“Apparently she’s disappeared just like she did so many years ago,” the other man who’d helped Boone up said. “The lost and found princess has been lost again.”
Boone rubbed his face and looked at him. “And you are?”
“This is Rolf—my new touch partner.” Loki stroked the other man’s muscular bicep. “Isn’t he just a dream? He’s new to the whole gay thing too, so be nice to him.”
“Didn’t know I could jump the fence until I met Loki.” Rolf batted startlingly long eyelashes at the effete pilot. “It was an eye-opener, and no mistake.”
“Well I’m happy for you,” Boone said shortly before turning back to Loki. “We have to find K,” he said. “She put back on that damn suit before she left. It could kill her!”
Loki raised an eyebrow at him. “And how may I ask did she get the suit back in the first place?”
“I gave it to her,” Boone growled. “When we found out exactly what was involved in the Erian sex cycle. You know how K feels about contamination. She couldn’t bear the thought of…needing what she was going to need.”
“Ooo, I told you the cycle was a beast.” Loki made a tsking sound. “Especially in royals. I have to tell you, Boone, if I’d known she had the sacred triple rings, I would have been scared to death about her staying in your room every night. You’re really, really lucky that her cycle didn’t start sooner. You wouldn’t have survived it—hell, none of us would.”
Boone glared at him. “What the hell are you talking about? I know she’s supposed to get a little, uh, feral when her time comes but—”
“A little feral?” Rolf made a choking noise. “Forgive me, giant, but that’s a huge understatement—especially for a royal.”
“What is he talking about?” Boone demanded, looking at Loki. “And no more lies or half truths or evasions. Just tell me, damn it.”
“When a royal enters their cycle, they turn into a kind of mindless beast,” Loki said seriously. “They’re savage and very strong. Of course, it doesn’t help that part of the mating ceremony involves tying down their sexual partners so they can’t defend themselves…”
“Typically they kill the first two or three males they mate with,” Rolf put in helpfully.
“What?” Boone stared at Loki in disbelief. “So that’s what K meant when she said she would hurt me?”
“Hurt you? More like rip you limb from limb.” Loki nodded knowingly. “Believe me, Boone, mating with K during her first cycle would be like trying to get it on with Sweetie. You really dodged a bullet.”
“I didn’t dodge a bullet—I failed her.” Boone sat heavily on the sleeping platform. “No wonder she put on the suit and left. It wasn’t just about being contaminated, she was afraid for me. Afraid she’d hurt me or kill me.”
“I thought she promised to kill you—multiple times,” Loki said.
“Yeah, she mentioned that. But she said she felt…” Boone tried to think how K had put it. “She felt ‘strangely reluctant’ to carry out her threat.” Boone rubbed his aching forehead. “God, how could I be so stupid?”
“You didn’t know.” Loki looked suddenly contrite. “I should have told you more. Although in my defense, the first cycle of a royal is a lot different than it is for us commoners.”
“We don’t tear each other apart for one thing,” Rolf said. “And we don’t require multiple partners to get the job done.”
“Thank goodness.” Loki smiled at the other man. “Just one man is enough for me. As long as he knows how to do the job.”
“You taught me well,” Rolf murmured, smiling back.
“All right, enough with the love fest,” Boone growled. He had a feeling if he didn’t stop Loki and his new touch partner they would start going at it like two dogs in heat right in the middle of his room. “We need to find K. That damn skinsuit could make her sick or even kill her.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Loki said. “Nobody seems to know where she went. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t had a bunch of palace guards in here questioning you already.”
“They probably thought he was safely contained,” Rolf said. “After all, there’s a whole squadron right outside his door. They must have known the princess escaped on her own.” He frowned. “But where would she go?”
“Back to Athena to be with the Purists again, probably.” Loki shrugged.
“No, she was contaminated,” Boone said. “There’s no way she would go back there unless…” His breath caught in his throat.
“Unless what?” Loki demanded.
