Bez didn’t notice Arly’s attempt at distance, staring at the other Tuann with glossy eyes.
If Bez was the traitor, Kira was having a hard time seeing it.His reaction seemed genuine.
There was a gasp from the other side of the ruins.
Kira looked over to find Az standing there.She looked like she’d seen a ghost.
As if unable to help herself, she drifted a step closer.“You’re alive.”
A sob escaped her.Then she was running.
Arly’s startled gaze found Kira’s right before Az crashed into her.Automatically, she curled her arms around Az’s trembling shoulders.
“Quite the heart wrenching reunion, wouldn’t you say?”Jin asked, coming up beside Kira.
“The question is whether it’stooheart wrenching.”
She couldn’t decide.
Jin’s expression was knowing as he looked up at her.“Trouble in paradise then?”
“When isn’t there?”
Jin chuckled as Kira crouched in front of the kneeling pirate.She poked him in the forehead.“Hello!Anyone in there?”
The human moved his head away from her with a nasty glare.
Kira grinned, enjoying his anger.It was always so fun to torment people like him.“Looks like we’ve got a live one, Jin.”
“Oh, goody.”
Maksym cuffed the human on the back of the head.“Watch how you look at her.I’ll dig your eyes out.”
The human demonstrated the lack of sense his species was sometimes known for as he glared over his shoulder.
Maksym’s lips curled into a cruel smile.“Someone’s quite fearless, aren’t they?”
The oshota looked like he was enjoying himself.
“Wren never mentioned your predilection for torture,” Raider commented.
Maksym shot him a close-mouthed smile that didn’t quite touch the rest of his face.“You’ve survived several training sessions under my tutelage and you’re just now realizing how much I get off on making others suffer?Tsk,tsk, little junior.I thought you were smarter than this.”
Jin made a strangled noise at Raider’s expression.
“None of you are making it off this planet,” the pirate snarled.
Arly kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling.He landed face first in the dirt, unable to catch himself since his hands were bound behind his back.“Speak when spoken too.”
The human managed to squirm onto his side.He spat at Arly.“You’ll die a dog’s death.My friends—”
“Yeah, yeah, they’ll kill us.We can guess.”Raider squatted in front of the stranger, taking Kira’s place as she moved away.“These friends—one of them wouldn’t happen to be a sniper, would they?Because if so, I have sad news for you.”
“Do you think he knows we already killed their ambush party?”Kira asked.
Raider snapped his fingers as if he’d forgotten.“Oh, right, the ones who bought themselves a dirt nap.”He smirked at the pirate.“Guess that makes you the last one standing, friend.”
Jin shifted closer to Kira.“I really hate when he does that.”
