“Noted.” She glanced to Eve. “Damn shame you can’t count the kill and take the rank advancement.”
“I know. Did Venny find the orders?”
“Yeah. Straight from the PM.”
“Reason?”
“None listed.”
Jinx ran his hand through his hair. “I swear . . . ever since that attack last year, Quiakides just gets crazier and crazier.”
“I know. He’s convinced it was one of us who tried to kill him.”
“We should have knifed his son when Nykyrian took the blast for him. Little bastard.”
She scoffed. “Little? He’s the same hulking height you are.”
“I know. Still . . . Can’t believe we didn’t take the chance to eliminate them both.”
“Hindsight, my brother. All we can do is try to survive.”
“No. We need to find out who the idiot is setting us up, and hand them over.”
She nodded. “Failing that, we pick someone we hate most and frame them.”
Were they serious?
Jinx didn’t even hesitate. “That’s a frightfully long list. You want it chronologically or alphabetically?”
“Personally, I vote for my ATA.”
Shaking his head, Jinx sucked his breath in. “Yeah . . . no. Kyr’s never going to happen. We frame a Phrixian prince and that’s going to cause all kinds of other problems we don’t need.”
“Well, I have to get back. You heal up. We can buy you another day here, but you’d better return to barracks by tomorrow or all hell will rain down.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure I’ve already worn out my welcome here. If thezaranawill be kind enough to loan me her shower, I’ll be out of here and in my ship if y’all need me.”
“Sounds good.” She clapped him hard on his arm and then headed for the window.
“I have a door.” But it was too late.
Bête was already gone.
Jinx gestured at the door with his glass. “Hallway comes with a lot of witnesses. We don’t like those.”
“Noted.” Eve folded her arms over her chest. “What doeszaranamean? You keep using that for me.”
“Lady.”
“Ah . . . what language?”
“Euforian.”
“Well that explains your accent. I’ve never met anyone from Eufora before.” She picked up his empty plate. “Should I expect any more of your friends to pop in?”
“It’s not my friends you need to be afraid of. It’s my enemies.”
“Duly noted. With one of them being the Prime Commander of The League.”
