Star Kissed (22 page)

“You granted us safe passage.”

“You’ll have it, after you pass our test.”

Akkadi shook his head. “I’m afraid I cannot take this test. It is against our protocol.”

Mackle considered him. After a moment, he waved to someone then strode to Akkadi, arms crossed.

“You will not leave here, Naki-prince, if you do not take our test,” he said for Akkadi’s ears only.

“You swore safe passage not only to me but to my father,” Akkadi said coolly.

“You do not fear for your life, Naki?” Mackle asked. “Maybe you are not capable.”

“I serve my people’s interests, Mackle. If I am eliminated, there are others who can replace me.”

Mackle studied him. Akkadi remained firm and calm.

“I’ve hosted two dozen Naki. They have all said the same,” Mackle said. “None of them have left the planet.”

“We are here on peaceful terms to negotiate,” Akkadi repeated. “But if we do not return to our father, he will bring the might of the Naki to your door.”

Mackle smiled slowly. “I have a good feeling about you.” He breezed by Akkadi towards the ship and Vekko. “You will not fight Louk?”

“I will not.”

“Because like all Nakis, you do not fear for your life or that of your fellow Naki.”

Dread solidified in Akkadi’s belly. The massive Kini, Louk, stood in the ring near Vekko, who was coldly emotionless.

The next few seconds passed almost too fast for him to register. Mackle strode up to Louk and patted his shoulder, then motioned to another man at the edge of the crowd.

A grader went off, the light flashing towards Vekko once. Akkadi saw his cousin fall beneath the laser fire and froze in place. His world stopped, and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. The man he regarded as a brother had just been shot.

“If you will not fight for your life, perhaps you will for the life of another,” Mackle called to him. “He is wounded, not dead. If you fight, you might save him. If you don’t, he dies. Your choice, Naki-prince.”

Akkadi’s eyes settled on the blood pooling beneath Vekko’s unconscious body. The hit was to Vekko’s core, which meant severe organ damage. Akkadi didn’t have time to negotiate for his cousin being flown off the planet. He had to get to the medical unit on board the ship, the one that might stabilize Vekko until he could get him to a healing ward.

Between him and the ship was Louk.

Akkadi’s shock gave way to something deeper. The sight of Vekko dying filled him with something too powerful to ignore. Fear – cold and primal – raced through Akkadi, followed by a hotter emotion: fury. They were barely within his ability to control, and he struggled to maintain his façade.

The Kini were challenging him to a game he wasn’t going to win with Naki discipline. If he refused, his cousin died. If he accepted, he was forced to acknowledge his human side, the one that roared with the need to fight for his cousin, while his Naki principles told him to negotiate.

If he fought, he had to set aside being Naki. The Kini might be the only witnesses to the display, but Akkadi would never forget his moment of weakness. How did he live with admitting he was human?

“Just like the rest of them,” Mackle grunted. “Finish them off. Send them back in their ship.” The Kini king turned away.

“Wait,” Akkadi said. “I’ll fight.”

Mackle faced him curiously. “What weapon?”

“No weapon.” Akkadi tugged off his sashes and untucked his shirt.

“No weapon!” Mackle barked a laugh. “Louk.”

The large Kini stripped off his weapons, depositing them into a pile.

Akkadi stepped in front of him, scared for his cousin but unafraid for himself. If he survived, the healers could fix any injures he obtained.

Louk struck first. Akkadi ducked and punched him in the side, eliciting a roar from the large man and a cheer from the crowd. An odd thrill went through him, one of grim satisfaction. He struck again and again, relishing the release each blow gave him. His emotions began to consume him, until he was lost in a haze of rage and pain.

The world around him faded, until he was focused only on smashing a lifetime of restrained emotions into his opponent. Disappointment, frustration, hope … they collided and swallowed him, feeding his frenzy. He fought to free himself of emotions. He fought to feel them touch his core the way he’d never allowed him.

After several blows, Louk grabbed him and threw him several feet, jarring him out of his mind.

Landing hard, Akkadi rolled and leapt to his feet. His body rippled with emotion and fury that was no longer caged. He wiped blood from his lips and glanced down, realizing he was bloody and battered. Louk was as well, and the roar in Akkadi’s ears faded. The crowd was shouting around them. 