“Unless she decided to go back and purge herself. God.” Boone put a hand to his eyes. Please don’t let that be it. Don’t let her kill herself. Please.
“Well, we might not know where K went but I do know where we ought to go,” Loki said.
“Where?” Boone asked tiredly.
“Anywhere away from the palace,” Loki said definitively. “You are officially persona non grata around here, Boone. The Empress says she never wants to lay eyes on you again.”
“What? Why? If she doesn’t think I had anything to do with K’s leaving, then—”
“It’s best not to question her majesty,” Rolf said quietly. “If she says she wants you out of her sight, it’s best just to go and thank the Goddess you’re leaving in one piece.”
“Rolf’s right. So come on.” Loki tugged on his arm. “I’ve already got the ship out of dry dock. We need to get going if we’re going to do anything for Shayla.” He frowned. “Although now that we’re minus a Paladin, I’m not sure exactly what we can do.”
“What?” Boone was surprised all over again. “But the Empress said she’d take care of that.”
Loki shook his head. “I’m sorry, Boone. Once you lose the royal favor, I’m afraid it’s lost for good. Nobody is going to help us get Shayla back—we’re on our own.”
“On our own,” Boone muttered, rubbing his head. But how would they get to his little sister without K?
“Kneel!” shouted a new, angry voice, breaking into his muddled thoughts.
Looking up, Boone saw a battalion of heavily armed soldiers barging into the room. Their leader was waving a weapon in his face and before he knew it, he and Loki and Rolf were all on their knees in the thick blue carpet with their hands on their heads.
The soldiers parted and the small, plump figure of the Grand Viceroy appeared.
“What the hell is this all about?” Boone growled, frowning at the little man.
The Grand Viceroy unrolled a thick vellum scroll and read from it.
“By order of her majesty the most high Empress of Eros, you will be detained for a time to determine if you know the whereabouts of the missing princess.”
“Uh-oh,” Loki muttered from the side of his mouth. “I think we just lost our get out of jail free card, Boone.”
Boone was afraid he was right but he wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
“This is ridiculous,” he said, glaring at the Grand Viceroy. “We don’t know where K went. We don’t have any idea where she…”
He trailed off. Where had K gone? If it wasn’t to purge herself then…
Suddenly the last words she’d said to him seemed to echo in his head.
“Don’t worry, Boone—I don’t ever expect to see you again but I keep my promises.”
But what promise had she been talking about? She’d sworn over and over to kill him but here he was, still alive. So what…
Shayla! She promised to help me rescue Shayla!
The realization burst over him along with a wave of relief. He knew where K was headed—at least, he thought he did. If they could only get to their ship to follow her—
The Grand Viceroy snapped the scroll closed and smiled at Boone most unpleasantly.
“What you know and do not know is for the Empress to decide, giant.” He nodded at the captain of the guards. “Take them to the throne room. I believe her majesty has a few questions to ask.”
Chapter Twenty-thre
e
K steered the Purist ship she’d stolen from the Erian royal docks out of orbit and straight for Midas. She wasn’t the least bit afraid of being discovered—the emo-dampers being pumped into her by her suit took care of any kind of irrational fear she might be tempted to feel.
Well, most of it anyway.
Because, deep down in the pit of her stomach, K still felt a twinge of unease. And for some reason, whenever she thought of Boone, her throat got tight and her eyes stung.
It’s just because my suit isn’t fully healed yet, she told herself uneasily. Or maybe it was because the suit had been calibrated to her body before the hormone surge she’d experienced. Before she had changed so drastically.
She looked down at herself, frowning at her breasts and hips under the suit’s black webbing. She had taken some strips of cloth and bound them around her chest to try and contain her curves but there was no disguising the fact that she was no longer the flat, sexless creature she’d been when last she’d worn the suit.
