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“Yes,” she agreed, trying not to cry. “I do. I don’t care anymore who you used to be. That’s in the past. I love younow, and I’m not giving you up. Ever.”
“I love you too, my Star. You already are the perfect mate.” He tugged at her arm, and she fell onto the bed and on top of him.
He wheezed. Shit. He must’ve been injured really badly. Delaney didn’t weigh much, but every part of him hurt.
Delaney scrambled off him. “Crap. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put my weight on you.”
“I was hurt bad, wasn’t I?”
“Yeah. You had a big hole in you. I thought you were dead. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
Ulrek frowned. “That’s going to be hard to do with this bounty still on my head. We got rid of Gritarr, but eventually, someone else will replace him.”
Delaney set her jaw. “Okay, so we take a stand. We make sure everyone who comes after you or betrays you gets a bloody death and broadcast it same as Kean is doing with that governor.”
Who had stolen his Delaney and replaced her with a bloodthirsty vixen? Oh, who was he kidding. He’d known this was in her all along, and he loved it.
But what was this about a governor?
“Doesn’t Kean have a huge bounty on his head too?” Delaney asked before he could inquire about that.
“He does. And every year, he throws a huge party and invites everyone into the compound, tempting the disloyal to make their move.”
“Perfect. Then let’s do that. Eventually, it’s going to be known as the impossible bounty, and only someone very stupid or really arrogant would try for it.” She reached for her comm, which was on a nearby table. “We can get started right now. I’ll comm Tuhror. Maybe he and Emil have discovered who the snitch in your fleet is.”
Ulrek pressed his lips in a thin line. A snitch in his fleet. That was disappointing, but it was almost worth it just to see Delaney like this. This was the fire that he’d known his mate would need. She was perfect. The Stars had known.
Ulkin insisted Ulrek needed help getting back to his suite. At first, Ulrek protested that he didn’t need it, but his attempt to stand shut him up fast. He looked down at his body in dismay. Much of the skin on one side of him was new, and he had lost weight, despite all the transfusions. His body had used a lot of his reserves to heal.
They polished off the food sitting on the table as they waited for Tuhror to arrive. Ulrek was ravenous and wanted to scarf down all of it, but he made sure he gave Delaney a bit of everything first.
After Tuhror arrived, the trio stopped at the next room over to check up on Gavin. He was up and reading something on his PPC. A quick glance saw it was some sort of maintenance guide; Gavin had strange tastes in reading material, but it was one of the reasons he was so good at his job.
Just like Ulrek, Gavin had lost some of his mass to the healing process, but judging by the trays of empty dishes stacked on the table, he’d probably gain it all back soon. Having never worked on humans at such an extensive level, Ulkin had insisted the mechanic stay in the medical wing for observation for a few more days.
“We found out who leaked the information,” Tuhror said when they were in the privacy of his suite. “Gritarr didn’t clear the message records on his comm. We commed every contact he connected with and recorded the voices when they answered. An analysis found a match on one of our ships. We sent the male a message posing as Gritarr and asking for new information in exchange for a large sum of credits. He bit.”
“Who is it?” Before his second-in-command could answer, Ulrek stopped him. “Actually, no. Don’t tell me.” He’d had enough bad news today. He didn’t need to know who had betrayed him. The name wasn’t important.
“What do you want done with him?”
Ulrek thought of what Delaney just suggested they do with every person who dared betray them: a bloody and very public death. “My mate has a marvelous idea.”
Chapter 28
Delaney
Delaney closed her eyes as Ulrek pressed the tip of the Euphora tab to her neck. There was a barely audible hiss and a mild sting that disappeared even before it started. At first, nothing happened.
“Open your eyes, my Star.”
She blinked up at the most gorgeous green eyes she’d ever seen. Ulrek held her on his lap, watching her with amusement. He was so beautiful. Was that even the right word? Dangerous and beautiful. Delaney reached to touch the smooth skin of his face, tracing a fingertip over the crease.
The world changed around her, becoming friendlier. Her worries faded. Ulrek grinned, showing off some badass fangs.
When had she developed the thing for fangs? She leaned closer and kissed one of them, earning her a chuckle. She smiled, wondering why she’d been so hesitant to take the Tallean drug again.
She’d tried it once before with Craig and had hated it. She’d felt out of control the whole time and had thrown herself at her ex-husband like she was desperate. He’d laughed, and so had his friends. They’d called her a slut, which had stung, ruining the high.
