MindRogue Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  MindRogue

  BlackWing Pirates, Book 3

  Connie Suttle

  Copyright © 2017, by Connie Suttle

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: 1-63478-005-1

  ISBN-13: 978-1-63478-005-6

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents portrayed within its pages are purely fictitious and a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This book, whole or in part, MAY NOT be copied or reproduced by electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying or the implementation of any type of storage or retrieval system) without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  Published by:

  SubtleDemon Publishing, LLC

  PO Box 95696

  Oklahoma City, OK 73143

  Cover art by Renee Barratt @ The Cover Counts

  For Vickie Torres, who suffered an unimaginable loss.

  And for Lindsay Torres, who was taken from this life far too soon.

  Arms are empty,

  Hearts are full.

  A mother’s love is forever.

  To Walter, Joe, Larry, Lee, Dianne, Sarah and Mark.

  Thank you.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Connie Suttle

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  As always, this book is the result of collaboration. If it weren't for the support of my editor, my cover artist and my beta readers, it would be less than it is. All mistakes, as usual, are mine and no other's.

  About the Author:

  Connie Suttle lives in Oklahoma with her husband and a conglomerate of cats. They have finally banded together to make their demands, which has proven disconcerting to all humans involved.

  You may find Connie in the following ways:

  Facebook: Connie Suttle Author

  Twitter: @subtledemon

  Website and Blog: subtledemon.com

  Also by Connie Suttle

  Blood Destiny Series:

  Blood Wager

  Blood Passage

  Blood Sense

  Blood Domination

  Blood Royal

  Blood Queen

  Blood Rebellion

  Blood War

  Blood Redemption

  Blood Reunion

  Blood Recall*

  Legend of the Ir'Indicti Series:

  Bumble

  Shadowed

  Target

  Vendetta

  Destroyer

  High Demon Series:

  Demon Lost

  Demon Revealed

  Demon's King

  Demon's Quest

  Demon's Revenge

  Demon's Dream

  God Wars Series:

  Blood Double

  Blood Trouble

  Blood Revolution

  Blood Love

  Blood Finale

  Saa Thalarr Series:

  Hope and Vengeance

  Wyvern and Company

  Observe and Protect*

  First Ordinance Series:

  Finder

  Keeper

  BlackWing

  SpellBreaker

  WhiteWing

  R-D Series:

  Cloud Dust

  Cloud Invasion

  Cloud Rebel

  Latter Day Demons Series:

  Hot Demon in the City

  A Demon's Work is Never Done

  A Demon's Due

  Seattle Elementals Series:

  Your Money's Worth

  Worth Your While*

  BlackWing Pirates Series

  MindSighted

  MindMage

  MindRogue

  Black Rose Sorceress Series

  The Rose Mark

  Rose and Thorn

  Black Rose Queen

  Queen of Thorns and Roses*

  Other Titles from SubtleDemon Publishing:

  Malefactor

  Transgressor*

  by Joe Scholes

  *Forthcoming

  Chapter 1

  Fren'Ell

  Randl Gage, Commander

  BlackWing Pirates

  "Are you sure?" I turned toward Charla, who held a whining, wriggling Barkins in her arms. The poor dog didn't like Jewl Yarro's favorite mansion in Calezia, Fren'Ell's capital city. Vik, David and I were still stumped at how Jewl managed to keep a house and a good reputation—under an alias, of course—on a Reth Alliance world.

  Charla did the same thing on Campiaa, I reminded myself. She was the daughter of one of the most dangerous criminals in either Alliance, and had operated under Jewl's thumb on the Campiaan Alliance Founder's homeworld.

  Jewl despised her child and mistreated her as often as possible to get what she wanted, which was a stake in the criminal activity on Campiaa. Jewl was currently locked away in a cell in Queen Lissa's dungeon on Le-Ath Veronis; Charla didn't care and hadn't asked once how her mother was doing. I can't say I blamed her. With an abusive mother like that, I'd want to separate myself from her, too.

  "I don't want any of it," Charla mumbled, before turning her attention to Barkins.

  "That wood desk is worth a hundred thousand, easy," Vik pointed out.

  "You can have it. Can I go back to the ship, now?" Charla soothed Barkins, who attempted to bury his nose against her neck.

  "I'll take her back," Vik offered. "That desk would look good in the Commander's office," he jerked his head toward the antique behemoth before taking a step toward Charla.

  "I'll keep it, then," I said. "The rest is toast."

  "Then I'll go back with Vik," David said. He was half as tall as Vik and had no desire to stay while I considered the best way to destroy Jewl's last residence.

  I'd destroyed twelve others already—this would be the thirteenth. The destruction I left behind was added as charges to my criminal record—the one issued by the ASD, naming me as one of their most-wanted.

