The alarm bell sounded, and the ship’s intercom buzzed to life. “Captain, we are being pursued.”
Ravnos froze.
What?
His heart slammed in his chest double time.
Seht couldn’t have
followed me this fast!
He hit the intercom button built into his chair. “What kind of craft?”
“It appears to be…Skeldhi, a small one.” The man cleared his throat. “About the size of this gig, sir.”
Ravnos’s nails dug into the arm of his chair. It
was
Seht; he’d bet his sword on it.
The small hairs on his neck rose, and a cool sweat spread across his shoulders.
Stubborn
bastard
. He almost smiled. “How far behind are they?”
“About twenty minutes, and gaining.”
Ravnos’s gaze narrowed.
Looks like I’ll have to prepare a welcome
. “Can you tell how many are on the ship?”
“According to our sensors…one, sir.”
Ravnos blinked. That had to be wrong. “One? Are you sure?”
Silence buzzed across the intercom. “Confirmed. Only one occupant, sir, and they appear to be flying their craft mechanically. No nav-pilot.”
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Anger flashed up the back of Ravnos’s skull.
That suicidal idiot!
He fisted his hand on his chair.
What is he thinking, flying alone into unknown territory?
His lips pulled back from his teeth.
He needs to be taught a lesson
. “Can we outrun it?”
The man snorted. “Easily, sir.”
Ravnos took a deep breath and smiled. “Good, don’t.”
“Don’t?”
Ravnos tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Correct. Don’t outrun it. Stay just out of weapon’s range and lead it straight to the ship. Communicate to the
Hellsbreath
, use the electromagnet to capture the ship and pull it into an unused hangar.
Once there, seal it from entry or exit.”
“Shall we leave it in vacuum, sir?”
“No. Full atmosphere and gravity at human temperature.” Ravnos smiled even as a low growl rumbled deep in his chest. That foolish Skeldhi prince would finally learn whom he was truly dealing with. “No one goes in or out of that dock but me, understood?”
“Yes, s-sir! R-right away, sir!”
Ravnos blinked. Had the man just stuttered?
A voice spoke softly at Ravnos’s side. “You really shouldn’t growl at the staff, sir.”
Ravnos turned to find his lieutenant at his elbow, his hands filled with his fresh uniform.
The lieutenant stood perfectly straight, his blue gaze perfectly steady, but there was a fine sheen of sweat on his upper lip. “Believe me, you’re already intimidating enough.”
Ravnos snorted. “Is that so?”
The lieutenant grinned. “It’s a good thing they don’t see you when you haven’t yet had your morning coffee.”
Ravnos rolled his eyes. He waved at the clothes in his lieutenant’s hands. “Never mind those, they’ll only be destroyed.”
“Eh?” The lieutenant flinched back, cradling the uniform protectively in his hands.
“Destroyed?”
Ravnos stood up to shrug out of his coat and vest. “Take this too.” He handed the only slightly rumpled vest to his lieutenant. “It should still be salvageable.” He strapped his sword-belt around his hips and slid the coat back on without bothering to button it over his bare chest. “Have a fresh uniform and coat ready for me once I deal with our uninvited guest.” He sat back down.
“Deal with…” The lieutenant’s eyes widened. “By yourself, sir?”
Ravnos turned and narrowed his gaze on him. “You wouldn’t be implying that I am incapable of handling one man, would you?”
The lieutenant stiffened and swallowed visibly. “N-no, sir. Not at all, sir!”
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“Excellent.” Ravnos smiled tightly. “You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant lifted his hand to his brow in a smart salute, turned on his heel, and strode from the captain’s cabin with dignified haste.
* * * * *
At the edges of his mind, the ship’s consciousness murmured a welcome to her captain, but her focus was elsewhere. She was very busy with the task of bringing a difficult and unruly spacecraft safely into its assigned hangar bay. However, she took it upon herself to open the doors to corridors empty of personnel while locking others to keep people out just long enough to allow her captain the freedom go where he pleased in perfect privacy.
An agonizing number of minutes later, Ravnos arrived at the huge round pressure door that marked the entry to the hangar bay in question. He stared up at the blank steel surface, shaking with the urge to throw the door open and dreading the purpose behind doing so.
Seht was on the other side of that door.
