Authors: Stormy Glenn Lynn Hagen
* * * *
Remy hit his com link. “Remy.”
“Commander, I just got a call from Gigi’s com link, but he hasn’t said anything,” Livewire reported in his ear.
“Lock onto his coordinates, and give them to me.” Remy signaled Colt to stop. They both waited in the streets of Beta Five as Livewire locked onto to Gigi.
“Got him,” Livewire said then he rattled off Gigi’s coordinates. “I’ve entered his location into the computer, and it’s telling me that Gigi is in an old hangar approximately ten minutes from your location.”
Remy tossed a few credits to a waiting shuttle driver as he and Colt hopped on. He gave the driver the directions to where they were headed.
“That’s a bad part of town,” the driver’s scratchy voice warned them. “I’ll take you close, but then you’re on your own.”
“Just take me as close as you can. I’ll walk from there.” Remy grunted as he sat back.
“Your neck,” the driver said as he pulled away from the shuttle stand.
“You think it’s Drake?” Colt asked as he looked out the side window.
Remy knew the hawk shifter was dealing with a lot of things right now. Pax was Colt’s mate, and the little blue guy was afraid to go anywhere near him. Remy couldn’t imagine being near Gigi and unable to reach out and touch him.
Remy fisted his hands as he waited for the shuttle to get him close to his mate. Whoever had him, and he had a feeling he knew, was going to be breathing out of multiple holes in his body when he was through with him. Remy was still ticked at Livewire for the stunt he pulled, but he sort of understood the reasoning behind it.
Sort of.
Maybe.
Not really.
He wanted to strangle the guy.
“Here you go. Sorry, guys, but I’m not going any further than this. The place you want is right over that ridge.” The driver pointed to a low-rising ridge to the right of them. “Good luck,” he said as if they weren’t coming back.
Remy and Colt climbed out of the small shuttle and headed toward his mate. It took them about eight minutes to trek through the hot sand and climb up the rocky ridge. Remy had lost his footing a couple of times, but they finally made it to the top.
They lay low as Remy spotted the old hangar. It was rusty as hell and had a few shingles missing. What
was
new was the spacecraft sitting inside of it. Remy recognized it from his run-in the day before.
Drake.
Remy growled low as he watched the mechanics working on the ship. He couldn’t assess how many people there were down there, but at this point, he didn’t really give a shit. His only objective was to get his mate safely out and kill the bastard for taking Gigi from him.
“Ready?” Colt asked in a low voice.
Remy nodded as the two of them climbed over the top of the ridge and began the slow descent down the other side. They had to be careful no one spotted them. The element of surprise was on their side so far, and Remy planned on keeping it that way.
Once they cleared the ridge, Remy and Colt hauled ass to the side of the hangar, placing their backs against the rusty shingles and listening for a moment. The sounds of pneumatic tools whizzed throughout the hangar and a few voices shouted, but Remy didn’t hear anything to indicate anyone was close by.
He knelt down and peered through a missing shingle to see his mate with his back against the hangar wall. Remy wanted to shout for his angel but bit back the words. He had to get Gigi out before anyone knew that they were there.
“Fuck,” Colt growled seconds before a hard object was pressed into Remy’s nape.
“So glad you could join us, Commander.”
“My pleasure, Drake.”
* * * *
Pax bit his thumbnail as he watched Livewire in the engineering room. He really didn’t want to be alone right now, so he shadowed the mechanic.
“Could you hand me a half-inch?”
“A half-inch of what?” Pax asked as he looked around the engineering room. He wasn’t sure what the guy was talking about, but he was willing to help out if it took his mind off of Gigi and Colt.
Livewire chuckled as he pointed to the floor. “A half-inch wrench.”
Pax knelt down as he picked up the silver-colored tools. He read each one until he found the one Livewire needed. “Is this it?”
Livewire took it from his hand as he turned back to his work. “That would be the one.”
Pax sat on the floor and played with the tools that surrounded him. He lined them up in the order of their size, and then lined them up again until they spelled out Colt’s name.
“Livewire?”
“Yeah, buddy?” the mechanic grunted as he pushed his arm into a sliver of space between two parallel walls. It looked like a very tight fit, and Livewire’s face was pinched in concentration. Pax wasn’t sure if he should distract the mechanic.
“I’m listening.”
Pax flicked the tools with the tip of his finger as he thought about what he wanted to say. He wasn’t really sure, but he was tired of being confused. “What does it mean to be mates?”
“I need a little more clarification of what you’re after, Pax,” Livewire said as he gritted his teeth, his arm shooting out from the space as he cursed, the
half-inch
hitting the floor.
Pax crawled over and picked it up, handing it back to Livewire.
“Thanks.” The mechanic grabbed it and then stuck his arm back in. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Pax sat back down on his behind as he crossed his legs. He’d never really had anyone to confide in before, and he wasn’t sure he knew how. The words were getting jumbled in his head, making it difficult for him to form anything that would make sense.
“Colt confuses me.”
