Punished, Tana Stone [top reads .txt] 📗

“I’ve heard of the Raas’ and their human mates. I do not understand it.” The lunori Raas appraised me. “I do understand wanting to punish one who is deceptive.”

I inclined my head at him. He did not seem so deranged to me, but I had yet to see him in battle.

Raas Vassim flicked his gaze behind me. “Stranding you on this pre-warp planet seems like harsh punishment. Perhaps even harsher than being banished to the hinterlands of space.”

I stared at him. Had the Raas been banished? I had never heard of this. Or was this a part of his madness? Was he paranoid?

“The planet of Kimithion III might be more primitive than our society, but they do not deserve to be conquered by the empire,” I said, instead. “I am grateful you responded to my hails, although I am surprised you would come so far.”

“Your hail was not the only one I received beckoning me to this place.”

Before I could ask him who else could have possibly sent him a hail from the planet, more imperial fighters descended en masse from above. Some fired at the planet, while others targeted the main horde ship. Still other gunmetal-gray imperial transports began landing near the bank of the shallows.

Raas Vassim waved his raiders forward. My heart leapt at the sight of so many gleaming battle axes and swishing tails. I would get to fight alongside my Vandar brothers again.

“We have come to kill our enemy and aid our Vandar brother.” Raas Vassim thrust his fist into the air. “For Vandar!”

I joined the other raiders in pumping my fist into the air. “For Vandar!”

The Raas cut his gaze to the imperial soldiers coming off the transports in the distance, then turned back to me. “I saw your armaments in the arena. We will handle the ground invaders. You and my horde ship can take out the vermin left in the sky.”

I clicked my heels again in deference to the warlord, watching the Raas lead his raiders in an all-out run toward the advancing Zagrath. When I spun back toward the amphitheater, torpedoes were already blasting from within its confines.

I’d almost reached the entrance to the tunnel when the local fighters caught up to me. There were only a handful of the fighters that I’d trained, but they carried their makeshift shields and determined expressions.

“We’re here to fight, battle chief,” one of the humans yelled.

So my training hadn’t been a total loss. Some of the males had courage.

“You can join us with the armaments,” I said, waving for them to follow me. “I am surprised Donal and his friends are not with you. Didn’t they claim to thirst for battle?”

One of the humans snorted out a laugh. “Donal’s more interested in spending time with his intended than anything else.”

I stopped and turned on my heel so fast the human almost smacked into me. “His intended?”

Was that why Sienna wasn’t fighting by my side? Had she decided to be with Donal since I was leaving? The moment the thoughts crossed my mind, I dismissed them. Sienna detested the man. I’d seen it in her eyes every time she’d been around him. I also knew the way she looked at me. She would never betray me for that weak excuse for a male.

“The female who pretended to be one of us the first day,” another fighter said. “You remember? The one you fought?”

Of course I knew he meant Sienna.

“We stopped by his dwelling so he would join us, but he said he was busy with her.”

Fear iced my skin as I thought about the male Sienna had rejected time and time again. He was a coward who was not above taking something by force.

I pointed to the mouth of the tunnel. “Join the others inside. They need help loading the torpedoes.”

The fighters ran forward, then the last one glanced at me over his shoulder. “What about you? Aren’t you coming?”

I locked my gaze on the cave dwellings. “I have something to take care of first.”

Then I ran faster than I ever had before.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ch 36

Sienna

I glared at Donal, my head throbbing as I yanked at the bindings holding my hands together. The walls of his dwelling shook as more laser fire pounded the surface of the planet, a fine dust sifting down from the rock ceiling and dusting his brown hair as he stood across from me with his arms folded and his scowl fierce.

I’d been roused by the sounds of the low-flying ships and incoming weapons fire, and the onslaught of the attack had not faded since I’d been conscious. The empire was attacking, and I was powerless to fight. I thrashed again, almost falling off the couch. “This is crazy. You can’t hold me against my will.”

“It’s for your own good, Sienna.” His gaze shifted to the window. “It’s too dangerous out there right now.”

“I thought this was what you trained for,” I said, attempting to appeal to his sense of male pride. “Didn’t you want to be a warrior and defend the planet?”

His top lip curled. “You mean like your Vandar lover? No, let the others die in a pointless battle. When the Zagrath defeat them and take over the planet, I’ll be the first to welcome them with open arms. They’ll need emissaries from the community, and who better than me?”

I looked away from him, repulsed by his cowardice and disloyalty. I’d always thought he was an obnoxious jerk. How had I not seen how much worse he was?

Another blast hit the surface, and the floor trembled. Were the Zagrath firing at the cave dwellings? My gut hardened into a cold ball of fear. I did not want to end up buried beneath tons of rubble, if the tall peaks fell.

“Help!” I screamed, aiming my words at the thin curtains fluttering over the windows. “Somebody!”

My cries were drowned out by the noise of the battle and the screams of everyone