Dragon stole a moment to commit to memory the softness of Jade’s lips and her scent. His dragon roared in his head, and his blood boiled with excitement. The imminent fight brought forth his inner warrior, and the woman beside him awoke his protector, even though she didn’t need one.

“I need backup,” he whispered. “Can you stay behind and create a diversion when I need it?”

Jade seemed to think about it, then said, “I can do that.”

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” Jade answered without hesitation and moved to the side of the hatch.

He rested his ear against the hatch door, listening for Valerian’s voice again, but couldn’t hear anything. It wouldn’t take long for Lauren to figure out what his plan was all along. He needed to act now. Sending a silent prayer to the Goddess, Dragon gave Jade a nod and threw the hatch open, shoving the panel out of the way with a loud bang.

The shaft opened at floor level in the command room, and Dragon burst from the maintenance corridor, bellowing at the top of his considerable lungs. His war call halted all activities in the room as people stared at him in shock.

Dragon took stock of the situation. Several bodies were scattered on the floor. Valerian lay in a corner, wounded. Blood covered his side, and his eyes were closed. Attuning his shifter senses to his friend’s vitals, Dragon detected a steady pulse. Valerian’s chin slightly dipped in a subtle nod. Reassured about his lieutenant, Dragon turned his attention to the captain’s body, slumped by the command seat that was now occupied by a man pointing a gun at him. He wore the orange and purple uniform of the lower deck’s maintenance crew. Several other men wearing the same colors kept the rest of the command room under armed control.

Dragon had no time to comprehend the situation before the man in the command seat fired at him.

Moving faster than any mortal could, Dragon dodged the bullet by a hairbreadth and charged full speed. The man automatically stepped back, and fired a second time, but in his haste missed his target again. Someone screamed in pain. Dragon was on him before the man could fire a third bullet.

“Shoot him!” the man screamed as Dragon seized his wrist, breaking it and sending the gun flying toward Valerian’s corner.

Valerian unfurled and shot into action with feline grace, his hand reaching up to intercept the weapon midair. Dragon threw the man against one of the other rebels. Valerian fired twice, hitting bullseye in both cases.

Three rebels remained standing. Chaos ensued. Shots resonated in the chamber. One bullet whizzed by Dragon, searing the skin on his forearm. He turned as Jade moved silently behind his assailant and slashed his throat with her dagger. Nodding at her, he launched himself at the closest rebel. The other remaining insurgent grabbed the navigator’s arm and pulled the woman in front of him, using her as a shield as he pointed his gun at her temple.

Dragon slapped his opponent hard enough to turn the man’s head with an audible crack.

“Don’t move, or I shoot her,” the last man standing said. His eyes roamed from Dragon to Valerian on the other side of the room, to Jade, who kept to the wall by the hatch, and back again to Dragon. “Nobody move!” he shouted when Jade inched farther away from Dragon, increasing the distance between the three of them and making it difficult for the man to keep them in his sight at the same time.

“I said nobody move,” the rebel repeated.

Valerian raised his gun at the same time Dragon charged. The man swung toward Valerian and fired, then turned to Dragon, opening his side to Jade. He didn’t see or hear Jade’s dagger and was stunned when it slammed into his neck, embedding deeply. His hand reflexively reached for it, releasing the woman’s throat. Valerian seized the moment and fired a shot into the man’s forehead before collapsing again.

Dragon ran to his friend’s side. “Valerian?”

“I just need a moment.” Valerian’s hand pressed under his heart, where fresh blood soaked his shirt.

“He needs to see the medicus,” Jade said from behind him, her hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” Valerian said, his gaze glassy and his voice a mere whisper.

Running steps echoed from outside. The command crew’s eyes all zeroed on Dragon.

“High Lord—” The first engineer stepped forward, coming to stand beside the navigator. “What are your orders?”

“Can you keep this section locked?” Dragon asked, looking at the solid metal wall isolating the command room from the rest of the ship.

The first engineer shook his head. “The security chief is one of them. He knows the codes.”

Dragon’s eyes went to the shaft’s hatch door. Outside, the pounding had stopped, and a moment later, the iris mechanism of the entrance whirred to life. There was no time to escape through the maintenance corridors.

“Grab a weapon, and be ready to fire,” Dragon commanded, leaning to pick up a weapon he threw at Jade before seizing one for himself.

Valerian brought his fingers to his temple. He could barely raise his gun, but despite being heavily wounded, he wasn’t near death and couldn’t shift into his dragon to heal.

The moment the first rebel entered through the opening door, shots echoed in the command chamber. Riddled by multiple bullets, the man’s body fell forward. More shots were fired, but the enemy kept pouring through the entrance. One after the other. When the door opened completely, they burst inside in rows of ten or more, in a seemingly endless parade. Like a swallowing tide, they overpowered the decimated command room’s crew by sheer number.

The men and women who were still loyal to Glory fought with honor, hitting as many rebels as they could, but Dragon knew their guns would run out of ammunition soon. Lauren could be seen biding her time from around the corner, waiting for them to succumb before her army.

“We need to divert them,” Jade said, shooting a man straight through his heart.

Valerian staggered on his feet and leaned against the wall for support, inching toward the hatch door. “I’ll buy you time.” His dark eyes stared ahead as he pushed himself away from the wall.

Exposed, Valerian raised his gun and drunkenly walked a step forward.

“No!” Dragon sprinted to reach Valerian as a volley of shots illuminated the room anew.

Jade provided cover and staved off the worst. He was hit in the shoulder, but didn’t slow down, barreling across the space and shoving Valerian against the corner.

“Idiot,” Dragon shouted at his friend, who was looking at him with wide eyes.

One last scream resonated in the room, and the navigator fell on top of the chief engineer. Dragon and Jade were the only ones standing amidst the wounded and the dead. The firing stopped at once. The enemy line opened, and Lauren stepped in.

“Lauren,” Dragon said, eyeing the heavily armed guards who flanked her.

“High Lord.” Lauren’s tone was mocking. “We meet again.”

From the corner of his eye, Dragon saw Jade stand up straighter.

Lauren’s heavy stare weighed on Jade as the woman looked at her with hate written all over her face.

“You,” Lauren said, her eyes falling to Jade’s stomach and lingering before rising again. “You thought you could have it all.” A dark laugh punctuated the end of her sentence.

“What do you want, Lauren?” Dragon asked, walking back to Jade’s side.

“Justice,” she answered, her eyes narrowing when he touched Jade. “But I’ll settle for retribution.” She raised her gun and fired.