Tiny and Fierce Margo Collins (acx book reading txt) 📖

though I couldn’t help noticing how awful Alder looked.

“Blue, go silent—we don’t want any trouble over the EMP cannons,” I instructed her.

“Got it, captain.”

I began unstrapping from my seat. “Evik, go check on our passengers. Get them ready to disembark. Let me know if there are any injuries.”

Yes, captain.

Even through his translator, I could hear an undertone of … what? Admiration? Love? Something deep, and honest.

I started to give Alder an order, then took another look at him. “Morpheus, take Alder to the medbay and see what’s going on with him while I negotiate to get these women refugee status. It’s probably better that you two are out of sight, anyway. Evik could be any Chilchek in the galaxy if he’s spotted by authorities. You two are...more distinct.”

He nodded without comment and, with a scrape of his wings, bent down to pick up his companion.

I didn’t like the fact that Alder didn’t complain about being carried by the larger male.

Later. We have to get these women to safety first.

Evik went to his quarters for safety before I had Blue open her cargo hold. Just because Chilcheks were hard to tell apart didn’t mean we had to take unnecessary risks. Much to my relief, Nimbus Prime really was willing to take in the refugee women—and rather to my surprise, that was their primary concern, especially after they talked to a few of the women.

The officials didn’t even seem terribly interested in discussing the EMP I’d used to take down the empress’s ship.

“There’s no love lost between our government and the Bufo Alvarius Empress,” Captain Vardan, the immigration post’s commander, a tall humanoid with green fur and wide violet eyes, told me. “You saved us the trouble of having to shoot down their ship ourselves.”

They had taken our refugees—including the dead woman’s body, agreeing to try to track down her family to notify them of her death—and had ignored our aggression against their enemy. Everything looked like it was going well.

Right up until I tried to begin negotiating for fuel.

“I’m sorry,” Captain Vardan said. “I’m afraid we can’t let you leave—or even refuel—until we’ve inspected your ship for contraband.”

I blinked, trying to decide how to answer him. “Of course,” I finally said.

We walked out of the building and across the oddly spongy landing pad toward Blue.

I’m heading in with an unwanted guest, I subvocalized to the ship’s AI.

What should we do? It was the first time she’d communicated with me in several hours. I’d missed her.

We can’t let him see any of the crewmen.

But there were signs of the three males all over the ship. The captain would know immediately that there were others aboard. Especially since the women had already told him they’d been quartered in a cargo hold after being saved by all four of us.

I would not risk having my three males taken prisoner.

I’m coming in, I finally told her. When he tries to follow, lock him out.

With pleasure. No one else would have heard the glee in Blue’s tone.

I still didn’t know how we’d get off the planet—but I was beginning to have an inkling of an idea.

“It’s bio-locked,” I told Captain Vardan, placing my hand on the outer hull next to the entrance. “I’ll need to enter first—I have security measures in place to keep out intruders.”

He gave me a skeptical glance but nodded.

“Now,” I said as I stepped onto the ship. Blue dropped a temporary shield over the entrance and Captain Vardan slammed into it, almost vibrating with the impact. He began cursing and shouting for backup.

“Close the hatch,” I instructed Blue, “and open a channel throughout the ship.”

“Done.”

“Evik, Morpheus, Alder,” I called out. “I need you on the bridge. Now.” I headed there myself. “Any chance we’ve got another EMP blast in us, Blue?”

“No,” she said sadly. “Our power reserves are dangerously low as is.”

When my crewmen arrived, I was already pacing, watching the Nimbus Prime officers gathering around us. It wouldn’t be long before they brought in serious weapons—the kind Blue couldn’t withstand.

All three of them took in the images on the viewscreen.

Evik released an anxious scent. Are they here to arrest us?

“Definitely,” Morpheus answered for me. “We’re fucked.”

I held my hands together in a prayer position and tapped my lips. “I don’t think they’ll follow us if we take off.”

“Yeah, right,” Alder rasped. He didn’t look any better than he had earlier.

My stomach twisted as I thought. “If I distract them, can the three of you get away out one of the back hatches?”

“Distract them how?” Morpheus asked suspiciously.

“I could turn myself in…” My voice trailed off at their expressions—and Evik’s scent.

We all stood silently for a long moment as the Nimbus Prime officers began rolling a temporary locking mechanism toward the ship.

“Hey, Blue,” Alder asked, “do you have enough power to take off?”

“Yes, but not enough to break orbit.”

“Do it.”

“What are you thinking?” I asked the fae male.

“Not sure yet.”

Morpheus glanced between the two of us as Blue spun up her engine. As she lifted off the landing pad, the officers outside began pointing their weapons at us. Alder moved toward the nav panel and dropped into the seat, murmuring something so quietly that I couldn’t hear it.

But apparently, Blue could. “Of course, Prince Alder Faeweather, Regulus the Sixteenth.”

“Now,” Alder said, his voice far too calm.

I disliked not understanding what was happening on my own ship. But even more than that, I hated Alder’s new attitude—resigned, quiet, physically weak.

But we were in trouble.

We needed a Hail Mary.

Evik realized what Alder was about to do before Morpheus and I did, and he lunged toward the fae prince—but he was too late.

Alder slammed both hands palm-down onto the panel and his blue magick flashed through the ship, even brighter than it had been before. Unlike the last time, though, his glow didn’t fade after that first burst. Instead, he began glowing brighter, a nearly blinding blue light so intense shining from him that it was almost white.

With a lurch, Blue accelerated, throwing the three