Shayn Read online

  He could think of a dozen dark scenarios of his own and he didn’t want to burden his denya, so he took his time, carefully crafting his response. “I don’t know her as well as you do, obviously. We actually only talked on that first day. But based on the things you’ve told me, I assume she’d want you back on Oscavia, relatively unscathed. And when she has you there she will do her best to make sure you don’t leave again.”

  She pulled in a shaky breath and nodded. “Yeah, that’s one possibility.”

  “What are you really worried about?”

  “That she’ll kill you. Or hurt you to make me cooperate.” She pushed off the couch and moved until she was standing by the window and looking out into the vast darkness that spread out before them. “I don’t even know where all that’s coming from. It’s not a vision. And Morgyn has never threatened me before. But... I can’t risk you.”

  Shayn rose as well and stood behind her, his hands coming up to cover her shoulders. “You’re not risking me. I can handle Morgyn. I’m never without my own defense.”

  She cocked her head to the side and looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “What?”

  He grinned at his denya. “Watch this.” He held out his hand and squeezed, triggering the release of sharp claws from his knuckles. They were a throwback to long before Detyens had been a peaceful race that traveled the galaxy, back to the time when they hunted the mountains of their home world and fought for supremacy.

  Naomi sucked in a breath, but she didn’t seem scared. She turned toward him and raised a hand, her finger carefully tracing over the curve of the claw. “That’s deadly,” she said. And then she shocked him to his core, leaning down and placing a kiss over the broadest part. “I think you’re going to need them.”

  He couldn’t tell if she was speaking from a vision or fear, and he didn’t ask. He let his claws slide back into their sheathes as if they’d never been there in the first place and was about to lean down and capture his mate’s mouth when the ship rocked around them and they stumbled.

  A moment later the lights went out, the room thrown into complete darkness, and in the distance a siren blared.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NAOMI REACHED OUT AND clung to Shayn, afraid that if she didn’t touch him she’d lose him in the darkness. She could hear the faint beeping of a siren coming from the hall, and there was no light. She could have covered her eyes and have seen no difference.

  Something hummed around them and a dim light in the floor illuminated a path towards the door. “Emergency lights,” she muttered.

  “It looks like we should follow them,” said Shayn. He laced their fingers together and led her toward the door.

  “Wait!” Naomi cried out as they passed a low table. She reached down and felt around for her tablet, careful not to sweep it to the floor. Once the hard metal touched her fingertips she carefully picked it up and placed it in her pocket. “Can’t leave Aileen behind,” she said, a bit embarrassed. To some the AI would be nothing more than a machine, but she was so much more than that to Naomi. Leaving her would be like abandoning her oldest friend.

  “Of course not,” Shayn agreed, and Naomi’s heart clenched at his easy acceptance.

  They found the door and made it out to the hallway, where they could hear other people coming out of their rooms. It was hard to see anyone. The emergency lights lit a path in the floor, but they cast everyone in shadow. The beeping of the siren was louder out here and if they stuck around for long Naomi was sure she’d have a headache.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Are we crashing?”

  “Is the ship broken?”

  “Hey, who turned out the lights?”

  “What are we supposed to do?”

  The words came from all around them, but Naomi couldn’t put any faces to the voices. She squeezed Shayn’s hand tight and he squeezed back, assuring her that he was right there, even if she could only see the shadow of his features. But she didn’t need to see him to feel him, his heat, the scent of his sweat and soap, or hear the sound of his breathing. In the past few days he’d become more familiar to her than anyone back home and it was strangely reassuring to know him in the dark.

  “Please proceed along the highlighted route,” a calm, computerized voice broke through the emergency sirens. “Follow crew instructions and all will be well.”

  The ship rocked again and Naomi stumbled into her mate, one arm going around him to steady herself. Someone in the hallway screamed and Naomi flinched. But everything settled after a moment and the voice instructed them again to follow the lights. She didn’t know where they were going, didn’t know what was wrong, but at least they had a path to follow.

  The mass of people around them started moving and Naomi thought she and Shayn were bringing up the rear until another door slammed further down the hall and a grumbling male voice floated up towards them. It sounded like someone had just been woken up and wasn’t happy about it. It wasn’t late according to the ship’s time, but that didn’t mean everyone would be awake.

  They walked for awhile, several minutes at least, and she had no idea where they were. It was difficult to judge the distance without much light and the dimness was constant; no matter what section of the ship they were in, things weren’t getting better.

  And it was starting to get cold.

  Normally the ship was a bit warm, the mix of body heat and life support doing its job to keep them all comfortable, but they were floating through cold, dark space and the temperatures outside were enough to kill a person if the vacuum and lack of oxygen didn’t do the job first. If the ship was cold, it meant something was wrong with the life support system, and from what little Naomi knew of ships, that meant something was really wrong. Those systems were triply redundant at a minimum since a failure of life support meant everyone died.

  She shuddered and Shayn leaned in close.

  “We’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “There might be a mechanical issue, but a liner like this is sure to have the best mechanics available. Any diversions in life support will be temporary.”

