She swallowed hard.The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a cold, creeping dread.She knew how to read aggression.
On humans.She hadnoidea how to read aliens.
"So," she said, trying to keep her voice level.She forced herself to take a breath.All she had to do was figure out the rules, and she could work from there."Is this standard operating procedure?Beating up anyone who looks at the package?"
Raaevik’s gaze flicked to hers."You are not a package."
She arched her brow."Really?Because you're treating me like cargo.Very fragile, very expensive cargo that you don't want anyone else to touch."
"You are the Emperor's matched mate," he said, the words stiff."You are sacred."
"Sacred," she repeated, ignoring the bitterness of the word."Hmmm...Is that why you kidnapped me?Because I'm sacred?"
"We retrieved you."
"Against my will."
"Your will is irrelevant compared to the needs of the Empire."
"Oh wow.Okay.You really bought into the cult crap, didn't you?"She glared up at him."Does his majesty, the emperor, know his head cheerleader is this intense?Or is this just a personal hobby of yours?"
A muscle feathered in Raaevik's jaw."My loyalty to the Emperor is absolute.To serve him is the highest honor.To protect what is his is the only purpose of my existence."
"And if he told you to jump out the airlock?"she asked.
"I would ask which one."
"If he told you to kill me?"
Raaevik went still.
"He would not," Raaevik said softly."You are his matched mate."
"But if he did?"She pushed."If your glorious Emperor decided I wasn't sacred anymore.If he said, 'Raaevik, dispose of her.'Would you do it?"
He stared down at her.His eyes had gone dark, the violet barely a ring around all that black.
"I am sworn to his service," he said, his voice devoid of all emotion."It is not my place to question his orders."
* * *
The dropship ramphit the deck with aclangthat vibrated up through Emily's bones.
Raaevik's hand closed around her elbow before Emily’s feet even touched the metal.Not rough, but not gentle either.Justthere.
"Stay close," he said.
She wanted to tell him to fuck off, given that he was attached to her like a barnacle with boundary issues.But the words died in her throat the moment she looked up.
Holy.Shit.
Devan Station was...immense.
The docking bay stretched in every direction, a cathedral of gleaming metal and soaring arches.Ships of varying sizes sat in orderly rows, their hulls catching the artificial light.After the cramped filth of the alley and the claustrophobic darkness of the dropship, the sheer scale of it made her feel like an ant stumbling into a museum.
Then they descended on her.
They came from everywhere.Not warriors, but slender alien men in flowing robes of iridescent grey.They lacked the sheer, overpowering bulk of the Lathar warriors and moved with a fluid energy.Their hands were soft, their voices high and overlapping, punctuated by sharp gestures and nods.
