Demon Untamed (5 page)

She jumped as Cale appeared next to her, mimicking her stance against the wall. Sebastian stood nearby as well, not taking his eyes from Anya.

“What do you think?” Cale asked.

“I don't like him,” Sonya grumbled. “I don't trust him. He's a damn pirate. Anya has wanted to find someone like her and then
boom
, here he is? It's too coincidental.”

Cale nodded. “I would have loved to see Anya crack him over the head.”

Sonya grinned at the visual.

Anya’s lip quivered at something Ethanule said. Sebastian lurched forward, reaching them in a matter of seconds. Sonya and Cale hurried after him.

“What did he say to you?” Sebastian demanded, barring himself between the two.

Anya burrowed her face in Sebastian’s chest.

Sonya raised an accusing brow at Ethanule, but he didn’t notice. His attention remained on Anya and Sebastian’s embrace, expression stony.

“I told her that our people are at war, and they are depending on her,” Ethanule said.

“I can't think,” Anya mumbled. “Ethanule wants to come with us.” She looked up at Sebastian with mixture of terror and hope. “What do you think?”

“I think you should at least listen to what he has to say.” Sebastian gazed down at Anya.

Sonya opened her mouth to argue.

Sebastian took Anya’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Then, if you want, I will kill him for you.”

Sonya gave a curt nod. That was more like it.

With a crooked smile, Ethanule scoffed. “You could try, demon.”

Anya looked him over for a moment and then sighed. “Alright.”

Sonya groaned in defeat.

Oxnel pulled Ethan aside, away from the others. “If you leave, you will be relinquishing your status as leader.”

Ethan patted his friend on the shoulder. “It was never my plan to stay.”

Oxnel’s lips thinned. “Think on what you do. You cannot return and reclaim your position. I could not allow it. You understand?”

Ethan nodded. He would need to challenge not only Oxnel, as the new leader, but also each and every Denaloid for that right. A task that had nearly killed him the first time.

He pointed toward the docked ship. “I wish you luck, but they are my destiny now.”

“Then good luck to you as well,” Oxnel replied, glancing at
Marada’s
crew. “It appears as though you’re going to need it.”

Ethan smiled. “Indeed.” Convincing the princess’s entourage to trust him fully was going to be arduous. His gift offered him the impression that each of them wanted to knock him on his ass and leave him here. He supposed drugging them and locking them up may not have been the best course of action, but it was in the interest of the princess’s safety. They would have done the same in his position.

He said his good-byes to Oxnel and his men and then joined his new crew.

Cale approached him. “Hey, pirate. Is it true what these Denaloids do to prisoners? I've heard some nasty stuff.”

Denaloids observed a strict code of conduct, but what they were notorious for was rendering harsh punishments. “Just be glad you were under my protection.”

“Good,” Cale said. “We have a male on board who needs some…discipline. He tried to force himself on Anya. Can we dump him here?”

Ethan looked to Oxnel who was close enough to hear the conversation. Oxnel gave an approving nod. Ethan turned back to Cale. “My men would love a
pet
project.”

Cale disappeared into the ship and then returned with the male in question.

Oxnel appraised the prisoner with disgust. He gripped him by the nape of the neck and thrust him toward three waiting guards. As the guards restrained him, the male’s pathetic cries for mercy echoed.

Ethan spared him no pity. This miscreant would beg for death long before he received it.

The female demon, Sonya, drew Ethan’s attention when she sauntered forward and cracked the prisoner in the face with an artful right hook, rendering him unconscious. Ethan’s brows shot up. Then she turned to him with an arrogant wink and a flick of her tail. He got the impression that she wanted to hit
him
just as hard. He smiled at the thought of her trying, and how much fun it would be to thwart her every attempt.

As she ascended into the ship, her outrageously short skirt and smooth thighs demanded his attention. His legs had him closing in before he realized it.

“Nice form,” he whispered in her ear, letting the double entendre slip into his tone.

