“You’re right.” He managed a smile. “And I don’t have room for an uptight, rule-loving archeologist.”
She sucked in a breath.
“We have a fortune to find. Let’s leave it at that.” He strode into the crowd.
The item he’d bought at a stall before weighed heavily in his pocket. He was an idiot.
It was time to focus on Star’s End, not the woman he was taking there.
Eos hurriedto catch up with Dathan. All she could see was his stiff back.
The shine of Souk’s atmosphere dimmed. She’d been enjoying the never-ending whirl of people, smells, and sights. She could spend months here studying the different cultures and the wares of their planets. She saw the threads of history that had come from Earth among the stalls and they tantalized her.
But Dathan’s kiss had knocked her off-kilter.
And then his dismissal had left her reeling.
Ahead, a voluptuous woman in a swirl of colored skirts grabbed Dathan’s arm. She tugged him toward her impressive cleavage. The beaten coins circling her bare waist tinkled.
He shot her a welcoming smile. “Now, what are you selling, darlin’?”
Eos stopped behind him and stiffened. He looked like he’d be happy to take the trollop back into her tent and…
“Your fortune. My name’s Relda.” She coiled around him. “Let me tell you your destiny.”
Dathan rolled his eyes. “You make your own destiny.”
The fortune teller shook her mane of dark hair. “Lady Destiny is always in charge.”
“If you wait for the bitch to come calling, she usually smacks you in the head with something you never expected.” He softened the words with another roguish smile. “What else have you got that I might be interested in?”
So this was the kind of woman he liked? Eos sniffed. After kissing her, he was now going to proposition this scam artist right in front of her. “I’m heading back to the ship. We’re meeting your brothers, remember?”
He shot her a slumberous look over the dark head of the fortune-teller. “I’ll be there.”
Eos strode past him.Bastard.
She wasn’t sure why she was so angry. She didn’t want him.
She was halfway down the busy lane when someone brushed up against her. She turned, just as a hand clamped over her mouth.
Kicking out, she tried to scream, but the sound was muffled. She was yanked into the shadows of a stall. No one around them seemed to notice.
CHAPTER SIX
Dark memories crowded into Eos’ head. Of a time she’d been dragged kicking and screaming from her bed. Told her mother was dead and she was all alone.
But she wasn’t a child anymore.
She dropped her body weight, and heard a grunt behind her as her attacker stumbled. But then the assailant started dragging her backward, her feet leaving a trail in the dirt.
Her scream was silent and she stared back down the lane. She saw Dathan’s back. He was still at the colorful tent, and she willed him to turn around.
She saw him lift his head, was certain he’d glance her way. But he adjusted the bag on his shoulder and disappeared into the fortune-teller’s tent.
Gone.
Eos struggled with all her strength. Saving herself was up to her. Her attacker dragged her into a nearby building. A dilapidated wooden structure, empty except for a few crates.