  It sounded good, but Naomi didn’t quite believe him. “How many times have you been on a ship that lost life support?”

  Shayn didn’t answer, and that was answer enough. The light eventually led them to a large room and though she still couldn’t see everything, Naomi was pretty sure that they were in the dining room. Even more people were waiting there, hushed voices speaking loud enough to make it hard to think. Of course their escape from Morgyn wouldn’t go exactly to plan. But nothing about her visions had suggested that they were going to die on a spaceship. Naomi took that to heart. She’d had plenty of death visions, though few of them were about herself. She knew what the inevitability of death felt like, and it wasn’t this. People were scared, but they weren’t panicking, and they weren’t resigned to their fate. Things would be alright. She believed that.

  “I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” a crew member yelled from the center of the room, trying to get everyone’s attention. “We’ve had a slight issue with the mechanics, but luckily we are within range of a habitable planet.” The murmurs got even louder. “Please! I need your attention. If you would proceed to the nearest evacuation station once I am done talking, we will begin the process.” People started shifting, trying to move to the doors even though the crewman wasn’t done. “Don’t leave yet, I have some important instructions.” That didn’t stop anyone.

  Naomi wanted to follow after them, slightly worried there wouldn’t be enough seats, but if the crewman had something important to say, she didn’t want to miss out. And since Shayn wasn’t trying to move, she would stay at his side until this thing was over.

  And long after that if she had her way.

  “What’s wrong with the ship?” a voice from the front demanded.

  “A mechanical issue,” the crewman repeated. “We have someone coming to take a look, but it will be a little while. We are only evacuating for passenger comfort. The
re is no imminent danger. Now. Please make sure to record your name when you board the evacuation vessel. And record your name again with one of the crew on the ground when you reach the evacuation site. We want to ensure that everyone is accounted for. Do not return to your rooms for your things. You will be able to recover them later. We have plenty of food, clothing, blankets, and water on the ground. Now proceed in an orderly fashion to the evacuation station. Orderly!”

  Chaos erupted.

  SHAYN HELD ON TIGHT to his denya as the flow of bodies took them out of the dining room and towards the evacuation station. Panic hummed around them as passengers tried to get out as quickly as possible. Shayn’s instincts screamed at him to protect his mate, that there were threats all around, but all he could do was lead her to their destination. No one was trying to hurt them, and if he initiated any violence, if he shoved someone, or forced his way forward, he would only make things worse.

  But when someone jostled Naomi he couldn’t keep the growl from escaping and despite the noise around them, the sound carried. Suddenly they had a buffer around them as passengers gave them a wide berth. He wanted more information, wanted to know what could cause a ship to break down like this. But his only knowledge of these kind of mechanics came from what his brothers told him. He was in charge of keeping Honora Station safe, his brothers kept it working.

  A line snaked down the hall as passengers waited to be loaded onto the evacuation vessel. Naomi thrummed with tension, and Shayn tried to keep his cool, tried not to radiate any of his own concerns. Things would be fine. This had nothing to do with their escape. It was merely a delay, and it would be a funny story someday.

  Not today.

  The line lurched forward as passengers loaded onto the vessel and stopped again for some reason. Shayn couldn’t see the door out, but he hoped they were getting closer.

  “You, you, you, not you, you two, and that guy over there, come on. Load up this way.” It wasn’t the same crewman from the dining room, but Shayn could just make out the shape of the uniform, and the person spoke with authority as if they had the right to direct passengers where they wanted them to go.

  Several of the people behind them followed the instructions, and Shayn watched them go, hoping that whatever the crew was doing would get them off the ship faster. He felt helpless in the line. He wanted to find some other way off the ship, some way he could control, and make sure his denya stayed safe. But those kind of reckless actions would only hurt them in the long run.

  They moved a few steps and stopped again.

  “I don’t know if going to die of terror or boredom first,” Naomi muttered.

  Despite the situation, Shayn grinned. “Boredom, definitely.”

  They turned a corner as the line moved and Shayn could see passengers loading up onto the vessel. He didn’t know exactly how many would fit onto each vessel, but the seats had to number in the hundreds based on the length of the line. And it had to be getting crowded in there. There were thousands of people on the ship, thousands of people to evacuate. There was no way to do it quickly if they wanted to be safe.

  He was sure they would get on the vessel with the next group of passengers, and he was half right. A crew member waved them forward, and Shayn and Naomi stepped up, ready to board.

  “Only one seat left,” said the crewmember, looking down at her tablet dispassionately. “You were first, she has to stay. Has to get the next vessel.”

  “We go together.” Shayn insisted.

  “It’s all right,” Naomi whispered to him, quiet enough that the crewmember wouldn’t be able to hear. “I’m sure there’s another vessel with a seat for me.”

  “Together,” Shayn repeated firmly.

  “Sir, you’re holding up the line. Get in or go find another seat somewhere. I don’t have time for this.” She gestured Shayn and Naomi aside and waved the person behind them forward.

  That person didn’t hesitate, giving the crewmember their name and stepping onto the vessel. The door clanged shut behind them, leaving Shayn, Naomi, and dozens more people stranded in the hallway without a way off the ship.