  I'd removed a known criminal from ASD clutches, after all.

  Nobody knew it was Jewl Yarro, and that she'd been placed in Queen Lissa's dungeon.

  Therefore, I was on the ASD's most-wanted list, although not at the top. The one at the top—I was at the top of his most-wanted list.

  Definitely.

  There was a huge reward offered for the Prophet, after he'd destroyed most of Campiaa City and killed thousands.

  Kooper Griff, Director of the ASD, was still trying to determine how many more may have been infected with the Prophet's disease—a spreading version of obsession with no known cure.

  Anyone affected would bow, scrape and obey the Prophet's slightest whim.

  We'
re back onboard, Vik sent mindspeech.

  All right, I replied. I'll be there, desk in hand, momentarily. Breathing out a heavy sigh, I looked around at all the wealth I was about to destroy before sending the desk to my office aboard BlackWing XIII and allowing every wall in Jewl Yarro's massive mansion to fall.

  And then setting fire to the entire thing and getting the hell away.

  "It looks nice." Dori studied the huge, antique desk with a critical eye as it occupied the center space of my study aboard ship.

  "I could seal it off and fly it to another planet, it's so big," I pointed out. "Not that I want to," I held up a hand as she made a face at me.

  "The news vids are carrying the story about the mansion you destroyed in Calezia," Dori said.

  "Is that what you came to tell me?" I teased.

  "What do you want me to tell you? I took time away from the bridge for this, you know," she sassed. Sassed was her term, not mine, but it fit.

  "I was hoping you'd heard from Kooper."

  "He'd contact you directly, Commander."

  "Okay, what did I do now?" I asked, frowning at her. She never called me that, unless she was pissed—another of her terms.

  "Nothing. I just wanted to see if we could have dinner together tonight."

  "You know, it helps if you lead off with that," I said.

  "Having a spat?" Zanfield walked right through the open door and held out a comp-vid as if he were handing me a royal decree to sign.

  "For me? You shouldn't have," I took the comp-vid. "I didn't get you anything," I added.

  Zanfield had recently had his eyebrows done to match his hair; yellow at the base, purple at the tips. You really didn't see the yellow until you were quite close and frankly, the first few times I saw it, my eyes crossed.

  "Ah, the longed-for message from Director Griff," I sighed after reading the first paragraphs on the comp-vid. "Thank you, Zanfield."

  "No worries," he waved a hand and left Dori and me alone in my study.

  "David certainly has a way of rubbing off on anyone," Dori shook her head at Zanfield's favorite new colloquialism. "What does Kooper say?"

  "Ah, good work in Calezia, the price on my head went up, and what the hell is he supposed to do with all the stuff from Jewl's house in Calezia that I sent to the hidden space station at the last minute?"

  I began tapping away on the comp-vid while Dori's mouth dropped open in surprise. "What is he supposed to do with it?" she asked after a while.

  "Sell it. Donate it. It's money for a charity or a worthy cause somewhere," I mumbled as I tapped my reply to Kooper. "Nobody has to know where it came from, and if anybody can come up with proper papers for all of it, then Kooper can."

  "But what if somebody from Jewl's past recognizes some of it?"

  "Why in the gods' names would they admit they knew where it came from?" I stopped tapping for a moment and blinked at Dori.

  "Good point," she admitted. "Continue with your missive," she gestured with a hand.

  "Fancy words," I grinned and pulled her to me. We were kissing when the comp-vid beeped again.

  "Live message from Kooper," I pulled away from Dori to answer the call.

  "We have a problem," Kooper announced grimly. "Seven hundred people just disappeared from Campiaa."

  Captain's Cubby

  BlackWing X

  Captain Travis Tetsuya

  "XIII is already on the way," I informed Trent after asking Nathan and James to set a new course for Campiaa.

  "Seven hundred people gone," Trent shook his head. "In a blink."

  "We know the Prophet's behind it, and he knows we know. We even have the asshole's name," I fumed. "For as much good as that does."

  "We have nothing else, though, including his hideout," Trent observed. Susan knocked on the door before entering to set cups of Falchani black in front of both of us.

  "Randl's coming, too?" she asked.

  "Yeah—Kooper called him first," I replied. "Thanks for the tea."

  "Does this mean Charla will be with him?" Susan had a gleam in her eye. Charla was terrified of birds and Susan, a shapeshifting buff orpington hen, had frightened the woman half to death.

  "I believe that's so, but I can't say for certain. He may drop her off somewhere." I shrugged. I had a suggestion on where to leave her, in case Randl asked. She wouldn't easily escape from Avii Castle, if she were so-minded. I had the idea that she trusted Randl, however, so perhaps she'd behave herself—and stay away from Susan's hen—that was a given.