His blood surged with a near-violent craving to see the silver-haired Skeldhi prince once more. At the same time, the cold sweat of despair slid along the base of his spine with what he would have to do once he had. Somehow, he had to convince the prince to go back and never pursue him again. He could not afford to let Seht stand in the way of his mission to destroy Moribund. Every day that monster remained breathing, people and ships would die for no reason other than profit.
He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
Please…don’t make me kill you
. He took a deep breath, raised his head, and asked the ship to open the door.
The bay was empty but for a single sleek and elegant craft of unrelieved, highly reflective silver with backswept wings for atmospheric flight. It crouched on four legs in the very center of the expansive empty bay, steaming and dripping from the ice melting on its hull. On its side, a door spiraled open and a staircase oozed into being.
Ravnos took a deep breath and drew his live-steel sword and the parrying dagger from behind him.
Seht stepped from his craft, bare-chested, in only his trousers and boots with a sword in his right hand. His long white mane had been pulled back into a snug tail. He bared his teeth and loosed a liquid snarl. “Ravnos…”
Ravnos lifted his chin. “
Captain
Ravnos of the demon-class dreadnaught
Hellsbreath
, chartered with the Republic of the Caribbean Stars. I do not wish to start a war with the Skeldhi. Please return to your ship and go.”
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Seht stared at Ravnos with his eyes narrowed and his jaw tight. “I am not leaving without you.” He twitched his left hand and uncoiled a whip.
Ravnos slid one foot back, angling his body into a casual fighting stance, his weapons held loosely in his hands. “Yes, you are.” Something from the depth of his memory suddenly surfaced. “I deny your claim to me.”
Seht’s eyes widened, and his body stiffened as though struck.
Ravnos kept himself from wincing, but it wasn’t easy.
Damn, he looks like he’s about
to cry.
Abruptly, Seht’s chin lifted, his gaze narrowed, and he bared his teeth. “Then I will
make
you accept my claim.” He lifted his blade and lunged, his blade pointed at Ravnos’s heart.
Cool excitement raced up Ravnos’s spine.
That’s what you think
. He intercepted Seht’s blade on the flat of his, forcing it off target, and lunged in to meet him hilt to hilt.
He smiled from only a kiss away. “I am not an unaugmented child this time.”
Seht grinned, showing his fangs. “So I see.” He shoved hard and twisted, breaking contact with Ravnos’s sword. He lashed out with his whip, aiming low.
Ravnos spotted the whip and leaped straight up, avoiding the lash. His augmented legs lifted him high off the deck.
Seht leaped upward, matching his height, and swung for Ravnos’s upper arm.
In midair, Ravnos swung out his forearm-length parrying dagger hard, caught Seht’s blade, and used the momentum created by the hit to twist all the way around.
His sword whipped out and scored a slice across Seht’s upper sword arm.
Seht curled his lip in a hiss but didn’t drop his blade. He slammed the heel of his whip hand into Ravnos’s chest, shoving him away. He landed on the floor in a crouch.
Scarlet dripped on the steel deck.
Ravnos landed in a crouch two body-lengths away.
Seht snarled and charged him.
Ravnos growled low and deep and ran to meet him.
Lightning fast, live-steel met live-steel in thrust and counterthrust, parry and spark-inducing slide. The bay echoed with the tang of ringing steel from strike after strike, punctuated by the occasional whip crack. Scarlet splotches spattered across the steel decking.
Annoyed at the difficulty he was having getting his sword past Seht’s defense, Ravnos twisted to avoid a stab, his coat flaring out, and lashed out with a hard kick. It landed solidly on Seht’s left side.
Seht gasped but countered with a whip-hand punch aimed for Ravnos’s head.
Ravnos jerked back but still felt a glancing slam to the edge of his jaw. He twisted away and added a long backward flip hard enough and high enough that his hands didn’t need to touch the deck. He landed in a crouch, his coat pooling around him on the deck plates.
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Two body-lengths away, Seht crouched, panting for breath. He frowned. “That fighting style… Where did you learn it?”
Ravnos stood up and spat a small amount of blood. He rubbed his jaw with the heel of his sword hand. “From a cousin.” He couldn’t help the smile lifting his lips. “A very
distant
cousin.”
