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“Let me guess. Is Raina shipping out to the colony, then?”
“No,” Niko says, cocking his head. “She’s not.”
I shrug. I suppose Kaye, Kalla, and the other colonists have Frankie’s health well in han—
“Because Frankie is coming here,” he adds.
“Is she?” I breathe.
“That’s what Raina told me. Kalla will bring his mate and yours here to Makiva’s Revenge in his ship. Considering how that thing flies, they could arrive any time.”
Kalla’s ship is unmatched when it comes to speed, but it’ll be a cramped trip for three people. I’d wager anything that Kalla will be grumpy when he steps off.
“Does this mean she’s changed her mind for some reason?”
One would think that a triggering event would send my mate deeper into a protective cocoon, but that’s clearly not the case. The only conclusion to draw would be that she’s fleeing the colony in fear for her life, running to a powerful source of protection—a king who commands a fleet of pirate ships.
If all I can be to her is a shield against her past abuser, then so be it.
“Maybe,” Niko says brightly. “Or Kaye and Kalla strong-armed her into it in her weakened emotional state. Who knows? Maybe Kalla is at it again with the kidnappings. You know he’s bored out of his skull on the dusty farm planet…”
I plaster on an evil smile. “If he brought Francesca against her will, Kalla will be strung up by the ankles in the center of docking platforms before he knows what hit him.”
Niko snickers. “Great Ka, I’d pay to see that.”
“We need to do something about this rutting creep,” I say, trying to temper my excitement with another task.
“Finally. I’ve been telling you this since we were ten, but you insisted we keep him around. Now he’s way too difficult to get rid of,” Niko says. I throw him an exasperated look. “Oh, wait… So you’re not talking about Kalla still?”
“What is that repugnant male’s name?” I ask.
Nisina trots back to my side, satisfied with her perusal of the room’s smells. She whines at me, sensing my anger and my nervous tension.
“Gerunde.” Niko makes a retching noise. “Your mate recently filed a report that officially makes him a wanted criminal in Alliance territory.”
“If we knew where he was, Kalla would’ve ended him before he had the chance to send any disgusting messages.”
“If Frankie is actually coming here to become your mate, then the whole world will know that she’s your queen,” Niko says. “And that means the trail will run colder than ever. Because this Gerunde, whether we like it or not, is clever enough to know that he’ll no longer have access to a female of her status.”
Kalla is more killer than tracker, and he’s owed his time with his mate. We’ll have to find someone else, someone who can be as swift and shrewd as our target.
“Let’s go over the remaining Sworn that are up to a challenge like this,” I suggest, shuffling the tablets on my desk until I find the proper one. “I intend to ensure that this male never knows a day of peace, so we need someone who can pull him out of whatever hole he’s hiding in.”
“There are a few folks that come to mind,” he replies, glancing at my compiled notes on the Sworn and their various active tasks. “This is all well and good, but have you considered what you’re going to say to her when she gets here? Are you sure you’re not distracting yourself from more important thoughts?”
“What is there to consider?” I ask. “Whatever she’s come to ask of me will be done, and whatever she wants of me will be hers.”
CHAPTER FIVE
FRANKIE
Every night is the same.
Cold sweat, tangled sheets, and the sinking feeling that every shadow is out to get me.
I wake to slap away grabbing hands that don’t exist, but the sensation of fingers digging remains, a phantom I can’t chase away with all the lights on. Sometimes it’s fingers and sometimes it’s fire, catching on my oiled skin and setting me ablaze.
This particular night, I find myself in an unfamiliar bed too.
