Rebel Souls (17 page)

“The ceremony?” She laced her fingers into his and let him pull her to him.

“Let’s go get your man. I’ve been told his ship is nearby, just on the edge of League space, orbiting Nexis.” He grinned again. “I sent him an invitation. He couldn’t resist the draw of our wedding any more than the citizens on the street.” Brodie checked his laser and looked at her. “I’m up for a little adventure anyway.”

“That’s a dirty stunt, Brodie Mark. You know that’s going to start trouble.”

“Do I play any other way, Duchess?” Brodie gave her his innocent look, failing horribly, appearing more like a child who’d stolen sweets. “And I can only hope it starts trouble. I’ve been dying to deck that bastard for the last two years.”

“I thought this was about getting him back.”

“It is, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to take a couple of shots at him. He has an ass-kicking coming to him, courtesy of my boot.” He winked. “I won’t damage him too severely. Don’t want to ruin your honeymoon.”

Her heart warmed. For the first time in two years, she knew what she needed to do. She had her friend back, and if fate was on her side, the man she loved would stand beside her, no matter what side of the law she’d been on. “I don’t know. What if he doesn’t want me?”

“No man flies three days to the edge of Nexian space without a reason.”

***

Seth wailed on the heavy bag in his ship’s gym. His knuckles were raw, but proved no distraction for the pain in his heart, or the rage that burned through him. The bastard had taken her to Nexian territory two years ago, a place he could never go. And just to rub it in and let him know what he’d lost, the asshole sent him a fucking wedding invitation. No way in hell did he want to go to his wedding—he wanted to tear that Rebel bastard’s head off.

He’d moved his ship out here, using the excuse he was waiting for Nexian smugglers to cross into League space, and that was as close as he could get. And why should he be surprised she’d moved on? He hadn’t bothered to say good bye face-to-face, or make an attempt to contact her these last two years. He’d handed her over to that bastard and didn’t look back, when he should have comforted her for the loss of their baby. His child.

Seth let Brodie be that shoulder to cry on. He’d chosen duty over love, and he deserved everything that came to him. Who’d have known she was the only remaining heir to a world torn apart by revolution, that flying that ship to Nexis was as much about duty to her people as serving in the Fleet was to him? That the metal she’d hauled hadn’t been used to make weapons.

“Sir,” his ensign said from behind him. “We have a Nexian ship approaching that’s registered as the
Avira
.”

Ava
. Seth turned, his eyes narrowing on his subordinate. “Have they crossed into League space?”

“Not yet, sir.”

He frowned. Was it an envoy? What purpose would Ava have to send the
Avira
to his ship, unless it was Brodie and the man really believed he wanted to go down there to attend the wedding. Seth spun around and nailed the bag with a back-fist, knocking it off its tether. “I’ll be up on deck in a mila. Try to contact the ship and see what they want.”

“Yes, sir.” Seth glanced over his shoulder to see the ensign back away, his eyes wide open, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. No hiding his emotions anymore. Let them wonder. He was tired of pretending not to care.

***

“Permission to dock with your ship in sector A-47,” Ava said through the holo-com.

Seth couldn’t stop staring. As beautiful as he remembered, she looked so thin and tired. Why, on her wedding day, would she leave her planet and seek to turn herself in? Did she believe he could let her crimes go, ignore them as though they’d never happened?

“Legatus Reynolds?”

“The Infamous Ava Frost,” he said softly. “It’s League Admiral Reynolds now.” He lifted his gaze to hers, holding it, beseeching her to turn around. “Permission granted, but you must be aware I won’t be able to release you from my custody once you board this ship.” Why did she do this? He couldn’t release her. He had a duty to uphold, and she knew it. The urge to grab her and shake sense into her was almost overwhelming. She should turn her ass around and go back to her planet. Gods, the woman made him crazy. He did not want to be the one responsible for bringing her in for execution. “You’ll be escorted to trial to face charges of hauling illegal and dangerous materials across League space. If found guilty, you could face execution.”

“I understand.” She paused and a smile crept onto her face. “But I have to ask, do you have evidence of this crime?”

