At least they had not dishonored me by giving me a mediocre escort. No, they’d given me four guards, and they were armed to the teeth: two Kertinal, a Rummicaron like myself, and a Xurtal male with an extraordinary amount of gold marking his red arms. When I so much as looked at one of them, they raised their laser rifle to threaten me, except it came across as frightened, worried. And they should be, because even these four I could probably take; it just wouldn’t achieve anything or might put Dani at risk when I didn’t even know where she was.
That was a question soon answered; I caught her scent before I saw her. They had taken me to a room that probably had to pass for a lab, but even I could tell it was a bit of a mess. The benches had been hauled in recently and screwed to the floor. Scientific instruments and machines were placed haphazardly all over the place, some not even installed yet. There was also a wall with cabinets filled with all kinds of interesting chemicals. Some ofthoseI recognized, because I was well-versed in the making of bombs. The cabinet looked much like how someone who knew absolutely nothing about how to stock a lab might stock one.
Dani stood at the center of it all, her hands on her hips and her head bent in concentration. She was clean, dressed in a typical Aderian outfit, and clearly unharmed, at least physically. I drew in a sharp breath, full of relief I wasn’t supposed to feel. There was another Aderian in the room too, a woman I did not recognize. Her presence meant I had to push my feelings aside, hide them under the same conditioning I’d been trained for all my life.In the presence of another empath, I could not feel. I could not let anyone know how much Dani meant to me, or they’d use her against me.
It was rough, putting my fear and worry—my...love for her—back in its neat box. Stuff the lid on it and pretend it didn’t exist. But I managed, enough, at least, for the average empath not to know. When the woman turned to look at us, her expression revealed nothing. A mask of cool indifference that could make a Rummicaron proud. Still, I saw the resemblance in the high cheekbones and the arch of her black brows. This was Koratalin, Dani’s half-sister—the woman who’d stepped into her father’s footsteps and taken control of a massive empire of crime.
Dani also turned, her hair sliding with a swish over the gray fabric that covered her shoulder and our mating mark. It was a good thing it was covered, especially since there was another Rummicaron besides me in the room. I hated it anyway. A powerful surge of emotion rose up—one I needed to roughly shove back behind the walls it came from. If Koratalin sensed anything, she didn’t let on, but I saw Dani’s left eyebrow rise in question. She haddefinitelyfelt my emotions misbehave.
“He’s here,” Koratalin said. “Now get to work. You have until we reach my nearest Roka plant on Planet Thirty-two to finish it.” It was obvious that such a threat held no meaning to Dani; she didn’t have a clue where Planet Thirty-two was located. She might know it by its more colloquial designation: Sarpon. Even then, she would not know how long it would take the average ship to travel there. I did. Two months could seem like a long time, but I knew Dravion andhis work. I knew two months could mean nothing to a scientist.
“Thank you, Koratalin,” Dani said politely, and then my little scientist casually turned her back to her sister again and bent over the workbench. A dismissal, as if she were already lost in the work and had forgotten anyone else was even in the room. As if she didn’t care one bit where she did the work, as long as she coulddothe work. It was, quite frankly, a terrifying piece of acting, because I was almost convinced myself.
The crimelord’s expression tightened with displeasure, and her hand twitched at her side. It was tipped with metal and gem-studded claws that were decorative as well as functional—a tool to inflict harm. Not so much a weapon as a means to express her power over others. I shifted my body, ready to lunge and intervene if the female dared to strike out at Dani, but she didn’t.
Relaxing on my heels, I watched the female sweep toward the exit with a flutter of gold silk robes and blood-red embroidery. She never even acknowledged my presence, that’s how little I mattered to her plan. I was simply the hired guard who’d failed at his job; I probably had Dani to thank for not having been executed in my cell by now. She’d done or said something that had prompted them to take me here. Clever girl.
As Koratalin crossed the threshold, Dani called out. It was in a tone that, to my ears, sounded distracted, like it was just an afterthought. “Oh, your guards, outside please. I can’t think with all these feelings in the room.” It was then that I realized how truly defining Dani’s powerful empathy was. Koratalin’s expression turned furious, but shegave the males surrounding me a sharp nod. Out they went, trotting after her, and with a soft swish and a definitive click, the door locked behind them. What Dani had asked was so normal to the Aderian crimelord that she had not questioned it.
I crossed the room toward Dani, my mind spinning as I cataloged options along the way. My first desire was to draw her into my arms, to drop the shield dampening my feelings and revel in having her back at my side. But her words halted me in my tracks. “There are cameras on us, Jaxin. Don’t approach too closely, we must pretend we do not care about each other.” She had her head bent low over whatever she was working on, her hair shielding her face. She turned her face just enough to give me a glance over one slender shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re unhurt.”
Doing as she had told me was only possible because of the Rummicaron conditioning. It bucked and fought in my grip, struggling to control the powerful feelings underneath, but it held. I wandered closer, casually, anyway, because Ihadto be near her and assure myself she was fine. I did not have any empathy to count on to do so for me, the way she did. The palm of my hand itched with the desire to lay it against her spine, to test the curve of her rear, the shape of her waist, her ribs.
“We need to find a way to contact the Varakartoom,” I said under my breath. There were many devices in here, but none of them appeared capable of that task, however. I was no hacker like Mitnick, able to use nearly anything as a gateway into the wide-open universe. Very unfortunate, but it could not be helped.
