It was a year to the dot when the raid ships came again.

Quinn Ford looked out of the viewport of the carrier Iriser, a ship belonging to the Galactic Union. When she'd been a child, that had meant something different than it had for the past couple of decades.

Space was no longer a safe place, especially for women.

"Quinn, come on!" her cousin Mark yelled, trying to pull her away from the port.

Outside, the sleek fighters were closing in fast. Like always, Nayanors had come out of the blue through the wormholes only they knew how to open. It was the only reason why they'd been able to raid Union space for so long without crossing blades with the other warrior species.

For a long time, the Union hadn't even known they existed. Ships got lost in transit, attacked or destroyed by accidents. Nayanors had only entered the consciousness of the Union in recent years when ships no longer satiated their needs and they'd begun attacking Union worlds like Terra.

Quinn knew the only way to escape the raiders was to run, now. Yesterday would have been better, in fact, since Nayanors sometimes gave chase if they weren't pleased with the haul they got.

And yet she hesitated. The absurd idea that had popped into her head when Quinn first heard the alarms ring hadn't left her mind despite the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Her mind kept going back to the events a year ago, so similar Quinn could almost believe she was living through them again.

"You go," she said decidedly, pushing Mark away. "Leave me. You have to run now or you'll die. You know how little Nayanors care for men. You are just in their way. They wouldn't even notice cutting your head off if you stand in their path."

Mark looked pale. The golden blond hair the same color as Quinn's only added to the effect. It was like he'd seen a ghost and the truth wasn't far from it. Only that Nayanors were much scarier.

"I'm not leaving without you," Mark said, pulling her away from the port. "Have you completely lost your mind, Quinn?"

That was entirely likely, considering that to Quinn's knowledge, no woman had ever voluntarily accompanied the raiders to their mysterious home planet Luminos. Rumors said it was a terrible place, a trap one could never leave again. The entire galaxy could have stood between Terra and the planet.

If she stayed, Quinn knew she'd never see her home again. Nor any of her friends, nor her family.

Except for Cassie.

Realization dawned on Mark's face and anger replaced his fear. This time, the hand on hers hurt as her cousin began to drag her along the corridors to the escape pods. Quinn knew that for a fact because the Horana, the carrier she'd escaped a year ago, had been the exact same type of ship.

"You are crazy," Mark told her. "Cassie is gone, Quinn. You can't help her. If you get kidnapped too, who does that help? Have you forgotten everything we know about these monsters? You want to end up as some sex toy to one of their warriors?"

"No!" Quinn protested, finally pulling herself free and rubbing her arm, red from where Mark had gripped her so hard. "Of course not, but you don't understand. She saved me. My little sister who I had to look after pushed me into that pod, knowing she couldn't fit herself! If there is even one chance in a million I could find her on Luminos, see that she's alright, I have to take it."

They could hear screaming now and the barking of guns, signaling that Nayanors were already in the ship. It meant Mark had exactly three minutes to live, but Quinn didn't know how to make him realize that. Considering how concerned he was about her, the man should have drawn the obvious conclusion and seen how much more danger he was in than her.

"You can't help her," Mark tried one more time, but Quinn dodged the arm that wanted to grab her again. "It's a whole damn planet, if not more! You are looking for a needle in a haystack while you risk becoming a prisoner of one of those assholes!"

"I have to," Quinn said firmly and the tone of her voice had to carry her conviction, because Mark straightened and looked at her with deep sadness. "I promised Mom, Mark. I promised. I will never be able to live with myself if I don't try and help her. Now, run. No one will hurt me but I won't have you die here!"

Finally Mark seemed to notice the clamor around them. With one last hug and a whispered goodbye, he turned and rushed to the escape pods.

Quinn stayed, thinking of how the Union had made sure there were plenty of those aboard now for the entire population of the ship to give them all a chance to get away. If that had been the case with the Horana, Cassie might have still been with her.

Her heart was beating fast as she headed down the corridors, her breath caught in her throat. Mark had been right, she knew that. It was absolute insanity to not even try and escape a Nayanor raiding party. After she was caught by them, there was no return for her, ever.

It didn't change a thing. She had to gather her courage and see what she could do for her sister. The promise Quinn had made to her mother on her deathbed haunted in her ears.

Cora Ford would have been horrified to know what fate befell her daughters, making Quinn grateful that she didn't have to see it.

"Keep Cassie safe," mom said. Not "when it's comfortable" or "if it's not too much of a bother". Keep her safe, no matter what.

