Orient Fevre

“I need to see that fucking detonator first, you fucking asshole!”

Mac retaliated by swinging the butt of his plasma rifle at my head. Only, I’d anticipated his move this time. I ducked and the rifle swung past me and smashed into the reader pad. It cracked with a small electric explosion. Totally fried.

Mac flipped out.“ Look what you did, you cunt! Now I’m going to kill you.”

I shifted into my animal form before he could assault me some more. I didn’t care if he blew me up. Orient Fevre wouldn’t suffer much if he ignited the explosive-rigged vest I wore. But Mac was so worked up with his rifle, he didn’t have the chance to blow the vest up. It fell into the steel-grid flooring system with a loud thud. So did my clothes. Hybrids didn’t magically convert clothes i

nto their animal form when they shifted.

I leapt onto the railing as Mac blasted his rifle at me. I cat-walked on the pipe before I jumped in his direction, and partially shifted back. I clawed his face. Nice and sweet.

He howled in rage. His rifle fired wildly before he stopped to inspect the damage I’d caused him. I seized the golden opportunity to sink my fist into his face. That one was for breaking my heart, cheating on me with some skank, and for all the lies he’d shoved down my throat. A sick crunching sound echoed in the cluttered space. Blood splattered my face and arm. I growled and lunged at him, knocking both of us onto the hatch’s landing. His plasma rifle fell from his hand as I put my knee on his stomach. He heaved for air. One of his hands grabbed my hair and smashed my head against the railings.

I shouted. Red and white sparks blinded my peripheral vision. Sometimes, I forgot how strong Mac was. He might not have been a hybrid, but he was a man. Naturally, men were stronger than women.

He grabbed my throat and choked me until the air around me started thinning. I gurgled, unable to breathe. A flash of panic flared across my mind before my old combat instinct kicked in.

“How d’you like this, bitch? You like playing rough? Is this the kink you’ve always wanted?”

He tightened his grip and I started to get light-headed. The world gathered to darkness. I made a split-second decision on a counter-assault and blindly plunged two fingers in the direction of his face. I hit a soft target—his eye—and I drove my fingers onward until I heard something sickening—a popping sound. I kept digging until he let go of his chokehold on me.

He staggered backward, his shrieks storming the engine room. I gasped for air, coughing my guts out. Luckily, he hadn’t crushed my larynx because I could still breathe and make sounds. I crawled to get his rifle. Before I could reach it, he lunged at me with a knife in his hand. I grabbedthe blade before it speared into my heart.

“Die, bitch, die!”

I struggled to keep the knife away from my chest. The sharp edge cut through my palms and fingers. Blood trailed to my arms and chest like rivulets of red rain. The knife inched closer to my chest. I was losing the battle. Even if I shifted, I still couldn’t get out of the knife range before Mac speared me with all seven inches.

I persevered, though deep in my mind I knew I was going to die, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Just when the tip of the knife pierced my skin, something dark flashed behind Mac.

Maybe I was delirious, but I thought I saw Levy.

Mac’s body left the ground, flying away. I heard his scream echo as he fell onto the bottom landing. I mumbled in disbelief as I let go of the knife. Pain seared my nerve endings, but I ignored it, my attention riveted to the unbelievable sight two stories below.

I saw a dragon. The black majestic beast unfurled its forty-foot wingspan and advanced in Mac’s direction. Mac cursed and tried to get to his feet, but his attempt was futile when the dragon swished its tail. I looked away. I didn’t want to watch. Shrieks of agony filled the room for what seemed like the longest minutes in my life. My accidental husband Levy was finishing the job for me.

I cried, laying on the cold surface of the steel flooring. My body felt cold, numb. The part of me that still loved Mac, even though he’d tricked me, lied to me, and almost killed me, died away as he met his own comeuppance. Female stupidity? Maybe. I’d almost married that son of a bitch. My body shook as the screams died away, replaced by the sounds of hurried footsteps reverberating through the engine room’s ceilings.

My body trembled as I felt a gush of wind blow in my direction. The dragon perched on the railings before morphing into the man I’d come to know too damn well in the past few days. Levy stared at me, anguished.

“Violet, you’re hurt.”

I jumped into his arms, burying my face against the hollow of his throat. His body was warm, as naked as mine, and slicked with blood and sweat, but I’d never felt so calm in my life. I heard shouting from people, and I might have heard Captain Hawk’s voice, too. I ignored my surroundings and tightened my arms around Levy’s neck. He patted me, giving me comfort as I cried my head off for no reason—for every reason. But I knew when I stopped crying, I’d be okay.

The storm was over.

Chapter Five

The doc took me hostage in the sickbay for several days after the lockdown to patch me up. I had regeneration therapy and all my wounds were healed. I didn’t know why he made such a fuss about my minor injuries, but then I guessed he did it under the direct orders from Captain Hawk. My captain didn’t want me around while he did a cleanup job and tied up loose ends. Since I was the reason the V-data had gotten hacked, Hawk wanted me contained while the spooks from corporate headquarters came and did their investigation. Oh, and did they investigate! By the time they finished, they knew what brand of underwear I wore and what my favourite sexual position was. By the end of the scrutiny, Hawk came to me with bad news. I’d been fired for the security leak.

“No hard feelings, Cross. I fought for you, but the company has zero-degree tolerance against espionage, whether you are directly involved or unfortunately being used by your fiancé.”

“I understand, Captain.”

Captain Hawk looked discomfited. “I hate to see you go. You’re the best first mate I’ve ever had.” He took something from his pocket and gave it to me. It was a small black velvet box containing a silver medal. “The company is compelled to give you an award for your heroism. You saved us from disaster. You stopped Mac from blowing us to pieces.”

I would have laughed if it hadn’t been such an irony. They awarded me for doing such a great job, and by the way, I was fired, too. You were great. You sucked.

I didn’t know what to say to my captain, so I settled for something simple. “Thanks.”