Tension perforated the space between them.I can’t flirt. I’m horrible at it.Her stomach dropped as the silence grew increasingly more awkward.I offended him.“Are you upset...? With me?”
Netto stopped massaging her hand but didn’t let it go.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You don’t say much.” She moved to pull away but he held her firm, stopping her. Rylie lifted her eyes back to his and found herself pinned beneath his gaze once again.
“People don’t like my teeth.”
She frowned, glancing at his lips. Although closed from seeing his abnormality, she knew what his teeth looked like. They made him look perverse. He still looked demonic and uncanny, and his teeth did remind her of some of the dead sea monsters that would occasionally wash up on shore. But the more they talked, the less she noticed them.
His teeth also made him dangerously attractive—different—like Zeph had said. There was an appeal to their pointed edges, which were shaped in perfect symmetry when he spoke. They emphasized his creatednatureand she wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
“I like them.”
“Crap!” Zeph's voice intruded on their conversation. Janet appeared over the side of the boat, her brows furrowed and her movements jerky, a telltale sign of her internal fire about to burst forth.
Her sister stomped to the seat opposite her and sat down, leaving a trail of water all over the floor and upholstery. Rylie pulled the towel from around her shoulders and handed it to her sister.
“Everything we've seen today has been complete shit!” Zeph raged, right behind Janet, who blatantly rolled her eyes. “Montihan, you better have stones in reserve or I swear to hellspace that the EPED will confiscate your land, your holdings, everything it possibly can to not take a loss. You’re a fucking liar.”
Netto stood up. Rylie jerked back from the sudden vehemence he exuded. His muscles bulged further out, bulking him into an even larger predator, and an even bigger force to be reckoned with. She moved away, putting as much distance as possible between her and the two men who looked as if they were about to kill each other.
She was awed and breathless, uneasy and aware.
Netto blocked Zeph's path to the rest of the ship.
“Get the fuck out of my way, Shark. We need to get back to the ship.”
“Calm,” Netto's voice was low but thunderous, “down.”
“They're liars,” Zeph spat, his eyes flared and smoked as he looked at Janet. Her sister sat stiffly. “Where're the crops you promised us?” he whispered, his eyes never leaving his target. His hand opened to show a group of dark grey stones that he pushed against Netto's chest.
“Zeph,” Netto warned.
Rylie glanced at Da, who was standing at the helm, a laser rifle in his grip. Netto caught the stones before they fell and looked at them. No one said a word as he turned them over in his palm.
“Our livelihood is threatened,” Da said, calm as day. “You'll get your end after we get ours.”
“Are you so sure, old man? Because as far as I know, the lots in the Western hemisphere are doing fine.”
“With prices to match.”
Da raised his gun as Zeph turned toward him. Netto placed the stones with the others they had collected.
“You're already here,” Rylie said, not being able to hold her tongue any longer
“Yes. We are,” Zeph looked at her. His eyes didn't smolder her like Netto's. “What are you going to do about it?” The Cyborg pushed past Netto and advanced on her.
Chaos erupted and Janet screamed. A gunshot went off and water cascaded around them as Netto lifted Zeph and threw him into the ocean, following in after him.
It took her a moment to break from the shock and her sister rushing to the side before she was leaning over the edge too. The water swirled and foam floated toward the surface as she looked for the Cyborgs.
“Where are they?”
