Mastered by the Zandians (Zandian Brides 3)

I force patience. “Only one that we can see. Naturally the Ocretion ships don’t mask to each other. But Domm and Lanz are here in a high-tech Zandian warship, and it’s invisible to the Ocretion tracking systems. They can also choose to communicate with specific ships they see, as they choose.”

“So you’re telling me.” She crosses her arms. “There’s an invisible ship here, full of Zandians, and you're communicating with them from this Ocretion shit pod, and they know it’s you and they're not going to kill us?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Mother Earth.” She sits back down. “I am officially flabbergasted. Please excuse me while I die, quietly, right here.”

“Hold off on that.” I answer the message. “Because we still need to kill the Ocretions on board that mother ship.”

“Of course we do.” She leans in. “What now?”

The next minutes unwind like a strange fantasy.

I communicate to the mother ship, saying we’re testing the cloak feature before we dock. Apparently they’re not suspicious yet, because I send holograms of Mandy and Tess with the message, “Humans for auction, killed all males, mission complete. Permission to dock.”

Then I turn off the protect feature and allow the hidden Zandian ship to suck our small transfer craft into the belly of their hull. Domm and Lanz board our craft and barely have time to exclaim in horror over my appearance before the mother ship starts to flash alerts.

“They’re onto us. Their tech figured out the masking. Veck.”

Domm grabs the controls. “Mirelle, sit down. We’re going fast.”

“They see the Zandian ship?”

“Sporadically, and they’re going to try to take us over.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” My voice is firm. “We have access to their weapons.”

“And ours.” Domm hands out armor. “We’ll take their ship. Pirate ships have a skeleton crew, so I expect no more than five.”

We dock with the Ocretion ship and Lanz and Domm storm on. It’s a simple ambush, as far as attacks go, and soon they’re all dead.

The Ocretion pirate ship is ours.

“Vecking stars.” Domm stands in the carnage, and when he meets my eyes, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.

“Do you…” I gasp. Sink to my knees. “By any chance. Have one of those…medical packs?”

My eyes shut, and they’re heavy. Locked. Not going to open again. The medicine has run out and my body is shutting down.

“Take care of her.” Lanz grabs me; I recognize his scent, and I breathe it in as my brain starts to turn off. I think I hear him murmur, as I pass out, “We have to stop meeting this way, little warrior.”

This time when I awaken, I feel marginally better. The pain in my ribs is a dull burn, and my knee throbs. My face pulses with the beat of my heart, the two twin lines down my cheeks, but the beat is steady and even again. The injuries hurt, but they’re not life-threatening, and the med pack—this time—was able to get me nearly to 100 percent.

I take a deep breath. “Where are we?”

“Entering Zandian airspace. Holding for boarding.”

“Don’t they know it’s you?” Mandy’s eyes are wide. She’s been holding up well, and I’m impressed, but she’s at the limit of her ability to take in strange new things.

“They are taking precautions. We’re waiting in a holding pattern for army takeover. Just in case it’s a trick and we have Ocretions on board.”

“So there’s still a chance we’ll all die.”

“There’s always a chance we’ll all die,” Lanz says. “They’re smart and careful. Everything will be fine.”

“Great news. Great.” Mandy rolls her eyes. Despite the situation, I like her humor. I don’t think she’ll have any problem fitting in on Zandia.

I force myself to my feet. “Let me talk.” My lips are dry.