3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) (2 page)

But it wasn’t just her safety at
risk if she were to choose him.

It would mean her freedom.

Skylar knew she had her friend,
High Commander Jax Spartan, to thank for finally giving her a chance to become
a part of the Security and Interrogation Division. Given that she had known him
since they were young, he knew she was capable and didn’t let the fact she was
an unclaimed scroll get in the way of her dreams.

Most people in the known universe
regarded High Commander Spartan with an almost unnatural fear, but Skylar knew
Dom was just as dangerous as he was, if not more so. Jax Spartan’s temper was
legendary, and it was quick to flash and burn, searing anyone unfortunate
enough to be the focus of his wrath. On the other hand, Dominic Stryker was
more subtle about his temper, and—in Skylar’s opinion—far more lethal for it. He
was condescending, sarcastic as hell, and could handle most situations with a
well placed warning. Still, Dom’s fury was slow to smolder, but when he did
release it, the fallout was cataclysmic.

It didn’t happen often that he
was pushed to that point. Dom could make an officer quake in fear by simply frowning
at them, and he could cause a suspect to break out in cold sweat by nothing
more than leveling his black eyes on them during interview. As the director of
the largest unit of interrogators in the Alliance, his command over the
division was exemplary. People often remarked over his incredible control and his
ruthlessly methodical way of picking apart problems as well as people.

That was, until he’d met Skylar.

Since she had transferred into
his division, Dom’s usually unshakable control had been pushed to the breaking
point time and time again.

But those situations hadn’t been
her fault...not really.

Besides her beauty, Skylar had
something else that set her apart from other women. She had been classified as
a Class-A Conduit, one of the rarest classifications of special status within
the Alliance. Conduits were very rare individuals who could basically read
other peoples energy, and if they were strong enough, could use that energy for
their own purposes. Put in plain terms, Skylar could manipulate the energy
around her, creating an electrical charge she could use against someone, or by making
her own body a weapon. She could even draw out the energy from another
person...making her a viable threat to anyone who challenged her.

With her power, she could shock
the shit out of someone...or even kill them.

On record, only five other
individuals had ever been classified as Class-A like she was. Two of them had
died before she was even born, and the other three were men that made use of
their talents out in the field. Over the years, she had been tested and
studied, and for that reason she hated people watching her. She knew some men
just wanted to claim her because she was a fertile female, but others wanted
her for the weapon she was.

Which was exactly why she had
been granted special status.

In her own unit the men knew
better than to bother her, and had even come to accept her as one of them. Her
reputation within the Capital had spread, and she was mostly left alone. It was
only when she met men who didn’t know her that she ran into a problem. A week
didn’t go by without a pair of men trying to claim her just because they liked
how she looked. Usually, she was able to cut them down with her sharp tongue,
but it was the ones who were more persistent that pushed her to take action.

Dom lost control every time
Skylar took down one of the men that attacked her. She had every right to
defend herself, but she knew that Command was getting sick and tired of dealing
with the complaints that came in every time she put a man in the medical unit.
It wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it. They damn well did. But she was tired of
getting pulled into Dom’s office and getting her ass chewed out whenever she
shocked the shit out of men stupid enough to try and take her by force.

Recently, she hadn’t even had the
chance to defend herself.

Not with Dom and Arik around.

Somehow they had become her
constant shadows, and it was slowly driving her fucking crazy. Arik had a way
of simply appearing between her and men before she even knew he was there,
while Dom took a more direct approach. He had verbally bitch-slapped a few of
the men back into the ice age, but there had also been a few times when he had
actually gotten physical with a few of the soldiers that were too stupid to
back down.

She knew that both Dom and Arik
wanted her, but as she had told Reva, the situation was too complicated. No
matter how much sexual attraction there was between them, Skylar wasn’t willing
to risk what being with them would cost her.

Her freedom was far too important
to her.

“What about you?” Skylar asked
Reva, wanting to take the attention away from herself. “Why aren’t you happily
mated?”

Reva rolled her eyes. “I will not
take companions unless I find males I would like to life-lock with, and so far
I have found no one that I want to keep with me beyond one night of pleasure.”

“I know what you mean. Sex is so
much more simple than relationships, but even that has gotten too complicated
to deal with.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t been
with anyone since you are worried of being claimed!” Reva gasped, looking
horrified. “Sex is natural and everyone needs the release.”