“You know the answer.” He frowned. No, they didn’t. Yet he’d been ordered to bring her in at all cost. She’d embarrassed the League and they wouldn’t let it go, regardless that the evidence had disappeared with her. They’d fabricate evidence if they had to. Once in custody, she’d be as good as dead.

“I see.”

Did she
? She’d risk death on the assumption she was safe. He blew out a breath and lifted his chin, fixing her with a pleading look.
Leave. Turn around. Don’t do this
. Gods, she looked so pretty, fragile. His instincts screamed for him to protect her, save her, and he’d tried to get her to back off. Ava, like the stubborn woman he knew, ignored the warning his words carried. He frowned. No, he couldn’t stop her, and he couldn’t help her once she boarded the ship. If they saw him question this, they’d know he’d been involved with her, a criminal, and leader of one of the most powerful worlds in the galaxy. His position with the League would be at risk, and all he’d lived for would be gone.

They could never know how deep his involvement really went. That he loved her as much now as the day he’d let her go. She lifted her palm and pressed it to the screen, like a prisoner during visiting hours. His guts knotted.

If not for love, then what for
?

To hell with what they thought, he wouldn’t lose her this way. He had to warn her, get her to listen. “Ava.” He raised his palm to the screen, pressing it against the surface and flat to hers. He looked into her eyes. “Don’t do….” The screen went black. “Gods damn it.” Seth punched the console, and everyone on the deck jumped. He let his gaze sweep their faces. “Get a security team down to the dock. As soon as that hatch opens, I want everyone on that ship detained.”

“We can’t board their ship until we have permission, sir.”

He turned toward the nav officer. “Care to explain?”

“Sector A-47, sir. Technically, and I don’t know who the pilot is, but they’ve managed to dock and lock with an umbilical gate, and still remain in Nexian space. We step through the hatch and we’re in
their
jurisdiction, under
their
laws and subject to breaching League treaties.”

Smugglers and pirates had used this method for hundreds of years to negotiate terms of surrender and the exchange of prisoners. But he’d never seen it done. Nobody had the guts to belly up to a League destroyer to parley.
Nobody but his girl
. Seth tipped his head back and laughed, knowing without a doubt he’d be the first.

She’d always taken things to the extreme. Why should he be surprised she’d do it? It would make sense to keep her crew out of reach. He couldn’t touch them and wouldn’t dare breach treaties, and she knew it. That was the Ava Frost he knew and loved.

Seth sucked in a breath. Gods, he still loved her, always would. Nothing had changed. He let his gaze slide over his crew. And it never would. He’d been a fool to think he could let her go, to put duty before a woman he loved more than anything in the universe.

He rose from his seat. If the mountain wouldn’t go to Seth, he’d go to the mountain. He motioned his executive officer over. Captain Levore stepped forward. Seth pulled his rank off his collar and handed it to Levore. “Whatever happens, you’re in charge now.”

“Sir, you’re not thinking about boarding that ship?” she asked.

“No, not thinking about it at all. I am boarding that ship.”

“Not without a security force. It could be a trap.”

He shook his head. “It’s not a trap. It’s a wakeup call.”

“I don’t understand, sir.”

Give up everything for duty, and you will
. Seth clapped her on the shoulder. “We don’t have any evidence, no reason to detain her.”

“I still don’t understand, sir. Why are you boarding their ship?”

“Nothing to understand. I’m retiring from the fleet, and you’ve just been promoted.”

“So, you’re not arresting Captain Ava Frost?”

“What did you not understand about lacking evidence?”

His XO gave him a strange look and lifted the com to her mouth. “I’d like a security force to escort Seth Reynolds to the brig.”

“You’re locking me up?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you do as you planned. I have higher orders from Fleet. They told me if it looked like you were going to abandon your post and not follow through on your orders, I was to finish the job. Ava Frost is to be taken into custody and transferred to League space to wait for trial. You are under arrest for conspiring against the League. You helped her escape once, and you intend to do it again. Do you deny these charges?”

“No, but she’s not going to let you on her ship without me, and you’re in her jurisdiction once you cross the threshold. I’m not going to help you take her into custody.”

