Page 36 of Vindicated

The sirens stopped wailing and the pulsing red light stopped. I took a breath, relieved that we didn’t have to shout over it, although my ears still rang.

“Thank the stars,” Hal said again, his voice a bit too loud.

The door across from his opened, and Hatch and Ringo popped their heads out. “What’s this? Everyone’s here?”

“Athena came to visit us,” Lettie said, “so we came to visit you boys.”

Hatch studied Athena. “You okay?”

Ringo straightened, as if remembering where she was staying. “Is that warlord treating you right, Athena?”

“He is,” I assured them. There was no need to share the fact that he made my heart race or that he made me question how long I could hold out before breaking my vow to myself.

Neither man seemed convinced and even Hal folded his arms across his chest and eyed me. “We all saw the way he looked at you, sweetie. There was nothing altruistic about this rescue mission.”

“Wait until you hear about where she’s sleeping,” Lettie said in a stage whisper.

Hal’s eyes popped wide and he pressed a hand to his heart. “Don’t tell me he has one of those floating beds or restraints attached to the headboard.”

Vallia’s head swung to Hal. “What’s a floating bed?”

The stage manager’s cheeks pinked, and he twitched his shoulders. “You know the ones I mean. They’re made of water and you feel like you’re adrift in the middle of a sea.”

“Now I’m more curious about whereyou’vebeen sleeping,” Lettie said as she peered down her nose at Hal.

Hal huffed out a breath. “I thought we were talking about where Athena is currently sleeping when she’s sharing the Raas’s quarters.”

As if they’d all remembered that this was the more salacious topic, heads swung back to me.

“It’s no big deal,” I said, forcing my voice to sound light. “Lorken doesn’t actually sleep in a bed.”

Vern cocked his head to one side, looking like a confused puppy. “Then where does he sleep?”

“He prefers to live like the Vandar did long ago when their hordes were on land and they occupied tents,” I said, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “He sleeps on furs.”

Ringo lowered his voice. “You have to sleep on the floor on nothing but fur?”

“It’s a pile of furs and they’re on a platform,” I said. “It’s surprisingly comfortable.”

Hal shook his head. “I don’t like this. They spilt us up and Athena has to sleep with the Raas, who apparently thinks he’s still roaming around like a barbarian and sleeping in a tent. Now there are alarms going off. What’s next?”

“Exactly what I was wondering,” a gravelly voice said as Raas Lorken and hismajakappeared behind us.

Chapter 27

Lorken

It was almost infuriating that the human was standing and conversing with her friends as if nothing was amiss. As soon as I’d spoken, they’d all jumped and stared at me like children who’d been caught doing something forbidden.

I took in the huddle of them, my gaze locking on Athena standing in the middle of them, unhurt, her chin tipped up like she was trying to be defiant. My pulse quickened at how magnificent she looked when she was challenging me.

The relief that crashed through me upon finding her safe was short-lived. I had torn through the ship expecting to find her hurt or wandering, but instead she was talking about me with her friends and sharing details about my quarters. It was as if the warbird hadn’t been screaming with alarms only moments before.

I schooled my face, so my relief didn’t show. I could not afford to release even a sigh with mymajakat my side. I also could not afford the anger that flared hot within me at overhearing her friends refer to me as a barbarian.

The orange-haired man had the good sense to go pale when he’d realized I might have overheard him, his mouth opening and closing like a Venga sucking fish. Despite my irritation atthe tone her friends had taken when discussing my sleeping arrangements, that did not needle me as much the fact that they clearly did not trust my intentions.

I knew that I’d been sent by Raas Wrexxon and had taken the mission because of what our Vandar brother had promised Athena. Besides, a group of actors from an occupied planet had no right to question a Raas of the Vandar, even if they might be right.