Undaunted (Battle Born Book 6) (23 page)

Garin continued to pet her with some reluctance. “Can you understand me when you’re like this?”

She located the transfer link and pushed her thoughts into his mind.
It’s still me, Garin. Just my outward appearance has changed.

Sorry. This is really strange.

Now you understand how I feel.

Bandar walked into the conference room a few minutes later, or actually he came to an abrupt stop in the doorway. “Is that… Of course, it is. I guess this answers my other question too. You’re obviously ready to go.”

Garin smiled as he stood up. “I hope your bio-streaming engineer is good. Our target location is tiny.”

“I wasn’t sure who we’d need, so I brought only the best.” Despite his casual tone, he kept looking at Berlynn as if he were afraid she’d bite him.

They walked to the departure bay, Berlynn trotting along at Garin’s side.

“How often does she do this?” Bandar whispered.

Garin laughed. “She can hear better than either of us and this is only the third time I’ve seen her shift. She was adorable as a red fox, but the last time she shifted, she turned into a wolf. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to mess with her in that form.”

Again, his casual praise filled her with joy.

They reached the departure bay and Garin double checked their destination coordinates before urging everyone together in the middle of the room. Berlynn sat down and waited for the sickening rush of the bio-stream process. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, the vertigo was even worse in dog form. She staggered several times before coordinating all four paws again.

“Are you all right?” Garin whispered.

They were in some sort of storeroom, cramped as promised. She licked his hand then moved toward the door and took a deep breath.

“Can you smell him?” Bandar asked hopefully.

She shook her head and pawed the door.

Garin motioned her back then eased the door open. She didn’t hear anything so it was doubtful he’d see anything, but humanoids never failed to feel superior. Once Garin determined that it was clear, they moved into the corridor. She sniffed the air as she walked, tuning everything out except the smells floating into her nose.

“Where are we headed?” Bandar whispered.

“Toward the brig,” Garin whispered back.

Quinton’s not a prisoner.
She butted her head against his leg to get his attention.
He’s royalty. He’ll demand the best accommodations available. Where are the officers’ cabins?

Garin stopped walking. “She thinks Quinton will have demanded the best room on the ship.”

Bandar nodded. “Make sense to me.”

“Then we go up.” Garin motioned toward the semi-enclosed ladder that they’d just passed.

“That’s fine for you and me, but how is she going to climb a ladder?”

Knowing that each moment they delayed increased their chances of being discovered, Berlynn solved the problem for them. She shifted into a teacup poodle and bounced on her hind legs until Garin picked her up.

“Very clever,” he whispered as he stroked her tiny head.

“Tuck her inside your shirt,” Bandar suggested. “You can climb faster with both hands.”

Garin followed his brother’s suggestion, so all she could see was a small wedge of light and the ladder above them. The brig was generally placed in a secluded section of the ship. The officers’ cabins, however, tended to be located in the heart of the action. Tension coiled inside her with each deck they passed. Was it really possible to move about a ship with six thousand people on it and not run into anyone?

Her little heart thudded madly in her chest as they reached the deck Garin wanted. They crawled out of the maintenance tube and found a shadowed doorway before Garin set her down.

She didn’t hesitate. Using only as much energy as she needed to facilitate the change, she shifted back into her German shepherd self. As soon as the shift stabilized, Quinton’s scent hit her nose.

Got him
. She checked the hallway before dashing after the scent. Her male companions jogged after her, their footfalls surprisingly quiet.

Locating the cabin was the least of their challenges. As they came to the final corner, trepidation made Berlynn stop.
Hold up. We’re not alone
.

Garin stopped and held up his hand, halting Bandar too.

Berlynn peeked around the corner and found the cause of her discomfort. Quinton’s door was flanked by armed guards. And they weren’t Quinton’s pampered bodyguards. They were members of Paytor’s crew. She looked up at the men and found they’d each drawn their flexblade.

“Fast and silent,” Garin cautioned.

“Copy that.”

Berlynn moved out of their way and the men rushed around the corner. She heard the muffled sounds of a struggle, but the fight was over by the time she trotted into the corridor. Both guards lay unconscious on the floor. One hadn’t even drawn his weapon.
Go, Nox brothers
.

Garin glanced at her and smiled, but was clearly focused on the control panel beside the door. He worked fast and efficiently. Still, they were completely exposed and this was a main corridor.

Bandar stood to one side, watching the hallway as Garin frantically tried to override the access protocols.

“This is taking too long,” Bandar whispered, his tone as impatient as his words.

Garin ignored the objection and kept on entering possible override codes. “Almost have it.” He entered one final attempt then mutter, “Damn it. Paytor changed all the defaults.”

Fear sped Berlynn’s already racing pulse.
I’ll teleport in and bring him out
.

“No,” Garin stressed in an agitated whisper. “You’re not going in there alone.”

“What did she say? Can she teleport?”

“Yes, but—”

“Do it,” Bandar urged. “We have to get moving.”

Berlynn looked at Garin, torn between loyalty and common sense. Pacifying her mate wouldn’t mean a thing if they were caught in enemy territory.

Garin wanted to howl. This should have been so simple. “Do it,” he told Berlynn, feeling utterly defeated. He should have realized Paytor would anticipate any security weakness. The apex general had taught Garin everything he knew.

Berlynn transformed in a blur of gray fur and creamy skin, then teleported into the cabin before her human form solidified.

“Damn that was fast,” Bandar muttered.

Garin just nodded as he looked up and down the corridor, willing it to remain empty.

Hopefully, having a naked woman appear in front of Quinton would be enough of a distraction to keep him quiet.