A whisper of her intent hit him just before she whirled on him, but he remained still, not wanting to reveal his talents just yet. He didn’t need to look down to know she had a dagger held to his neck.

She took in his amused expression and anger flashed in her eyes. The cool metal of her blade creased his skin. She spoke to her brothers without taking her eyes off him. “What should we do with the pirate?”

Anya spoke up. “I think you should lock him up.”

Ethan's jaw dropped, and his eyes darted to the princess. Of all the things he expected, he hadn’t seen that coming—from her, at least.

“Sounds good to me.” Sonya smirked. “How about you guys?”

Both Sebastian and Cale nodded.

Sonya shoved Ethan down the hall. Still a little taken aback, he stumbled, but quickly caught his footing.

Fine, he thought darkly. It wouldn’t hurt to play along for now. He would do his time until the princess came to him for her answers. Curiosity burned behind her eyes. If she wanted answers, he’d make it clear she would get none until he received the respect he deserved. 

Anya’s voice traveled down the hall toward them. “In sickbay, please.”

Sonya rolled her eyes and then looked to Sebastian. He nodded.

“Lucky for you, pirate, Anya’s heart is too soft for her own good. The cell in sickbay is too nice for the likes of you,” Sonya grumbled and pushed Ethan along once more. 

Ethan gathered a calming breath, reminding himself it would not be a good idea to show the she-demon how easily he could disarm her.

Instead, he took in his surroundings as they marched through the wide corridor. Soft golden light feathered over the walls that gave off a pleasant hue of golden-brown. Plush carpet cushioned his step. It was unusual for most ships to offer such luxurious detail.

“Nice ship,” he blurted.

“So glad you approve.” Sonya shoved him again. He gritted his teeth.

Sickbay was as impressive as the rest of the ship, but not as inviting with sterile walls and too bright lights. A prestigious-looking doctor with dark hair and a rigidly straight posture perched at a desk near the back of the room.

“Sonya, thank the gods!” The doctor shot to his feet. “I feared the pirates had…” He trailed off, his eyes scanning over Ethan.

“Well, the pirates
had
…” Sonya left the rest of the statement open for interpretation. “This one will have an extended stay in your observation cell.”

“Is he injured?”

“Not yet.”

The doctor raised a brow before expressing a hint of irritation. “You cannot continue to use my sickbay as prisoner quarters.”

Sonya ignored the complaint as she heaved Ethan into an alcove containing nothing more than a small cot. Then she pressed a button on the wall, engaging a force field that closed him in.

Their eyes locked through the transparent wall. Ethan countered her ferocious gaze with an arrogant smirk. “My thanks for the escort. I expect you’ll be tending my future needs as well.” He slid his gaze to her shapely legs.

Her jaw dropped, then she clamped it shut. His lips twitched with amusement.

She scrutinized him for a long moment before commenting, “I always imagined a pirate with your reputation would have more scars, but you look positively dainty.”

Ethan merely smiled. “You look pretty dainty yourself.”

Her lips pulled back in a sneer. “That shows how little you know about me.”

“Likewise.”

With one last disdainful glance, she stowed her blade at her waist and headed for the door, giving him leave to appraise her plump backside before she disappeared. She might have a barbaric temperament, but she boasted an outstanding figure.

Chapter 5

“I don’t understand why we didn’t just leave the pirate behind.” Sonya finished drying a glass and then set it with the others behind the bar.

“I haven’t even sat down yet,” Sebastian complained, sliding onto one of the stools.

With a huff, she set to mixing him a drink. He looked exhausted. Dark stains hugged his eyes, his lips fixed in a scowl. He had probably spent the last two days in the control room, fearing the moment he stepped away, Darius would find them.

The last time they’d faced off against Darius’ ship,
Extarga
,
Marada
had not fared well, and Anya had nearly died using her gift to feed energy to the ship’s warp drive.

