“He will not tell us,” Xandros countered.
“We will get him back to Earth,” Zyair stated. “Azrome has access to interrogation techniques we do not.”
I frowned at them. “What kind of information do you need?”
Zyair didn’t answer right away. But then he spoke through gritted teeth. “Our clan was decimated during a battle with the Nirzks. Our leader, Azrome, suspects that we were betrayed.”
“Will Senaik know anything?” Xandros argued.
“He is here, is he not?” Rhodes pointed out. “He was taking us to the Nirzks. He knows.”
Zyair gestured to Xandros. “Take turns guarding him until we leave the slipstream. You take first shift. We need sleep. I willrelieve you in a couple of hours.” He looked to me. “Is there a place for us to repose?”
I nodded. “There is a crew room with bunks. I can show you.” Even tired as I was, I didn’t think that I’d be able to sleep, not with what we faced once theStardrifterleft the slipstream…
As they stood, I was acutely conscious of their size and presence. These guys had been through hell. And we were going to need their skills to survive.
I led them to the bunkroom. All the beds on theStardrifterwere oversized, and now I appreciated that they were perfectly proportioned for the Drakes.
Zyair paced into the tight space to stare at the picture I’d mounted on the far wall. Travis had removed my drawings from the galley, claiming they were too distracting during crew meetings. But he’d permitted me to keep the one in the crew quarters.
It was a large painting of two dragons fighting. I’d never expected Drakes to see it, and now I held my breath as all three of them stared at it.
“That—that is beautiful.” Xandros swayed from one foot to another.
“It is,” Zyair agreed.
“Not enough head spikes,” Rhodes grumped.
“I was guessing at that, considering I’ve never seen the beasts up close and personal.”
Zyair spun to regard me with raised brows. “You drew this?”
I nodded. “Dragons are my favorite subject.”
It was an admission made without thought, and when they all stared at me, my face heated. I found myself blabbering, “I sell the images to the local tattoo parlor. They are quite popular.”
“Iwant”—Xandros purred the word—“your drawing on my skin.”
As my knees went weak, Rhodes countered reasonably, “Is there any room left?”
Xandros certainly had an impressive expanse of tatts showing. Or maybe he was just impressive.
“I have a special spot.” Zyair’s eyes gleamed emerald. “I would love one of yours on it. Do you have more to see?”
Okay, the undertones had me backing out of the room. My heart thundered in my ears, and I didn’t understand the heat flushing through me. These guys weren’t human, they wereDrakes. I needed to get a serious grip.
As all three of them stared at me, I heard myself stammering, “When we get out of this mess, I’ll show you more drawings. For now, I need to rest, and so do you.”
I turned and fled. But I sensed their glowing gazes tracking me with every step I took…
10
Jaz
The chime warned that we were on the ten-minute countdown to the slipstream spitting us out in Nirzk territory.
I’d taken a close look at what the navcube had provided, and I’d handed piloting privileges over without a whimper. I was a damned good pilot.
