Free Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary by Felicity Heaton

his face in her neck. Miali
whispered something to the boy and then smiled at him.

    “ Are you
alright?” Kosen said, smoothing her flat hair. Her expression and
actions might not give away her fear, but her hair did.

    She nodded and moved
closer to him as the fighter ship closed in.

    Kosen drew his gun, ready
to fight to protect Miali. He wouldn’t let anything happen to
her.

    There was a bright burst
of pale purple light similar to what happened when a ship went into
sub-space. When his vision came back, an enormous sleek top-class
fighter ship was overshadowing Nostra’s small fighter. Kosen didn’t
recognise it as Minervan. If anything, it looked Lyran.

    His gaze shot to
Miali.

    The blue emergency light
flashed again, highlighting her face.

    She was
grinning.

    “ Perfect timing
as always.”

    Kosen looked back at the
huge fighter vessel.

    “ You know
them?” he said, getting the impression that while he was sleeping,
she had been doing things other than playing with
children.

    “ I might have
sent a message or two asking for assistance. You needed money after
all and I needed passage back to my home. So, I had my home come
here.”

    Home. He looked at the
ship. For some reason, the thought of her returning home made him
feel queasy. He had expected to have at least a few more days with
her.

    Two smaller fighter ships
detached from the large vessel that Miali had called home and
escorted Nostra’s fighter, guiding it to dock with the vessel. He
didn’t want to imagine what fate awaited Nostra and his crew
onboard the Lyran fighter. He was only glad that he had chosen a
better path for himself to follow, one that would take him away
from a world involving slaves.

    The passenger freighter
slowed to a stop and the Lyran fighter drew alongside it, eclipsing
the view out of the window. It was massive. He had never seen an
attack vessel on such a grand scale.

    Miali was still grinning
when he looked at her. She ruffled the hair of the boy that she was
holding and set him down on his feet. Dim lights flickered back
into life above them.

    “ Run along
now,” she said and the boy disappeared into the crowd. It wasn’t
dispersing. Everyone was watching the Lyran vessel now.

    “ Home?” he said
and pointed at the ship.

    “ The
Nebula-Lyra II. My father’s ship.” She looked around them and then
back at him. “Do you know where the docking bay is?”

    He dumbly pointed along
the corridor. She grabbed his hand and dragged him in that
direction.

    “ My father will
want to meet the man who rescued me.”

    Those words sent a chill
to his heart and made him nauseas.

    Her father?

    Was she forgetting that he
was also one of the men who had kidnapped her and had intended to
sell her into slavery? He was sure that Nostra would be quick to
mention that when he met her father.

    Kosen tried to get his
hand free of hers but by the time he had managed it, they were in
the docking bay. He swallowed his thundering heart and pulled
himself together. Nostra probably didn’t need to tell her father
that he had been involved. It wouldn’t take much for her father to
piece it together. After all, the only place they could have met
was on the ship that had taken her. Perhaps they could pretend that
he had been a captive too. That would work until her father had
spoken to Nostra. Perhaps it was better not to lie. Her father
might kill him for such a thing. Perhaps it was better just to
avoid the situation entirely.

    “ This isn’t a
good idea,” he said.

    Miali looked at him and he
gave her a nervous smile. Understanding visibly dawned in her
eyes.

    “ Perhaps you’re
right—” Before she could finish that sentence, one of the airlock
doors further along opened.

    They both looked there.
Her hand fell from his as two tall, broad built males walked
through it. Their black hair and black eyes made them look Minervan
but Kosen knew that they were Lyran. They wore the black and blue
flight suit of the