This entire situation was fucked, no matter which way Zaen looked at it. Feet up on the curved console with its holographic displays muted, he lounged in the bridge's command chair and stared at the viewscreen as the Nemesis launched, leaving the bright skies of Oenone behind.

What in the starless void was he going to do with a soulmate? With her?

Was he supposed to drag an assassin's daughter around with him as he dealt with elitist politicians from numerous star systems, and worse, dragons? The Ascendancy's senate was a treacherous asteroid field of backstabbing assholes—not a fate he'd wish on his enemies, let alone a soulmate. Even more concerning, she had serious motivation to see those fucking politicians get the better of him. His little hellion was perfectly placed to slip a knife between his ribs, figuratively, if not literally.

Zaen ran a hand through his hair, shoving it away from his face. For fuck's sake, he had all the headaches of inheriting his mother's role in the Sigma Draconis as well as being Crown Prince of Penates. Hiding under the guise of a carefree, playboy prince had allowed him to be underestimated time and again—convenient as he searched for clues of exactly who had hired Karzen to kill his mother and sister. A feat that had proved more difficult than he'd anticipated, given all the rumours pointing fingers at this baron or that earl. It wasn't like his father's enemies were all that quiet, after all. But despite the extensive list of suspects, actual evidence had been elusive.

Fucking Karzen was his only real lead and once he captured that shitstain, he'd find the answers he sought, one way or another.

Jaw clenched, he crossed his arms and fought the urge to growl at Emmed and Dhevun's quiet conversation between their coms and weapons stations. Letting the ship's AI pilot their trajectory toward the Ophiuchi system, home to Penates, he ignored them and focused on the newest wrinkle in his plans. What the fuck was he going to do?

"Confirm hyperspace entry?" the silky feminine voice of his AI inquired.

"Punch it, Mira," he ordered. A sudden shiver caught him by surprise and gooseflesh rose on his bare arms. As if he wasn't already pissed, why in the fucking void was it so fucking cold in here?

With a fingertip flick, he woke the holographic displays and checked the environmental controls. He frowned, staring at the reading. It was twenty degrees Celsius, not cold at all. Another shiver rippled over his skin. What—

He eyed his wrist and scowled at the black vines, tracing a fingertip over the leaves. What sharding soulbond shit was this?

As the black starfield turned to streaks of colour, Emmed cleared his throat.

"Spit it out, fuckwit." Was she drawing energy from him? Why? He shifted in his seat—an uncomfortable realization dawning. He had been a little rough with her earlier. Had he injured her?

"I'm sorry, Zaen. It's... shards, it's a bloody tragedy, but you aren't going to let her being your soulmate influence our vengeance, are you?"

And that was the question, wasn't it?

Never mind what he was going to do with her later. He couldn't—no, wouldn't—give up his quest to get justice for his mother's and sister's murders. And the first step had to be capturing Caeryssa's fucking father. But other than inconveniencing and scaring the little pixie locked in the disused pilot's cabin, he hadn't anticipated stooping to Karzen's level. He rubbed the gooseflesh on his arms.

Okay, maybe he should have controlled his temper better.

A lock of ebony hair fell over his face and he shoved it behind his ear. Damned elastic broke when his little hellion fought his search for her soulmate tattoo, but he'd had no choice. He'd had to confirm it was her, given the permanence and limits of soulbonds. Boosting from Oenone without his soulmate would have killed both of them.

Whether he wanted to or not, he couldn't return her now. That damned bond changed everything. She was forever tied to him tighter than a black hole event horizon. It also made it sharding tricky to deal with her. Forever was a long damned time and a lot of cold nights if he made her despise him.

He winced. As if she didn't already hate him.

Still.

Surely threats would be sufficient to get the answers he needed? Or was there another way? With their connection unbreakable, her future quality of life depended on his willingness to accommodate her—even better leverage. Would the inherent attraction between bondmates make her more likely to cooperate? By all accounts, it was potent.

A bolt of lust hit him in the gut as he recalled pinning her to the tree. If all else failed, perhaps he could seduce her? He had zero complaints about his soulmate's luscious form. Either way, he had several new avenues forward that might bear more fruit than threats.

And he did want a relationship with his soulmate at the end of this.

"No, no I'm not. In fact, it may make getting the information from her easier," Zaen answered. Like that saying his mother used to tell him when he was fed up with the backstabbing senators—be honey-mouthed and keep the claws sharp.

"Huh." Emmed's eyebrows flew up, and then a calculating smirk slowly bloomed. "And here I thought I'd have to convince you to see things my way."

Barely listening, Zaen sat up, dropping his feet to the floor as the sensual image she'd made in that white bra and panties contrasting with her sapphire flesh had his cock rising. Perhaps now was the perfect opportunity to start making amends and seducing her to his side, especially if he had injured her. 

