Chapter 7
NIKOLAI
"Are you fuckinginsane?"
The words tear from my throat before I can stop them, echoing off the kitchen walls. Raven sits across from me, the picture of innocence with those wide blue eyes that I know damn well hide a calculating mind. My fingers clench around my coffee mug so hard, I'm surprised the ceramic doesn't shatter.
"Weallgo to Surhiira," he repeats, as if I simply failed to hear him the first time rather than questioning his sanity.
"That is the stupidest fucking idea I've heard since Reese suggested we use explosives to fish," I snarl, slamming my mug down. Coffee sloshes over the rim and onto my hand, but I barely notice the burn. "Let me repeat, since it clearly didn't sink in the first time—Surhiira shoots outsiders on sight. They're the most isolationist bastards on the fucking continent. We may as well walk into an active volcano."
"I hate to agree with Nikolai on anything," Geo rumbles from across the table, "but walking into Surhiira is suicide. Especiallyfor a band of wasteland rejects. Present company excluded," he adds, giving Cosima a lopsided grin that makes me want to put a fork through his remaining eye.
"See? Even the curmudgeonly pirate thinks so." I gesture at Geo, who immediately scowls.
"Watch it, Vlakov."
"Make me, shithead."
Raven groans and presses his fingers into his temple like he has a migraine.
The Knight lets out a low growl, his claws scraping loudly against the wooden table leg in clear warning. I still don't know what to make of this towering monster. I do know the way Cosima looks at him makes my skin prickle with jealousy.
Cosima sits there, still as a statue, her violet eyes moving from face to face as we argue. I can practically see the wheels turning in her mind as she considers Raven's idiotic plan. Her damp silver hair hangs loose around her shoulders, making her look more like a water nymph from old Vrissian folk tales than the high-society omega from Reinmich that she is.
She's beautiful when she's thinking, she's beautiful when she's laughing at my expense, and she's somehow most beautiful of all when she's simmering with rage.
Which is often enough.
"It's not suicide if we have the right approach," Raven says, leaning forward. There's an eagerness in his eyes that I recognize all too well. The thrill of the scheme, the con, the game. It's what made him so good at what he did back in the day. Before hedecided to throw all that potential away on running a glorified brothel. "We have assets they might value. Information, tech?—"
"They have most advanced tech on continent," I interrupt. "Theplanet, as far as any of us knows what's left beyond this shithole. What are you going to offer them? Your collection of exotic colognes?"
Raven's eyes narrow at me, but he doesn't take the bait. "We don't need to get into the capital. Just close enough to make contact. Use diplomatic channels."
"Diplomatic channels," I echo flatly. "That silver tongue of yours is only useful if you can manage to use it before they put a bullet in the empty space between your eyes."
"I don't seeyouoffering any better ideas," Raven points out, smug as ever. "And I don't know why you're so heated about this. It's not like your opinion matters. You'll follow her like a lost stray puppy regardless."
The accusation hits like a slap in the face, mostly because he's not wrong and we both know it. I open my mouth to fire back a retort, but Cosima's voice stops me short.
"Thereissomeone who would have the answers I want," she says, her violet eyes glinting. "Azarel's brother."
"Hisbrother?" I echo.
"Plague," she clarifies. "One of the Ghosts who kidnapped me."
I bark out a harsh laugh. "Oh yeah, great idea. Let's go knock on the Ghosts' cozy little retirement cottage right smack in the middle of a highly militarized territory known for its hostility to outsiders. They can gun us down humanely, assuming the feralmutant doesn't chew us up first." I glance warily at Knight. "No offense, big guy."
He growls in response. Growling is pretty much hisonlyresponse, but somehow I can tell this one's not friendly.
Cosima's eyes narrow. "Youdon't need to go."
"Bullshit," I snarl, leaning forward. The movement pulls at the wounds in my back, but I ignore the pain. "You think I'm letting you waltz into that den of vipers unprotected?"
Technically, she'd be far from that considering I know Knight will be there. And Raven, which means Geo will undoubtedly be tagging along. But leaving her side wasn't an option from the moment I laid eyes on her and caught her scent, even if she doesn't know it.
"You're just a mercenary the Ghosts paid to hold me captive," she cuts me off, her voice cold. "Why do you even care?"