It doesn’t matter, K told herself. I’ll be in and out before anyone has time to notice. And I’ll be wearing my cowl the entire time to hide my eyes and face—no one will even know it’s me. She hoped, anyway. She assumed that by this time, she and her entire purge squadron would have been declared dead. Hopefully she could simply dock on Midas, extract Boone’s little sister, and walk out again with complete anonymity.
And then what?
Then I’ll drop her off on Colossus and…but there K’s thoughts ended. She ought to purge herself when her mission was done but somehow even with the suit on, she didn’t want to do that. I suppose I could join the Tainted, she thought doubtfully. The idea, once so repulsive to her, was gaining some appeal in her mind. She liked the idea of being with others who valued cold logic over emotion. After all, she’d allowed herself the luxury of feeling and look where it had gotten her—she’d allowed herself to have feelings for Boone and he’d disappointed her, abandoned her when she needed him most.
That’s not fair, whispered a little voice in the back of her head. He said he just wanted you to be safe because he loved you. There was nothing he could do for you to stop your cycle—not without more time to work on the problem.
Well, he could have all the time he wanted now—time without her. K was determined never to see him again, not because she was angry—even with her stomach twisted in knots, she refused to believe she could feel such a strong emotion while wearing her suit. No, she would never see Boone again because she could never take the suit off for the rest of her life. It was the only thing controlling her hormone surge—holding her back from becoming a sexual beast of prey. She couldn’t put Boone in danger like that. As hard as it was to admit, she still cared for him. Still…loved him? K still didn’t know what that meant and now she would never get to find out.
Never again. I’ll never see him again.
The thought brought an abrupt stab of agony—like someone twisting a knife in her guts. K gasped and doubled over, a hand going to her flat midsection. What the hell was happening? Was her body rejecting the suit? Was she in danger because of the abrupt interruption of her cycle as Boone had feared?
“I’m fine,” K said out loud. She forced herself to stand upright, ignoring the stabbing pain in her gut and the way her muscles trembled and clenched. So what if she was having a reaction to her skinsuit? Who cared if it killed her? K didn’t. Though she didn’t want to purge herself, she wasn’t afraid to die. All she wanted was to complete this one mission, to bring Boone’s little sister to safety. And after that…
“If I die, I die,” she muttered through clenched teeth. She stared at the ship’s controls, trying to focus on her mission. Even with the hyperdrive engaged, Midas was a few days journey away. She wished she could make the trip faster but there was no way. She would have to endure the pain…and the recurring thoughts of Boone.
K didn’t know which was worse—the physical agony from her suit or the emotional anguish of knowing she would never see the man she’d allowed herself to care for again.
* * * * *
“Are you sure she was going after Shayla?” Loki demanded for what had to be the hundred and twelfth time since they had finally gotten off Eros.
“Positive,” Boone growled, looking up from his physioscope. “Look, can you just pilot the ship and leave me the hell alone? I’m trying to concentrate here and we’re already running behind thanks to the Empress sweating us for so long.”
“At least she let you go,” Rolf offered. Loki’s new touch partner refused to be parted from the other Erian for any reason. Boone had reluctantly agreed to take the man along although he felt sure Rolf would just be dead weight. And he might end up just plain dead—they all might. Boone still had no idea what he was going to do. He only knew he had to find K and Shayla, hopefully while both of them were still alive.
“Yes, she let us go all right, but only after Boone here had made it apparent that Princess Paladin had humped him and dumped him,” Loki said. “Which is why we’re taking evasive maneuvers now to throw off any tails.” He looked at his instruments. “Not that it looks like we have any. The Empress must have bought the love ‘em and leave ‘em routine K pulled pretty well.”
“Poor Boone.” Mom, who had been standing silently at the NavCom, put a consoling hand on his elbow.
“I’m fine,” Boone gritted out, repressing the urge to shake her hand off. After all, she was only trying to comfort him. “But K won’t be unless we can find her soon. I don’t like to think of what that damn suit might be doing to her.”
