Savage Prince by Alison Aimes
12
The flare of light was blinding.
Heat seared Tess’s shoulders, and she was whisked forward—into Skolov’s lap.
With a low whimper, she crawled closer, flattening herself against him and curling her fingers against his sturdy chest.
“What’s wrong?” His hands were everywhere. Frantic. Checking her over. Looking for an injury—when the wounds were all inside her head. “What happened? Where do you hurt?”
“I don’t . . .” Gasping for air, she fought to get the words out, “like the dark.”
He stilled. Then his arms encircled her, almost squeezing out the breath she was just regaining.
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, baby. I had no idea. I . . . I thought this was okay. Warm. Comfortable.”
She felt like a fool, but it didn’t matter.
She burrowed deeper. She’d managed to find a way to deal with so much of what had been done to her, but there were some things she couldn’t overcome.
“I thought you’d be okay.” He rocked her on his lap, the steady pounding of his heart against her cheek comforting. “I didn’t even consider . . . I should have remembered I programmed the lights to me.” He cursed again, and she felt his anger—all at himself—through their fledgling bond. “For a male who prides himself on covering all the details, I’m messing up with you, left and right. I’m sorry.”
Who said that to a slave? Or even a prime omega? She’d certainly never imagined one of the fiercest, most ruthless warlords in the galaxy would speak like that to her.
Clutching him tighter, she nodded, every slab of inflexible steel surrounding her making her feel a little safer.
She hadn’t been forgotten, after all.
“It’s silly.” She wheezed the words out. The sane part of her knew what had just happened wasn’t anything like she’d experienced when she was young, but the panic was still there. The clawing certainty that this time she would be left in the dark for good nearly impossible to cast off.
Her breathing stayed frantic. Her heart a painful slam against her ribs.
“What can I do?” Big hands ran up and down her back. He sounded almost lost. “How can I help?”
“Take me out.” She wasn’t even sure why she said it. What chance was there that he’d listen? But the words tore from her anyway, her desperation so great she couldn’t keep it in. “I . . . I need to see the sky.”
She was swept off her feet, wrapped in the blanket from the bed, and carried through the door and down the gangplank in the next instant.
The dusty air hit her face. She took her first deep breath.
It didn’t matter that they were parked in an alley on a barren, hot moon.
Stars twinkled overhead.
She wasn’t in a cage. She wasn’t in the dark.
Breathing slow and deep, she tilted her head and, resting her cheek against Skolov’s strong chest, soaked it all in.
She knew he wanted answers about Rav. She knew he wanted to destroy someone she cared for. She knew he was Brotherhood and there was no outrunning the debt his syndicate would demand for killing their own.
But for this brief moment in time, she could almost believe an omega slave and an Alpha mafia crime boss could find a way to matter to one another.
Soon enough, her breathing slowed. Her heart no longer knocked against her ribs.
She removed her hands from where they’d been latched around his neck but kept her gaze tilted upward. “Thank you. I-I needed that more than I can say, but I’m okay now, and I’m sure your arms are getting tired.” Her legs might be shaky, but she was ready to stand on them again.
His hold tightened. “No.”
His comms beeped. He ignored it.
“I’m good. Really.” There was only so long they could pretend there wasn’t a host of unfinished business between them. “I want to get down . . . please, and I’m sure you need to answer that.”
She felt exposed—and it wasn’t simply because she was outside in the alley, in nothing more than a blanket.
Skolov let out a long sigh, but he let her down. He didn’t release her entirely, though.
His hand wrapped around her waist to hold her steady. “Take it slow. Nice slow breaths.”
His comms beeped again. This time he looked—and frowned.
He studied whatever was written there for several heartbeats before typing back a response. There was another beep from his comms. His scowl deepened.
Whatever he’d just read, it didn’t appear to be good news.
“Everything okay?”
His gaze returned to her. His expression cleared. “The bigger question is how do you feel?”
“Better.” Clutching the blanket to her like a shield, she stared at him. “You’re good at this comforting business.”
Her mother had been too, while she’d been alive. Tess had tried to be a source of support for the younger omegas, but her helplessness had made it difficult.
“I’ve had some practice.” Skolov’s admission drew her from her dark thoughts.
“How come?” She was genuinely curious.
“My family had some trouble when we were young.” He shifted his hold at her waist, but he didn’t let go of her altogether. “It affected everyone differently. One of my little brothers was afraid of the dark. Another developed a fear of small places. I did my best to help them through.”
“The same brothers who were bickering on the comms?”
“One and the same,” he answered with an almost smile.
That half grin took her breath away.
She struggled to remember their line of conversation. “They were lucky to have you.”
“I’m not sure they agree.”
“Then they’re fools.” The word came out more vehemently than intended. It was hard to imagine any of the Skolov Alphas vulnerable and struggling, but it was no longer hard for her to imagine Maxheim caring for his family.
He was a natural protector and fixer.
It was only too bad for her, he thought Rav was someone he had to protect his family from.
But, gods, when he looked at her like he was looking at her now, she almost wished things were different.
“Tess!” As if she’d summoned him with her thoughts, a familiar voice rang out.
She whirled toward the sound.
Rav stepped out from behind a set of stacked crates at the other end of the alleyway, his silver skin shimmering in the dark. His eyes were angry and accusatory.
Shock swept through her. Followed by relief. Then shame.
Skolov was making her into a traitor to those who’d always stood by her.
Instinctively, she took a step back.
Or tried.
Skolov’s fingers tangled in her hair, all softness gone as he held her to him. “You are fucking mine, omega. Not his. Never his.”
