Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary (5 page)

“
Shh,” she
whispered and glanced past him to the door before her eyes met his
again. They pleaded him. “Don’t tell them. They don’t know, do
they? No one knows. To the world, I’m just an ambassador. If they
were to find out—”

He pressed his finger
against her lips, silencing her. It was soft and warm under his
touch. “I won’t tell them.”

The betrayal in those four
words didn’t bother him in the slightest. Since setting eyes on
her, he had been more loyal to her than to Nostra and the crew of
this ship. The moment he had found her in the cryo-sleep pod, he
had been thinking about her constantly. He even dreamed of her,
although she was muddled into his nightmares.

A smile curved her lips
and set his heart racing. It had been too long since a female had
affected him so much with such a small gesture. The slightest tilt
of her lips or hint of tender emotion in her eyes and he was ready
to pledge his allegiance to her and her alone.

He couldn’t.

He stepped back,
distancing himself. She was beautiful but she was a means to an
end. He needed the money that she would bring him. He had to save
his sisters.

He couldn’t save
her.

“
If they find
out,” she said and then frowned, as though she couldn’t bring
herself to say anything more. She knew as well as he did how Nostra
would react if he discovered her lineage. They would drop into
sub-space again and would sell her tomorrow on the black market
rather than at the auctions in a few days time. Nostra wouldn’t
risk her family coming after her or any Lyran army officer
discovering her whereabouts.

They would be lucky if
they could get someone to buy her at all, but if they did, they
would never need to sell another slave again.

He would buy back his
sisters.

He would be free of this
life.

But at what
price?

Could he live with himself
knowing that he had sold her into slavery? Miali. A name as
beautiful as her face.

His heart thumped harder,
betraying his desire to touch her as his hand trembled at his side.
She stared deep into his eyes, their dark depths still pleading him
to help her, speaking to his soul. It waged war against his mind,
leaving him torn between helping her and condemning her.

“
You mentioned
that your sisters are slaves,” she said and he silently cursed her
for bringing that up at this moment, when he stood balanced on a
knife’s edge.

“
To free
himself of a life of slavery, my father sold them. That night still
haunts me. I couldn’t do anything to stop him. I tried. I was no
match for him in a fight. I fell unconscious to the sounds of my
sisters screaming and when I woke, they were gone.”

Kosen sat back down, not
daring to risk continuing to stand so close to her when he desired
to touch her in order to gain some comfort and was barely strong
enough to stop himself. Whenever he fought, the memories of that
night haunted his sleep again for weeks afterwards. Now, when he
closed his eyes, he saw the fight on her ship mingled in with his
fight against his father. It tormented him. He hadn’t been able to
save his sisters. He wouldn’t be able to save her.

“
Your sisters
are slaves, and you work to send others to a similar horrific fate.
What kind of a sick man are you?”

Her words rocked him to
his soul, making him nauseas as it struck him that she was right.
He was sick. In order to get money to save his sisters, he had
resorted to condemning others to the life of a slave. He was no
better than his father. His father had sold them to save his
family. Now he sold strangers for a similar reason.

He was going to sell Miali
and he knew that whatever horrors his sisters had lived through,
they would be pale compared to those that awaited her. As a
princess, as a Lyran, she would be prized by her owner. He would
take great satisfaction in using her repeatedly, favouring her
above any other slaves that he might own.

She was right.

What kind of sick man was
he?

He had thought that he had
been doing right by trading people that he didn’t know for those
that he loved. Those people meant nothing to him. His sisters meant
everything. He had even managed to fool himself into believing that
at first and that he had no other choice. Now he could see that
this wasn’t the only way of saving his sisters. Minervans prided
themselves on their valour and strength.

What valour was there in
this?

What strength?

He was weak and shameful.
It was little wonder that he hated himself and the things that he
had done. They haunted his sleep, pervading his dreams. Every face
of those that he had helped sell into a life of hell had stayed
with him, lived in him.

The thought of seeing
Miali’s face amongst them was too much to bear. He couldn’t live
with the idea that he had traded her life for his sisters. She
wasn’t a stranger to him. No stranger could make him feel this
way.

Staring into her dark
eyes, he could see how easily life as a slave would break her. The
thought of Sasue touching her had frightened her half to death. How
would she survive the touch of a master?

“
I only wanted
to save my sisters,” he whispered and hung his head forwards. His
eyes unfocused. “I have no right to call myself
Minervan.”

Burying his face in his
hands, he asked Arkus for forgiveness, strength and guidance. He
couldn’t allow them to send Miali to her death but he couldn’t
sacrifice his sisters either. He had to find a way to save them
all.

“
Do you know
where your sisters are?” Miali said, her voice smooth and
coaxing.

Kosen looked up at her,
into her eyes, and wondered how she could bring herself to look at
him after what he had done to her. He should have saved her just as
he had wanted to back on her ship.

The sight of her sleeping,
so unaware of her fate, had made him consider moving her to one of
the escape capsules and setting her free. He wished that he could
set her free now, but he couldn’t think of a way. If she escaped,
Nostra would know that it had been his doing. Nostra would kill
him. His sisters would never be saved.

“
I know,” he
said, thinking about the last time that he had seen them. “I have
been to their master’s home on Minerva Seven. I have watched them
but couldn’t find the strength to save them.”

A hint of sympathy touched
her expression, shining in her eyes. “A Minervan bought Minervan
women for slaves?”

He nodded.