“I think we’ve gone far enough out of our way to throw the Empress off our scent,” Mom said, going back to the NavCom. “Should I set a course for Midas now?”
“Yes, although the Goddess only knows what we’re going to do once we get there,” Loki muttered. “How the hell we’re going to get into a whole nest of Purists when Boone’s pet Paladin has flown the coupe is beyond me.”
“Wait—we’re going to Midas?” Rolf looked surprised and a little worried. “Seriously?”
Boone blew out a breath in frustration. “Yes, we’re going to Midas where my sister is being held and where we believe K has gone to rescue her. Haven’t you been listening this whole time?”
“I was distracted.” Rolf ran one hand lovingly over Loki’s narrow shoulders. “So anyway, what’s the plan? How do we get in?”
Loki shook his head. “Don’t know, lover boy. I guess we’re just going to fly to the fringes of Purist air space and hope we see K before the friendly neighborhood purge squad blasts us out of the sky.”
“Oh, okay.” Rolf shrugged, apparently unconcerned. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“And how exactly are you going to help?” Boone growled, unable to stop himself. “Unless you’re planning to keep Loki happy right up until the bitter end, that is. I really can’t imagine any other function you could possibly serve aboard this ship.”
“Boone…” Loki frowned at him. “Come on, big boy—no need to go into total bitch mode on my new man.”
“Sorry,” Boone muttered. “I’m just worried.”
“We all are,” Mom said softly. “It’s natural.”
“It’s okay,” Rolf said, obviously not offended. “I know it’s a stressful situation and I don’t know anything about piloting a ship or whatever else it is you’re, uh, doing…” He gestured to the delicate array of instruments Boone had spread out before him. “But I do know some people. So you know…”
“Yeah, sure,” Boone muttered. “I’ll keep it in mind.” He had no idea what Loki’s new boy toy was talking about and he didn’t care. All he could think about was K and Shayla…but mostly K. With the suit interrupting her cycle, the chemical suppressants fighting with the hormone surges, she could be in dire straights right now. If he couldn’t find a way to help her…but he didn’t let himself think about that. Instead, he gathered up some of the larger pieces of equipment and headed for h
is room.
“Hey, where are you going?” Loki called. “I thought you wanted to be up here with me so you could get any updates immediately.”
“Call me if you find something…or someone,” Boone instructed. “I was wrong—I can’t work in here. I need some peace and quiet.”
“Will do, big boy.” Loki sketched a little salute. “Have fun.”
“Right.” Fun was the last thing on Boone’s mind. The only thing he wanted was to have something to help K when they found her…if they found her in time.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Purist ship nine-one-seven-seven dash fourteen-M requesting a docking position,” K said through gritted teeth into the comlink. The stabbing pains in her lower abdomen and pelvis were getting worse as her suit tried to contain and control the hormonal surges of her cycle. Days of the grinding, stabbing pain had worn her down but she refused to take it off or to give in to the agony that wanted to consume her.
I can take it, she told herself sternly. I’ve had worse. I just have to see this mission to its completion and then I can end it if I have to. If there’s no other way…
Honestly, death was beginning to seem like a viable option. The pain had been unremitting through her entire journey to Midas and it seemed to be getting worse. K had caught herself thinking several times it would be better to purge herself than to live with this level of suffering anymore. But she had business to attend to first.
“Fourteen-M?” The person in the control tower sounded like he might be frowning. “That is an older class of ship. Where did you come from?”
“Long range maneuvers in the Nirobian sector,” K rapped back. “Docking position?”
Her stern, no-nonsense tone seemed to decide the controller.
“You can dock in Q quadrant, row thirteen, behind the control area.”
“Agreed,” K said, striving to keep her voice neutral. The berth he had assigned her meant she would have to go through the control area to get to the mines—not optimal. But she couldn’t think of a good enough reason to ask for a spot right beside the mines, not when she was in so much pain it was difficult to even stay upright. She would just have to manage. Hopefully she could walk through with her cowl on and no one would question her.