Livewire’s hand stilled as he looked at Pax. “That can happen. But as hard as this sounds, you have to trust that fate knew what she was doing when pairing you two. Now I’m not saying you should let your guard down and go running into his arms, although I’m sure Colt wouldn’t mind, but give him a chance. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy.”
“I guess.” Pax flicked the tools around some more as he tried to make sense of it all. How could someone like Colt want him? The hawk shifter was strong, fierce, and brave. He deserved an honorable mate. Not someone like Pax. He was terrified he wouldn’t measure up. Pax thought of Colt’s beautiful blond hair that seemed to have a mind of its own and those gorgeous blue eyes that seemed to see right through him.
Pax ran every time he saw Colt. If the hawk shifter could see through him, then he would know Pax’s shame. Pax couldn’t handle that. He wanted Colt to see him in a different light, the light that should have shone down on him if he’d had a better life.
“Things will work out, buddy.”
Pax nodded numbly, wondering if Livewire’s words would really come true or if Colt would discover his disgrace and run as far away as possible.
* * * *
Gigi gasped when he saw Remy and Colt come into the hangar. Drake was walking behind his mate with a phaser shoved into his neck. Fear and anger knotted inside of Gigi as his eyes followed his mate.
“We have company, boy.” Drake pronounced the last word with disdain. “What should I do with them?”
Gigi knew it was a trick question. He was afraid to open his mouth. Anything he said would get twisted around and used against him. Drake was twisted that way. The man made a fortune finding loopholes and manipulating others. Why should Gigi be any different?
“I see you’re getting smart, boy.” Drake chuckled, but humor wasn’t a part of that laugh. “I have a little game we can play to pass the time until my ship is ready.”
Sheer, black fright swept through Gigi at Drake’s words. His pulse began to beat erratically at the look on Drake’s face. The man had never had a full deck of cards, but there was a gleam of madness in his eyes now. Something that Gigi had never seen before now.
“W–What kind of game?”
“Get up,” Drake commanded.
Gigi locked eyes with Remy as he got to his feet. His mate’s jaw was clenched as he watched every move Gigi made. He could see love shining in his mate’s eyes, but it was mingled with fear. The need to run to his mate was strong, but Gigi held back.
Gigi instinctively threw his arms out when Drake tossed something at him. Why on earth would Drake give him a phaser? He turned it over in his hands as he tried to figure out what the bastard was up to.
“It has enough charge for one blast,” Drake said as he steadied his hand on Remy’s shoulder, the phaser still glued to Remy’s neck. “You can use that one shot to shoot this guy standing here,” he said, nodding to Colt, “or I kill the commander.”
“Why?” Gigi cried out.
Drake’s lip curled back into a sneer. “To show everyone, including you, that I have complete control over you. You’ll do what I say, when I say, without question from here on out.”
Gigi stared down at the phaser in his hand and then up at Colt, pleading with his eyes for someone to tell him what to do. He wasn’t crafty enough to figure out a plan on the spot. Gigi needed someone to give him a signal, something.
“Make your mind up,” Drake said in warning.
“I’ve made my mind up.” Gigi could think of only one possible solution to all of this.
“I knew you would come around to my way of thinking,” Drake cackled with glee. “Go ahead, shoot him.”
Gigi stared at Colt. The hawk shifter squared his shoulders and gave Gigi a nod. There wasn’t one ounce of fear in the man’s eyes. He stood there bravely, facing his death like a warrior. Gigi’s respect for the man grew in leaps and bounds.
He looked over to his mate, trying his best to convey his feeling with his eyes.
“No,” Remy whispered as his eyes widened with terror. “No, angel.”
“I have to,” Gigi said as he placed the phaser to his temple.
“No!” Remy shouted, tense lines mapping out a pattern on his face.
Gigi choked back a cry as his finger applied the slightest pressure to the trigger. His breath seemed to solidify in his throat.
“Are you fucking nuts?” Drake shouted at Gigi. “Get that damn thing away from your head.”
Remy’s eyes locked onto Gigi’s, and then they lowered to the ground. Gigi’s eyelashes lowered and then rose, telling Remy he understood. Quicker than Gigi had been prepared for, Remy jerked to the right and Gigi flipped the phaser around in his hand, firing it directly at Drake.
Remy yanked from Drake’s grip and leapt at Gigi, both hitting the ground. Drake hit the cement floor, his lifeless body unmoving. Colt grabbed the phaser from Drake’s hand and kicked the bastard, but Drake didn’t move.
“I thought you would never get the charade!” Gigi cried hysterically at Remy. “You took long enough.”
“Ssshhh.” Remy breathed the shushing little sound against Gigi’s ear as he cradled him in those strong arms. “It’s over.”
“I thought—” Gigi sniffled.
“Colt, go get those fuel cells from Drake’s ship and anything else you can grab. If anyone gives you any problems, deal with them.”
“Yes, Commander.” Colt nodded and walked away to get the cells.
Remy picked Gigi up and carried him in his arms, walking out of the hangar with Gigi held tightly to his chest. Remy took him to the side of the hangar and then set Gigi on his feet. “I need, angel.”