“Don’t worry,” Dani said calmly. Now that I was closer, I could finally see what she was working on. Her anthracitehands were working with confident precision. Beyond her, on the counter, lay the open satchel with all the samples we’d gathered on Radin. Her tablet with her research was also right there, but a red warning flashing over the screen told me its communication function had been disabled.
“I have a plan,” she added, and she turned what she was fiddling with just enough for me to see that it was a small bomb. All emotional conditioning splintered in a rush. Damn it, yeah, I loved this female. I adored her. She built bombs! She was blazing perfect.
Chapter 23
Danitalin
To say that Jaxin liked it when I built bombs was an understatement. It was a very good thing that I already knew Koratalin was the only Aderian aboard the ship, and she didn’t have a gift for empathy. Jaxin’s secret was safe with me. “Lover,” I drawled, “you’ve got to remember the cameras. You can’t make love to me in here, even if youdolike an audience.” I grinned, finding brevity, lightness—even if our situation was still grim.
He coughed to cover the laughter that bubbled from his wide chest, his head ducking low to mask the surprise on his blunt, gray face. “I know that,” he said gruffly, but he was still amused. “I can’t help it… You’re just so damn sexy.” Primly, I informed him he was safe to feel whatever he wanted, because Koratalinonly had the ability to mask her own feelings, not sense those of others. Secretly, I loved what he’d said. Sexy? When had I ever been called sexy? Never.
“You’re going to have to give that to me,” Jaxin said once he’d regained control of his libido and his mirth. “We passed a spot from my cell to here that’ll make the perfect distraction with a little destruction.” I met his eyes, my fingers tightening around the small explosive device I’d been building, and fear rose, clouding my judgment. This was nearly the exact same plan I’d tried with Jeltom back on Radin. Jeltom had been shot, and it would have been fatal if not for Jaxin and his crew arriving shortly after. What if they caught my guy with the device and shot him? I was the one they couldn’t harm because they needed me to make the damn cure. That meant I should be the one taking the risk, shouldn’t it?
He was right, though; as much as it sucked to admit. I knew nothing of ships; I wouldn’t know where to place this bomb for the right kind of effect. I might end up blowing an exterior wall and getting sucked into the vacuum of space, or placing the bomb in a spot where it hardly did any damage at all. With the limited chemicals available to me, it wasn’t like I was able to make something big. Thiswasreally just a means to distract, not destroy.
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll have to pretend I’m working on the Roka pollution cure for a couple of hours. Koratalin will grow impatient soon enough, and then we’ll make our move.” He agreed with a low-voiced yes, his eyes flicking to the camera in the corner, full of suspicion. Then he turned to prop himself against the counter beside me, his arms crossed over his chest. I knew we had to move fast, in case his friends were still near enough to come to our aid. I had never heardof the crew of the Varakartoom, but Koratalin had seemed impressed to discover who my guard was.
What I hoped was that I could be right here with the samples and my tablet when Jaxin made his move. After all I’d been through, both on Radin and now here, I did not want to lose them at the last moment. This ill-outfitted lab would also be the best place to be when chaos started. I could create a few more distractions while I was at it; defend myself until Jaxin could come for me.
The thought of harming another made my skin crawl; the emotional backlash would be painful. To get out of here—with Jaxin and my research—was going to be worth it, I hoped. It kept me busy, that thought, as I whittled away the hours pretending to be occupied. Could I actually harm someone with the smaller versions of the bomb I’d created for Jaxin’s planned distraction? I was beginning to doubt it.
Jaxin was infuriatingly at ease in this situation, and I tried to let his calm anchor me, settle my nerves. It didn’t help—even when I tried his exercises, his low voice rumbling as he talked me through them—I couldn’t find the calm I sought. In the end, it was what I thought would be a fairly innocuous bit of work on my research that made me forget the time: the flower garlands. Even though we’d had them for over a day now, they had not begun to wilt, and when I pulled one from the bag to peer at it under a microscope, I discovered a preserving agent covered the leaves.
I was just about to take a smaller sample of that to analyze the components in one of the barely installed machines when she came. Just like I’d known she would. Koratalin could not curb her impatience. She knew better than most criminals that scientific work took time, that youcouldn’t rush an experiment, yet here she was, barging into the lab with a rush of perfume and silk, her impatience needling my skin like barbs. “Are you finished yet?” she demanded before she’d even made it fully through the door, on the heels of her bodyguard.
I lifted my head to feign a confused frown. “Finished? Oh, what time is it?” She had always thought I was the typical scatterbrained scientist, and now I let her believe it even more. “I’ve got my samples prepped for the next test; now I need to read and analyze data.” Glancing at Jaxin, I shrugged. “You can take him. I don’t need his presence for this next stage.”
Those words made alarm spike in Jaxin; he wasn’t ready to go, to leave my side. To look at him would undo my resolve, too—would let the fear take control—so I stoically kept my eyes on the microscope. If I looked, I would give away to Koratalin how badly I needed him.
With my skin prickling in unease and my fingers clammy from cold sweat, I waited. I might even have been holding my breath, but I was so focused on what was happening behind me that I didn’t notice. Koratalin was staring holes into my back, but she understood so little of my true process that she was ready to believe whatever I said.
She shrugged, the sound of her clothes a whisper in my ears. “You want me to lock him in your quarters for the night?” she asked—a question that at once filled me with hope and dread. This was a test. She’d teased before about how I must want Jaxin for sex, but really, that was all about figuring out the dynamics. Was there another way she could control me, and him? A way she could use us todo her bidding?
