Knight, Dee S. - Bride of the Pryde (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (15 page)

“I simply provide the supply to the universe’s demand. I thought
we
did that.”

“Sorry to let you down.” Almost there. Then she fingered the handle.
Yes!

She had to keep him talking and distracted. “You asked ‘why’ of me, so I’ll ask you something. Couldn’t you have found something honest to do?” She pricked the tip of her finger on the blade and fought to hide her grimace. After what felt like a lifetime, she fixed the knife blade on the rope.

He snorted a laugh. “I can’t see myself spending years saying, ‘Space fries with that?’ Can you?”

He had a point there. His taste was far too expensive for ordinary income. Too bad he hadn’t spent some of the millions he earned on wire to bind his enemies instead of rope. Thanks to Adam, she had one hand free.

“We made a great team, Susan. There was no sex, none of that romance shit that always spoils a partnership between a man and woman. And then you had to go and be DAT. What a waste.”

“You might not believe this, but there are qualities about you I like. Even admire.”

She flipped her arm back onto the chair arm just in time. Jackal turned and looked at her, brows raised. “Yeah?”

“You treat your people reasonably well. You’re hardworking. What you do is criminal, but you put your heart and soul in it. It’s hard not to respect that kind of passion. Too bad you didn’t use it to make people’s lives better instead of destroying them.”

He shrugged and turned away. “Some people choose to be a Venutian gnat. I choose to be the shuttle viewing window where it splats.”

Quickly she cut through the rope binding her right hand. When Jackal finally came toward her, she shifted her hands to the side of the arms, hoping he wouldn’t notice immediately that he no longer held her captive.

Jackal sighed. “Well, the sad fact is you have to die, Susan. I can’t let you go, you realize that, right? And your little playmates on
Erik’s Pryde
are being taken care of, too. No witnesses.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“You don’t believe that.” He carried a small rectangular box. Susan didn’t know why, but the sight of that box filled her with fear, paralyzing her.

Breathe, my mate. Don’t lose focus.

Adam! For the moment, at least, he lived, and if he did, Charlie and Erik probably did, too. She followed his advice and took a breath.

“How did you find out about me?” she asked.

“My partner. He’s a wealth of information.” Jackal gave her a wicked smile. “Of course, his usefulness won’t last forever. Someday he might find himself at the bottom of a shaft out in the mine.” Shrugging, he added, “But then, more for me.”

He set the box on the corner of the desk and gave her his back for a few seconds. Not long enough for her to attack, though she held the knife in her palm and at the ready. “Is that what you have in mind for me? A trip to the mine?” She pictured Erik, Charlie, and Adam very near the mine shaft. Were they waiting for her, coming for her, or about to enter into a fight of their own? She pushed them from her mind. She had no time or energy for anything other than getting out of here.

“No. Something more apropos.” Jackal came toward her, carrying a syringe.

“Along with his interesting news, my partner brought a new strain of Pheron. Now, I’ve never known anyone to take Pheron in the vein and live to tell about it, but their screams have always made me think it’s quite painful.” He moved in front of her. “So I’d like to say this will hurt me more than it will hurt you, but honestly, it won’t be true.”

Susan tried her best to contain her panic. Her heart pounded and her palms sweated. Letting Jackal see any of it would bring him too much pleasure, though, and if this was indeed the end for her, she refused to give him anything more.

“Before you send me off to meet my maker,” she said, “tell me one thing.”

He raised his brows and smirked. “Why the fuck not? What do you want to know?”

“How does this feel?” In a blur of movement, she raised her leg and let fly with a soul-satisfying kick to Jackal’s groin.

She jumped up, dropping the knife in the process. “Damn it! I’m not used to knives!” Gathering all the strength she could, she stomped Jackal’s ankle while he curled into the fetal position.

Twisting around, she searched frantically for the Omnian blade when something hit her own ankle. Kicking backward as hard as she could, she made contact with some part of him. But not as much contact as she was going to have.

Giving up on the knife, she flipped around, kicking the syringe across the floor. She brought her foot down again, this time on his hand. He cried out and rolled away, toward the syringe. He grabbed it up and moved forward with speed a man who’d just had his nuts kicked shouldn’t be able to.

Something wasn’t right. Adrenaline surged through her, bringing rage with it. The son of a bitch had jabbed her with the needle after all. Pheron was that very moment pumping through her blood. And now she wanted to kill someone. Starting with Jackal.

Using more force than before, she kicked him again, knocking him onto his side. Damn! That felt too fucking good. She cracked her knuckles and strolled the couple of feet to where he lay on the floor.

She nudged him with her foot. “Get up and face me like a man.”

He didn’t move. She pushed again, harder. “Get up you asshole. You put this garbage in me, and now you’d better expect to deal with it.” His chest heaved with gasping breaths, but he continued to lay there.

“Are you trying to trick me, you fucker?” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him over. Eyes round, his mouth worked like a fish out of water, but no sound came out. The empty syringe hung loosely from his chest, where it must have emptied. As opposed to what Jackal said, there was no screaming, just a terrifying knowledge of death in his eyes.

