Brows creased in doubt, Nikol stared at her until the silence around them turned awkward. At last, he inclined his head with a knowing glint in his deep brown eyes. “As you wish.”
Then he turned and marched toward the waiting ship. All eyes were on him until Gordo shouted. “Nikol, wait! What about me?! I have been loyal and the punan deserves what she gets.”
A loud growl came from one of the red uniformed figures standing guard by the Marenian vessel. Turning toward the sound, Mischka gasped. Her heart thumped in recognition. She’d recognize those unusual dark eyes anywhere. He stormed toward her.
Bane.
He kept coming, not stopping until he stood next to Gordo. “I would love an excuse to end you.”
Gordo thrust his chin up, ignoring the guard who had a vice-like grip on his bent arms in the cuffs. “Fuck you, Jutak!”
Struggling against the hold, Gordo yelled for Nikol again. Bane bypassed him with a frustrated snort and walked toward Mischka. When he stood beside her and shoved back his red mask, she shivered.
Mischka sucked in a deep breath. Her lips parted to speak yet nothing came out. There was so much to say but little time and they weren’t exactly in an ideal place to speak.
Her gaze shifted to the waiting prison guards in their drab brown. She wished—she wished things were different. Her eyes watered.
Feeling as if her world was tumbling to an end, she wished she’d been born someone else. It was difficult to speak as she faced him. “Bane—”
The roar of an engine cut through her words. Mischka was glad. She swiped at her eyes to get herself together and turned along with everyone else. Nikol stopped in the middle of the space port, his head jerking up to watch the new mid-sized ship land. This one less familiar but easily identified as a short range craft designed by Marenian.
The soldiers in red clustered together but Bane remained at her side. He cupped her jaw in his hand and turned her face toward him. “Mischka, I didn’t get to say what I wanted last night.”
As always, hearing her real name on his lips caused a myriad of feelings. Tugging back, she forced herself to create space between them. “It’s too late for anything else.”
Far too late.
“I want...I need to know...” He stopped and sighed, his hand falling away.
Let it go. Let it go and face life without him. Unfortunately, Mischka was caught in his magnetic pull. Nothing could have stopped her from asking even as her heart felt rendered in two. “Need to know what?”
The door on the new ship opened and a rolling staircase slid out. Coming down in an odd embrace were two males. One had his arm wrapped around the shoulder of the other as they limped carefully to the ground. A cheer went up from the small gathered crowd and Mischka couldn’t miss the excited faces.
“We need to move you and the other prisoner to the transport,” the guard behind her murmured.
“Wait!” Bane reached for her, the look on his face one she couldn’t place.
***
“Bane, lets move!” Torkel barked.
Bane’s fingers skimmed Mischka’s arm as the guards led her away. His chest burned with a pain he couldn’t pinpoint. Mischka tossed him a glance over her shoulder, mouth tight and brown eyes dark with torment and remorse.
He thought of his maman’s words. What if Mischka lied to protect herself? Or worse to protect him? Bane took a step toward her. To do what, he didn’t know.
“Bane!” Torkel yelled again.
His gaze ripped from the sight of the one woman who meant more to him than any other ever had. Separate guards pulled a resisting Gordo along. He kicked and yelled as they dragged him away. Mischka was led farther and farther away, shortly to be out of his reach. Forever.
Foreboding and an eerie sensation he couldn’t shake filled his gut. With his tension mounting, Bane glanced around. The space port was an accident waiting to happen. The Majad of Marenia sending a ship for Nikol at the same time as the arrival of the prison transport meant they had to be on their guard. There was also the return of Kyele and Vee.
“Walk with me,” Torkel insisted and signaled to Dr. Maku, who had accompanied them.
With monumental effort, Bane tore his gaze from the stiff line of Mischka’s back. He followed his Unit Leader to meet Kyele and Vee, both staggering down the ramp of the stolen ship.
As soon as he saw his friend’s condition up close, he rushed over to support his weight. Kyele, while in better condition, still appeared worn.
Vee lifted his head as if the effort took a lot from him. “Eva?”
Of course, his Chosen would be the first thing he wanted to know about. Bane supported him with an arm about his waist from one side while Torkel and Dr. Maku carefully walked beside Kyele. “Eva is fine. Anxious for your return.”
He didn’t mention the Supreme Matire’s demands. There would be plenty of time for that later.
“Good,” Vee breathed, allowing more of his weight to lean on Bane. “And the Marenians?”
Bane shot him a quick, confused look. “They are being sent to await a judiciary trial. Except Nikol. Torkel had to negotiate his release.”
A frown creased Vee’s forehead. “The female. What will happen to her?”
Swallowing past the knot lodged in his throat, Bane shook his head. “I’m unsure.”
He didn’t explain that he wanted to snatch her away from the prison guards and take her to their home.
“That’s odd. I sensed you had strong feelings for her and expected you to do more.”
Their steps slowed down the ramp. Kyele and Torkel glanced over at them but Bane’s attention was on Vee. “What do you mean? She lied about her identity. I’m not even sure if what I felt was real.”
Although it had been. He knew it now.
Vee came to a full stop and met his gaze. “The question you need to ask isn’t if the feelings were real but if she’s worth it to find out.”
It was what Bane had wondered as well. The reason he was torn wasn’t because he didn’t think it could work out but because they hadn’t had the chance to find out.
Lips hiked up in a half grin, Vee rapped his shoulder. “Remember you said to watch you if you ever tried to screw up the possibility of a Chosen. Consider this that warning.”
Chosen? Bane tried to figuring out what Vee thought was between him and Mischka that would warrant participating in a Presentation ceremony.
“No! I won’t go!”
“Halt! Jutak warriors, cease!”
His teammates’ voices rang out in a familiar call. Vee stiffened in his grasp. Bane turned toward the commotion. Shouts from the prison guards joined the cacophony and a shrill scream shattered the early morning day, raising the hair on his arms and savaging him because Bane recognized the feminine voice.
Chapter 27
“Please keep moving,” the guard coaxed, shooting Mischka a cautious look.
Ignoring the pain in her heart, she kept her head up. She refused to watch Bane. The longing tearing her apart inside was too painful. Gordo, on the other hand, was kicking and screaming the entire way toward the prison ship, forcing the two guards at his side to drag him as he yelled for Nikol to come back for him.
“Stupid Marenian,” the guard on her left snarled.