“I know all about bad dreams, believe me.” He moved up behind her. His big body was warm, his arms surrounded her. “This isn’t bad at all. Not when we’re together.” He nuzzled the back of her neck.
Her eyes fluttered shut. By the dagger, he was a distraction. “What are you doing, Phoenix?”
“This is real, Ria. This thing between us. I’ve felt nothing for two years, but you’ve brought everything back to life.”
She leaned into him. She’d always imagined living life alone but now she dared to think about sharing her life with this man. To imagine the adventures they could take each other on.
She opened her eyes and the wall in front of her shimmered. And vanished.
She gasped. “Zayn. Do you see?”
“Jesus. Yeah, I do.”
They weren’t in a hall and there was no staircase. They were in a massive room set up like a museum or art gallery. Pieces of art sat on pedestals or hung on the walls, all of them illuminated by warm lights.
Ria took a step toward the nearest pedestal. “Incredible.” It held a long, sinuous statue of a woman. It looked like the priestess art of the Isis Colony.
“Hell, yeah. Dathan would wet his pants in here.” Zayn circled a gleaming silver appliance. “An old Earth laptop. This is worth about ten million e-creds on the open market.”
“I never realized they had such a collection.”
“Ria.”
Something in his voice made her turn. He was pointing at the end of the room.
There was a small table made of stone, almost like an altar. It sat on a small dais and in the center of it sat a weapon.
An ancient Terran gun.
She moved to it. Zayn was beside her in an instant. The engravings on the side of it were quite beautiful for a gun that had assassinated an American President. A piece of history vital to the Guild.
“The Lincoln Derringer.” She reached out and lifted the gun from its holder.
“Here.” He held a black bag open. She set the piece of history inside like it was a fragile newborn baby.
“We did it.” She felt dazed. This was the thing she was sure would grant her freedom. Something that had once caused destruction would now do some good.
“We sure as hell did.” Zayn yanked her up on her toes and planted a kiss on her lips.
With a laugh, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back with every ounce of emotion in her.
Then a clicking sound echoed through the room. They broke apart.
Another clicking sound.
Ria realized the other pieces of art were retracting, one by one, into their pedestals. The paintings on the wall slid back into the paneling.
“Uh oh.”
Zayn frowned. “We should go.Now.”
They raced to the door. Ria moved to open it, but it was locked shut. She yanked and yanked. Zayn gripped the handle as well and pulled.
Locked tight.
Now another sound reached them. Footsteps. Quiet, even steps.
They spun.
