted into the air from behind.
“Never run from me,” Kol growled into my hair. “My instinct is to chase after you.”
Like a predator.
I didn’t think, I just reacted.
I used my thumb to push the scissors into position in my hand, then I adjusted my grip, and slammed my hand down onto the arm wrapped around me. The point of the scissors broke the skin on Kol’s arm, and when I released it, I noticed it was almost fully imbedded in his flesh. Kol dropped me with a roar, and the second my feet touched the ground, I instantly took off running once more. I heard another roar then the clink of metal hitting the ground. My freedom was short-lived because I quickly found myself picked up like a ragdoll once more.
Only this time I had no weapon to defend myself.
“That hurt,” Kol’s menacing voice snarled into my ear. “A lot.”
I struggled against his hold. “I hope it did!”
He tightened his arms around me, and the action squeezed me enough to silently relay the warning for me to stop fighting, so I did.
“How do you move so fast?”
I felt vibrations from Kol’s chest rumble against my back, and I didn’t know what it meant.
“My legs are longer than yours. I’m naturally superior to humans, so I do everything better.”
His answer irked me.
“Can you fuck off better than a human?”
Kol hoisted me up against his chest.
“I know what that Earther word means. I can certainly fuck better than any human male. Would you like me to prove it?”
I should have been horrified by his crude words, not mildly intrigued by them.
“You’re a pervert.”
He snarled at me. I realised then that his mouth was dangerously close to my neck, and that he didn’t need any more encouragement to rip my throat out, so I clamped my lips together.
“You attacked me,” he said, his voice holding a hint of disbelief, and if my ears weren’t betraying me, it also sounded like he was impressed. “You actually attacked me.”
I set my jaw. “I don’t trust you.”
“Really?” He grunted. “I’d have never guessed that.”
He was goading me.
“Put me down!” I demanded, hoping the fear I felt wasn’t obvious from my tone or in my damn scent. “I’m going to be sick if you don’t. I ate a lot of food.”
Kol muttered something under his breath as he lowered me to the ground. When I was sure I wasn’t going to throw up, I turned to face him with lightning speed and pinned him in place with a well-earned glare.
“Don’t you ever put your hands on me again, imauni.”
I used the Maji word to knock it home just how much of an arsehole I thought that he was.
The corner of his lips quirked. “Is that an order, little one?”
“You’re damn right it’s an order, you son of a—Stop smiling at me like that. I’m being as serious as a heart attack!”
“What’s a heart attack?”
I began to explain when I caught his grin and realised that he already knew and was just teasing me.
I glared. “I loathe you.”
“I know.” The infuriating idiot nodded. “It is why I am so amused; this has never happened before.”
“What?” I questioned. “No woman has ever attacked you and put you in your place?”
“No,” he replied. “Never.”
Because he is royalty.
“Yeah, well,” I shifted, nervously. “You’re not my prince.”
I knew how I sounded, like a stuck-up brat, but I didn’t feel like I was being irrational. I had a sick feeling in my gut about the Maji. Something about them didn’t sit well with me. There was much more to what they were telling me, and it resulted in my frustration and violent outburst. I was scared.
“I may not be your prince, little one, but as you’re on my craft, I am your shipmaster, and you will do as I say.”
His tone left no room for argument, but I argued anyway.
“And what if I don’t?” I demanded. “What if I refuse to cooperate?”
“Then you will vacate this craft immediately and no longer be under Maji protection.”
I didn’t know what I was expecting Kol to say, but that certainly wasn’t it.
“That sounds an awful lot like a threat, Shipmaster.”
“It is a fact, not a threat.”
“Fine,” I said, lifting my chin. “I’ll find Surkah, get my stuff that I was brought aboard with, and I’ll leave.”
“Your items were destroyed.”
They were worthless anyway.
“Whatever. I’ll just say goodbye to Surkah, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I don’t understand what that means.”
I waved him off. “You don’t need to.”
If I had known that simply arguing with Kol would have gotten me kicked off the Ebony, I’d have done it a lot fucking sooner!
I turned and walked away from him; grateful he didn’t pick me up again. He did follow me, though, and the annoying pig gave me directions to the medical bay when I had no idea what turn to take in the enormous spacecraft. He chuckled when my frustration began to show.
After what felt like an eternity, we came to the hallway I was familiar with. Mikoh was leaning against the wall adjacent to the medical room’s invisible entrance. I raised my brow, wondering how he got here, and then I wondered if he and Surkah were informed of the new humans needing medical attention by Kol with their mind comms when they went for second helpings. They must have left the mess hall when Kol sat with me. Now that I thought about it, I was sure he sat with me to appease Surkah because she knew I’d be scared to be left on my own.
“I smell blood,” Mikoh said as we approached. “Who is hurt?”
“She attacked me with a cutter,” Kol said nonchalantly. “She hit the bone, too.”
Mikoh burst into laughter, and it struck me as incredibly odd that he would find it funny that I stabbed Kol, his prince. What was weirder was that Kol had barely bled after I stabbed him. He wiped away the blood that was spilled, and nothing fresh had come from the wound since so I wasn’t sure how Mikoh could smell it. I blinked when Kol manoeuvred around my body, briskly sliding by me and quickly entering the room that had housed me for the past two days
“I’m with him,” I said to Mikoh, jerking my head towards the room where Kol disappeared into.