Ignite by Tana Stone

Chapter Thirty-Six

Zoey

“Are you sure about this, sweetie?” Serge asked me.

We were still on the bridge, but the chaos of the Drexian crew trying to determine where Kalex and Jax had gone and how to get them back made it so they weren’t paying attention to us.

I glanced down at Serge’s device. He’d just deactivated the comms link with Dryx, but not before I’d begged the Inferno Force warrior—the one I was supposed to be on a vid date with—to help us find the captain. “Even if I’m not sure, it’s too late now.”

Reina wrung her hands. “Oh, dear. Do you think we should tell someone?”

“That a bunch of Inferno Force ships might be joining us?” I watched Vekron leaning over a console with a worried expression on his face.

Serge loosed a weary sigh. “That you requested assistance for a mission without authorization.”

“You should just be glad the captain isn’t here,” Nina said. “He’d be livid.” My friend realized what she’d said a moment after she’d said it, slapping a hand over her mouth and looking stricken. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know.” I waved away her concern even though the thought of Kalex’s stormy face sent a sharp stab of longing through me. “You’re right. He would be calling me insubordinate and accuse me of ignoring the chain of command.”

Reina emitted a nervous giggle. “I’m sure he meant those things with love.”

“I’m sure he didn’t,” I said. “We might have been hiding the fact that we’d gotten together, but trust me when I tell you that our annoyance with each other was real.”

Now that he was missing, I couldn’t remember any of the ways Kalex had made me crazy. My only thought was that I had to see him again. I couldn’t let his last memory of me be me turning and running away. I gulped down a hard ball of regret, wishing I hadn’t run. Now I’d give anything to be in the doorway of the captain’s quarters with him standing hopefully inside.

“I’m part of the reason he went on this mission and is now missing,” I said, pushing aside my regret and squaring my shoulders. “It’s my responsibility to help get him back.”

“I don’t see how you could be responsible,” Reina said.

“And I still don’t understand how any of this happened.” Serge sent me a dark look. “If you’d wanted to be matched to the captain, all you had to do was ask, sweetie. It would have taken me much less effort than sourcing a warrior from an Inferno Force ship far away.”

How could I explain to Serge that I hadn’t wanted to be matched to the captain, that it been a bit of fun for both of us? Especially now that it felt like much more than that.

“A ship is back,” a Drexian officer cried, drawing all our attention to the view screen.

I quickly locked onto the single Drexian fighter that had seemingly appeared from thin air. Two ships had vanished, but only one had returned. My heart thumped in my chest, part of me not wanting to know who was in the ship so I could allow myself a few more moments of thinking Kalex was back safely.

“Life signs?” Vekron barked over the din of excited rumbling on the command deck.

“One, sir.” A Drexian with close-cropped hair spun around from his console behind us. “Drexian. The ship is hailing us.”

“On screen.” Vekron swiveled to face the screen as the blackness of space disappeared and Kalex’s face took its place.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw him, and I had to choke back an unexpected sob.

“Kalex, what happened?” Vekron asked, stepping closer to the view screen.

“Where’s Jax?” Kalex asked, ignoring Vekron’s question. “Did he make it back?”

Vekron exchanged a glance with a nearby officer, who stole a glance at his console and shook his head. “There’s no trace of Jax.”

Kalex set his jaw. “Grek. Then I have to go back.”

“Captain,” Vekron said, putting heavy emphasis on the word. “What happened?”

Kalex rubbed a hand over his wrinkled forehead. “The energy rift is some sort of wormhole that took us deep into Kronock space. Too far for one of our fighters to jump away and get back here.”

“Did you encounter Kronock forces?”

Kalex nodded. “We were pulled right on top of an enemy battleship. We managed to evade notice at first but when we tried to get back through the opening energy rift, they sent their fighters out to intercept.”

Vekron glanced back at the closest Drexian warrior. “Any signs of the energy rift?”

The warrior tapped his fingers quickly across the screen. “It’s gone, sir.”

Kalex shook his head, his dark hair swinging around his face. “I can’t leave Jax there. I have to go back for him.”

Vekron blew out a breath. “I get it, but we need an organized rescue plan, not a one-warrior suicide mission.”

“Inferno Force doesn’t leave warriors behind,” Kalex growled.

Before Vekron could respond, consoles began beeping.

“Six ships have just jumped in, sir,” an officer yelled over the noise of the consoles.

“Split screen,” Vekron bellowed, even as Kalex’s face twisted in confusion.

The image of Kalex shifted to one side and was joined by a view of half a dozen black ships surrounding Kalex’s fighter. It only took a moment for me to determine that the vessels weren’t enemy ships—they were Drexian ships that looked just like the one Kalex was in, aside from one larger vessel.

“We’re being hailed by an Inferno Force ship,” a comms officer said.

Vekron’s brows lifted yet another image appeared on the wide view screen. “Dryx?”

The Drexian warrior I’d been talking to via vid link grinned out at us. “Vekron! I heard you were keeping a Kronock battle to yourself.”

Vekron glanced back at us, his raised eyebrow going even higher. “How’d you hear that?”

I stepped forward, willing to take the heat if calling in the cavalry was going to be a problem. “I asked Dryx to come.”

“You called in Inferno Force?” Kalex’s gaze shifted to me, sharpening as he suddenly seemed to realize that I was on the bridge.

His usual brisk tone made my hackles rise, and I put my hands on my hips. “I was trying to save your ass. You can thank me later.”

His narrowed eyes relaxed, lowering for a moment before meeting mine. “I didn’t think you’d want to save my ass.”

Despite the bride being packed with Drexian warriors, Dryx being on the comms link, and my friends standing next to me, I shrugged. “Your ass is one of my favorite parts of you.”

Several of the bridge officers swung their heads to me and then to the view screen as Reina giggled nervously behind me. Dryx’s face broke into a wide grin as Kalex’s mouth dangled open.

I drew in a long breath as if gathering my courage. “I’m sorry I freaked and ran out on you. When I thought I’d lost you…”My words trailed off as my throat tightened.

“Zoey—” Kalex attempted to interrupt me, but I waved him off.

“No, I need to say this.” I swallowed hard, cutting my eyes to the bridge crew. “I thought I could keep myself from getting hurt by keeping you at a distance, but it didn’t work. You managed to worm your way into my heart, you obnoxious ass, and now I can’t imagine life without you.”

Serge murmured something about giving me pointers in romantic banter, but I ignored him.

Kalex blinked at me then shook his head. “How did I fall in love with such a stubborn, insubordinate female?”

Reina let out a high-pitched squeak while Nina sighed.

My heart skipped a beat, and my mouth went dry. “You love me?”

Kalex’s gaze seared into me, the heat in his eyes making my knees weak. “So much that it hurts.”

I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a sob. Hearing his love declared over a comms channel wasn’t exactly the most romantic thing in the world, but after thinking I would never see him again, I’d take it. More shocking than his confession was realizing that I loved him too. It made absolutely no sense, but my heart swelled with affection as I stared at him on the screen. “I love you too, Captain.”

“Call me Kalex.”

I laughed, the sound burbling from me in an uncontrollable burst.

Dryx cleared his throat. “Now that we’ve got that settled, what are we going to do about the Kronock?”

Kalex slid his gaze from me and locked onto Vekron. “Grek the Kronock. We have to save Jax.”