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as her hands clenched into fists.
    “I gave you an order, Lieutenant Commander.”
    He paused just inside the door, his hands behind his back. Though he spoke to the captain, he looked past her, his gaze locked on Sabine. “Indeed. I came to inform you that the indexer has information regarding the bioweapon developed on Nepheros. He believes he can find the location of the current research facility if he has stronger network access.”
    “And the comm. system is down, so you decided to inform me of this in person?” Captain Hawke replied.
    He ignored her, fixated on Sabine. Bryn shrugged off Dr. Morgan’s attentions to her wound and slipped from the bed, putting herself between Sabine and Harrow. “She’s my mate. You can’t have her.”
    “A female cannot take another female as a mate,” Harrow said.
    Bryn glared at him. “House Wintersend grants shadow swords the rights of a male, therefore I can.”
    “House Wintersend is a minor house without a seat on the ruling council. Their laws hardly matter,” he countered.
    “You gave us your word that we would all go free. Does House Morningstar’s honor hardly matter?”
    Harrow snarled. “How dare you!”
    “That’s enough,” the captain barked.
    With a warning growl Bryn snatched up her sword. “I will end you if you try to take her from me.”
    Harrow’s expression darkened, but before he could attack the sting of a hypo bit Bryn’s neck and the world went black.

Chapter Three
    The female slumped to the floor, and Dr. Morgan winced. “Apologies, Captain Hawke. I thought it best if I sedated her.”
    “Can you sedate Jace too?” Captain Hawke asked. She glared at Jace, but he kept his expression impassive.
    Though he did feel guilty for provoking the female, he was correct. None of the houses of the high council would recognize her claim. There simply weren’t enough females on Cyprena to allow a fertile female to go to waste. Slavers preferred female Cy’ren because they were easier to manage—smaller and usually fast but not strong—and years of selling their kin off-world had led to a decrease in the female population. Enough so that for a time their scientists had worried about declining birth rates, throwing the words possible extinction about. Matters had improved somewhat since their independence, but not enough to be certain. Females had always been fought over, but now more so than ever. Having one mate was fortunate; having multiple mates was a sign of wealth and influence—Jace’s father was currently looking for a fourth.
    The captain helped Dr. Morgan lift the fallen female onto the diagnostic bed, and the doctor drew a sheet over her. It was a pity, for despite her hostility toward him, Jace had been enjoying the view. Or perhaps it was because of the hostility—he did enjoy a female with spirit, and her skin was an intriguing shade of blue, like the waters of an ocean world.
    “May I approach?” Jace asked the captain.
    “No. I think you’ve caused enough trouble.”
    “With all due respect, Captain, shadow sword or no, she can’t end another female’s phase.” He laced his fingers together tighter to hide the increasing tremble shivering through them. The pheromones here were almost overwhelming, like a thick, cloying perfume that sucked the rest of the air from the room. Only his rigid self-control learned from years of surviving cutthroat Cy’ren politics kept him from descending into a lust-filled daze.
    “That doesn’t mean you should be the one to end it.”
    “Would you prefer that I kidnap her at gunpoint and mate with her in a shuttle, as Mordackai did with Talena?”
    Captain Hawke’s fists clenched as though she was about to strike him, and the doctor cleared her throat to interrupt.
    “I am inclined to agree with Lieutenant Commander Harrow,” Dr. Morgan said. “Keeping a female in phase after this much time is tantamount to torture.”
    “Can you keep her sedated until we return to Cyprena?” Captain