Shade and I looked at each other.Could it really be this easy?One click, and we were free of the bounty?
The page refreshed to show the database menu again. Bridgebane handed the tablet back to Mwende. “I don’t approve of your association, but I don’t want it putting my niece in additional danger, either.”
“First of all, I don’t give a damn about your approval,” I announced, incredulous. “Second, how aboutyourchoice of associates? You know, that mass murderer?” Grief surged up my throat so fast I choked on it. “The one who killed my friend? Who killed my mother?” My breath hitched, and I clamped my mouth shut.
Bridgebane went back to looking like a rock-faced asshole. “I’ve given you something you wanted—something that wasn’t even part of the deal. Now, do you have what I need for the Overseer?”
“Yeah, I’ve got what you need.” I jerked my pack off my shoulder and swung it in front of me. Unzipping it, I pulled out the insulated carrier case inside. I unzipped that also and showed him the six full bags of A1 blood.
“How do I know it’s yours?” he asked.
“Do you really think I’d risk them?” He’d threatened to haul either Mareeka or Surral off to prison, leaving Starway 8 with half its leadership missing and everyone’s hearts in tatters. If he tested this blood and it wasn’t what he wanted, he would make good on his dark promise. I knew that. I shoved the bag at him.
He didn’t touch it. “Give it to Lieutenant Mwende.”
“Whatever.” I handed her the cooler and then zipped my pack closed again, shouldering it. “Are we done here?”
A muscle in Bridgebane’s jaw tightened. “Do you have any questions you want to ask me?”
I frowned. I’d just handed over enough of my blood to make dozens of enhancers. I had plenty of questions, but I hadn’t expected him to offer—or be willing—to share information. “Yeah. How badly is that going to come back to haunt me?” I glanced at the bag Mwende was closing.
“That’s not the kind of question I meant.” Bridgebane pinched his forehead as though he had a headache. Or was maybe frustrated.
I scoffed. “Oh, is this the moment when you tell me ‘everything’? Like you offered on Starway 8 if I came with you and let the Overseer use me as a science experiment for the rest of my life? I thought that deal was off, and this was the replacement.”
“Quin—”
“Tess,” I hissed. “Quin died in space, after being floated fromyourair lock,Uncle Nate.”
Shit. I glanced at Mwende. Her ebony features didn’t change at all, so she was either unshockable or she already knew everything—and probably a lot more than I did.
“And I know he’s not my father,” I added. “He told me.”
That got a reaction from Bridgebane. He paled, his eyes shining an almost inhuman azure in a face suddenly gone as gray as ash. “He’s hunting you. You’re in danger.”
I laughed. Some temple-goer walking nearby shushed me, and I brought down the volume. The alcove was secluded, but we weren’t alone by any stretch. “If that’s your big information, it’s old news. About eight years out of date.”
His nostrils flared. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Fuck you,” I said. It just popped out, surprising me as much as him. Bridgebane’s eyes widened. He didn’t look angry. More…sad, and the stab of guilt that needled straight into my heart enraged me as much as the rest of this did.
Sanaa Mwende didn’t move, but lightning-hot fury boiled in the fixed stare she leveled on me. If my uncle said the word, I had zero doubt she’d grind my face into the temple floor and thoroughly enjoy it.
“This is your chance,” Bridgebane said with surprising evenness. “Use it wisely.”
I wanted to be as distant and icy as he’d been in the months leading up to Mom’s death and my faked floating. I wanted to give him the cold shoulder. Walk away, because I didn’t need him. His lies. Or truths. Or whatever bullshit he was going to feed me.
“Why do you protect Starway 8?” I blurted out.
His eyes shuttered. His whole face shut down like I’d just hit a nerve that paralyzed him. “Not that one.”
Why do I even bother?“Don’t offer info and then say no, asshole.”
“Don’t speak to me that way, young lady.”
My jaw dropped. “What the fuck?”
His eyes flared. “Your mother would have a heart attack if she heard your language.”
