matter?”
“Actually, it does. I know most of the mercs in this star system.”
“This isn’t a social visit, lady. We’re here for the kid.”
She shrugged, which was difficult with his meaty hand holding her arm. “We don’t have any kids on board. You’ve got the wrong ship.” By the gods, did Myka have a tracker on him or something? How did these people keep finding him?
“Boss says it’s the right ship. Now stop talking and move!” He jerked her down a set of stairs to the lower deck. “The rest of the crew’s already inside.” He gestured his blaster at the brig door.
She stopped just inside the room and frowned. Of course. Because that’s how today was going. Captain Finn and the rest of his team pressed against the bars of the holding cell.
She’d left her own pistol in her cabin, and Myka had her nanospanner. There was no way she could fight back.
The merc opened the cell door and shoved her inside. Corporal Bokal caught her before she fell.
“Thanks,” she said, tugging at her jacket and righting herself.
He nodded. “Any time.”
“Where’s the cargo?” Finn breathed into her ear.
“Hidden.” She eyed their captor, who lounged against the door. His leather pants were well worn, and his black shirt looked like part of a gang uniform. There were only a few crews who operated this far out in the system. Fetah and her team of pirates, but they usually focused on in-space raids. Brencic, whom she hadn’t heard from in over a year. And then her stomach clenched.
These men belonged to Viktis.
TEN
Just her frakking luck. She took a steadying breath before turning to Finn and leaning close enough that she could smell his shampoo, the scent of his skin. Her lips barely moved as she whispered, “I know these mercs. And I can get us out of this, but you need to trust me.”
“You run with some nice people,” Keva muttered, her eyes flashing with anger. “Criminals and pirates. And Dallas expects us to work with you?”
Renna gave the woman a withering glance. “He does. Because I’m about to save all of your lives.”
As she spoke, a tall Ileth alien, with broad shoulders and amber skin highlighting his chiseled face, strolled into the room. Cranial ridges sloped back from his forehead like hair, and his violet eyes scanned the captives in the brig.
“Good day,” he said, sketching a bow. “I do apologize for this intrusion, but you are carrying cargo we need. Where is the little boy?”
Viktis had changed in the four years she’d last seen him, but his voice was still smooth and polite. Not the voice of a merc, but a politician. If his family hadn’t been murdered, he eventually would have taken a seat in the Coalition Senate. But his parents had been too influential, too popular with the masses. They were a threat that had been eliminated by the other houses on Ileth.
Luckily, Viktis’s silver tongue had spared his life, and the merc who’d been hired to kill him took the boy on as an apprentice instead. When Renna met him a few years later on a job, Viktis had taken over the merc’s territory. He’d even shown Renna a few things himself.
Until he’d tried to kill her.
She stepped forward, tugging at her shirt. Why hadn’t she done something better with her hair this morning? “By the gods, someone up there sure has a sense of humor,” she drawled, leaning against the cell door.
Viktis’s expression froze, shock flashing across the harsh planes of his face before he masked it. “Renna Carrizal. I thought you were on some Outer Rim world, living in luxury.”
She smiled sweetly. “Or dead?”
He shrugged apologetically. “You know I didn’t have a choice, my dear. The job paid well, and you were getting a bit too close to my territory for comfort.”
She felt Captain Finn’s disapproval like a hand pressing against her back. She ignored it and let her gaze travel across Viktis’s broad shoulders. “And here I thought saving your life all those
“Actually, it does. I know most of the mercs in this star system.”
“This isn’t a social visit, lady. We’re here for the kid.”
She shrugged, which was difficult with his meaty hand holding her arm. “We don’t have any kids on board. You’ve got the wrong ship.” By the gods, did Myka have a tracker on him or something? How did these people keep finding him?
“Boss says it’s the right ship. Now stop talking and move!” He jerked her down a set of stairs to the lower deck. “The rest of the crew’s already inside.” He gestured his blaster at the brig door.
She stopped just inside the room and frowned. Of course. Because that’s how today was going. Captain Finn and the rest of his team pressed against the bars of the holding cell.
She’d left her own pistol in her cabin, and Myka had her nanospanner. There was no way she could fight back.
The merc opened the cell door and shoved her inside. Corporal Bokal caught her before she fell.
“Thanks,” she said, tugging at her jacket and righting herself.
He nodded. “Any time.”
“Where’s the cargo?” Finn breathed into her ear.
“Hidden.” She eyed their captor, who lounged against the door. His leather pants were well worn, and his black shirt looked like part of a gang uniform. There were only a few crews who operated this far out in the system. Fetah and her team of pirates, but they usually focused on in-space raids. Brencic, whom she hadn’t heard from in over a year. And then her stomach clenched.
These men belonged to Viktis.
TEN
Just her frakking luck. She took a steadying breath before turning to Finn and leaning close enough that she could smell his shampoo, the scent of his skin. Her lips barely moved as she whispered, “I know these mercs. And I can get us out of this, but you need to trust me.”
“You run with some nice people,” Keva muttered, her eyes flashing with anger. “Criminals and pirates. And Dallas expects us to work with you?”
Renna gave the woman a withering glance. “He does. Because I’m about to save all of your lives.”
As she spoke, a tall Ileth alien, with broad shoulders and amber skin highlighting his chiseled face, strolled into the room. Cranial ridges sloped back from his forehead like hair, and his violet eyes scanned the captives in the brig.
“Good day,” he said, sketching a bow. “I do apologize for this intrusion, but you are carrying cargo we need. Where is the little boy?”
Viktis had changed in the four years she’d last seen him, but his voice was still smooth and polite. Not the voice of a merc, but a politician. If his family hadn’t been murdered, he eventually would have taken a seat in the Coalition Senate. But his parents had been too influential, too popular with the masses. They were a threat that had been eliminated by the other houses on Ileth.
Luckily, Viktis’s silver tongue had spared his life, and the merc who’d been hired to kill him took the boy on as an apprentice instead. When Renna met him a few years later on a job, Viktis had taken over the merc’s territory. He’d even shown Renna a few things himself.
Until he’d tried to kill her.
She stepped forward, tugging at her shirt. Why hadn’t she done something better with her hair this morning? “By the gods, someone up there sure has a sense of humor,” she drawled, leaning against the cell door.
Viktis’s expression froze, shock flashing across the harsh planes of his face before he masked it. “Renna Carrizal. I thought you were on some Outer Rim world, living in luxury.”
She smiled sweetly. “Or dead?”
He shrugged apologetically. “You know I didn’t have a choice, my dear. The job paid well, and you were getting a bit too close to my territory for comfort.”
She felt Captain Finn’s disapproval like a hand pressing against her back. She ignored it and let her gaze travel across Viktis’s broad shoulders. “And here I thought saving your life all those
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