Ignite by Tana Stone

Chapter Thirty-One

Kalex

I swung my leg high, arching it through the air in a Kranji circle kick. When my heel slapped the mat, I thrust my palms out in rapid succession and sliced the air. I grunted from the exertion but didn’t pause for breath as I spun around and launched another kick into the air. This time I landed in a crouch and rolled across the mat, jumping up and jabbing my invisible opponent with a series of punches.

“I’m glad I’m not the one who angered you,” Vekron said from behind me after letting out a low whistle.

I whirled around to face him, heaving in breath as sweat rolled down my bare chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

I braced my hands on my knees. “Am I needed on the bridge?”

He shook his head. “Not that I know.”

I ground my teeth, quickly losing what little patience I’d had. I’d come to the sparring mats to release the tension I’d planned to release with Zoey. Just the thought of the panicked look in her eyes before she’d turned on her heel and run away from me made me jerk away from Vekron and resume throwing punches at an imaginary target. “Then what?”

“I hadn’t seen you all day, so I went looking for you,” Vekron said over my heavy exhalations. “After I couldn’t find you on the bridge or in your strategy room, I tried the officers’ lounge. When even that failed, I tried your quarters.”

I didn’t respond.

“Your door wasn’t locked, and I was concerned.”

I stopped thrusting my fists out. I’d left right after Zoey, pausing only to blow out the small candles. I’d left the wine and both glasses sitting on the table, along with the instrumental music playing in the background.

“No need for concern,” I snapped.

“Obviously.”

I turned at Vekron’s tone, meeting his gaze with my fiery one. “You want me to tell you that I made an error in judgment? Fine. I crossed a line no captain should cross, but I’ve learned my lesson. There’s a reason I’ve avoided females for so long, and today was a reminder why.”

Vekron grabbed a black towel from a low bench lining one wall and tossed it to me. “What happened, Kalex?”

I dragged the towel across my face, allowing my eyes to close before I hooked it around my neck, holding on to the ends. “You haven’t already guessed?”

“Zoey?”

I flinched at her name, even though I wasn’t surprised Vekron had put two and two together. He might be Inferno Force—and as tough as any warrior in our elite unit—but he’d always been clever. Not only that, he knew me better than just about anyone.

“I never intended for anything to happen. I still can’t believe it did. Of all the females I’ve ever met, she’s the one who always seems to enrage me.”

“You’ve always liked a challenge, Kalex.”

“Who doesn’t? But why couldn’t I have been satisfied with a harmless challenge like Felaris twins, or the females of Gredellen?”

Vekron laughed. “You’d prefer females with tentacles over Zoey?”

“I’d prefer anything over this,” I said, the physical ache of her rejection still fresh in my mind and my heart.

“Did you get in a fight?”

I wiped my forehead with the edge of the towel. “I wish. A fight I could handle.” I thought back to our most recent fights and how they’d ended. “Fighting was what we did best. But she just ran.”

Vekron pressed his lips together as he walked to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Kalex. If I understood human females, I’d give you some advice on how to get her back, but I’m as baffled by the creatures as you are.”

“Thanks, but I don’t want to get her back. Her running was a reminder that I never should have gotten involved in the first place. I can’t even be angry at her. She did what I should have done.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s a reason why I haven’t signed up for a tribute of my own. I belong in Inferno Force, not here overseeing a construction project or tied down to a mate. Fighting the Kronock is what I was trained to do and what I love to do. I’ll be happy once I can back to our old ship and crew.”

“It’s not like Zoey planned to stay here forever, either,” Vekron said. “Once the station is built, she’s headed back to Earth.”

“Unless Serge is successful at matching her with Dryx.” Even though I’d come to terms with not having Zoey, the thought of him having her made my skin prickle with a possessive fury.

“Not likely.” Vekron grinned. “I have it on good authority that Zoey’s spent most of the day avoiding Serge so he can’t pin her down to a time for that vid date.”

“Really?” This sent a flutter of satisfaction through me. “She seemed pretty eager to meet him the last time I saw her.”

Vekron shrugged. “I’m only telling you what her closest friend on the station told me, and Nina has no reason to lie to me.”

Despite that news cheering me a bit, I frowned as I pulled the towel from my neck and rubbed it across my sweaty chest and stomach. “It’s none of my concern if she takes a Drexian mate, or who she chooses. I just know it won’t be me.”

Vekron nodded slowly. “If you say so.”

I stepped from the sparring room, the cool air of the corridor hitting me and sending a chill over my damp skin. What I needed now was a hot shower and to get rid of any evidence of the romantic gesture I’d been fool enough to attempt.

“Kalex! Vekron!”

We both turned as Jax jogged toward us in his flight suit.

“You’re difficult Drexians to find,” he said, when he reached us.

“So, I hear,” I said, giving Vekron a look but knowing he wouldn’t reveal that I’d been indulging in a marathon Kranji session, or why.

“How go the security patrols?” Vekron asked. “Have the modifications I made to your fighters’ sensors helped?”

“That’s what I came to tell you,” Jax said, his dark eyes glittering with excitement. “The modifications are so good, I think I’ve found something.”

All my previous concerns left my mind, and my mind snapped into high-alert mode. “What did you find?”

“Potentially a rift in the energy signature the Kronock used to jump in,” Jax said.

“A rift?” Vekron ran a hand down his stubbly cheeks. “If that’s true, then we could use it to send a fleet in after them.”

Jax nodded eagerly. “Attack them before they can have another go at us.”

“Do you have the specs of the rift?” Vekron asked, his mind clearly already whirring with possibilities.

“That’s the only problem. The rift comes and goes, and I need to be practically on top of it to get any readings. From what I can tell, it’s not totally stable.”

“Then you need more fighters out there,” I said, my fingers practically tingling in anticipation of flying a fighter again.

Jax thumped a hand on my bare arm. “If you’re up for it, Captain.”

Vekron opened his mouth then shook his head. “You were always one of our best pilots. You belong out there.”

Part of me regretted leaving the station, but another part of me knew the faster we could eliminate the Kronock threat, the safer the station would be. And as captain, my first duty was to keep the station safe—no matter what it took.

“Let’s do this, Jax,” I told him, then nodded to Vekron. “Have the bridge ready for our transmissions.”

He gave me a one-fisted salute. “Yes, Captain.”

Jax cut his eyes to me as we left Vekron and walked toward the hanger bay. I noticed him looking and glanced down at my bare chest and drawstring pants. “You’ve got extra flight suits on the hangar bay, right?”

Jax laughed as he slapped my back. “If not, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing you’ve done.”

I returned his wide smile, my body humming with excitement at the possibility of tracking down our enemy and bringing the battle to them. My mind flicked to Zoey for the briefest moment, but I pushed that regret aside.

She’d been right to run away from something that was wrong for both of us. Now it was my turn.