"Mira, time to Penates?"

"Twelve hours, thirty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds," purred the AI.

Zaen rubbed at the odd warmth at his throat, a telltale sign he'd already fucked up, and stood. Definitely time. "Coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it," chirped Emmed, rising.

"You have the bridge, Dhevun," Zaen said as he strode for the door.

After passing the lounge and dismissing the idea of taking alcohol to her—he didn't want her drunk, especially not for their first joining when he needed her to fully consent and soften towards him—Zaen detoured toward his cabin and gestured Emmed on ahead. "I'll be right there." The dark blue door to the captain's cabin swished open as he approached, keyed to his biosignature.

He gathered his shoulder-length ebony hair at the back of his head, pulling a thick, black elastic from the glass fingers of a pale feminine hand gesturing rudely—a gift his little sister had howled over when she'd presented it to him only weeks before her death. The fingernails were even painted in the blue with silver star pattern favoured by his troublemaking sister. The monstrosity sat in a place of honour on his black, silver, and blue dresser. Soon, Sirah. We're so close to getting justice for you and Mother.

Chime.

"What, Mira?" Zaen asked while tying his hair back.

"Zanin Emmed is requesting access to the pilot's cabin."

"Grant access." The elastic caught on the ripped synthate at his palm. "Oh, for fuck's sake," he growled, yanking the gloves off and disentangling them from his hair. It wasn't like he needed to wear the sharding things anymore. The damage had already been done. He tossed them into the recycler, retied his hair, and headed to join Emmed, considering how he'd convince his little hellion to cooperate.

Healing her might be—

The pilot's cabin door slid open, and Zaen halted in the doorway at the piercing scream that greeted him. Pulse pounding, he charged across the room to yank Emmed off the pinned, struggling woman. "What the fuck are you doing?" he snarled, hurling his friend to the floor.

A wild-eyed Caeryssa scrambled to tug her bra and torn panties back into place, bound hands raised defensively. Tears fell from reddened eyes and she shook, cowering on the bed, pressed into the corner. His gut tightened, heat flushing through his body as he took in the bruises ringing her neck, breasts, and jaw. Her lips were wet and swollen. One cheek sported a purplish mark. Had that sharding bastard struck her as well as trying to rape her?

"You said her being your soulmate didn't matter!" Emmed yelled, rising to his feet and tucking himself back into his leather pants.

Zaen punched his best friend in the face, bone cracking in a satisfying crunch as Emmed staggered and thudded against the far wall. "No, you o-depped fuckwit," Zaen growled. "I said her being my soulmate wouldn't affect getting her help to find her father!"

"He's a fucking assassin! He killed Sirah. My fiancée!" Emmed shouted, holding a hand to his broken, bleeding nose as he shoved off the wall. "He killed your mother, the Essaru! Why should his bloody daughter get to flounce around the galaxy when Sirah is dead?" He charged and kicked the bed, eliciting a feminine whimper from Zaen's soulmate.

Zaen shoved Emmed across the room, not trusting his best friend to be within arm's reach of Caeryssa. Had the asshole even spoken to her before attacking her? For fuck's sake, Zaen had only been five minutes behind him. "What, so going after Karzen and the cowardly shitstains that hired him isn't enough for you now? Everyone around him should suffer for his crimes?" When had his friend abandoned his morals?

"Yes!" snarled Emmed. "Sirah is fucking dead, Zaen. She's dead and this fucking bitch still lives." He lunged at the bed, pointing and glaring at Caeryssa, who choked back a frightened squeak. "Sirah would be twenty-nine cycles, too, Zaen. Born on the same fucking stardate."

Zaen drove Emmed away again, then blocked his friend's sight of Caeryssa. "I know, Emmed. I know. But this?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at his soulmate. "It isn't justice. Karzen is the one who must pay for his crimes against my family. Not Caeryssa."

His friend stepped around Zaen. "She can fucking well—"

"No." Zaen growled, grabbing Emmed's arm and twisting it behind him before forcing him to the door, and then out into the hall. "It's not going to happen. Stay the fuck away from her, Emmed, or I'll toss your ass out the bloody airlock."

"Can't believe you're protecting that shitstain's cunt of a daughter," Emmed cursed, slammed the wall with a loud palm strike, and stalked off.

Zaen's jaw clenched, teeth grinding. His friend rarely lost his temper—much more often the one calming him down. To see Emmed like that... shards. It was reminiscent of the months after the assassination when his friend had gotten into fight after fight, almost like he hadn't wanted to live without Sirah. Yet they weren't soulmates. She'd been too young. No one knew why exactly, but soulmate bonds didn't initialize until sometime after the age of twenty-one. His little sister had only been nineteen when she died.