After taking a swig of her new mixture, dubbed bloody screwed, Sebastian finally replied, “Ethanule claims to know how to translate that damn book.” Sebastian let out a sigh. “Anya hasn’t even opened it yet. She seems wary of it.”

“That’s understandable,” Sonya replied absently. When her brother shot her a confused stare, she added, “Whatever’s in that book could change her life…again.”

“Aye.” He shook his head as if unsure whether he should be encouraging her to open the book or toss it into space, along with Ethanule.

Sonya was rooting for the latter. “What else is bothering you?”

Sebastian hesitated for a moment. “Ethanule is a male of her own race, and I have not yet…” He trailed off.

“Ah. I get it,” Sonya said. “You’re afraid Anya will choose the pirate over you.” At Sebastian’s halfhearted shrug, Sonya added, “That will never happen. Have you not seen the way she looks at you? You’d be daft to believe she’d throw you off for another.”

“He wants her. I know it.”

Some inner part of Sonya, buried deep in a corner of her mind, growled at Sebastian’s statement. It would be typical of a pirate to try to steal another’s mate. And even though she knew Ethanule would never succeed—Anya was lost for her demon—the idea made her seethe.

For some reason, she felt the need to avert her gaze from Sebastian. “Has he admitted to this?”

“No. I just feel it.” He clenched his fists.

Sonya rolled her eyes. “You think everyone wants Anya.”

“They do, don’t they?”

She laughed, but he wasn’t far off. Anya had a way of carving a place for herself in the hearts of everyone she met. “Why haven’t you claimed her, anyway?” She couldn’t understand the delay. When a demon finds their mate, the matter was usually settled within days, not weeks, as in Sebastian and Anya’s case. “What’s the wait?”

“Anya has reservations. She fears if Darius reclaims her—which will never happen—that I would be left mated and alone forever.”

“But that would be the case even if you
never
claimed her,” Sonya rationalized. Most demons held a deep belief that the fates create only one mate for each of them. A single perfect companion, and when found, must be cherished as such.

“Aye, she does not understand. Imagines I could possibly find another.” He scoffed at what Sonya agreed was an absurd assessment, though it was true not every race held the same ideals as demon-kind. Tierlocks, for one, believed in many mates, often at once.

And even some demons disbelieved the one mate theory. Sonya supposed that the destruction of one’s planet and being scattered throughout space could rock anyone’s cultural belief system to its core.

For a long time, even
she
had doubted, what with her perpetual bachelor brothers and Marik unmated for so long. Not to mention her own single status. She’d begun to wonder if they all relied on fate too much and overlooked potential matches due to the lack of life-shattering signs they’d been raised to expect. Then Sebastian had found Anya, and Sonya was again reassured. Then again, perhaps she was merely over-romanticizing the whole situation.

“Would you speak with her?” Sebastian interrupted her thoughts. “Get her to see reason?”

“Sebastian, just let her get accustomed to the idea. It must be her choice, as well as yours.”

“Exactly why I want you to speak with her. She will listen to you. And you can tell her how great it would be.”

Sonya wanted to yell, “How the hell would I know how great it would be?” She’d never even bedded a male, let alone contemplated taking one as a mate! Instead, she begrudgingly relented while resenting Sebastian anew for his role in her perpetual state of loneliness.

Demons naturally crave pleasure. Without it, they become irritable, or could even slip to the Edge without meaning to, placing anyone nearby in danger.

And they wonder why I snap at them all the time.

Sebastian finished his drink and left. Sonya took his empty glass from the bar and proceeded to wash it in the water basin and then tended to the other patrons seated around the room.

Just as she stepped back behind the bar, Anya entered the pub looking shell-shocked. She had the book nestled in her arms. Sonya motioned her to an empty bar stool and started mixing one of her special Anya concoctions—light and sweet. Anya placed the book on the stool next to her. Then she took the offered drink and gulped it down to the last drop.