“Let me guess,” I bit out. “For two hundred million.”
“Threehundred million.” Solan actually looked sorry, like this wasn’t how he wanted things to end between us. “You popped up on Korabon—alive, apparently—so we told him we could get the money for his cure-all. We tracked you here in the meantime.” He shrugged. “The rest is history.”
Black-market dealers were greedy fuckers, but still… “That’s a hell of a lot of currency.”
“It’ll wipe us out,” Solan said. “But at least we’ll have Maya.”
“There’s no guarantee of that.” They’d never acted like they were born yesterday. Why start now? “This guy could be pulling a fast one on you. He could take your money, hand you a useless saline solution, and disappear into the Dark forever.”
“You’re just trying to save yourself,” Raquel spat out, livid—probably because she feared exactly what I just said. She reached out, twisted her hand in the neck of my T-shirt, and pulled. “Our cruiser’s over at the next lodge. Start walking.”
Tess laughed from the ground. Little huffs and giggles leaked from her as she shoved herself up and sat against the wall of the bungalow. She blinked like her vision was fuzzy. I couldn’t believe she was even conscious. Was her A1 blood helping her?
Raquel let go of me and whirled on Tess, practically foaming at the mouth as she stomped back toward her. “You think this is funny?”
Tess laughed again. Raquel pointed the Grayhawk at her. Cocked it. I leaped forward, but Solan jerked me back, growling.
“Don’t!” I shouted, my heart banging in my throat. “You promised.”
Raquel’s lip curled. She lowered the Grayhawk.
“Not funny,” Tess mumbled. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Your drug is making me loopy.” She wrinkled her nose and blinked some more, looking owlish. “I can help.”
“Come again?” Raquel stared at her, so hostile I tensed. I’d seen her kick in someone’s teeth when they were down, and I had no doubt she’d do it again.
“I can help your daughter,” Tess said more clearly. “And I won’t even charge you three hundred million units in universal currency.” She pointed at me, her hand wavering. “I wanthimin exchange.” Her hand dropped, thunking into her lap again.
Raquel whipped back around, her laser-sharp gaze zeroing in on me. “Is she for real?”
“Shade, man, what the hell’s she talking about?” Solan sounded half pissed-off and half anxious with hope. Poor bastard.
I laughed. I threw back my head and laughed, just like Tess had. This was so fucking perfect.
“Yeah, she can help you. Assholes.” I strained against the cuff biting into my wrists. It didn’t budge. “And we both would’ve helped Maya if you’d just fucking asked. I have no hope of buying my docks back now. But I would’ve bought her life with that cure-all if you’d just told me—instead of this.”
Neither of them would look at me. Did that mean they were capable of guilt?
“Let him go,” Tess said.
“Not a chance, bit—” Raquel stopped, swallowed the rest of her insult, and tried again. “Tess. Show us what you’ve got and then we’ll decide.”
Tess struggled to her feet. She swayed and slid back down the wall, her hair clinging to the fake wood and falling in slow motion around her shoulders. She closed her eyes. Giggled. Took a few deep breaths. “You got an antidote for this stuff?”
Huffing like a dragon, Raquel tucked Tess’s Grayhawk into her belt, pulled out a small pistol, and shot Tess.
Tess gasped. Her eyes popped open, and her leg jerked up, a blue-tipped dart jutting from her thigh. The red-tipped one was still in her shoulder.
“You’re unbelievable!” I snarled. Raquel shrugged.
Tess blinked a few more times, scrunching up her face. She stood and ripped the darts from her leg and shoulder. “Wow. That works fast.” She looked at me and managed an odd smile. “See you in a few minutes.”
I nodded, some of the tightness in my chest easing now that she was up, steady, and moving again. Tess walked to the cruiser. Since we’d been doing essentially the same thing for Bridgebane in the privacy of my little ship, we had everything she needed to draw her own blood and pass if off as a surprisingly red cure-all.
Tess climbed into the pilot’s seat and looked out through the clear panel at me. She sat there for a moment, staring. Solan’s grip on my shoulder hardened until it hurt. “She’s gonna leave without you and screw us all over.”
My stomach dropped. She could lock up the cruiser. Ignite the engine. Meet Bridgebane. Go to Demeter Terre. All without me. “No.”
“She did before.” Solan didn’t need to remind me. Raquel murmured in agreement, her eyes fixed on Tess in the cockpit.