For a moment, he hesitated, unsettled by the emotions rolling through him and what he’d done. He had never let them seize him before, never given into anger, desire, sorrow.

He’d never witnessed someone he considered a brother being struck down. Bleeding. Dying. There was no Naki protocol for caring about someone else, no instruction for how to react when one nearly lost a loved one. His chest was almost too tight to breathe, his head spinning with hope, fear, dread, and too many emotions to identify.

Purebred Nakis would accept their death and defeat with emotionless dignity.

Akkadi had no intention of dying today or letting his cousin die when he had the ability to save him.  

You’re more human than Naki.
Mandy’s words echoed in his thoughts. She had jammed the door to his emotions open with a body he was compelled to touch and the blue-grey eyes that arrested him every time he saw her. Her kisses, her passion … she appealed to the human side of him, the side he didn’t want to exist.

The side he desperately needed now. She’d called him a coward, and she was right. Not because he was slow to kiss her, but because he hadn’t made her his consort only to fail to make love to her. He hadn’t traveled this far to let his cousin die. There was one way out: by letting his Naki discipline bow to his human emotion.

He felt
free
. Alive. The unnatural feelings overwhelmed him, made him want to laugh loudly then plunge back into the battle to revel in the release the fight gave him. Here, he wasn’t constrained by Naki discipline or protocol. Here, no one outside of the Kini would know what passed. No one would see him fight or know he fought out of emotion for a cousin he couldn’t bear to see die.

Akkadi whipped off his bloodied shirt and tossed it. He took a deep breath and beckoned to the large Louk, ready for the second round of his test.

His gaze fell to Vekko.

Hang on, brother.
He said silently, vowing to save Vekko, no matter what it took.

If they survived this, he wasn’t going to let Mandy walk away from him again. If he survived the Kini, he was going to do what he should have the first night he took her as his consort.

Chapter Thirteen

Mandy groaned as she opened her eyes. Her body felt sore, as if she’d spent the past week at the gym. She rubbed her face then tried to focus. The crinkling sound of a hospital gown was familiar – the same that greeted her when she awoke for the first time in the future.

Confused, Mandy stared at the material.

“Which Naki bastard did this to you?” Cesar’s face came into her vision. His dark eyes were angry, his face tense.

“What?” she asked. Her voice sounded rough. Her memory wasn’t working right; she didn’t know why she was in the hospital and it hurt to try to think at all.

“Someone put you here. Who?” Cesar demanded.

“What are you talking about?” Mandy pushed herself up, recognizing a healing ward. Cesar sat beside her round bed while a Naki in silver nearby appeared to be checking his watch. “What am I doing here?”

“You had the shit beat out of you by someone.”

“Seriously?” she looked down at herself.

“They have some sort of advanced medical magic or something,” Cesar said. “They fixed everything.” He twisted to face the lingering Naki. “Hey, doc, tell her what was wrong.”

“Skull fractures, broken ribs, internal bleeding, contusions on –”

“I get it,” Mandy cut him off.
What is going on?
She sighed. “I’m all fixed up, right?”

“You are healed, yes, though your body will retain its current level of exhaustion for several days,” the doctor said.

“So, what the hell happened?” Cesar asked again.

Mandy thought hard.

“Was it the guy you were sleeping with?”

“Akkadi?” she voiced then shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t do this. He’s …”
captured or killed on some other planet.
This memory made her breath catch. “How long was I out?”

“Two days.”

“I think I should go,” Mandy said and swung her legs off the side of the bed. Fear brought clarity to her mind, and she suddenly needed to know about Akkadi.

She heard the whisper of the guard, though this time, it was from the device in Cesar’s head.

“Tell her not now. I’ll do it later,” Cesar snapped back at the voice. “I swear these people are pains in the ass.”

Mandy snorted. She tried hard to recall something else of the day that led up to where she couldn’t remember more. The visit to the planet, the children’s ward, Akkadi going missing and Helen going after him …

Hichele.

“Oh, that
bitch
!” Mandy muttered. She stood and took a few steps towards the door before she felt a wall of dizziness hit her.

Cesar rose quickly and grabbed her before she fell. Mandy groaned. Her body went limp in his arms.

“You aren’t going anywhere yet,” he said firmly, guiding her back to the bed. “What bitch? I spent two years fighting for a living, and I’ve never seen that much damage done by a woman.”