“Sorry it ended like this, but you brought it on yourself.” She backed away. There was nothing to be done for Jackal, and she had enough to worry about. How much had he injected in her before she kicked him? Except for a persistent sting in her foot and lower leg, there was little pain, only fury threatening to overwhelm her. Fuck. With Jackal down, who was she going to kill?

Anger and rage were all well and good, but she wasn’t crazy enough to think she could take on however many of Jackal’s soldiers might patrol out front. She lifted the window sash and slipped out the back, looking for one, two, oh, hell, maybe three guys salivating for a beating.

“Uh-huh,” she whispered. “There are three unlucky bastards now.” Just ahead and to the south, three men skulked through the bushes. She’d have two of them down before the third knew what was happening.

Giving no warning and no quarter, she whipped around the trunk of a pfepper tree, arm raised to deliver a crushing blow. A hand like iron grasped her wrist. Two other hands grabbed her waist, holding her immobile.

Oh, shit!

Chapter Thirteen

“Susan!” Erik said her name softly but firmly. He looked at Adam. “You were right. She’s alive. But what’s wrong with her?”

“Oh, shit! Erik, get away from me. He hit me with Pheron!” Even knowing who held her, even past the joy flashing through her knowing they were safe, the Pheron pushed the need to hurt someone to the forefront. How ironic. This was what she’d expected to feel on
Erik’s Pryde
when she
thought
she’d been infected. Knowing how she responded with the real thing, there would have been nothing left of the ship or the crew if Pheron had truly been in that vial.

“Susan, listen to me
,” crooned Adam in her mind.

She wanted to cry with frustration and relief. Erik still held her immobile. Charlie held a Succher, surveying the area. Today his face held no softness. He was all warrior.

The roar deadening her brain muffled Adam’s voice. She felt more than heard him.
“Listen, my mate. The tension is draining from you. There is no anger, no fear. There is only your desire to rest. You have pain. I can feel it in you, but it will disappear if you give yourself into my hands.”

Softly, he repeated the words until against all odds, some of the rage dissipated. She inhaled a deep breath, shaky but becoming calmer by the moment. The more at peace she became, the more the stinging ache in her foot and ankle dissipated, the more she felt Adam stiffen behind her. Was he absorbing it, giving her peace at his own expense?

All that was left now was getting the hell off the planet. An ear-splitting scream penetrated the air. Jackal’s death screams raised the hair on the back of her neck. Wave after wave of shrieks came from the house.

“We have to get out of here,” Charlie said.

Susan nodded once to Erik, who had lowered her arm to her side though he hadn’t yet let go. And with a clearer mind, she knew that described these three men—they wouldn’t let go of her. Not until she was able to fend for herself again. And after that? Not until she said good-bye.

* * * *

Thank God Susan was physically safe, although Erik wouldn’t give much for her mental state right now. Her breathing sounded erratic as they made their way as swiftly and silently as they could back to the hover craft, and her eyes shifted left and right in a kind of wild search for something. He was afraid to think what. Adam hung close to her while Charlie scouted a few yards ahead.

Only when they spotted the place where the craft lay hidden did he begin to feel they might make it off this goddamn planet.

Amazingly, they made it without interference. The vehicle lifted off without a rock thrown, much less a shot fired. Erik piloted it along the back paths Susan had outlined to them before they landed. A barely discernable trail led through the sun-shrouded forest and across rough mountain passes, the narrowness of which played hell with their navigation skills. She had earlier marked on a rough map where to skim the surface in order to duck below sensors.

Along with their trek off-planet, he kept an eye on Susan. Adam held her. They looked as though they communicated though they stayed silent most of the time. Maybe there was something to this mating stuff, after all.

Charlie kept up with
him
, complementing his actions, anticipating the need for instrument calls until suddenly they burst through the last pass. The horizon curved ahead of them. They flew at increasing speed over flat, arid plains, rushing toward the dark side of the planet and their rendezvous with
Erik’s Pryde
. For the first time since they heard Susan had been betrayed, Erik believed they might just make it.

Fifteen minutes later they hit deep space. Another ten minutes and
Erik’s Pryde
came into sight, parked right where they planned.

What they didn’t plan was the Intergalactic Patrol ship approaching from the opposite direction.

“Punch it, Charlie. We can’t dock after them.”

“Are they still looking for Susan?” Charlie asked in a low voice.

Erik glanced at the woman who seemed to have only a thread’s control on her emotions. “We can’t take the chance.”

The younger man pressed his lips together and focused on coaxing as much power from the shuttle as possible. “I have a plan. I know where we can hide her.”

“I’m listening.” If they got to
Erik’s Pryde
ahead of the cops, it would be due to Charlie’s steady hand and determined attitude.

“We need a distraction,” Susan muttered, her breath quickening. Her knuckles were white from the death grip of her fisted hands. Then she shook her head as though to clear cobwebs from her mind. “But even that won’t help if they’re looking for me. They’ll have heat detectors. There’s nowhere for me to hide.”

“Don’t you worry, Susan,” said Charlie soothingly. “We’ll take care of everything.” She met Erik’s gaze. He shrugged. What else could he do? He had no idea what Charlie had in mind.