“B-bitch,” he managed between gritted teeth.
She shook her head. “No points for wit though. Your insults are particularly uncreative.” Then she leaned down, until her lips brushed his ear. “This makes us even, Niklas. Until the next time.”
Nik’s curses were more creative than Dathan had ever heard from his strait-laced brother.
Darc straightened and stepped out of view. He didn’t hear her leave. He didn’t know where the hell she’d learned to be so quiet, but she never made a sound when she moved.
“Dathan, you need to go.Now.” Nik’s urgent voice.
“Ground’s gonna get supernova hot,” Zayn added in a cheerful tone.
The electrical charge from the Tase stunner cut out. Dathan pitched forward and hit the grit-covered ground. A rock jabbed into his cheek. He fought to gain back some control of his body. His fingers twitched.
“Dathan?” Worry scored Nik’s voice. His big brother always worried too much.
“He’ll never make the rendezvous,” Zayn said. “We’ll come to you, bro.”
No.Dathan didn’t want them down here. It was too dangerous. He managed to turn his head and bright light speared into his eyes. He squeezed his eyelids closed. The bright glare of the suns was burning now, searing his skin.
He managed to push to his knees and clawed at the small device sticking into his neck. He tossed it on the ground. He never let anyone willingly get the best of him. Not even his father on one of his drunken rampages.
But as Dathan kneeled there, dizziness making his head swim, he saw something that made his gut clench.
In the distance, the third sun was joining its partners. Their combined heat was moving across the landscape like a wave. Ahead of it was a giant cloud of steam where the heat was turning the ground molten.
Fuck.He got to his feet and staggered. He wasn’t going to make it.
Screw that. He set off down the street, ignoring the burning pain of the sun on his arms and neck. His pace wasn’t fast but he was moving. He gritted his teeth to stay upright. The thought that kept him going was picturing Darc’s face as he snatched the timepiece back.
A gust of hot air blasted dust into his eyes. He shielded his face. Shit, the heat wave had caught up with him.
He cracked open one eye. Nope, he hadn’t turned to molten soup. He looked up.
Ah, he’d never seen such a beautiful sight.
His salvage ship, theInfinitas, hovered above him. Her body was shaped like scorpione desert insects. A large movable tail was a powerful crane and the two large pincer claws at the front were excellent for in-space salvage.
In the angular, synth-glass cockpit at the front he could just make out Zayn at the control screen and Niklas’ large frame leaning over him.Idiots. They shouldn’t have risked themselves.
A titanium line fell in front of him, hitting the ground. He quickly snapped the clip on the end to his belt and in seconds, he was zooming upward.
Nik yanked him aboard. “He’s in!”
TheInfinitaspulled away with enough force to send Nik staggering and Dathan crashing to the metal floor. Salvage ships were usually lumbering and slow, but Zayn, along with their cousin, Mal, had added a few “extras” to the ship’s engines. Zayn liked to go fast.
“Not going to become fried Tanari hash today,” Zayn called out from the cockpit. “We’re clear of the suns.”
Dathan sat up. His brother handled the ship with amazing skill—left over from his time as a space fighter pilot with the elite Galactic Strike Wing. Dathan glared at Niklas. “You shouldn’t have come down.”
Nik clasped his shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
“If something had gone wrong?—”
“We’re all okay.”
Dathan shook his head. “Z, find Darc on the scanners.”
“There’s nothing on scanners,” Zayn said.
