Taken By Terror by Lolita Lopez

Chapter Seven

Elbows on his knees, Terror held his aching head in his hands and rubbed his temples. The headache had started before they reached the cabin and wouldn’t stop even after he had taken a handful of minor pain meds from his first aid kit. The source of the headache was obvious, but he didn’t know how to handle it. Lifting his head, he glanced toward the second floor where Maisie slept. The pain behind his eye throbbed even more intensely as the guilt of how he was treating her twisted his gut.

“I must have misunderstood the whole point of this mission when I agreed to fly second,” Hazard said before dropping onto the leather couch cushion next to him. A shirt and pair of pants from one of the Ryderwood brothers were stretched so tightly across his chest and thighs that Terror didn’t know how the seams were holding.

“You look ridiculous,” Terror said unkindly. “What is that? Child size?”

“Funny,” Hazard replied dryly and then scratched at the red welt on his wrist. “Zeph practically knocked me over to get to the doctor lady first. He took the bigger pair and left these for me. I didn’t want to be an asshole and ask for something else. This family has already done enough to help us.”

“Stop scratching,” Terror chided and smacked away Hazard’s hand. He motioned toward the weeping welt on his wrist. “You’re making it worse.”

“It fucking itches!”

“I’m sure it does, but that’s why they gave you the cream.”

“It’s not working.” Hazard gestured to the pale blue cream dotting his face and neck. “This shit is relentless.”

“You shouldn’t have walked through those plants.”

“Oh, well, I’ll remember that the next time I’m stumbling through the dark after crash landing in a forest,” Hazard shot back sarcastically. Then, with a huff of laughter, he said, “At least I didn’t make the mistake Zeph did.”

Terror tried not to laugh, but it was impossible not to as he remembered the bizarre shuffle Zeph had been doing when he came into the cabin. The poor bastard had picked the worst possible spot on the entire mountain as his makeshift bathroom and had worsened the problem by using the wrong handful of leaves at the end.

“He looked like a broken crab,” Terror said in between huffs of laughter.

“His ass looks like the red giant over in System 89!”

“I thought he was going to jump through the roof when that nurse tried to investigate the situation down there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any man hop that fast or high with their pants down around their ankles.” Wiping at his face, Terror tried to stifle his laughter. He didn’t want to wake Grim who had finally settled down on a pallet near the fire.

“You should laugh more often.” Hazard nudged Terror’s boot with his bare toes. “You’re always so damn tense.”

“You would be, too, if you had my job.”

“So, don’t.”

Terror frowned. “Don’t what?”

“Do your job anymore. Change jobs. Promote.” Hazard stretched out and folded his arms behind his head. “Hell, quit. Go retire on some sunny beach somewhere.”

He snorted derisively. “You make it sound so easy to walk away.”

“It is easy,” Hazard insisted. “You fill out the form. You throw your gear on Vicious’ desk. You put your right foot in front of your left foot and repeat until you’re far away from all of this bullshit.”

“And what happens when I’m gone? Who handles all the bullshit?”

Hazard shrugged. “Why does it matter? It’s not like anything is ever going to change, Ter. Even if we finish the war with the Splinters, we’ll just find someone else to fight. It’s who we are. Our people are warriors, and that’s never going to change.” Hazard exhaled loudly and crossed his ankles. “You did your bid, Terror. You gave more to the cause than anyone. Maybe it’s time to enjoy some well-earned rest.”

“I don’t think I know how to rest,” he admitted.

“You’ll learn. You go find yourself a beautiful woman, buy a nice house on some faraway planet and make some fat little babies. You teach those kids to walk and run and swim and climb. At night, you climb into bed with your pretty mate and let her ride you until you’re both spent.”

Terror grunted. “You seem to have given this a lot of thought.”

“Haven’t we all?” Hazard wondered. “Isn’t that what all of us dream about when we’re alone in our bunks? That all this shit we face every day is leading us to something better? To a mate and children?” Hazard’s attention turned toward the second floor. “I thought that’s what this whole mission was about,” he added. “I thought that’s what you wanted with the beautiful woman upstairs, the one who looks at you like she wants to drop to her knees and beg for—”

“Watch it,” Terror cut in harshly.

“Your collar,” Hazard continued defiantly. “So why the hell are you down here when you could be up there with that woman? Making plans for the future?”

Terror rolled his tight neck. “I remember why I never liked spending time with you.”

“Don’t be an asshole. Answer the question.” After a long moment of tense silence, Hazard sighed. “Fine. Be an asshole.” He stood up and scratched at his irritated neck. “If you can’t be honest with me, be honest with yourself.”

Terror set his jaw as Hazard walked away. Irritated, he shot out of his seat and quietly moved through the first floor of the cabin to the bathroom that had been set aside for their use. It was a small but very tidy space, and he locked the door for some privacy. He leaned over the white sink, gripping the edges of it so tightly he expected the entire thing to come off the wall. He lifted his gaze to the mirror over the sink and studied the haggard lines on his face and the dark circles under his eyes. Even the one that was missing had a sunken, tired appearance.

After his weeks in captivity, he found it hard to look at his reflection. The mirror in the bathroom in his quarters was covered so he didn’t have to see his face every morning and night. When he did catch a glimpse of himself all he saw was failure. Failure to evade capture. Failure to escape captivity. Failure to find the mole. Failure to recognize that Devious wasn’t playing with a full deck. Failure to protect Maisie.

He closed his eye and inhaled a shuddering, painful breath. He hadn’t failed her yet. He refused to fail her. He wanted nothing more than to walk out the door behind him, slink upstairs and sneak her out a window. But then what? Where would he take her? Toward Rivertown?

The oldest Ryderwood son had told him the area was swarming with corrupt government police. Even if he could sneak her through all of the police, how would he get her off the planet? They were hundreds of miles from The City and Blue Shores, the only two areas on the planet that had spaceship docks.

No. The only real option was to get her back on the Valiant and broker a deal. It wouldn’t be easy, and he would have to call in all of his favors to get it done. Savage would be the most difficult to handle, but Terror had ways of dealing with that asshole.

With his mind made up, he turned on the cold water and splashed his face a few times. He wouldn’t be able to explain everything to Maisie, though. He couldn’t risk Savage or anyone else figuring out what he had planned. He needed Maisie to react honestly, to show real fear and panic when the time came.

She’ll hate you for it.

Probably.

But she’ll be alive.

Without you.

He ignored the painful sting of that acknowledgment. The fantasy that Hazard had described wasn’t a possibility. He had done too much, seen too much, to ever deserve a mate and children. Some would argue his genetics were some of the finest in the entire force, but he knew better. They were the genetics of a killer. That’s what he did best. Hunt and kill.

Best to let those genes—and his foolish dreams of keeping Maisie—die.