Skylar laughed at the look on her
friend’s face. “There is someone back on Earth I used to hook up with whenever
the mood struck. His name is Zack Keller. He’s a general, but I haven’t seen
him since I moved over to the Security and Interrogation Division and he was transferred
to Zion as head of one of the Security Strike Force units.”

“Why did you not bond with him?”

“ZK is a good guy, who has no
desire to claim a chosen, so he was safe. He’s damn good at what he does, and
they certainly need him in Zion—with that city basically being a mix of
Alliance, citizens and rebels all living together in one giant clusterfuck. I
miss having him around sometimes, but I was really happy for him when he got
the promotion.”

Reva opened her mouth to speak,
but closed it again. She wondered if Skylar had ever taken note of the timing
her lover had been transferred out of her life. Smiling at the thought, Reva
decided Skylar didn’t realize it, or she wouldn’t have been so calm speaking of
it.

Skylar’s wrist unit signaled, and
she sighed as she noted it was a priority call from High Commander Spartan.
“Sorry, Reva. I have to take this. It’s Spartan.”

“Go ahead. I’ll just sit here and
finish this awful drink you talked me into getting.”

Skylar was smiling as she
answered the call and High Commander Jax Spartan’s face appeared on the small
screen. His piercing gray eyes had her unconsciously sitting straighter in her
chair and sobering. “Sir.”

“Officer Aris. I know you had
time off, but I need you back on duty. We’re meeting in the conference room in
thirty minutes.”

“Sorry, sir. It’s going to take
us at least a couple of hours to get back to New Vega.”

“Where are you?”

“Reva and I came to X7 for the
day.”

“Head back. We have a new lead on
the
xili
case we need to discuss.”

“Affirmative. We’ll head back
now.”

There was a pause before he said,
“I’m surprised I wasn’t informed you weren’t on New Vega for the day.”

“Sir?”

His face remained expressionless,
but his eyes sparkled with amusement for a moment. “Cut the formal crap, Sky.
My sources told me you were at the spa here on New Vega.”

Her lips twitched as she fought
back a grin. “Your sources were wrong.”

Jax let out a little chuckle. “Apparently,
they were. I also wanted to tell you that we need to—”

Skylar was distracted as she
noticed the two generals had gotten tired of waiting, and rose from their table
to start over to where she sat. “Oh, hell...”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, sir. Can you hold on
for a minute? I need to deal with something stupid. Two somethings, as a matter
of fact.”

Intrigued, Jax said, “No
problem.”

Skylar
looked up as the two men swaggered over to their table. Before they could say a
word, she glared at them and spoke coolly.
“No, I am not interested. And
no, you can’t claim me.”

One of the men’s eyes narrowed. “You
don’t get to decide that. You’re unclaimed with no one here to protect you.”

Reva bristled at their remark and
growled at them. Skylar watched with satisfaction as both men paled slightly at
the sound, but it wasn’t enough to make the men give up, even if they did back
up a step. “I have exempt status, and I should warn you neither of us needs
protection. We are quite capable of handling any unwanted advances on our own.”

The two men looked at each other,
then grinned at her. “We run this station, sweetheart. Exempt status or not, we
want you.”

“You run this station? What about
the commander in charge here?” Reva asked.

One of the generals scoffed. “Everyone
knows Commander Hale doesn’t run shit here. We do. Whatever we say goes, and we
say you are coming with us.”

Skylar leaned back in her chair, casually
keeping her arm with her wrist unit on the table so High Commander Spartan could
hear every word of the conversation. She shot a look over to Reva, whose eyes
had narrowed dangerously on the two generals.

“Did you hear that, Reva? It
sounds like they don’t follow Alliance rules out here.”

Reva caught the mischievous look
in Skylar’s eyes and cast a quick glance down at her wrist unit, then slowly
smiled. “Sounds like it to me. Perhaps that also includes the rule of Helios
shifting inside a bar.”

“Don’t even try it,” one of the
generals snapped. “We’ll have you in irons if you do.”

“Try it and I’ll tear you in
half,” Reva promised, her voice changing to a harsh growl.

