Zane stared down the barrel that would end him.
Pulsers shrieked.
But when he blinked, the legionnaires floated in the sewage. Steam blew from smoking craters in their heads. They’d never seen it coming.
As his heart thudded in his ears, Zane looked up at the open hatch above the ladder.
His jaw fell open.
“You know, playboy,” Mira said, peering down at him with a smirk that whisked him back to the old days, “if I have to save your ass again, you could’ve at least bought me a drink.”
Stargate Route C-0976, Sector 5
Decemmensis-9, 817 cycles A.F.C.
Kalie’s eyesflew open to blinding light. She jolted up, but something dug into her wrists and held her back. Pain crashed over her. She whimpered, shutting her eyes against the agony of searing burns, pulsing bruises, and strained muscles. Moving her neck was excruciating. Her head throbbed, but her temple was numb and cold where the pulser had been jammed against it.
Her heart all but stopped as everything came flooding back. The sewage lines, the pulser pressed to her temple, Wells swimming away.
The legionnaires. Carik’s men.
She lunged to her feet, but something pinned her down.
Her grime-covered arms were bound to the armrests of a chair.
Gasping, Kalie tugged against the restraints. Nothing. Her feet were tied too, pinned against the chair legs by metal cuffs. The sets matched. No keyholes on either.
Fighting the panic that threatened to suffocate her, she scanned the room. She was in space; on the other side of the room, blackvelvet curtains framed three floor-to-ceiling viewports that faced the stars beyond. Chairs that looked moderately comfortable were scattered around a few dark tables. Behind her, two high countertops separated her from the door.
It had to be a lounge of some sort. Maybe she was on theChimaera.
But below her chair, in the center of the black carpet, was a familiar golden coat of arms: a sword stabbing through a crown.
Every fiber of Kalie’s body froze. If they’d stunned her and brought her here, they wanted something. Killing her wasn’t their plan, but they could do much worse.
Her stomach flopped.
Oh, gods. Oh,gods.
Closing her eyes, Kalie forced herself to breathe. If she had any chance of getting out of this alive, she needed to focus.
I am Kalista Hannover, eldest daughter of the Etovian Emperor and niece of Calida Amador. I am the rightful Duchissa. I will not be intimidated.
It was a technique she’d learned long ago, after a vicious argument with Mother. She’d been crying, gasping for air, until Ariah found her and taught her how to?—
Ariah.
Shrieking pulsers and burning flesh blazed through her memory. Heat roared in her chest, and the vow she’d made came back to her:I will make him pay.
She added it to her mantra, and with every word, she forced her chest to rise and fall. The room’s stale scent flooded her senses, along with the distant roar of the ship’s thrusters. As she focused on her breathing, on the reminder of who she was and who she would be, the pain dulled. Her tense muscles relaxed.
She would make Carik pay.
The door slammed open, and Kalie jumped.
I will not be intimidated.
Heavy footsteps thundered into the room.