“We can pull her ship into League space.”

“And risk a hull breech?”

“That’s what ionic fields are for.”

Seth nodded. But the League destroyer wasn’t the only vessel with ionic shields. If he could get on the
Avira
, they had a chance to escape. “You’ve been planning this for a while,” Seth said. He wanted to warn her, let her know that the League had used him to set a trap. And he would. As he reached to activate a link to the
Avira
, Levore pulled her laser. “I’m sorry sir, but you were bait. I can’t let you warn her.” She confiscated Seth’s com, a smug look of satisfaction on her face. “But I’ve changed my mind about locking you up. You’re right, why risk a hull breach when you can convince her to board on her own free will.” She lifted a brow. “And you will convince her, or I’ll blow up her entire ship and anyone who came along for the ride.”

“There could be innocents onboard.”

Levore shrugged. “Collateral damage.”

“Are you willing to start a war over it?”

“That’s why we have you, Reynolds.”

Chapter Fourteen

“What’s taking him so long?” Ava paced back and forth on the
Avira
’s deck, crumpling her skirt in her hands as she twisted the fabric. “He should have boarded ten mila ago.”

“Relax. He didn’t come all this way to back out now.”

She spun around and faced Brodie. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

“Nothing’s wrong.” He said it as if he meant it, but the look of concern in his eyes told her he’d sensed the same thing she had, an alert of danger closing in, a twinge running up the back of her neck, screaming for her to take action.

“I’m telling you, something feels….”

The screen to the visuals chimed. Ava and Brodie both looked up. “Isn’t that just like the military, hurry up and wait,” Brodie said and opened the link.

“Open the lock.” Admiral Reynolds stood at the hatch with a four-person security team behind him. He stared up into the visuals, anger on his face. “We have a warrant for your arrest, charging you with harboring and transporting Theo Frost.”

“You step through and you’re in my space, Regulator. That warrant won’t stand in Nexian space.”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything further. Ava cut the link and turned her seat until she was almost knee-to-knee with Brodie. “He’s under duress. Seth never told Fleet that I’d transported my uncle to New Xiera. He told me he’d let it go.”

“How can you be certain?”

“He’s never lied to me.”

Brodie pulled his lasers and switched them to kill. “Don’t they know it’s bad form to make a groom late for his wedding?” He grinned and nodded at the release. “What are you waiting for? Invite them in.”

***

She opened the hatch and smiled at Seth. “Admiral Reynolds.”

“Captain Frost.” His hazel eyes were everything she remembered, still taking her breath away. A strong hand came up and stroked a stray curl that had her escaped braid, pushing it off her shoulder. A bigger indicator something was up. Public displays of affection had never been Seth’s style, especially in front of his crew. If she hadn’t been certain before, she need only look in his eyes to confirm it. A warning glinted in their depths.

“It’s been a long time,” she said. Ava could still feel the heat. Her body wasn’t so forgetful, and she could see that he hadn’t forgotten her either, even if he didn’t respond. Silence met her greeting, but want blanketed his face, a look so loaded with desire, it made the air rush from her lungs and her heart skip a beat. A silent cry welled up from inside her, an immense feeling of desperation and loss. “I’ve missed….” Oh gods, why did she still love him so much? “You,” she whispered, unable to speak a decibel louder. Her throat had closed up, and pain banded around her chest, making it almost impossible to speak, let alone breathe.

“You’re still as lovely as you ever were.” His fingers moved to her face, softly stroking along her cheek. Sadness creased the edges of a forced smile, and the corners of his eyes held an expression of longing and something else. Hunger? “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

“You flatter.” Ava knew his body better than any woman could ever claim, but she still felt the heat creep into her cheeks like a virgin lover. How could he still want her—after everything she’d done? She’d wasted away in loneliness and guilt, a piece of her dying every day. She balled her hands at her sides to prevent throwing her arms around him. He might desire her, but it didn’t mean he’d forgiven her. She hadn’t even forgiven herself, and probably never would.

His expression went blank. “Why did you come back? I told Brodie I couldn’t help you if you did.”