“Gah, what is wrong with you, Mother? You’re supposed to be Qillaq. Why would you risk our safety for a man?”
“Sit down, you little ingrate. But for me, your father would have married you off years ago for political gain. Just like you did me.”
Obviously that last comment was directed at Desideria’s mother, which meant she was still alive.
That was always a good sign.
For Desideria anyway.
“Mother, you’re impossible. We need to leave. Now!”
Caillen veered into the bunk room. As quietly as possible, he went to the crew station and hacked into the onboard computer so that he could use the video system to scout out the bridge.
His aunt sat in the captain’s chair while her daughter was to her left. Two pilots were in the forward seats and Desideria’s mother was bound and gagged in the seat behind his aunt.
The odds were definitely in his favor. But he had a better idea rather than barging in there and knocking their heads together.
Sealing and locking the bunk door, he opened an audio channel. “Nice move, ladies. But it won’t help you.”
Gasping, his aunt and cousin shot to their feet and drew weapons. “Where are you?”
“Close enough to be your innermost hemorrhoid.”
His aunt motioned for the two pilots to get up and go search for him. Caillen locked down the bridge access doors tightly so that all they could do was pound on the unresponsive portal. The sight of their anger amused him.
Leran ran to the con to fire the engines only to learn that he had complete control of the ship. Not them. There was nothing they could do to retake it.
Not unless they were Syn. Which, luckily, they weren’t.
Take that, you bitches.
His aunt cleared her throat. “Look, we don’t have to be enemies. If you want we could split—”
“The only thing I’ll split with you is your skull. I’m not dumb enough to fall for any lie out of your mouth.”
She held her blaster at the queen’s head. “Surrender to us or we’ll kill her.”
“Then kill her. I really don’t care. You’re the only one I want and I don’t care how many bodies I have to crawl over to get to you.”
His aunt looked around in disbelief. “Am I really the only one you want?”
“Yes.”
She lowered the blaster. “Then you won’t care if I kill my niece, Desideria?”
His heart stopped. He didn’t dare say anything that might betray him.
She held a remote up in her right hand. “All I have to do is press this button and Desideria’s throat will be cut. Stupid chit is surrounded with my people who are more than willing to kill her on my command. Did you really think I planned all of this alone?”
Caillen scrambled to isolate the trigger’s frequency. But he couldn’t. Whoever had designed it had skills and it made his temper snap.
There was nothing he could do.
His aunt curled her lip in smug satisfaction. “If you’re trying to jam my signal, don’t bother. You’ll never find it. Now be a good boy and surrender yourself or I’ll see Desideria dead within the next minute… maybe two.”
Caillen knew she would too. She’d already killed off her family. What was one more niece to her?
But that niece was everything to him.
What am I going to do?
In the end, he knew he had no choice. He couldn’t let Desideria die.
“All right. Don’t press it.”
She laughed. “Just like a man. Weak to the end.”
Yeah, he’d like to show her just how weak he was. But he wouldn’t kill Desideria for his ego.
“Unlock the ship, then you’ll have ten seconds to get up here. One second more and my niece will be nothing other than a bad memory.”
Even though it galled him, he did exactly what she said. As soon as he’d reprogrammed the computer, he ran to the bridge where his aunt waited with a blaster aimed straight for his head. “Can’t you ever die? You have been a pain in my ass since the moment you were born.”
He raked a cold glare over her. “Yeah, well, you haven’t exactly been the light of my solar system either, bitch.”
“You pathetic lovesick fool. But that’s all right. We can go ahead with our original plan. You killed the Qillaq queen and then we killed you as you were fleeing from the murder scene.”
“No one will ever believe that.”
“Sure they will. People are sheep. They believe whatever lies they’re told, especially when it comes from the media. After all, the news never lies.”
Sad thing was, he agreed with her. Most of the time they did.
“Get on your knees.”
Caillen refused. “I kneel for no one. I’ll die exactly how I’ve lived. On my feet.” Defiant to the end.
“Fine.” She flipped the switch from stun to kill an instant before the targeting dot centered on his forehead.
Caillen glared at her as he waited for the sound that would end his life.
A second later, another dot appeared over her heart. Frowning, his aunt looked down as puzzled by its appearance as he was.
“Only I get to shoot him.”
His jaw went slack as he recognized Desideria’s voice coming out of the pilot’s mouth…
No, it couldn’t be.