“Drakkal,” Shay said, keeping her eyes on her mate. “Drakkal, wake up.”
He grunted, brows dropping low as his eyelids fluttered open. His pupils expanded from slits to large circles and back again before his eyes finally met Shay’s and focused. “Kiraia?” he rasped.
There was a snarl from the back of the transport. She turned her face toward the sound to see Vanya step into the transport. The azhera stalked over and backhanded Shay across the face. Shay’s head whipped to the side, the sharp pain—caused primarily by the inner flesh of her cheek breaking against her cheek—receding quickly to a tingling numbness that was somehow even worse. The irony taste of blood washed over Shay’s tongue.
Vanya grabbed a fistful of Shay’s hair and yanked her head back as far as the wall and collar allowed. “Silence,ji’tas!”
Drakkal roared. The sound was deafening within the confines of the transport, rocking the entire vehicle.
Shay glared up at Vanya and spat. Bloody saliva splattered on the azhera’s face. “Fuck you!”
Vanya recoiled, shock briefly claiming her features. An instant later, her lips pulled back to reveal her pointed fangs, and she raised a clawed hand high as though to strike.
“Master Foltham wants the terrans unharmed,” Nostrus called from outside the vehicle.
Halting her hand, Vanya stared at Shay. The female azhera’s chest was heaving, her nostrils were flared, andher eyes were burning with rage. She curled her fingers, extending her claws further. After a frustrated growl, she dropped her arm and stormed away from Shay.
Just removing herself from temptation, Shay thought, carefully tonguing the sliced flesh of her inner cheek.
“Then he best hurry before I change my mind,” Vanya said as she stepped out of the transport. “He isn’t the only buyer seeking terrans.”
Nostrus looked past Vanya into the vehicle. For a moment, his hate-filled eyes fell on Shay.
Yeah, fuck you, too.
Shay flipped him off.
“You made an agreement with my employer,” Nostrus said, turning back to Vanya.
The female azhera laughed; there was little humor in the sound. “Until we make the exchange, they’re my prisoners. I can do whatever I want with them.”
“Ah, my wayward bounty hunter has finally returned,” Murgen boomed from somewhere outside the transport. Vanya and Nostrus turned to face the direction from which his voice had come.
“Are you all right,kiraia?” Drakkal asked.
Shay looked at her mate. His hackles were raised, and there was a wild, furious gleam in his eyes. He looked like a beast barely in control. And could she blame him? Shay was afraid—especially with her still unconscious baby locked up in here—but she was angry, too. No, not just angry. She was fucking pissed.
“I’m fine,” Shay replied quietly.
Murgen and Vanya were speaking now, but their voices were too low for Shay to make out their words.
“We’re going to get out of this,” Drakkal said. His features tightened, and his muscles strained as he fought against therestraints. The wrist cuffs slowly moved away from the wall, a millimeter at a time, trembling with the stress he was putting on his body. Then the breath he’d been holding burst from his lungs, and his arms slammed back into the wall.
Drakkal’s chest heaved as he panted through his bared fangs. “We’regettingout.”
“Yes, you are,” Vanya said, again calling Shay’s attention. The female azhera climbed back into the transport, followed by two of Murgen’s burly guards. Vanya lifted her left wrist and input a command on her holocom. Simultaneously, Drakkal’s and Shay’s arms dropped away from the wall, only to be swung behind their backs, where the cuffs clanked together and locked tight.
The guards moved to Shay and Drakkal, grabbing the couple by their upper arms. Drakkal growled, opened his mouth wide as though to bite, and lunged toward the guard holding him; a light flashed on the collar around his neck, and his body seized. He dropped to his knees, held up only by the guard.
Shay clenched her teeth against the ache in her heart at seeing her mate in such agony.
“Behave yourself,” Vanya said, patting Drakkal’s cheek before she turned away from him and leaned over Leah’s box.
Red filled Shay’s vision. She snapped her head backward, smashing her skull into the face of the guard behind her. He staggered back, his hold loosening enough for Shay to break free.
She dove for Vanya. “Keep your fucking hands off my baby, you goddamned jealous bitch!”
Shay’s shoulder rammed into Vanya’s chest. The female azhera stumbled into the wall. Pressing her advantage, Shay lifted her knee, slamming it unto Vanya’s middle and knocking the wind out of the azhera. Before Shay could strike her again,the guard grabbed her shoulders and dragged her away from Vanya.