Ria saw them spot Darwood who sat several tables away from her. She touched the communicator on her timepiece. “Keep it cool, Darwood.”
The small-time thief gave a jerky nod before slurping at his drink. He was wearing a tiny comm device in his ear that received and transmitted so she could hear the meet.
The Phoenix gang joined him around a tiny table, sinking onto the circular couches. Darwood bobbled his drink and spilled bright-blue liquid down his shirt. Ria rolled her eyes and touched her timepiece again. “Keep it together, Darwood. Calm down.”
She saw him try to relax, sprawling back and offering the Phoenix brothers a wide smile. Her jaw clenched. The idiot looked about as sincere as one of the sharp-toothed Graga monsters that lived in the Helix nebula. Sheneededthis to work. Sheneededthe Phoenix brothers to help her so she could get the Guild off her back.
“So, Darwood, you got us here,” Dathan said. “What have you got for us?”
Darwood leaned forward and set his elbows on the table. “You wanted information on this new player. Likes to leave a little metal bird behind.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“Well, I have info.”
“Then spit it out,” another voice said.
The low, dangerous tone sent a shiver through Ria. She knew that voice, deep in her soul.Zayn.
“He’s very mysterious. Doesn’t use a name and he isn’t selling his goods.”
A mumble. From Niklas.
“What else?” Zayn asked.
“Ah, well…”
Darwood stumbled on his words, and even from her table, Ria saw the beads of sweat glistening on his brow.
Zayn leaned forward. “You didn’t get us all the way out here to waste our time, did you?”
“No. No.” Darwood wiped a shaky hand across his mouth. “The thief likes jewelry. Expensive stuff.”
Zayn tossed a hand in the air. “Info we already know. Give us something good. Why’s he after our hunts? Where’s he from?”
Ria chewed on her bottom lip. If she didn’t give them something, they’d walk. She wasn’t ready to reveal herself. Not yet. But she needed them wanting what she had to offer. “The Devil’s Nebula. Tell him that’s where I’m from.”
Darwood’s gaze swung across the bar to her, his eyes wide.
“No,” she whispered frantically. “Don’t look this way! Just tell them.”Idiot.
“Ah, the Devil’s Nebula. She is…I mean he’s from there.”
Zayn stiffened and Dathan Phoenix swore, uttering some pretty creative curses Ria had never heard before.
“The Devil’s fucking Nebula.” Dathan’s hand pressed over the top of Eos’ on the table. “That place just keeps coming back to haunt us.”
Zayn was staring at the scarred surface of the table, his face hard as stone. “So, the thief is from one of the guilds.” He looked up. “Which one?”
“Ah, well.” Again, Darwood looked her way.
“Tell them you don’t know and quit looking at me,” she growled.
But Zayn’s head snapped up, like a predator scenting prey, and followed Darwood’s gaze, scanning the bar. Ria sank back into the shadows, her heart thumping. She ran her fingers down the side of her face, along the tiny, parallel ridges that her species were known for. The ridges were nestled against her hairline and dotted there in a darker brown than her skin, continuing down the side of her neck. They itched like crazy whenever she was nervous.
Like now.
“I don’t know which guild,” Darwood replied, tugging at his ear.