The other general straightened to
his full height and glared at Skylar. “The only rules that apply out here are
the ones we make. Now, get up. You’re coming with us.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with
you.” Skylar sighed as she fought to keep the wicked glee out of her voice when
she continued. “This is all pretty upsetting to hear. I don’t think my
commander would appreciate your attitudes.”

One general reached for her arm
as he sneered. “I don’t really care what your commander says.”

“Is that fucking so?”

She couldn’t hold back the grin
as Jax Spartan’s cold voice boomed out from her wrist unit.

“Who is that?” one of the
generals demanded, confused to hear the male voice.

“Well, this should be
entertaining,” Reva murmured as she settled back in her chair to watch the
show. She grinned widely, showing off her sharp canine teeth.

Skylar turned the screen of her
wrist unit so Jax could see the two men. “High Commander Spartan, perhaps you
would like to explain things to these two generals, before I...create another
disturbance.”

Sitting back, Skylar listened to
High Commander Spartan rip into the two generals. It wasn’t as satisfying as shocking
the two stupid men unconscious.

But she had to admit, it was still
pretty damn entertaining.

***

Chapter Two

The palatial vessel known as New
Vega was like a standalone city that slowly traveled the expanse of Alliance
protected space. Although the large ship was made of a sleek, black metal, it
stood out like a jewel in the inky darkness, highlighted by the many lights
that were beacons of welcome for visitors.

Run by three Krytos brothers that
had created the floating pleasure palace, New Vega was a world unlike any
other. It was a haven for many different races. Although it adhered to the general
guidelines of Alliance rules and regulations, they pushed the boundaries of
propriety, making it a luxurious destination where one could satiate a number
of vices all in one central location.
No expense
had been spared to outfit the vessel with defenses, as well as powerful
weapons, making it an almost impenetrable fortress that kept its clientele
safe.

As a race that had lost their home
world when the Zyphir attacked and destroyed their planet almost a century ago,
the Krytos had scattered across the stars, seeking to find new places to call
home. For the three Adaro brothers, living under someone else’s rule didn’t
appeal to them, so they had created New Vega.

It was their world, where their
word was law.

And God help anyone who crossed
them.

Skylar has witnessed the brutal
savagery that the three owners of New Vega were capable of after she had been
kidnapped from their vessel. The lapse in security that had allowed Reva, Serra
and Skylar to be taken had been meticulously eradicated, and those who had
aided the kidnappers—even unknowingly—had paid for their mistakes.

Even though the three males who
own New Vega had polished veneers, there was something untamed about the Krytos
that nothing could hide. With black eyes, pronounced canine fangs, and large,
muscular bodies, the Krytos were an intimidating lot. But that was nothing compared
to their battle forms. They were a shifter race, but unlike the Helios that
could transform completely into their animal form, the Krytos changed into a
hybrid beast, growing sharp, lethal claws and longer fangs ideal for combat.
When in a rage, their black eyes turned red and their voices deepened into an
animalistic rumble.

All in all, they were pretty
fucking scary when riled.

The Krytos lived in packs, lead
by the strongest and most capable. The Adaro brothers were somewhat unusual,
since Maddox, Daimon and Tavius Adaro could have each been pack leaders themselves.
However, their bond was too strong for each brother to go it alone. They had refused
to separate, choosing to follow the oldest brother, Maddox, while they ran New
Vega together.

Skylar had never seen a Krytos
shift into battle form. That is, she hadn’t until she had come back from her
little adventure on the mercenaries’ ship and had witnessed Maddox almost rip a
security officer’s head off after they had discovered he had taken a bribe to
allow the mercenaries to dock their ship on New Vega off the record.

It wasn’t a sight she thought
she’d ever forget.

While Maddox was the undisputed
leader and Daimon was the organized one, the youngest, Tavius, was the natural
born spokesman of the trio. He was just as dangerous as the others, but could
lash out at someone with a smile on his face. It was somewhat jarring to see
that same male dressed in a suit and smiling at her as Skylar walked off the
shuttle that had brought her and Reva back to New Vega from their excursion to
X7.

The stark gray of the loading
dock did nothing to detract from Tavius’ harsh male beauty, and Skylar knew
that his predatory eyes saw everything around him even though he was casually
leaning up against the wall as he waited for them.

