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Volten thumped a hand on Kann’s back. “I appreciate you volunteering so quickly, but there cannot be a rescue mission to get Ariana’s sister.”
“Why not?” Kann shook his head.
To a Blade, a fight was almost always the answer, and Kann was ready to fly into battle. I understood Kann completely. When it came to our enemy, rarely did the solution not involve a bloody fight. Even though I’d never thought of myself as a Blade before being chosen, I now saw that it was a better fit than I could have imagined.
“I am with Kann,” I said. “Why are we not gathering a strike team?”
Volten cocked his head at me. “You have been a Blade for less than a day, and you are ready to join a strike team to go into Kronock space?”
Kann grinned at me. “A Blade is a Blade. It doesn’t matter how long he has worn the insignia.”
I instinctively touched the emblem of double blades that was now pinned to my uniform, pride surging through me. I was a Blade, and proud to be one, no matter what my family might think about it.
Volten crossed his arms, and his gaze shifted between me and Kann. “Before the two of you rush off with blasters blazing, we cannot mount a rescue because we do not know where Ariana’s sister is being held. The information Zoran told us was scant. The only things we know for certain—almost certain—are that Sasha did not die when her ship exploded, she was transported out by the Kronock, and they are keeping her alive.”
“Transported her out?” Kann’s voice dropped. “The Kronock have the technology to do that?”
“You know those scaly bastards,” Volten said. “Just when we think they are beaten, they return with new technology that makes them harder to defeat.”
Heat buzzed my skin at the talk of the Kronock. I’d never encountered one of the creatures, but I knew Kann probably had when he had flown with Inferno Force. The elite fighters were usually the ones who battled it out with the Kronock, although all of the Drexian military had fought the enemy when it attacked Earth.
Kann stiffened, as if recalling memories of the Kronock. “I had hoped never to see the monsters again, but we cannot allow them to take our females and hold them captive.”
Volten grinned for the first time since we’d seen him. “Do not let Ariana hear you refer to her sister as one of our females, and I am pretty sure you do not want her sister hearing you say that either.”
“But the human females do fall under our protection,” I said. “The entire planet does after we signed the treaty that established the tribute brides. We would keep their planet safe from Kronock invasion, and they would provide us with brides.”
Volten nodded slowly. “Things have changed a bit since that treaty. We no longer take brides in secret. Now they volunteer. And the humans fought with us when the Kronock did finally invade.”
“That does not change the core part of the agreement.” Kann glanced at me. “The cadet is right. Earth is still under our protection, which means all the females from Earth are ours to protect. Abducting Ariana’s sister is an act of war by the Kronock.” Then he glanced at Volten and winked. “You know how I love a good fight and how much I hate when others touch my females.”
Volten dragged a hand across his face and through his hair. “Sasha is going to love you.”
Kann ignored the sarcastic tone. “Of course, she will. All females love me.”
Volten let out a reluctant laugh. “Promise me when we do find out where Sasha is being held and mount a rescue party that you don’t lead with the whole ‘no one touches my females’ line when we find her.”
Kann ignored Volten, instead musing to himself. “I hope this Sasha is as hot as her younger sister.”
Volten growled, but Kann just gave him an innocent smile. “You know I would not dream of touching your mate, but I’m not blind.”
“Sometimes, I wish you were,” Volten said under his breath.
“How do you plan to find her sister?” I asked, talking loudly and hoping that Kann had not heard his friend’s comment.
Volten rocked back on his boots. “That is not exactly my area of expertise. I can fly you anywhere, but I need coordinates. Right now, we have no coordinates.”
Kann shook his head, his levity gone. “The Kronock have so many outposts and occupied planets, even if they abandoned a lot of them, searching them all would take forever.”
“We cannot even be sure she is at a location that is known to us. Since they have been in retreat, they have been better at hiding.” Volten frowned. “I honestly do not know how we are going to find Ariana’s sister, but I fear telling her that. If she knew how difficult it would be, her heart might break.”
“This is not the first human who’s been taken by the enemy,” I reminded them. “Do you not remember that tribute bride who was snatched off the Boat?”
Both Drexians gave me blank looks.
“You know, the one who was taken to an old Kronock outpost for medical experiments?”
More wide eyes.