Seht snorted. “Ah, an
isfeht
, a renegade rehkyt.”
Ravnos shrugged slightly. “Well, he did have red hair.”
Seht’s brow lifted. “And fangs, no doubt. No human is capable of fighting in that fashion. Even with augmentations, their spatial sense wouldn’t allow for it.”
Ravnos shrugged again but noted the small rents in Seht’s ship-suit all along his arms and upper thighs. He wasn’t much better. His coat and trousers had almost as many slashes. Scarlet was dotting the plates under both of them. He’d been careful to avoid cutting the arteries under Seht’s neck, arms, or along the inner thighs. He didn’t want to kill him if he could avoid it.
Ravnos did a quick survey of his own wounds and noticed exactly the same pattern of slices along his arms and outer thighs. Seht wasn’t trying to kill him either.
However, with as much blood loss as they’d already suffered came disorientation. He had to stop the fight before one of them accidentally did something fatal.
It was time to fight dirty. He tossed his parrying dagger across the bay. He’d need his hands for this.
Seht lifted his chin and snorted, a smile curving his lips. “If you think I’ll toss my whip aside, you are sorely mistaken.”
Ravnos licked his lips and smiled.
Good
. He twirled the sword in his hand. “Not feeling honorable?”
Seht’s smile evaporated. “Fuck honor.” He flicked his wrist, making his whip coil at his heels. “I will use
any
means to get you back!” He lunged toward Ravnos and lashed out with his whip.
Ravnos reached out with his off hand and allowed the whip to wrap around his wrist. It stung like a bitch. Wincing only slightly, he grabbed the wire-laced leather, sidestepped, and yanked hard, throwing his entire weight to the side.
Seht was thrown in the opposite direction, skidding on his heels in an arc.
Ravnos crouched lower and continued his hard turn, making it more of a spin.
Just before Seht could completely lose his balance, he pulled hard and lunged toward Seht, using the tension from the whip for greater speed. At the very last moment, he tossed his sword away and threw his right arm out to catch Seht around the neck.
Seht’s eyes widened; then he fell back under Ravnos’s weight.
With Seht’s off hand caught under his body, Ravnos grabbed his own wrist, putting Seht into a headlock.
Seht released the whip to grab at Ravnos’s hair. “Let go!” He brought up his sword, aiming the pommel for Ravnos’s head.
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Ravnos winced and hissed from the pain of his hair being yanked, but only loosened his hold on Seht’s throat enough to roll onto his back and halfway under Seht to avoid the descending pommel. He tightened his hold around Seht’s throat once more and yanked Seht squarely on top of him. “No.”
Seht choked, grabbed for Ravnos’s arm, and rolled hard to the side.
Ravnos spread his legs wide to keep himself under the silver-haired prince. He growled in Seht’s pointed ear. “Pulling hair? I thought only girls fought that way.”
Gasping, Seht kicked out and struggled to sit upright. “Bastard!” His sword clanged on the steel deck.
Ravnos decided to help him sit up and rolled forward. With a hasty bit of wiggling, he got both knees bent under him and safely away from Seht’s sword. He angled his choking-hold arm high, aiming to stop the blood flow in the arteries on the sides of Seht’s neck to make Seht pass out as quickly as possible.
Seht’s struggles weakened; his sword dropped to the floor with a
clang
.
Ravnos pressed his cheek against Seht’s. “I have no desire to kill you, Seht. You’re free to go. I just wanted to prove to you, to both of us, that you can’t dominate me. It’s far too late for that. I will never go back with you.”
Seht sucked in a harsh breath. “If you will not come with me”—he gasped in another breath—“then I will not leave.”
“What?” Ravnos stiffened. “Are you insane?”
Seht wheezed in another breath. “I will not…leave you…again.”
A strange dizziness filled Ravnos’s brain. “You’re willing to stay with me here, under my command?”
Seht gasped. “Yes.”
Ravnos growled in his ear. “You are absolutely sure?”
Seht sucked in a deep breath, and his eyes closed. “I am…sure. I will
not
leave you again. I…I cannot live without you…anymore.” A tear slid from his eye, and his voice faded. “I tried. I cannot—I
will
not—anymore. You are…my other…half.” His body went limp in Ravnos’s arms.