“I have a thirteen-year-old niece on Atlan,” Zan said. “I do not know how it is possible, but you sound exactly like her.”
“Fuck off, Zan.”
He laughed. “Stop whining.”
I glared at him.
“I’ve been here five minutes and been interrupted three times,” Karter said. “This is what my life is like. My time is constantly redirected to things besides Erica. Like, dealing with your sorry ass. A commander’s mate understands this. Erica understands this.”
“Yes, but she is female.”
All emotion slipped from his face and he lifted his weapon again. This time, he held it out to me, handle in my direction. “Here, take it. Shoot yourself now before any female hears you speak that way.”
Zeus grunted. “It is good your mate is not on the ship. If she truly is Everian, she’d have heard those words from any corner of this ship and did that speed running thing to get here before you could get out the word ‘sorry’.”
“You’re a dumbass,” Zan added, with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
“I’m not belittling women,” I said, pushing the pistol away and holding up my hands. “They are smarter, more cunning and resourceful than we are. Hell, an Atlan female could snap me in half.”
They nodded.
“But we’re males. It’s in our fucking DNA to protect and possess. To be in control.”
All three were quiet for a moment. Since they weren’t countering that, they must have agreed with me.
“Do you doubt your mate’s abilities in battle?” Karter asked, head cocked to the side.
I thought of her getting me and the other prisoners out of Latiri 4 when she’d been completely unprepared. She’d expected to find a mate waiting for her, not the fucking Hive. Her involvement in finishing that base. Shutting that Hive shit down. She’d been incredible.
“No.”
“Then you must let her fight. Let her do her job,” Zeus said.
“Hunter, the problem isn’t with Niobe,” Karter declared. “It’s with you. You are mated. Get your head out of your ass. You must compromise.”
“Compromise,” I replied, as if I’d never heard the word before. “How am I to do that?”
Karter stood, slapped me on the shoulder. “Let her be vice admiral.”
What the hell did that mean? “And?”
“She is giving you the opportunity to be you. A Hunter.”
I was still lost. The Prillon, Zeus, slammed his huge fist down on the table. “For an Elite Hunter, you are not very bright.”
I turned to stare down at him. “I’ll take you right now, Prillon.”
He had the nerve to laugh. “You are too slow to catch a female who wants to be caught. You are not worthy of a challenge.”
What was he talking about? What was I not seeing?
Thank the gods, Commander Karter put me out of my misery. “What does an Everian love more than anything?”
/> “The hunt.” It was in our blood. Our DNA.
“So why aren’t you hunting?” he asked.
Realization dawned and hope made my body come back to life. Karter slapped me on the back, a bit too hard.