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“My staff did what they could to pinpoint last-seen locations on both, but these are not easy missions. You have all the information they found on that chip. For all I know, both of these matters could take passings to complete.”
“And what? He’s busy?” Darra cocks his head toward Kalla. “You know how I hate being second place.”
“Kalla is kindly being asked to not leave this planet unless it’s absolutely necessary. And he’s mated now, settling down,” I explain. “Now, if you happen to pinpoint a location on the kill mark, and you’re not close enough to intercept him, then you should send us the intel, and Kalla can handle the rest.”
“You’re third place,” Kalla says with a smirk. “Rossa was busy, and in any case, the target is onto her since she already tracked him down and locked onto his ship once.”
Darra lets out a performative sigh. “You become a war hero and still can’t catch a little proper appreciation, huh?”
“Would you rather be the leading ship on the Kar’Kal landing party? I’m sure the crowds would show plenty appreciation, Captain.”
“Flag waving and parading?” He sniffs. “Nope, sounds boring. I’ll pick hunting and stabbing any day. Anyway, I am stabbing, right? Nothing fancy?”
He trails off, hands miming a knife across the throat.
“Stabbing, disintegration, beheading, drowning—The choice is yours. As long as it’s painful. Keep it as quiet as possible. I don’t want him on the news.”
I’ve learned as much as I can about my mate secondhand. Apparently, she likes to be informed on what’s going on through the civilized galaxies. She checks the news every day and buys those journalistic books that document current events.
I caught her lingering in the library with Viro, thumbing through the pages of some Kar’Kali tome. He’s been helping her get comfortable with the ship’s layout. I slipped out quick enough for her not to notice. Viro glanced at the door with a raised brow as I spied for a moment. Francesca was too absorbed to be bothered, and I relished the opportunity to watch her without her guard up as she dragged her finger over the text.
I’ve never been jealous of paper before, but the way the tip of her nail slid over the page sent a shiver down my spine.
“Quiet but painful. Got it.” Darra chuckles. “One last question. Hypothetically, if I had leads on both situations that would take me to opposing locations… Which of these two takes priority?”
Kalla and I exchange a glance. I know with perfect clarity what Kalla’s answer would be, but my heart is telling me that my mate would have only one answer on her mind.
“The rescue,” I say. “I made a promise to have that person found, and I will keep it.”
Kalla looks away, choosing to stare out at Kar’Kal rather than show me his disapproval. I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to personally exterminate Francesca’s captor, but with nothing to go on, I need to rely on someone with more finesse and patience.
“Sounds important,” Darra says. “In that case, I’d better get right on the case. Tell the other sworn I said hello and goodbye, will ya?”
“You’re leaving?” I take a look out the window to ensure that the planet we fought for is indeed still looming there, glowing and majestic. “Look, this might be important, but you can take a few days to land with us and see the planet, can’t you?”
“What’s the point?” He shrugs. “I’m not moving in anytime soon. We already celebrated at home. I’ll wager it’s like most other habitable planets, eh?”
He means that we celebrated on The Rightful Heir. It will still be a while before my people embrace this planet as their true home, even if most are more than ready to inhabit it.
“This is what you fought for,” I say.
“I fought for our safety, not a floating rock,” he replies. “Besides, too much time spent on the ground gives me the shakes. I’m for the skies, and I’ve got a lot to do. I’ll tour the glorious motherland next time around.”
“Suit yourself,” I sigh. I won’t pretend to understand everything about Darra. If he’d like to breathe recycled oxygen for the rest of his days, that’s none of my business.
“Pick me out a nice island,” he calls over his shoulder before exiting.
Kalla frowns in my direction.
“You know what I’m gonna say, right?” he asks.
I open my mouth, ready to lecture him on all the reasons he can’t drop everything to hunt down the male that’s taunting my mate.
“If he gets an island, I want two,” he quips with a dark grin.
I hear the tapping of Nisina’s claws on the metal hallway floor tiles and shoot out of my seat. My mate pokes her head in as the kaia jogs in to greet me.
“Done for the day?” She nods her head toward the door. “Who was that man?”