Why did some part of her like those words so damned much?
“Let her go!” A smaller figure with a wild tangle of braids peeked out from behind Rav’s shoulder. Lottie. Safe as well.
Thank the gods.
“That omega is the property of Aldar.” Rav’s claim was one he’d made before.
“Not anymore,” snarled her captor.
“If you leave her be, I won’t kill you.” Rav must not realize yet who he was dealing with. “But if you do anything to her, you’ll die.”
“You want her?” Skolov was eerily calm, a predator playing with his prey. “Come and get her.”
And she realized in a flash—he’d used her as bait. All while she’d been softening toward him.
“No,” she screamed. “It’s a trap. Run. It’s Maxheim Skolov. He’s not just here for Aldar, he’s after you too. The Brotherhood wants you dead.”
For an instant, neither Rav nor Lottie moved—then they spun to flee—only to come up short as two Alphas almost as massive as the one holding her appeared at the other end of the alley, flanked by at least ten other hulking males.
Maxheim’s comms crackled.
“We’re here.” It was one of the brothers. “He’s got nowhere to go.”
Terror slammed through her. But all she sensed from the male gripping her arm was smug satisfaction—and murderous rage.
Skolov dragged her forward.
“Please, you can’t hurt them.”
Hate, dark and ugly, slammed into her. Her words disgusted him.
With anyone else, such emotion would have triggered her gift, but with him, the only one to feel his fury was her.
It hurt. Especially after the brief respite that had bloomed between them.
His jaw clamped so tight, a muscle twitched beneath his cheek. “I can hurt him. I will hurt him. Slowly. Savagely. With great pleasure. And the more you beg for that bastard’s life, the more painful his end will be.”
She shut up.
They reached the crates where Lottie and Rav had been hiding.
She sucked down a sharp breath.
Maxheim cursed.
No one was there.
“Maxheim?” His comms crackled once more as one of his brothers spoke. “Do you see them?”
“No.” His voice was ice cold. “They’ve disappeared. Probably a hidden back door. Keep looking.”
Out of nowhere, an engine’s roar sounded from above. The ground shook beneath Tess’s feet.
A laser cut through the air, landing only a few feet from where they’d been standing.
Except they weren’t there anymore. Somehow Skolov had known. Body covering hers, he’d shoved her out of the line of fire and under a nearby overhang.
He looked skyward. “Federation troops. As usual, their timing is shit.”
Her stomach pitched. Federation soldiers scared her far more than the male standing by her side.
They might tout themselves as the only true law of the galaxy, but they were even more corrupt and merciless than everyone else.
Another laser sliced through the air, only a few lengths from where they’d taken cover.
“Alexi, Damien,” the Alpha spoke low into his comms, “what’s your status?”
“Direct access to you is blocked. What the hells are Federation troops doing here?
“I don’t know,” he answered. “But I’d put money on it relating to Byrel and our faceless enemy.”
“This mess gets more confusing by the hour. We’re on our way.”
“No. I’ve got this. Take the ship and get out of sight. I don’t want the Federation getting their hands on all of us at once. I’ve got this.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. We’ll get to you. If not, plan C it is.”
Get to them? Plan C? What did that mean? Tess’s heart beat fast.
“Alright.” The voice on the other end of the comms didn’t sound happy.
“Byrel?” Skolov’s question was easy to understand.
She held her breath.
Silence crackled across the line. Then, “Gone. The girl too.”
She gasped. “Please, she’s done nothing.”
Maxheim stared at her as he spoke into his comms once more. “If you find the girl, keep her safe. She’s not to be harmed.”
Tess wilted beneath his glower. At least his vehemence was reserved for Rav alone.
“There are others like her.” She had to try. “Four innocents who Aldar forced to serve him as thieves. Please don’t hurt them.”
His amber eyes bore into her. “They matter to you?”
She had no idea if her admission would make things better or worse, but she answered anyway. “Yes. I would do anything for them.”
“Even kill for them?”
He knew. “Yes. Aldar used them to force me to summon my gift to kill your Brotherhood associates.”
His frown deepened. “When they are found, they will be kept safe. No blame will be placed on them.”
Could she believe him? She wanted so badly too, just like his promise about the other omegas. But even if he was telling the truth—and instinct told her he was—there was still the issue of Rav.
As if he sensed her turmoil, Skolov held her tighter. “It’s going to be okay, Tess. We’ll figure this out.”
The alley grew darker as the belly of a large shuttle blocked out even the paltry starlight.
“See you soon,” Maxheim told his brothers. “Stay safe.”
“You too.”
The comms call ended.
A spotlight blinked on, a harsh beam of neon green that lit up the massive Alpha at her side and all the hiding places in the alleyway.
“You have been targeted for detention by the Federation.” A voice echoed from the belly of the shuttle, its mechanical, toneless delivery sending a shiver up her spine. “Face the wall, hands at your back. Resistance will be met with force.”
Panic welled at the back of her throat.
The Alpha at her side could still make it out. He was fast enough. She never would.
Panting, gaze darting wildly, she waited for Skolov to take off.
Except he never did.
“Get behind me.” Arm sweeping out, he tucked her against his back.
Her breath hitched. “You need to run.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then they’ll kill us both.”
He shook his head. “They’ll have done facial recognition and recognized me.” He tapped his temple. “Too many secrets in here they want. They’ll be intent on capture, not outright killing.” His expression was grim but determined. “That gives us the advantage—since I don’t share the same priority.”