  “You should’ve gone,” said Naomi. “At least you would have been safe.”

  Shayn clutched her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “I’m not safe without you with me. We are mates, we are in this together.” He had just found her, and he wouldn’t lose her now. And even though the crew insisted that the ship was relatively safe even with the mechanical failure, he refused to get onto an escape vessel without his mate. “Let’s go find another way off.”

  Naomi muttered something behind him, something Shayn couldn’t quite make out, but he was certain it had to do with being a stubborn male who didn’t know when to do what he was told.

  They found another group of people muttering and complaining as the door to the escape vessel slammed shut. The ship lurched again and Shayn wondered just how safe it actually was. They were still only lit up by the emergency lights, but his eyes had adjusted so at least he could see better now.

  Following the crowd wasn’t doing them any good, and as the group they’d been with started heading down one hall, Shayn tugged Naomi down another.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, trailing behind him and not letting go of his hand.

  “Away from them,” was Shayn’s response. “The lights have to lead somewhere, right?” If they were meant to guide passengers, they wouldn’t lead them to a dead end. At least, he hoped not. “Any hints?” Naomi hadn’t had a vision since they’d boarded the ship and if she had any power over them, now would be the time to trigger one. Of course, she’d told him more than once that they weren’t something she could control, so he wasn’t holding out hope.

  “Nothing.” She sounded just as frustrated as he felt so Shayn was sure not to let any of that out. “Wait.” She tugged on his hand and pulled them to a stop. “We shouldn’t go this way.” Her voice took on a faraway cadence. “We need to go. Now.” She yanked his hand back towards the way they’d come and started running. She was surprisingly fast and Shayn had to work to keep up, despite his longer legs.

  She turned a blind corner and they almost smacked into a pack of people, dodging out of the way just in time. Naomi kept moving, not content to hide in the crowd, and Shayn had no choice but to follow her. “What are we running from?” he asked.

  “Badness,” was the useful response.

  He couldn’t complain that his mate’s psychic visions weren’t specific enough. He couldn’t. No matter how much he wanted to.

  They came to a split in the hall and Naomi stumbled and cursed. She turned one way and then the next, frozen in indecision.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “No good choice.” She looked both ways again and then looked him up and down. It was too dim to read the expression on her face, but he could see her shake her head.

  Footsteps pounded behind them and Shayn whipped around, shielding Naomi with his body, unsure of what threat the new person posed. No matter how well his eyes had adjusted, he could still only make out the shape of the person. Tall, perhaps Oscavian, short hair. He might have been the man that Shayn and Naomi had spotted before, but it was too dark to be sure.

  “Hand her over,” he rumbled at Shayn.

  “Did you have something to do with this?” It seemed ludicrous to think someone would sabotage a ship like this just to take control of Naomi, but Shayn didn’t yet know what lengths Sola Corp would go to to get his denya back.

  The man scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Now hand her over.” His hand flicked at his side and Shayn could barely make out the length of some kind of weapon.

  “That’s not happening.”

  Had Naomi seen how this ended? Was that why she couldn’t choose which way to run? He’d fight to protect her to his last breath and he’d make sure she was safe from whoever threatened her, no matter the cost.

  He moved quickly, springing at the man and lashing out with a punch in a flurry of movement meant to take th
e man by surprise. But whoever he was fighting knew to expect it and blocked, bringing up his baton and flicking it. Shayn spun away, but it still managed to lick him and he hissed in pain. It was nothing, he’d had worse.

  They traded blows and Shayn never lost his awareness of his denya, keeping himself between her and his opponent at all times. It meant he had to take a few more blows, but he could deal with bruises. And Naomi didn’t stay frozen like a statue. She took cover, keeping out of sight and making herself less of a target. She had to know that more threats could come for her and she didn’t seem willing to be caught unaware.

  A lucky strike sent his opponent crashing to the floor and a second punch knocked him out. Shayn’s claws snicked out and he wanted to lean down and finish the job, but Naomi put a hand on his arm. “You’re not a killer,” she told him. But she’d only known him a few days; she couldn’t know that with certainty.

  She was right, though. Shayn had never killed someone. Yet if it came to that, if he had to do it to defend his mate, he’d lean down and use his claws as they were meant to be used. “He could come back for you.”

  “Here,” she pointed towards a dark hollow in the wall, “I found a closet. We can lock him in. The crew said the ship is safe enough. He can always call for help later. We’re not killing him.”

  “Did your vision tell you not to?”

  “I’m capable of making decisions on my own.” It came out icy and a bit hurt and Shayn knew he’d overstepped, but he didn’t have time to apologize. He hefted up his unconscious assailant and stuffed him in the closet. They rigged a lock on the outside of the door and were off once more.

  The next evacuation vessel they found was still taking passengers and Naomi and Shayn slipped on without any trouble. He could feel bruises blooming and hoped there was regen gel on the ground. Naomi sat close and burrowed into his side, the tension from before washed away at the relief of escape.

  “We’ll be okay,” he promised. And he’d do everything in his power to make sure that remained true. Even if he had to become a killer to do so.