Punished, Tana Stone [top reads .txt] 📗

someone and having a family, spending every day doing the same thing. She says she loves the comfort of routine.”

“While it chokes you?”

She turned her head to me, biting her lower lip as she nodded. “I’ve tried to find something I like as much as Juliette loves baking her breads. But the only thing I’ve found is fighting. It’s the only thing that’s ever made me feel alive.”

“I’m surprised you were able to uncover your talent here. The planet seems so peaceful.”

Her expression darkened and her shoulders bowed forward. “On the surface it’s perfect, just like the surface of the shallows—placid and beautiful. But if you look under the surface there’s always more. I’ve never been willing to accept the insults and the snide comments that were whispered or said in jest. That’s why I’ve always gotten in trouble.”

I understood this human more than I wanted to admit. “I also spent most of my childhood getting in trouble.”

“Really?” She tilted her head to study me. “What do you have to do to get in trouble as a Vandar?”

“A lot.” I thought of the lashings I’d received at my father’s hand. “It was not until I joined a horde that I learned discipline and control.”

“I never thought of a Vandar horde as disciplined. Your reputation is for swarming ships and ripping them to pieces and leaving no survivors.”

“That is only partially true.” My pulse quickened as I thought back to the thrill of boarding a ship, my fellow Vandar pumping fists high into the air before rushing out to cut down our enemy. “Our attack pattern might appear chaotic, but that is by design. Everything the Vandar hordes do is to keep our enemy off balance, but it is carefully planned down to the way we move as a unit, to the way our ships fly. It was my job as battle chief to coordinate all our battles and raiding missions.”

“Battle chief?” She nodded. “That explains why you’re so cocky.”

I barked out a laugh. “We have yet to determine why you are.”

She smiled at me—a genuine smile than reached her eyes and warmed them—then leaned back and peered up at the sky, inky blue and dotted with three iridescent orbs. “I would love to see one of your hordes.”

“If it is a Vandar horde, you would not be able to see it. We use invisibility shielding to fly unseen. It is part of the reason we still evade the empire.”

Her eyes shone as she swung her head down to look at me. “I can see why you miss your horde so much and want to return to it. I would feel the same way.” She cleared her throat and slid off the log. “But if I’m going to help you escape, you’re going to need to teach me a lot more than how to get pinned.”

Too bad, I thought as I stood. Pinning her was something I would have loved to do again. If I could trust myself with her, which I did not.

Chapter Fourteen

Ch 14

Sienna

“Ow.” I flinched as I bumped into a crate, almost dropping my tablet, as I counted sacks of unprocessed grain. I clutched the metal tightly, glancing at the screen to be sure it was undamaged.

My boss, a Kimitherian with a keen sense of hearing, glanced up from across the warehouse, his yellow eyes narrowing in concern from under his beige hood, although they still didn’t blink. “You are bumping into things a lot today. You are sure you’re well?”

“Totally fine, Krebli.” I waved at him, hoping my wide grin would convince him that I was okay, even though every muscle in my body screamed out in agony. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all.”

Krebli nodded and turned back to his own digital tablet. Lucky for me, my boss took me at my word and was more concerned with tracking the latest supplies to leave the warehouse than one klutzy employee. As long as I didn’t drop my tablet. Not many places on Kimithion III used the tablets we did, but it was crucial we keep accurate track of what we imported. The tablets were another thing I was pretty good with, and I wished we had more tech on the planet.

I scooted around the grain, sighing when I realized I’d lost count and would need to start again. Why had I insisted that Corvak and I train every night? After only three evening sessions, I was already so sore I could barely sleep afterward. It didn’t help my sleep that when I did doze off, my dreams were filled with Corvak, and I usually woke up sweating and panting.

Nope, I wasn’t sharing that tidbit with my boss.

I gave my head a small shake to focus on the extremely boring task at hand. How could I count sacks of grain when my mind wanted to replay my training in my head?

Get it together, Sienna, I told myself, careful not to say the words aloud and get another concerned look from Krebli.

I might be obsessed with everything I was learning from Corvak, but I still needed this job to pay the bills. After I finally finished the grain count and tapped the numbers into my tablet, I tipped my head back and blew out a breath. The high ceiling was an arch of stone since the warehouse—like almost all the buildings on the planet—was cut into the mountain. But because it had no windows cut into it, it remained cool inside, although the various scents of grains, produce, and spices melded into a strange cacophony to which my nose had become numb. At least none of the local products from the shallows were stored inside—only what we imported from off-world. I wouldn’t have been able to bear inhaling algae and seaweed all day.

“You have finished the grains?” Krebli asked as he came up behind me, his sharp Kimitherian accent making me jump.

I put a hand to my heart as I passed him my