Part of him wanted to go after his friend, but maybe it was better that Emmed work his anger off. He'd likely go down to the lower decks and spar with one of the security men or workout in the gym. With a wry grin, Zaen pictured Emmed destroying a training droid.

He'd check on him later and ensure Emmed hadn't fallen into a bottle instead.

Straightening his shoulders despite the weight in his stomach, Zaen turned back into the room and let the door close behind him. Caeryssa's wide, terrified eyes accused him as she watched him approach with the frozen, unblinking focus of the mouse in the sights of the hawk... or in his case, dragon.

"Why have you kidnapped me? What do you want?"

Her quiet voice was raspy—from him choking her or from screaming?—but it still halted him mid-stride. Somehow, he hadn't expected her to rally so quickly, especially given the careful way those stormy eyes watched him.

At a slower pace, he hooked an arm around the chair and dragged it to the end of the bed. Maybe it would put her more at ease if he sat there instead of on the bed, as he'd initially thought to do. She didn't say anything more, just watched him settle and kick his feet up on the bed. Even bedraggled, tear-stained, and terrified, she was beautiful.

No way was a seduction an option now, and damned if that didn't make him want to go punch Emmed again. Stars, what a mess. Guess he was going for stark honesty. She was a scientist—would she respond better to irrefutable evidence presented to her?

He forced his fury and yes, some disappointment, down until his heartbeat calmed and he could say in an even tone, "I know you heard Emmed and I. Your father, Karzen Hawke, assassinated my mother, Essaru Haellen, and my little sister, Seru Sirah, ten cycles ago. I want to find him and make him pay for his crimes." As hard as it was, he kept his eyes from wandering over her barely-clad body as he snagged the blanket on the floor and passed it to her. She really was perfect.

After snatching the grey fabric from his fingers and wrapping it around herself, she shook her head, and a frown appeared—her nose wrinkled in that cute way he'd appreciated before. "That's not possible. It must be another Karzen Hawke. My father transports cargo. I grew up on his ship with my mother."

So he had his own ship. Made sense. Much easier for him to slip in and out under the cover of legitimate business if he was hauling cargo around the galaxy. Still. Ballsy to conduct assassinations with his mate and daughter in tow.

"Karzen Hawke, the same Karzen Hawke who has a soulmate—Aya and a daughter—Caeryssa, is a registered guild assassin. He's credited with sixty-four assassinations, although he hasn't been as active in the last fifteen cycles," Zaen said as he activated his wrist com and put her father's guild record up on the wall screen beside the bed. It had cost him considerable currency to acquire the classified file, as even Emmed's hacking skills hadn't been up to penetrating the guild's cybersecurity. But it had been worth every credit to verify Zaen had the right assassin.

His little pixie gaped at the image of her father and the details of his kills, still shaking her head.

"I just need to know how to find him. What's the name of his ship? What class is it? Where is he when he isn't on his ship?"

Caeryssa's lips pressed together, her nostrils flaring as her gaze shifted from the display to Zaen. Damn. If looks could kill.

"I'm sorry your mom and sister are dead, but my dad didn't do it. I don't know how you made all this up, but it wasn't my dad." She straightened her spine, bound hands wrapped in the folds of blanket in her lap. "If that's why you've taken me, you've wasted your time. I can't help you. Please let me go."

He sighed, the little kernel of hope he hadn't realized he'd held onto deflating. What chance had he really had, after the way Emmed had attacked her? And yeah, eying her bruised neck that had turned a healing greenish yellow, he himself wasn't blameless either. Her stubborn loyalty wasn't surprising. It was even admirable.

Perhaps he was foolish to hope she'd direct a little of that towards him. As much as he was coming around to the idea of their permanent connection, she seemed to have forgotten they were now bound. He couldn't release her any more than she could choose to leave him. Still, he could at least free her hands. He should have done so right away. The bond would keep her from straying too far once they arrived at Penates.

"Give me your hands."

She eyed him warily, then extended her wrists.

His chest tightened, heat suffusing his body, and he barely stifled a growl at the sight of the blood, raw flesh, and purple-black bruising. She'd fought hard to try to free herself. Hooking fingers around each side of the zip tie, he snapped the plastic. Then, holding her damaged wrists, he focused, willing his energy into her, to supercharge her healing beyond what she'd instinctively drawn. His nanites took care of any injuries he had, but the soulmate bond had to be similar in allowing conscious energy transfer back and forth, right? When her flesh grew warm in his hold, he exhaled a quiet breath and released her. Thank the stars, it was working.

She stared at her wrists and then up at him.

He smiled wryly. Yeah, she'd forgotten about the soulmate bond.

"Try to get some rest. We'll be at Penates within the day."

She didn't respond, other than a tightening of her lips.

He stood and left the cabin. "Lock. My voice print only." Emmed wasn't likely to try a second time after Zaen had made his position clear, but no sense in tempting fate.

(2812 words)