"With this hand, I could rip your throat out." He snatched her closer to him and placed his hand over her neck. Kiara waited for him to demonstrate his point. But he didn't.
Instead, his cold voice droned on, "The hybrid could tear out your heart with his bare hands. Does that excite you?"
"You sicken me!"
Aksel gave her a twisted smile, his hand stroking her cheek. "Did Nykyrian tell you he killed two instructors before he finished training? He did, you know." His hand fell away and he turned her to face him, his hands resting on her hips. "He was always better at killing, but I was the one who enjoyed it the most!"
His laughter rang out, chilling Kiara.
"Nykyrian would sit for hours after a mission, staring into space, feeling guilty," he sneered the word like it was the worst thing imaginable. "I was a true warrior. I went out afterwards celebrating my glory."
His hands tightened around her waist. Kiara bit her lips, wanting someway to strike out at him.
"So why did my father brag about his half-bred foundling?" Aksel snarled, his face a mask of contorted rage. "It wasn't my kills he talked about with pride. It was always Nykyrian's. Always Nykyrian's!"
Kiara cried out as his hands bit into her flesh.
Aksel shoved her back against the wall with a solid thud that knocked her breath from her. He leaned his body against hers and she could feel his desire bulging against her stomach. Sweat beaded on her body as Kiara feared his next move. He ripped the top of her dress open. Kiara screamed, struggling against him in desperation.
"I should take you now," Aksel said in a ragged whisper, running his hand over the top of her corslet, oblivious to her cringing. "But I won't. That wouldn't be any fun." He stepped back and smiled at her. "When the hybrid comes for you, I have a special place for him to watch me rape you. Then you can watch me cut off pieces of his body until there's nothing left but his ear which I shall gladly give to you as a token to remember him by."
"You're insane!" Kiara said, kicking out at him with her legs.
"I've never known an assassin who wasn't," he said with a laugh, then strolled casually out of the room.
Sobs racked Kiara's body. She pulled against her chains, but all she succeeded in doing was tearing the flesh off her wrists. There had to be some way she could escape. Some way she could warn Nykyrian.
Fervently, she prayed for an answer.
Fifteen
Nykyrian and Caillen sat in the council room of the OMG's base, reviewing data about Oksana. Hauk paced the floor behind them, his boots clicking an eerie beat against the porcelain floor that ate at Nykyrian's tolerance. Jayne and Darling sat across the room, listening to him and Caillen argue battle procedures.
Nykyrian clenched his teeth in frustration, sat back in his chair and stared at the statistic sheets in front of him. A frontal assault would end in complete annihilation, and a covert attack was almost as risky. Aksel’s men knew each other well enough to spot a stranger imm ediately. At this rate, they'd never get Kiara out alive.
Caillen sat back in his chair, a smile spreading across his face as he drummed his fingers against the table. "You know, I've been making deliveries to Netan Raananah. If I were to fake a shipment to him, I could smuggle you guys into Aksel's base."
Nykyrian frowned. "How could you get us through the scanners?"
Caillen tilted his chair back on two legs and put his hands behind his head, that cocky grin Nykyrian despised, breaking across his face. "You're going to regret everything nasty you've ever said about my ship. The Malta is equipped with special jammers no system in existence can pick up on. They'll have to do a personal inspection to verify my cargo." He laughed. "Remember guys, I am a third generation smuggler!"
Hauk snorted. "Yeah well, once we're in, they're not going to just let us sail right back out. The Malia is too fragile and slow to outrun a fighter."
Caillen rubbed his jaw as he thought about Hauk's words. "Her cargo hold will carry two fighters, plus passengers."
Nykyrian nodded in agreement. This was the first plan they had come up with that stood even a breath of a chance. "That's it, then."
Darling cocked his eyebrow at Nykyrian. "Aren't you forgetting something? How do we get out once we're in there?"
Nykyrian studied Darling's face. A million thoughts passed through his mind. "It's me they want. You and Caillen will stay on board the Malia and monitor Aksel's men and the base's corridors. Hauk will grab Kiara, get her inside his fighter, and take her to safety. Jayne will be waiting to cover them once they're out of Oksana's orbit."
"And what about you?" Hauk asked roughly.
"I'm bait. I'll fly out in the opposite direction with my fighter. The bulk of Aksel's troops will follow me." Nykyrian narrowed his eyes at Hauk. "You will not engage any fighter at any time. You will keep your engines full throttle. Let Jayne take care of whatever follows you."