  "Let me know if I need to dial the hen back," Susan laughed and turned to leave.

  "Any word from Wyatt? Are they back, yet?" Trent asked after Susan closed the door behind her.

  Wyatt and Jayna had gotten married—quietly—a month after the disaster on Campiaa. They'd waited six months to take a honeymoon, however, choosing to stay on Campiaa to help in the rebuilding process.

  Things were coming along well—until seven hundred Campiaan citizens disappeared before dawn.

  "I didn't hear from Wyatt. I heard from Dormas," I shrugged. "He said Teeg is busy trying to calm the population. Families have missing kin, with no idea what happened."

  "This could blow up in our faces," Trent's voice turned grim.

  "That may be part of the Prophet's plan," I pointed out. "I'm worried it could boil down to blackmail and coercion."

  "In what way?"

  "The Prophet may hold back on—let's call them future disruptions—in exchange for what we have on Randl."

  "How is Teeg explaining all this?"

  "He's calling it a massive kidnapping—similar to the one that happened at the mountain resort on Pyrik. The news vids are rightfully blaming it on the Prophet; they just don't have relevant details on how or why it was accomplished."

  "If word of the Prophet's disease gets out, we're all in trouble. Right now, the people think he's the worst criminal ever. When they find out he's worse than that, well, you can see how that might turn out." Trent's brow furrowed in a deep frown. Neither of us wanted to discuss the population's immediate distrust of both the ASD and CSD, or that both Directors could be forced to resign.

  Those calling for their resignations would have no idea that Kooper and Jett were their best chance—along with Randl and the BlackWing Pirates—of ridding the Alliances of the Prophet and his minions.

  As for infected citizens—once the Prophet was eliminated, it was likely things would return to normal if they didn't have someone commanding them.

  "You think those people he took will be fodder for another mass killing?" Trent asked.

  "Probably. I worry that he'll use some of them to make replacements, like he did with the WildTree employees." I wished Randl were here to discuss this with us—his insights would be most welcome.

  We missed having him aboard ship—David, too. We'd had to find a replacement engineer; one who wasn't nearly as funny. Trent called Harlee humorless, but I was still holding out hope that he'd change once he felt comfortable. For now, we still didn't have a replacement for Jayna—Kooper asked us to hold her position open, in case she wanted to return.

  "X just isn't the same, is it?" Trent asked. He and I were on the same wavelength, as usual.

  "Yeah. Well, back to work, bro. We'll pull into Campiaa space station at midnight tomorrow. Make sure everybody is fresh and ready to hit the ground when we get there."

  BlackWing XIII

  Randl

  Mak and Jak stood at windows in the galley, watching as Dori and her bridge crew docked XIII at Campiaa's space station.

  I'd gotten mindspeech from Wyatt already—he and Jayna were waiting in the VIP suite for our arrival.

  We had our choice—to either stay at Teeg San Gerxon's palace in Campiaa City, or go to the mountain cabin we'd used before.

  Dori wanted the cabin, so we'd stay there. Mak and Jak wanted the privacy, too; two four-armed Blevakians wandering around always caused a stir, and they hated the stares and whispers.

  C
harla was all for taking Barkins back to the cabin—it was a familiar place for both after their ordeal at the hands of the Prophet's kidnappers. She'd started helping in the galley, and with Gerrett's help, they were turning out amazing meals.

  Gerrett was Sirenali. Zaria sent him to me, not just because he was a hell of a cook, but he could also render XIII invisible to those with power. With my shields covering the ship, it was also invisible to the naked eye and to mundane instruments.

  Only a few might find us, and I figured Zaria was near the top of that list. Placing a hand on my chest where the medallion she'd given me rested beneath my shirt, I pondered her willingness to protect me and many others.

  "Ready, Commander?" Vik now stood beside me—he'd skipped in to let me know the docking was complete and we could disembark.

  "Ready," I said.

  Mak and Jak fell in beside me as Vik led us toward the gangway.

  "Good to see you," Wyatt grinned as he and Jayna greeted us in the VIP suite. I'd changed my outward appearance to all except the crew and those I could trust. Wyatt and Jayna fell in the latter category.

  "We have a meal waiting for all of you at the palace," Jayna said as she hugged Dori. "You can go to the cabin afterward, if you want. Tomorrow, we have interviews with family members—the ones who actually saw their loved ones disappear."

  Dori blinked at me—this was something new. Last time, the Prophet pulled people away in the middle of the night, and nobody knew until morning.

  "This bears thinking about," I said. "Talking to those people is a good idea. I'd like to see whether any of them have been infected through the secondary method."