We were not part of the Coalition, but we existed in their space. And the foolish act of taking live prisoners, of attacking their medical teams, was tantamount to suicide for all the legions, not just Styx. Without the truth, the Coalition could invade, destroy us.
The Prime on Prillon was not known for his mercy. Prime Nial and his second, a brutish warrior named Ander, ruled with iron control. They were fair, but they were hard, hard warriors. Not pampered royal asses like their predecessors. When I learned that their mate was also a female from Earth, I suspected she was often one of the only things that held them in check.
If I didn’t get the attacks on Coalition personnel under control, they would rain down fire on my moon, on my people. I was a pirate and a rebel. We had neither the ships nor the manpower to take on the Fleet.
“Styx.” The voice coming through the comm screen was harsh, direct. Doctor Mervan of the Intelligence Core didn’t mince words. A fact I appreciated because I wasn’t in the mood. My mate was safe, but my world was in peril.
“Mervan.”
Harper tried to pull free from my arms, but I held her to me. I did allow her to turn around and face the Coalition officer who would decide her fate. And his.
“Doctor Mervan?” Harper’s questioning voice brought a smile to the crafty bastard’s face. Apparently, he liked my mate. I bit back a growl of possessiveness. He was a light year away, but I didn’t trust him. Not with what was important to me. But it was time to make a deal, and I needed him for it.
“What’s the emergency, Styx? This better be good.” What he didn’t say was that by contacting him directly like this, Blade and I risked our association with the Coalition’s intelligence network might be revealed. We might be rogue, but some parts of the Coalition liked us for it. Used it to their advantage.
But my people lived in the darkness. I knew how to get around their surveillance systems, their trackers and lies. “I’ve got information on the MedRec team taken in the Latiri system. I know where they’re holding the prisoners, the weapons.” I grinned now, pausing to make sure the good doctor was listening, and by the way he sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward, he was. “And the mobile transport tags.”
His eyes narrowed, but he focused on Harper’s face. “Ms. Harper Barrett from Earth. You were listed among the missing on the Latiri report.”
She stiffened, but didn’t try to pull away from me again. “Warlord Wulf saved me. Then Styx and Blade brought me to Rogue 5.”
“I can see that.” His gaze tracked over my possessive hold, the way Harper relaxed into my arms. He didn’t need to be a doctor to know the way things were. “What do you want, Styx?”
“I want Harper’s record cleared. I want her out of the Fleet, free and clear. She’s mine.”
His gaze narrowed further until he looked cruel. Annoyed. But Harper held her ground, and my enforcers sat quietly, watching the exchange. “Is this what you want, Harper?”
She took a deep breath, and I saw her gaze lock with Blade’s, his victorious grin. “Yes. I want to stay here. On Rogue 5.”
The Prillon’s smile through the vid screen was not amused. He eyed her for a moment, then looked to me, all but dismissing Harper. “I will trade your mate’s freedom for information, Styx. I want everything.”
It was my turn to smile. Yes, he was predictable, just as I’d suspected. Harper was just a MedRec team member who was almost finished with her two-year volunteer service. One of many. Hundreds. Thousands. To him, the trade wasn’t even. He thought he was getting more. He was wrong.
I could tell him the truth, give him the information freely and in its entirety and get him to do the dirty work for me. All while I was fucking and claiming my mate, a resource he tossed aside.
“I had no doubt,” I replied. “But I have one condition.”
“And what might that be?”
“Styx legion will be on the mission. These are my enemies, Mervan. And they tried to kill my mate. I want blood.” I held his gaze, warrior to warrior so he’d understand the full extent of my rage. Harper was mine; Rogue 5 was mine. And these traitors had almost destroyed everything. I would give them to Mervan, but I’d see them finished.
“Done. I’ll send transport coordinates.” The screen went blank less than a second later, and Harper spun to face me.
“No,” she said, her voice full of fear. Her eyes held the same. “You can’t go. Let them take care of it.”
Cormac answered for me. “The traitors are ours, too, Harper. Their blood is ours.”
She glanced from warrior to warrior, lingering on Silver, one woman to another.
But my mate underestimated the bloodlust and demands of honor among my people. Silver was female, and perhaps on Earth they were considered the lesser gender, but on Rogue 5, her blood ran even hotter than the rest.
“I’m going to make them bleed, Harper,” Silver told her. “I’m going to kill them slowly. Their actions threatened my family. Could bring down the Coalition on us. Do you understand the extent of what they could do? Without them finished—and knowing it’s done—we will always be looking over our shoulders. Worried. With this deal, the Coalition sees us as being helpful, courteous even.”
That word, courteous, was almost distasteful to hear. That wasn’t us.
“As for the traitors, I will take pleasure in killing them.” She all but cracked her knuckles in eagerness to see this done.
Harper’s shoulders slumped, and I lifted my hands to massage the tense muscles. “They are evil, Harper. They broke our laws as well as those of your Coalition. They must be dealt with.”