As if in response to his thought, Berlynn reappeared with her arms wrapped around Quinton. The crown stirate twisted and struggled as if he were being tortured. Bandar quickly slapped his hand over Quinton’s mouth, preventing the scream they both saw in his eyes. Garin took one look at the irrational monarch and realized the error in his own strategy. He and Bandar could creep through the ship and carefully avoid detection, but doing so with a struggling, screaming, prisoner was never going to happen.

“Can you teleport him onto the
Fearless
?” Garin hated the weakness revealed by the question. His plan had failed and now his mate would have to save his ass. It was humiliating.

She didn’t waste time with discussion. Wrapping her arms around Quinton, she trapped his flailing arms against his sides long enough to teleport out of sight.

A shrill alarm echoed through the corridors. He wasn’t sure if Berlynn had triggered it when she passed through the ship’s shields or if Quinton had used some sort of panic button. It didn’t matter. Their situation had just gone from bad to worse.

“Back the way we came?” Bandar yelled over the pulsing alarm.

“Yes. It will take too long to retarget the shield modulator.” And without the shield modulator, they couldn’t bio-stream off the ship.

They ran down the corridor, no longer trying to be quiet.

“Halt!” someone shouted.

Garin didn’t slow his pace or look back.

An energy pulse flew past his shoulder as they reached the maintenance tube. “Hurry!”

Bandar dove into the tube and slid down the outer supports of the ladder, not bothering with the rungs. Garin quickly snapped his flexblade back into the bracket on his thigh then followed Bandar. “Deck sixteen.” His reminder was likely unnecessary, but it was out before he reconsidered the impulse.

Bandar caught a rung with his hands and stopped his rapid descent as he reached the designated deck. Garin crawled out after him and they took off running toward the storage compartment into which they had bio-streamed.

A barrage of pulses arched around them, skillfully avoiding direct contact. Both men slid to a reluctant stop.

“That’s the only warning you’ll get.”

Paytor! Fuck.

Stealthily drawing his flexblade, Garin turned to face his mentor. Paytor stood there alone in the corridor. Garin couldn’t honestly say if that was good or bad.

“Bidon.” He used Paytor’s first name, hoping to remind him of their past relationship. “It’s been a long time.”

The apex general looked older, more weathered, and not at all amused. “Where’s Quinton?”

Garin lowered his weapon, though he didn’t put it away. Bandar did the same. “He won’t be harmed, you have my word, but this was inevitable. He is unworthy to rule and we both know it.”

“That’s not our call to make,” Paytor snapped. “We’re soldiers, not sovereigns.”

“Quinton murdered every member of the high council,” Garin pointed out. “They were the only ones with the authority to curtail his misbehavior. What choice did I have left?”

“Treason is never a choice!” He took two steps forward as he added, “You’re a criminal.”

“I can’t stop. You know I can’t. What I’m doing might not be legal, but it’s right.” He shook his head and snapped his flexblade back into the bracket on his thigh. “Bandar is following my orders. At least let my brother go.”

Paytor shook his head, his dark eyes narrowed. “Heroic to the bitter end. You just can’t help yourself, can you? You’re not even battle born. Why are you throwing your life away?”

“I already told you. It’s the right thing to do.”

Paytor slowly lowered his pulse pistol then shook his head again. “Get the hells off my ship!” Then he turned around and jogged down the corridor. He turned out of sight, but Garin heard his muffled voice call, “With me! They’re using the maintenance tubes!”

Bandar looked at him, clearly shocked by the turn of events.

“Let’s go,” Garin urged. “He won’t stay gone long.”

They huddled in the middle of the storage compartment and contacted the
Fearless
. Garin’s head was still reeling from their narrow escape, so being bio-streamed didn’t bother him.

“He let us go,” Bandar muttered. “Why would he do that?”

“I’m the closest thing to a son that he ever had,” Garin admitted. “If we cross paths again, he won’t show mercy a second time.”

Bandar’s only response was a tense nod.

Berlynn, we’re back aboard. Where are you?

In the corridor outside the brig. Ashley’s with me.

We’re on our way.

They were still half a deck away when Garin heard Quinton’s yelling. “I demand that you release me at once! This is unacceptable. Don’t you know who I am?”

Someone must have turned on sound dampeners because the outcry abruptly stopped.

“Unbelievable.” Bandar shook his head. “Doesn’t he realize it’s over? He will never be a ruler again.”

“I hope you’re right, but never is a long time.”

Their females came running toward them with happy smiles on their faces. Berlynn was dressed in a uniform top that was so oversized it fit her more like a dress. He caught her as she threw herself into his arms and pressed her tightly against his chest.

“I was so worried about you.” She pulled his face down and kissed him, her tongue moving boldly in his mouth.

“I’m safe, love,” he whispered against her lips when she finally came up for air. “And the mission was a success, thanks to you.”

She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome.” She could have ruined the moment with I told you so, but instead she just kissed him again.

Affection and joy flowed into his mind, sweetening his emotions.

“We’re going to have to pry them apart,” Bandar teased.

“Or find them a room,” Ashley countered.

Garin laughed and raised his head, gently shifting Berlynn to his side. “We only need to bother you for one final favor and then we’ll get off your ship.”

“Berlynn can stay,” Ashley offered with a cheeky smile. “It’s only grump generals we don’t tolerate.”

Bandar laughed until his eyes watered, “See why I bonded with her. She’s adorable.”

The situation had finally settled down enough for Garin to think beyond the moment. With Quinton locked safely in the brig, he’d met the criteria for a mating bond with Berlynn. Or had he? Technically, he hadn’t captured Quinton, she had. Would she use this as an excuse to torture him further?