“Did you enjoy your trip?”

“Sure,” Skylar answered
cautiously. She liked Tavius and found him very entertaining to be around since
she had met him, but there was something about the mischievous gleam in his
dark eyes that instantly put her on guard. Deciding not the dance around the
subject, she stopped when she was in front of him and braced her hands on her waist.
“Why are you here?”

His grin widened. “Now, is that
anyway to greet your host?”

“You are up to something,
Krytos,” Reva accused as she raised a brow. “Seeing that grin on your face
makes me think whatever it is you have to say is something we do not want to
hear.”

Tavius held a hand up to his
heart and his face took on a mockingly hurt expression. “That wounds me, Reva.”

“Don’t tempt me, Krytos,” Reva
replied with a quick grin of her own.

Tavius laughed, dropping the
pretense of hurt feelings. “I imagine we would have a great time if I took you
up on that challenge, but unfortunately, I’m here strictly as a messenger. The
mission briefing with the high commander has been cancelled today and had been
rescheduled for tomorrow morning. I’m sure he will contact you to inform you of
the changes.”

“What? Damn it, then we didn’t
have to come back,” Reva complained with a scowl of irritation.

“Actually, it’s good you’re back
because your mother has been looking for you.”

Reva stiffened. “Is something wrong?”

“No, I believe she just wanted to
discuss your involvement in this...issue that the humans are looking into.”

Skylar’s eyes narrowed. “And how
is it that you know so much about this?”

“I know because we make it a
priority to know everything that goes on here that is worth knowing.” His face
darkened for a moment and his eyes burned a vibrant red before they settled
back to normal and his expression cleared. “Obviously, we had some changes to
make to our security measures, but that has been taken care of. Still, we have
offered our aid, should it be needed in this matter.”

Tavius smiled again as he escorted
them past the security checkpoint. He gestured for them to exit the loading
dock in front of him when the doors automatically slid open as they drew near.
They left the austere gray space behind and entered a world filled with color
and life. The muffled sounds of voices and laughter filled air, growing louder
as they walked down the hallway to the opulent cream and gold lobby area of the
main floor.

Reva turned to Skylar. “I’m going
to go check in with my security team now that we’re back. I’ll find you later.”

“Sounds good,” Skylar said, then
watched in amusement as people moved out of the way for her friend as she
stalked her way through the crowd. She kept silent as a large group of tourists
passed by them, laughing riotously about some show they had just attended at
one of the strip joints on board. When they were alone, she looked up at Tavius,
eyeing him suspiciously. “Okay, out with it. I know you have better things to
do then play messenger, so something else has brought you down here. Spill it.”

Tavius sighed as he took her arm,
tucking it through his as he guided her through the crowd. She stiffened
slightly at the contact, but forced herself not to pull away. Like the crowd
had parted for Reva, people hurried to get out of Tavius’ way. It was as if he
exuded some sort of centrifugal force that warned people not to get in his path.
Skylar would have been impressed if she wasn’t so nervous about what he had to
say. She could feel there was something...some reason he had sought her out and
she knew it wasn’t going to be good.

She could feel it in her gut.

“Sky, I like you. Perhaps it’s
because of your snarly, suspicious nature. You wouldn’t have any Krytos blood
in you, would you?”

“Nope. Not a drop.” No, she has
something much darker running through her veins. It was something she didn’t
like thinking about, so she ruthlessly pushed the thought out of her mind.
“What do you want, Tav?”

“It’s not about what I want. I’m
simply here to let you know that even though the meeting has been canceled,
your commander would still like a word with you now that you are back safely on
New Vega.” That wicked gleam was back in his eyes as he added, “I should probably
mention that your director was looking for you earlier and he...wasn’t pleased with
you when he discovered you had taken a day trip off this vessel.”

“He’s never pleased with me.”

Tavius let out a dark chuckle.
“Oh, but he could be. But you, my friend, are determined to keep that particular
man on edge. I find human mating rituals amusing. You are obviously attracted
to Dominic Stryker. I can smell it all over you every time you are near one
another, and yet you fight it.”

Skylar began to protest, but let
the lie die before it could be uttered. Damn these insufferable races with
their enhanced senses of smell. She was going to have to learn how to control
her body’s responses better...or better yet, just stay the hell away from Dom
from now on.