“No, she had her guard do it,” Mandy replied. She released him and sat on the bed.

“Hey, doc, why can you put bones back together but not cure exhaustion?” Cesar called to the Naki in silver.

The Naki didn’t seem to know how to answer.

“I like messing with them,” Cesar admitted to Mandy. “Try asking one of them what their favorite color is. The responses are hilarious.”

Mandy giggled, unable to imagine what Akkadi would say if she did ask.

At the thought of him, all humor fled. Two days was a long time to be out. She understood it was better than spending six months healing, but she had no idea what happened with Akkadi in the time she was out.

“I really do need to go,” she said, restless. “I have to check on someone.”

“If you plan on taking on the guy who did this to you, I’m going with you,” Cesar said.

“Cesar.” Akkasha’s sharp voice made Mandy jump. “I’ve requested you to –”

“I got something else to do.” Cesar winked at Mandy. “Later, sweetheart.”

Mandy tried not to laugh at the look that crossed Akkasha’s face.

“You gotta try it,” Cesar whispered. “They have no clue what to do.”

Mandy grinned, no part of her pitying the shocked Naki princess standing a few feet away.

“Akkasha, how is Akkadi?” she asked.

Akkasha blinked, refocusing on her. “He is well. Vekko remains in a coma. They returned this morning.”

“Your mother is okay, too?”

“Very. Akkadi was able to contain the situation.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. They spoke so formally, even of their loved ones. Her worry unfurled, and she was able to breathe deeply at last. Akkadi was safe.

“There has been much inquiry into what happened to
you
,” Akkasha continued. “You will inform me of how you ended up here in such a condition.”

“No, thanks,” Mandy replied.

Akkasha stared at her. Cesar turned to see her reaction, grinning.

“It was not a request,” Akkasha managed.

“I know,” Mandy said. “But I’m gonna deal with this.”

“You may defy me, but you won’t Akkadi.”

Mandy frowned. It was a low blow for someone without emotions. She sighed. Akkadi might be able to get the truth out of her.

If he cared enough. Which he didn’t.

At least he was safe. A weight lifted from her shoulders. She shouldn’t be affected by him the way she was.

“He will require you to speak to him now that you are able,” Akkasha ordered.

“When she’s ready,” Cesar countered. “She had her skull smashed in. Give her some space.”

Mandy grimaced at the image in her head. She barely remembered the pain, but she did recall her fear. Convinced she was going to die for sure, she’d thought only of being in Akkadi’s arms again. The only place she’d felt safe since arriving, he was also the only man her body responded to outside of her control. Normally, she viewed sex as fun, if she was in the mood. Sex with Akkadi, however, was going to be different. She’d sensed that since the beginning.

“Yeah, I’ll see him later,” she said, disturbed by the uncomfortable warmth forming within her already.

Akkasha’s face was pink with anger. She said nothing but walked away. Cesar watched her, amused.

“It’s too easy,” he said, shaking his head. “You really do need rest. Don’t let them boss you around.”

“Oh, I do my best not to,” Mandy assured him. “Got any space Twinkies?”

Cesar stretched to a box on a table beside the bed. He shook it and opened it, holding it out to her.

“It’s much politer than what I call them,” he grunted. “I found out from Urik they do have animals for food, but it’s only the super rich who can eat them. Their chickens have three legs.”

“Oh that’s awesome!” she exclaimed. “I love drumsticks.”

“I don’t think you want to eat their chickens. No one will tell me what they feed them.”

Mandy didn’t ask. She ate a foam bar then another. After four, she began to feel less tired.

“Your clothes are in here, too,” Cesar said, manipulating the box. “Cat suit? Check. Shoes? Check. Hairpins? Check. I’m so freakin’ good.”

Mandy laughed. “You are,” she agreed. “Between the two of us, we’ll drive them crazy here.”

“There’s another three on the planet waiting to come up. They’re not nearly as fun, though,” he admitted. “Sandy is a forty-five-year old CPA. Talk about having a meltdown when she got here.” He shook his head. “Mike, from Orange County who just graduated with his Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He’s kinda stuck up. Went to Harvard or something. The fifth is Berlin. He’s older than my grandpa. I have no idea how he survived anything.”