“I’m going to head over to the scrap storage.” The woman was close enough now that Ria saw a fine-boned face and large purple eyes. “You take the junk staging area.”
The woman with the beautiful eyes walked away, but Zayn stayed where he was, his gaze probing the shadows. Seconds later, he turned and headed toward the staging area.
Ria finally let her muscles relax. She waited until he was far enough away and then moved toward the next patch of darkness, stepping into an area of light on her way.
Zayn whipped around again. This time he couldn’t miss her, and she saw his eyes widen.
She expected him to yell for the others, but instead he ran toward her.
Ria turned and sprinted.
She dodged around lumps of metal and scrap parts of all sizes. She leaped up onto a pile of jumbled steel and jumped off it. She had to reach the huma-dome. Outside of it, there was little atmosphere, and Zayn couldn’t follow her. Her suit would provide a minimal amount of air and let her reach her tiny scoutship.
She shouldn’t have come here. She should have stuck to her plan, contacted them with more information and lured them in for the hunt.
But she’d wanted to see him.
She dodged around a battered engine taller than she was and slammed into something hard and warm.
On instinct, she struck out, catching Zayn in his belly. The air rushed out of him with anoofbut the guy had muscles of steel, and she felt the pain vibrate through her entire right side.
Ducking under his arm, she ran again.
She got three steps before a hard body hit her from behind and tackled her to the ground.
Ahead, she saw the huma-dome, inches away.Dammit!
“Got you.” He shifted and yanked her to her knees. His arms wrapped around her from behind, solid and intractable.
She tested her strength against him, but he didn’t yield. She was fit and strong, but even she knew her limits. The only way to get away from him was to hurt him…and she didn’t want to do that.
The others came running.
“What have you got there, Z?” Dathan asked in a lazy tone.
“Well, at first, I thought it was Darc. She likes this type of body armor.” Zayn’s warm breath puffed against the back of her neck, the only place that wasn’t covered by the suit.
“That’s not Darc,” Nik said.
Ria had heard of Nera Darc. The stories had to be exaggerated, but even so, they were shocking enough that Ria never wanted to meet the notorious treasure hunter.
“Nope, not Darc.” Zayn agreed. “This one has many more curves packed into her skintight suit than Darc.”
Ria was trying to work out her next move. Then she felt his fingers on her helmet. He found the release and yanked it off. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders.
The others stared at her, with a blend of curiosity and anger.
Zayn whipped her around.
He blanched, every drop of color leaving his face. His hands fell away and he reared back. “No. It’s not possible.”
The way he was looking at her… Ria felt her heart start to pound. A dark beat that echoed in her ears.
“What’s wrong, Z?” Dathan stepped forward, his brow scrunched. “Who is she?”
Ria opened her mouth to introduce herself, but Zayn spoke first.
“Her name—” he shook his head, his face still white “—her name is Commander Viktoria Anders.”
