Free Beyond the Shadows by Jess Granger

sat and questioned reality for a moment, trying to determine if the Spider attack had all been a crazy lag-induced dream.
    A loud purr vibrated her feet. She looked down at Tuz, blissfully licking his claws. She’d never seen him so calm or content.
    She reached out to pet him, when the sharp pain in her shoulder brought everything snapping back into crystal clarity. She sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Matriarchs. It was a miracle they were still alive.
    She wrapped her stiff arms over her chest and inhaled the scent of Cyrus’s shirt. Where was he?
    Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, she let her head hang over her knees to regain her composure before trying to stand. The ship’s lights had come back on, but the air was still cold enough to chill her skin.
    She grabbed her com off the top of one of the angrav cases, and eased into the copilot seat. They were in a shipping corridor and had to be near Gansai. If they were close enough to an array, she’d be able to receive any messages from Azra. She linked her com to the ship’s system and waited for it to connect. A small square of the viewscreen turned bright white, and then a message appeared.
    “ Shakt ,” she whispered.
    Send communication immediately. Palar is restless. Rumors. Must return before fire is lit.
    She didn’t have much time left before the coup broke out. Staying on the ship was impossible. There was no time for any more delays or repairs. She needed to be home or her peaceful ascension would be ruined. Tapping her fingers in rapid patterns on the screen, she relayed a simple reply saying she’d be back within days, and urging her supporters to do what it took to keep control of her rival.
    Her situation was becoming dangerous—for her, and those that supported her.
    Then there was Cyrus, yet another reason she had to get off the ship immediately.
    “There’s hot soup in the galley,” Cyrus called from the bay. A soft swishing noise emanated from the back compartment. What was he doing in there?
    Her stomach turned at the thought.
    With cautious steps she crossed the quarters to the bay and peeked inside. Cyrus hummed to himself as he ran a glowing san-mop over the cargo floor. Several piles of scorpion parts lay sorted along the sidewall near the ramp, but other than the presence of the dismantled bots and some scorch marks on the sidewalls and the bulkhead, there was no evidence of a fight at all.
    Cyrus folded his hands on top of the san-handle. “You’d better eat. Kiltii water works better on a full stomach.”
    “Noted.” She leaned up against the doorframe. “How much longer until we reach port?”
    “A couple of hours, tops.” He resumed his mopping.
    “And the status of the ship?”
    Cyn didn’t pause his cleaning to consider her question. He didn’t like how anxious she sounded. In the course of one day, things had gone terribly wrong, and he had to figure out a way to regain control of the situation.
    He still had a job to do. He had to keep her from Azra at all costs.
    “The ship is functional.”
    “Did you sleep at all?”
    Cyn threw one of his most charming smiles at her. “Worried about me?”
    “No,” she quickly denied, but her pale cheeks flushed cool pink.
    “Your soup’s getting cold.” He didn’t like the chill that ran down his back. Something was up with her.
    And he was exposed. She’d seen the stash of weapons. She’d seen him in battle. There was no way he could continue to play Mr. Innocent.
    He didn’t know if he could continue to play the seducer anymore either. She’d responded to him.
    He knew when a woman wanted sex, and she was oozing it.
    Normally that wasn’t a problem, but this game was turning dangerous.
    As much as he wanted his attraction to her to be entirely physical, it wasn’t.
    That bothered him.
    What could possibly come of this? Was he supposed to ask her out on a date after he destroyed all order on their planet? Yeah, that would go over well. He had to hand