Yeah, like that could happen.

Her wrist unit pinged with a text
message from High Commander Spartan, telling her to report to his suite as soon
as she landed. Apparently, Tavius had been right.

“Your winged friend was also
irritated by your absence. He is far better at controlling his reactions, but I
could see it.”

“My time off is my own,” Skylar
all but snarled as she jerked her arm away from him. “I don’t answer to them.
Or you.”

Tavius stopped and turned so he
was facing her. All the casual ease he had been emanating was gone as his face
took on an intensity that had her body bracing as if for a blow. She didn’t
like how he cornered her against the wall without seeming to move, reminding
her of the dangerous predator that lurked beneath the surface.

Her own defenses kicked into
gear, and she had to force back the energy surge that began to build in her
hands. He was annoying, but Tavius would never hurt her. It really wouldn’t be
wise to shock one of the owners of New Vega while she was on board.

Not if she wanted to leave there
in one piece.

Tavius took another step closer,
then leaned down to whisper, “No, you don’t answer to me. But if you belonged
to males such as me and my brothers, you could be damned sure we would not
allow you to go off on your own without letting anyone know. I say this as a
friend, Sky. Know what you risk by forcing your independence.”

Skylar bristled at his gall. How
dare he fucking lecture her!

“You don’t know me, Tavius. Not
really. Who the hell do you answer to? Just because I have tits doesn’t make me
any less capable of thinking than you. It’s so like a man to belittle the
freedom of having independence in that fucking condescending tone.”

Tavius’ lips quirked up in a
slight smile. “But they are such nice tits.”

She growled at him, temper
flaring. “Damn it—”

“Settle down, Sky. It is an
unfortunate reality of our world that females and males are not the same.” He
paused for a moment, then asked, “Is it so bad that people want to care for
you?”

It was when the caring could
smother her to the point she was no longer herself anymore.

His dark eyes searched hers and
she swallowed down the bitter reply that wanted to spew out. Over the last few
days, she had recognized that getting people to talk—even if they didn’t want
to—was a specialty of his.

But she knew that game well.

As an interrogator, she was just
as adept as he was. Hell, it was one of the reasons they got along so well.
Still, there was something about him that made her think that giving him any
more information about herself was a really bad idea. He wasn’t the type of
male she wanted poking around in her head. Actually, she didn’t want anyone
poking into her psyche.

It just ended up pissing her off.

No matter what he thought of her,
it seemed that all men—regardless of their race—didn’t understand how it felt
to be viewed as a potential possession to own.

“There is a difference between
caring and trying to lock someone in a box, Tavius. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.
I’m not planning on getting claimed any time soon, so this conversation is
irrelevant.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Sky.”
He took her arm again and continued to walk. “Come now. I will escort you to
your commander’s suite. Oh, and Director Stryker and Ambassador V’Dir are now
on their way to X7 to relieve the current commander of his post. You wouldn’t happen
to know anything about that, would you?”

“No.”

He shot her a look that told her
he didn’t believe her. “You will have to face them sooner or later, my friend.”

Later...much later would be her
choice.

If she had one.

****

Skylar felt like she was walking
to her own execution.

Her stomach was in knots by the
time she reached High Commander Spartan’s suite. Once she was at the elevators
she had parted ways with Tavius, not allowing him to escort her all the way as
if she were some kind of criminal or something.

No, she’d go to her doom all on
her own.

Although Skylar had no clue why
High Commander Jax Spartan wanted to see her, she knew it couldn’t be good. It
never was when she was called into his office for a private meeting. She
knocked on the door and waited until the doors opened to allow her entrance to
the suite.

“Skylar. Come on in.” Sullivan
Archer said, smiling in greeting. He was a handsome man, with light-brown eyes
and dark-blond hair that was longer than regulation allowed, but Archer had
always been a little rebellious.

Before Skylar could say anything,
Serra Spartan-Archer pushed Archer out of the way and took Skylar by the hand,
pulling her into the suite that was almost twice the size of her own quarters. Serra
and her two bonded had been given a new suite after they had been kidnapped
from their room a week ago, and from a quick glance around, had obviously been
given a pretty sweet upgrade.

“Hi, Sky! I didn’t know you were
coming by.”