“He better be.If he falls, he’s your responsibility.”
Gus wasn’t going to waste her energy on someone with no concept of their own limits.
Harsh.But, in Gus’s experience, that was life.
“Wait here,” Gus told the other two a couple hours later as they lingered on the periphery of deck sixteen.
The slums, as locals called it.
The roughest part of the station.Where homeless congregated in bays once meant for other things.Those who could secure a room down here were usually connected in some way.Either to the pirate clans that used Titan as a base of operations or the information guilds that had a strong presence on the station.
It was a dangerous, lawless place that most visitors tried to avoid.
If Gus had her preference, she wouldn’t have brought Anandra and Caius here, but desperation made for strange bedfellows.
Also, this was where her contact had chosen to set up shop.
Gus plunged into the teeming mass of people, careful to avoid the child pickpockets roaming freely in the halls.Feral things who would shiv you as soon as look at you.
Stopping at one of the transient stalls obstructing the pathway, Gus scanned their wares, choosing a bright red and orange woven jacket with a hood.The largest she could find.She swiped a pay chip over the stall’s scanner before making her way back to the other two.
“Put these on,” Gus ordered, handing Caius the jacket.
It wasn’t large enough, Gus realized unhappily a moment later when the arm and chest area strained around Caius’s overlarge muscles.
“What are they feeding you?”Gus muttered.
Who needed muscles that big?
No one.That’s who.
Caius arched an eyebrow.“Most women appreciate my physique.”
Gus barely held back her snort.“Next time you need saving, perhaps you should go find one of them then.”
For half a second, Gus debated handing over her cloak.But nope.She wasn’t the one who’d exercised so much that even the largest sized clothing available was unable to contain his bulging majesty.He could stay looking like an overstuffed sausage.People would just assume he was vain.
Caius drew a few strange looks as he and Anandra followed her onto the concourse.Most of the humans they passed were careful to give him a wide berth, but Gus noticed several young toughs along the wall eying him like fresh meat, trying to gage their odds of coming out the winner in a brawl.
After a moment, they shook their heads, moving off as they decided Caius was more trouble than he was worth.
“At least someone appreciates my muscles,” Caius purred next to her ear.
Gus shrugged him off.“More like, they’re leery of your possible affiliation.”
As small fish in a small pond, these boys survived by being careful about who they preyed upon.Due to Caius’s size and the way he moved—like someone aware of his surroundings—they probably assumed he belonged to one of the floor gangs or pirate clans.
If these boys knew the truth, that Caius was alone and injured, they wouldn’t have hesitated to accost them.
In fact, that might still happen.
Not wanting to chance it, Gus hurried Caius and Anandra along.Thankfully, no one stopped them or tried to pick a fight with Caius, allowing the rest of the journey to pass peacefully.
It wasn’t long before they reached their destination.A restaurant in a little visited corner of deck sixteen that operated out of one of the cargo bays.
Natalie’s was a staple of the slums.One of the few places to stay in business despite the rampant vandalism that was a daily part of life for most other businesses on the level.
For some reason, no one ever touched Natalie’s.Gus had never been able to figure out why.Though she suspected it might have something to do with Kevin, Kyle’s brother.She’d heard whispers that he was a highly sought after art and jewel thief.Any time there was a high profile heist in the Consortium, people on Titan blamed his crew.