“
What is the
universe coming to?” she said on a sigh and then tugged at her
wrists. “Will you help me?”

“
I cannot,” he
said. “And you should not think about trying to break those bonds.
Only Nostra can open them.”

“
I
see.”

She had changed. Her fear
was gone. In front of him now was a woman who was in command, one
raised to be strong and get things done. Looking at her now, he
could see why she was an ambassador for Lyra. Few males would stand
in her way.

“
How long until
we arrive at the markets?”

“
If they don’t
discover from our contact that you’re royalty, then we will reach
the open auctions in two days.”

“
And if they
do?”

“
Tomorrow, and
it will be the black market.”

Her face paled. “You
mentioned a contact.”

Kosen stood when the door
behind him opened and Nostra walked in. When their contact stepped
out from behind Nostra, Kosen turned to look at Miali. Her dark
eyes were wide with shock and her skin was the colour of
stars.

Tears shone in her
eyes.

Her mouth opened and a
single word left her lips.

“
No.”

****

Chapter
5

Miali stared at the man
who was evidently Nostra’s contact. The only other survivor of her
ship.

“
Eryc?” she
said and shook her head in disbelief. It couldn’t be true. They
were friends. She had known him since they were both children. She
had been falling for him. She had cried when she had thought that
he was dead.

He couldn’t have sold her
into slavery.

Anger overcame her initial
disbelief and she lunged forwards, growling with effort as she
tried to get her wrists free so she could attack the man who had
betrayed her. The metal cuffs bit into her wrists but she didn’t
feel any pain. She only felt intense anger. Hatred.

“
Restrain her,
Kosen, before she damages herself,” Nostra ordered in Minervan and
the younger Minervan moved towards her.

Miali fought him as his
hands caught her upper arms and then stilled when his chest pressed
against hers.

“
You’ll only
hurt yourself,” Kosen whispered in Lyran and she looked at him. He
was incredibly close, his mouth barely inches from hers. A smile
touched those lips, sending a flush of heat through her. Her hair
threatened to rise but he smoothed it down, surprising her, and
acted as though he was checking her neck. He gathered her hair and
twirled it into a knot at the back of her head, restraining it.
“Not a word.”

She dipped her chin and
then looked past him to Nostra and Eryc.

“
She isn’t
eating,” Nostra said in Minervan as he crossed the room and picked
up the discarded protein pack.

He threw it at Kosen,
hitting him in the face.

“
You had one
order. Make her eat. If she doesn’t eat and her price goes down, it
comes out of your share!”

Miali leaned away when
Nostra approached her. Instinct made her turn towards Kosen and
hide her face. Hope bloomed in her chest. If Nostra tried anything,
would Kosen protect her?

She had come to realise
something.

She wasn’t the only one
feeling something. Kosen felt something for her too. If she could
only be alone with him again, she was sure that she could convince
him to help her. It was terrible to use his attraction against him,
but if that was what it took to escape a life of slavery, then that
was what she was willing to do.

A quiet voice at the back
of her mind said that it wouldn’t be so bad. If he touched her, she
would enjoy it. There was no denying that. Her whole body responded
whenever his skin grazed hers or their eyes met and his were
holding a hint of desire.

“
I will,” Kosen
said, so close to her face that his warm breath washed her skin.
Her body heated with the feel of it. “I returned here to see to it
that she ate.”

“
Then see she
does.” Nostra bent to pick up the protein pack.

Miali lurched forwards,
managing to hit Nostra in the head with her hipbone. He growled and
his fist slammed into her stomach, knocking the breath from her and
sending a shockwave of pain ripping through her body.

She collapsed forwards as
much as she could, her hands jamming into the tight cuffs and the
metal collar scraping her jaw. Kosen’s hands shifted to under her
arms and he lifted her, supporting her body so the restraints no
longer bit into her skin. Why was he doing this for her? Nostra
would surely notice that Kosen’s actions went beyond stopping her
from damaging herself.

Nostra tossed the pack
onto the crate that Kosen had moved to be in front of her. He
paused and looked over his shoulder.

“
And
Kosen?”

“
Yes,
Captain?”

“
If you touch
Sasue again—”

“
He was trying
to get to her.” Kosen interjected and Nostra’s eyes darkened. Miali
shrank back, afraid that the two men would fight. Pure anger
twisted Kosen’s handsome face, turning it dark. “If he tries to
break this door down again, I will see to it that he won’t be fit
to leave sickbay let alone touch a female.”

Nostra held his gaze and
Miali expected him to put Kosen in his place. Surprise claimed her
when Nostra grinned, turning him even uglier as his scars pulled
against his skin and his sharp teeth were revealed, and then
laughed and clapped a hand down heavily on Kosen’s
shoulder.

“
I am seeing a
new side to you, Kosen, one which I think I prefer. Make sure she
eats. We must be ready for market tomorrow.”

Kosen tensed at the same
time as her.

“
Tomorrow?” he
said. His expression betrayed none of the shock that she knew he
must have been feeling.

“
Eryc has
informed me of something he had neglected to mention
before.”

“
Now, Nostra. I
was not sure until I intercepted a contact she sent out a few days
past.” Eryc smiled at Nostra in a winsome way. Miali struggled
again, filled with a dark urge to hit him. Kosen had a knife. If
she could get out of the restraints and get hold of it, she could
kill Eryc. Her father and brothers had trained her well.

Kosen’s body pressed
against hers. She stilled when she realised that their hips were
touching and his thigh was between hers.