Saedra was afraid he’d reveal her part in it but she shouldn’t have. The growing smile on Garik’s face was full of arrogance. “Did you think my reputation was exaggerated?”
There was only a beat of quickening silence. Maurin was visibly enraged. His gaze swung toward Saedra. The truth clicked in his eyes and lit with a golden fire. “You!”
He signaled the guards with an angry swipe of his fingers in the air. The low whine of lasers came to life. With a roar of rage Maurin took a step forward, the intent to attack evident. Saedra stumbled backward but Garik caught her at the waist. She didn’t reply to his harsh accusation. Too afraid to anyway.
“You insist on being trouble for me. First, your mother and now you,” he snapped.
“Leave her alone.” Garik assumed a protective stance, blocking Maurin’s view of Saedra. “If you let us go now, I won’t kill you now.”
Maurin sneered. “Us? You plan to take the girl with you?”
“Yes.”
Her father laughed. “This is rich. She belongs to me and you’re not taking her anywhere, Denikon.”
Garik pulled Saedra under the shelter of his arm, tucking her in close to his side. “She doesn’t belong to you. She’s my bond mate.”
The stare he cast their way was incredulous until he burst into laughter and exchanged a look with the small number of guards with him. They joined in with awkward laughs. “This is rich. You bonded with her? With Saedra?”
This was the moment. Saedra tightened her fingers on Garik’s shirt. Her father was going to see to it that he got her back. The truth stared back at her as well as his malicious pleasure and what he was about to say.
“Don’t.” The plea escaped in a whisper.
It went unanswered. It was evident he took great relish in saying, “You are more fool than I thought, Denikon. My daughter has played her part well.”
Garik’s body stilled against her. He didn’t say anything in response to the taunting reveal but Saedra felt the change in him. She bit down hard on her inner cheek to keep from crying out. Her father was doing what he did best and ruining her plans before her eyes. Stopping her from leaving because it was a certainty that Garik would leave her behind with the reveal out in the open.
“So, what were you saying again? Still leaving with my little Saedra and our cleverly devised plan?”
“You lie.” Saedra trembled and released her clenched hand from Garik’s shirt. She couldn’t let him get away with what he was saying. “You are a rotten liar and no father to me. Never have been.”
Maurin laughed again and propped his hands on his hips. He rocked back on his booted heels and his smirk taunted her. She wanted to wipe it from his face. She wanted to destroy him as he sought to destroy her.
“Tell you what. I’ll let Denikon here go, if he leaves now.” He arched a brow. “Without you of course.”
Saedra gritted her teeth and boiled with anger. Tears pricked her eyes but she didn’t shed them.
“You are the epitome of cruel, Maurin,” Xyman said in a somber tone. “I took the contract on you to retrieve the item you stole from the Queen of Zephil but if Garik wishes, I will take you out now despite the request for execution being under his name.”
Saedra still had no idea who he was or his connection to Garik but she appreciated his defense.
“How do you plan to do that? My guards surround you.”
Her father didn’t appear remotely afraid but Garik and Xyman exchanged a knowing look and there was a staggered click from the black ship they’d been heading to. Xyman’s ship. The canons turned on their mounts and a mechanical voice said, “Targets acquired. Fire on your command.”
Xyman sauntered forward. He held his hand aloft and the object in his fist caused Maurin to curse. “I got what I came here for. We can end this with you and all your guards dead or you will stand aside and let us leave. Including your daughter.”
A whisper of breath slid from Saedra. Hope surged.
***
So many emotions flashed through Garik’s mind. Namely betrayal but he ruthlessly shoved that to the back. He’d deal with it later. Anger slammed to the forefront next countered only by impotence. He had no weapons and while a former fellow assassin, he wasn’t sure how much faith he put in Nevo being on his side or against him.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Maurin snarled. “Now!”
Possessive fury took over and Garik pushed Saedra down. Lasers blasted around them. He hunched around her body and moved them forward, managing to roll at the last second beneath the landing gear of Nevo’s ship. The canons boomed once, twice. The thud of bodies hitting the ground filled Garik with a rush of pleasure.
“End this, Maurin!” Nevo yelled. “You can’t win.”
Garik leaned into Saedra. “Don’t move.”
He hated the fear that flashed over her face then blocked it and launched to his feet to face Maurin. The Dragonian stood alone, his men on the ground unmoving around him and Nevo. A sneer twisted his face when his gaze locked on Garik.
“Make your choice, Maurin. Let us leave with her or your death is next.”
Nevo’s threat hovered in the air. Maurin pursed his lips then spit out a curse. “She played you perfectly, Denikon. Go ahead and take her...if you’re so foolish and trusting.”
Nevo kept his dual laser pistols aimed at Maurin but spoke to Garik. “Get her on the ship.”
The door behind them slid open and the ramp lowered with a smooth metallic click. Saedra crawled from under the ship her hesitant gaze moving from him to...her father. Her lips trembled and her hair was a tangled mess about her pale face.
“Is it true, Saedra? Are you his daughter?”
If possible, her face lost even more color. Her gaze implored. “Garik...”
The urge to go to her was strong, yet he couldn’t completely ignore what Maurin had revealed. She’d lied to him about the most important thing he needed to know. Everything between them had been built on deception. Hardening his heart, he tipped his head toward the ramp and tried to ignore the warnings blaring in his head to leave her behind. “Go.”
He’d discover the rest of the details later. Right now, they needed to leave Quantoon. Saedra bit her lip, then glanced at her father. Maurin wore a smug expression.
“You can always stay, daughter. You don’t have to continue our plans now that he knows what we did. They’ll be others to satisfy your cravings for affection.”
Garik blanched, his temper reigniting as he recalled thinking her touches were driven by innocence and true desire. Was it all a part of the lies? Was nothing between them real? He’d come so close to falling for her. Already cared for her deeply.
Saedra wore a blank mask, keeping him from reading her thoughts. She couldn’t hide her body language though and tension lined her straight back. Guilt was splashed clearly on her face. Garik watched her fight indecision. Was she truly contemplating staying here?
His core wanted to shout a denial. They were bond mates. He’d made vows. She couldn’t leave him until he forced her to confess all that she’d done. The lies. The trickery. No they would settle this between them and if she tried to stay, Garik would take matters into his own hands and forcibly bring her.