Her tired thoughts drew a blank. She would worry about it when she woke, if she did. Maybe it wasn’t a pity whatever-the-term-was, and it was just to see if she was palpable before he slaughtered her the way he had the Olggans.
Curling on her side, she felt a warm blanket placed on top of her. Aw … That was nice of him. Her Viking husband was a gentleman.
Chapter 15
Skars
Skars stared down at his sleeping bride. The dark shadows under her eyes showed the exhaustion she must have been battling since Earth had been overtaken.
He headed to the bathing room and quickly washed then changed from his uniform into the soft, supple leather pants he preferred. Striding from his sleeping room as he snapped silver cuffs around each of his wrists, Skars glanced toward the bed to make sure she was still sleeping. The woman hadn’t moved.
Wanting to be back in his room before she woke, he immediately went into the elevator to lift him to the flight room. Directly above the main room, he went into the navigation room.
Bjorn, Njal, and Arne were already there, waiting for him. He had sent for them before he had bathed.
Pulling up the maps on the tall, round table that was downloaded to his computers, the other warriors gathered around.
“My wife said they were hiding in a vault. She also mentioned working at a bank. That explains how they survived and how we spent days searching and couldn’t find her.”
He commanded the computer to search for banks within the vicinity where they had found the women today, and a laser light projected a map over the table.
“There is only one.”
Skars’ commanding gaze went to Bjorn. “There are seven of them. I want them found and brought back here. I will message Thorsen to send more men to assist you. I don’t want them hurt. If Reva reveals they will be of no use to us, I’ll find a place for them to stay safely on Earth before we leave.”
Arne gave him a disbelieving grunt. “How are we supposed to get them to come if they refuse? Ulf was taken because the old woman attacked him.”
“Tell them Raine told you where they were, that you are there to take them to her, and if they want to see the other two again, they have to come with you. That our only wish is to find them a place where they will be safe.”
“What if one is a Viking descendent?” Bjorn spoke up, his yearning visible.
“Then my woman won’t be the only human leaving with us.” His woman would be furious, but Skars had no doubt he could manage her. He had found his bride; he wouldn’t deny the other clan members from finding theirs because of any interference Raine might want to give. Ultimately, it would be out of his hands. The people brought back to the ship were Thorsen’s responsibility, not his.
“Send me a transmission when you have found them. Make sure you take enough themoters to control them if there is no other way to bring them in. I don’t want any mistakes.”
The three warriors left to follow his orders.
Pressing a button on the table, he contacted Thorsen.
“Brother.” His brother’s voice filled the computer room.
Skars filled him in on what had happened on Earth and afterward with Ulf and the other woman being taken.
Thorsen’s curses had Skars taking one of the chairs to wait it out until his brother’s temper cooled.
Thorsen’s words finally calmed, but Skars could still hear the temper beneath the surface. “I will make contact with King Jurzed. He is not getting Xioarius, no matter what value your bride puts on the boy.”
“The boy is not a boy,” Skars informed him. “They disguised the woman to make her appear to be one. I heard them talking. They were unaware I could hear. She has blonde hair. Reva told us in her vision that I would find one in the area that I landed on.”
Thorsen resumed cursing. Only the fact it was a woman would change Thorsen’s mind about trading Xioarius to King Jurzed.
“We can only pray to the gods that King Jurzed doesn’t find out before we can come to an agreement to make a trade. One which doesn’t include me forgoing my oath to kill the one responsible for killing our mother and father.”
Those weren’t the only ones he was to exact revenge for. Thorsen wanted to make sure Xioarius died numerous times over for the death of his wives and three sons.
He could remember every detail of that day. Their grandfather had gifted Thorsen a ship, which he could take on his own trading missions to new planets while their father would continue with the ones already established.
The ship was a beauty, and their grandfather hadn’t spared any expense to outfit the ship to his expectations. The main ship could easily hold sixty warriors, twice as much if they doubled up, hundreds if they used the cargo holds meant to hold the goods they wanted to trade.