It was a mistake.
Because Tanin did that, Garnet had been taken. If he grabbed for her first, that male wouldn’t have been able to get his hands on her.
Rok, luckily, on Rik-Vane had been a bodyguard on occasion. He had the right instincts and grabbed for the females. He managed to catch Goldie, but Garnet was out of his reach. By the time Rok warned Tanin that Garnet wasn’t where she had been, it was too late.
Then, she was screaming for him.
He followed the sound of her voice, only to find that shinuk male trying to take her. She was putting up a good fight, but it didn’t really matter. She was human, and humans were notoriously weak. She didn’t have a chance.
The twins were already there. Tanin could see them hanging back, waiting. They’d blocked the exit at least, preventing the guy from getting away, but they didn’t want to get too close and risk Garnet getting hurt.
Once Tanin got her free and Rok took her and Goldie away – protecting their most vulnerable crew members – they converged on the target. And he was good enough that he was able to hold the three of them off long enough to escape.
He dragged Garnet into the dark alley beside the office building of their last client so no one saw him. And when he escaped, he did it by utilizing the maintenance halls. Tunnels that ran everywhere under, above, and around the station, used to access specific areas for repair and upkeep. They weren’t typically accessible by the general public, but their attacker somehow had access. No doubt, that’s how he planned on getting away with Garnet if he succeeded.
As it was, once he got in there, Tanin and the twins quickly lost track of him. The turns were too close, too tight, and too random for them to keep up, so Tanin finally had to call off the chase. That’s where they were now, the three of them standing within the dim maintenance halls, stowing their weapons back into place.
“I’m going to go to the ship,” Tanin said, looking at the twins. “I need to check on the females. You two, see what you can find out about that guy around here.”
“Yes, captain,” they intoned before turning and jogging back down the hall, heading back the way they came.
Tanin watched them go before turning, looking forward again. The distant rumbling of machines, the groaning of metal, and the hissing of a steam valve somewhere in the distance filled the air. Otherwise, the halls were dim, empty, and cold thanks to their proximity to the vacuum of space. There was no chance he was going to find that male, especially if he already had his getaway planned.
But he had come after his crew, and Tanin could guess why.
Giving it up as a lost cause, he returned the way he came. By the time he emerged from the maintenance doors, the twins were already long gone.
However, Trove was there, reclining against the wall, using a knife to pick at the scarred skin where his claws used to be. He gave Tanin a look as he emerged. His hair and clothes were a bit mussed from the brothel, but he definitely hadn’t been done there. Trove would usually spend his entire leave in a brothel. If he was here now, it was because one of the others alerted him.
“Someone came after our females?” Trove asked, grinning at the prospect of a fun hunt.
“He got away for now.” Tanin started walking back to the ship, Trove falling in line beside him.
“Think it was an opportunist? Someone saw a pair of humans and thought they’d take their chance?”
“They’d be a fool if that were the case. Rok and I were right beside them, so it clearly wasn’t a good opportunity. Besides, it was a shinuk male.”
“Gissrn.”
“I imagine. The twins are looking into it.”
“If it was Gissrn, how did he know we were here?”
“That’s whatI’mgoing to look into.”
“What do you want me to do, cap?”
“Where are the others?”
“Rok and Alred locked down the ship with the females inside. Vytln is the one who came to get me. He said Alred told him. He’s guarding the ship from outside.”
Tanin grunted, not at all surprised by the immediate response from the others.
Never trust anyone was a pretty solid rule on Rik-Vane. That being said, gangs and families still formed, gathering together for protection. You didn’t fully trust them either, but you could at least rely on them to be with you against anyone else.
Garnet had been attacked. The others immediately acted to protect her. It didn’t matter that Trove was busy spending his hard earned credz on eager females or that Vytln barely spoke to them. They were crew, they were one of them, and they had been threatened.
True to Trove’s word, as they approached the docks, they saw Vytln leaning against the wall between their dock and the one beside it. He was on the larger side, shorter only than Rok on their crew. But he was just as muscular and, more importantly, helookedmean. Rok smiled and tried to make himself smaller for others comfort. Vytln never made such an effort. If anything, right now, he was doing his best to glare at as many people as possible, orange eyes glowing like magma.