I will, Mom. I'll find her.

The gleeful roars of Nayanor warriors that made her skin crawl seemed to be coming from right around the corner when Quinn saw a girl cowering behind a wall. Her heart sank. The girl couldn't have been older than twenty, which made her a young woman but the terror on her face made her look much more like a child.

Quinn thought quickly. There was another line of escape pods nearby, but the footsteps of the raiders were coming closer.

"Hey," she whispered urgently, rushing over to the girl. "Come with me!"

"I – I don't dare, they'll find me..." the girl murmured, her eyes so full of horror than Quinn was beginning to consider her own decision.

Was she willingly sticking her head in a noose?

Quinn realized it might have been too late for both of them. She had to try nonetheless. The girl reminded her of Cassie too much to just leave her there. She couldn't even hope that by giving herself up and assuring no one else was there, the raiders would stop looking.

Nayanors were very thorough. The raids came at a price for them as well so no women were ever left behind. The Union had placed outrageous bounties on their heads and with the new technology, they could track the wormholes being opened.

"They will find you if you stay here," Quinn told the girl. "What's your name?"

"F-Fawn," the girl whispered.

"Fawn," Quinn said, regretting she had to scare her to make her move but there was no other way. "I want you to think of what you love most in the world. Focus on it. And forgive me for doing this, but if you don't run right now, you'll never see it again. Run!"

Finally Fawn let herself be dragged up and they dashed down the corridor together. Behind them, Quinn could hear urgent calls as the warriors gave chase.

Her pulse was going through the roof as she willed the pods to be closer than she remembered. Nayanors were a warrior race, they were born to fight and do everything that came with it. That included running after fleeing prey. The head start they had wouldn't buy them more than a few precious moments.

There.

Quinn saw the pods ahead of her, no more than twenty feet away. Her mind was in complete disarray. Hearing Nayanors roar and shout victoriously as they rounded up the women who hadn't been able to get away terrified Quinn as much as it drove her madder than she'd ever been. She wished she was a warrior herself, so just once someone could give those bastards a run for their money.

She was not, however. The only weapon she had was to keep her goal in sight and keep on moving toward it no matter what.

The pod was big enough for two, but Quinn had already decided that it would not save her from the raiders a second time.

She ripped the door open and pushed Fawn inside, hearing the girl's surprised cry as she shut the hatch just as quickly. A Nayanor warrior grabbed her hand, but Quinn managed to knock the release panel with her shoulder, sending Fawn away.

There was no guarantee it would save the girl, but it was all she could do.

Furious, the warrior slapped her across the face, sending Quinn tumbling to the floor, blood trickling from her lip.

The pain was biting, but her mind was clear. Her trick with Fawn had worked just as well on her. In all the world, Quinn wanted to make sure her little sister was okay more than anything. If the path to her was riddled with Nayanors, that was the way it had to be.

The warrior towered over her, his eyes filled with rage.

"You'll regret that, female," he growled at her as Quinn crawled back.

The warrior reached down and grabbed her roughly by her short, curly hair, pulling her up. Quinn cried out in pain, thinking whether that was what fate had in store for her when a powerful, deep voice made the warrior freeze.

"What's going on here?"

"Rhys," someone whispered behind her and even Nayanor warriors backed away.

Quinn crashed to the floor when the warrior released her, bitter tears beading in her eyes. She raised her gaze to the man who'd spoken and her heart skipped a beat.

The most gorgeous man she'd ever seen towered over her, tall like a mountain and powerful as a warrior god. The strands of his hair falling over his eyes were silvery like all Nayanors, the lines of his face hard and unforgiving. The warlord's flashing green eyes took one glance at her before such hatred filled them that Quinn was certain she was dead long before she ever reached Luminos.

Then the warlord raised his deep forest green eyes to the warrior standing next to her. Quinn could feel the man shudder even through his heavy dark armor adorned with copper patterns.

"Harbinger –" the warrior began and Quinn's gaze snapped back to the warlord, her mouth dropping open.

A harbinger. Gods must really hate me.

"You have hurt my fated mate," the harbinger said, his deep voice low and menacing. "I trust you know just how dead you are, warrior."

Quinn had stopped listening at "fated mate".

She'd been wrong.

The gods must have had a very special loathing for her if they gifted her to one of the harbingers, the leaders of the Nayanor raiding parties and the most merciless creatures in the entire galaxy.