There was no threat here worth his concern. Big mountain of guards aside, that dumb oaf got lucky. Walter underestimated how fast he could move. If anything, getting caught helped him. He’d been taken to the upper level and shown the way through the labyrinth of corridors to the captain’s inner sanctum.
He hadn’t been given any information about the maze of the secure level, but he knew many who would pay and pay a lot for a map. That map he almost had complete. It wouldn’t take much to finish it off. He didn’t have any more problems.
There were only a few men on this ship who would be able to track his whereabouts, and he now knew who to avoid. It wouldn’t be long now. He finished wiring the device in his hands and inspected every inch. There was only one chance for this to work and for him to get paid.
He froze when he saw Kassandra Kincaid rush toward the stairs below him. She looked so very angry. He hoped that whatever had befallen her was particularly evil. Women such as her needed to know their place, and the captain wasn’t strong enough to take her in hand. Perhaps she would be the first to die.
* * * *
Kass stood at the portal where her ship should’ve been docked. Fury streaked along her system like an icy wave. I’m going to shoot him this time. He had no right to do that. She spun on her heel and marched back through the loading area. She only recognized a few faces from the time she lived here before, and even then she didn’t know their names. She had allowed Julien to make her decisions and hide her away in the upper levels.
But, as she finally realized in the middle of the night, she was not the same woman she was then. She had evolved and was better for it. Julien hadn’t realized it, and up until now she’d suppressed that part of her she’d finally developed. That was about to end.
She marched to the lift and hit the switch. She’d seen Julien take this many times, but back then she’d been afraid of the small square that whipped up and down the levels a hell of a lot faster than taking the stairs would be. In a matter of moments she’d arrived at the upper level and pushed open the swinging door.
Grizz stood at the end of the hall, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at her. “Don’t be pissed at me,” she tossed over her shoulder. He’d made it very difficult to get off this floor without detection, and obviously Julien assumed she would only take the stairs.
“How dare you!” she snapped out as soon as she cleared the door to his office. Miguel wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She’d assumed that they were together.
Julien arched an eyebrow at her. “How the hell did you get down there?”
At least he wasn’t going to play a game in regards to the topic she was pissed about. “What has that got to do with anything? That was my ship, Julien. You had no right to send it away without clearing it with me first.” She smacked her hand down on the desk in front of him. “The crew are my friends. My family. I take care of them and they take care of me.”
“Not that well. I managed to take over your ship easily enough.” He stood up and braced his hands on the desk, leaning toward her. “If they couldn’t stop me, Kassandra, then anyone could get on there and hurt you.”
“Stop with the false modesty, Julien.” There was a time she might have felt intimidated by his tone, but that was then. “You and I both know that few people could’ve gotten to me.”
“But they could’ve gotten to you.”
“It wasn’t up to you to protect me!” Fury burned in her stomach. She was tired of people trying to control her. “I’m good at what I do, Julien. I understand what they’re going through and I help.”
“You’ve helped enough.” Julien sat down as if the matter was settled. “I will not risk you.”
“You don’t have the right to stop me.”
His violet eyes brightened with an icy calm she knew hid his true feelings. “I’ve every right to protect what’s mine.”
“What happened yesterday changes nothing. I’m not yours.” She turned and stalked toward the door. She was going to say something awful if he kept pushing her.
She only made it three steps when his hand closed around her upper arm. He spun her around, and the momentum took her against his chest. “Don’t you walk away from me again, Kassandra.”
His grip was tight enough that she couldn’t yank out of it. For a moment she debated trying to flip him, but she knew he wouldn’t fall for that again. “I will not stay somewhere I’m seen as a porcelain doll. I’m not a toy you put on a shelf and look at until you’re ready to play with me.”
“I can’t bear the thought of you ending back in a den, Kassandra. It would break you.”
Slave dens were the seventh level of hell in her mind, but it wouldn’t break her. She’d survived one before and knew her fate if she ended up in one again. She’d die fighting before she wore slave cuffs again. “I’m not some weak, pathetic creature, Julien. My past does not define me.” Miguel’s words rang in her memory, and she took strength from the truth.
Julien let her go and stepped away. She saw a defeat in his gaze she’d never seen before and it broke her heart. “You’re right. But, I’m not sorry I let Raz and Gabe take your ship.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I want you back, Kassandra. I want you to be here and I want Miguel to round out our trio.”
“I can’t stay here when I know that there are people that need my help.”
“But it’s not about helping people anymore, is it, Kass?” Miguel strode into the room, his expression completely closed off. This was not the man who’d snuggled against her breast in the middle of the night and offered an alternate point of view.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
Miguel moved his hand from behind his back. In his hand was the package she’d meant to send to Dev and Gil. She glared at him. “What are you doing with that?”
“I might ask you the same question.” He strode to the side and placed it on the sideboard before leaning against the wall next to it.
“Would someone like to tell me what that is and why it’s on my ship?”
Kass shot a glare at Miguel and then leveled a look at Julien. Neither of them knew what they were talking about, and she wasn’t going to be treated like a criminal. “It’s a package I would’ve had in the hands of the proper owners if someone hadn’t arrogantly decided he knew what was best for me.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Miguel added.
“No, there isn’t.” She looked over her shoulder at Miguel. “I was asked to return this package to its rightful owners.”
“And if the information contained in the package was used to further the power of evil men, would that make it all right to return it to its rightful owners?”
“Information can be used equally for good or for evil. I trust the men whom that belongs to and will see that it gets to them.”
“Are you sure your loyalty isn’t influenced by the fact that you rescued them from a slave den, Kass?”
Kass blinked at Miguel’s revelation. “How did you know that?”
“I said I’ve been watching you for a while. I don’t think that surviving a pit is really any true reason to trust them.”
“If you know so much about me, then you know my past.”
Miguel shared a look with Julien over her shoulder. She turned a questioning look at Julien. “I told him about you long ago.”
Kass nodded. Her years of freedom looked like anything but at the moment and more like she had been let out on a long leash. “It looks like I never was taking care of myself.”
“Oh, you were taking care of yourself.” Miguel nodded toward Julien. “He heard rumors of your escapades but didn’t know I was following you from time to time.”
“How many times have you gone through my belongings?”
Miguel answered, “You were staring at the desk so intently last night. When people think about things, they tend to stare off into space. You were fixated on the desk, and I wondered what it was that you had hidden in there.”
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“Since you knew I’d relocated something from the false bottom of the trunk.”
“I wondered what it was that you had smuggled in here and hidden,” Julien said, revealing that he’d gone through her trunks after she’d hidden the packet.
Kass swallowed her anger that both of them had rifled through her belongings. She would’ve done the same thing in their situation.
“Alchemy is only going to exacerbate this war.”
“This war is growing by leaps and bounds and not simply between the New and Old Worlds. The New World is dividing up amongst itself. This is nothing but another weapon in a war that’s being waged by men who don’t care what happens to the humans they consider nothing more than cannon fodder.”
“And giving those downtrodden the ability to purchase more weapons is the right thing to do?”
“It is if it means leveling out the playing field.” Kass crossed her arms. She believed in this and wanted to help. “Alchemy is an ancient art of unpredictable consequences. It might work, it might not, but we don’t have the right to make a decision about who should and shouldn’t have it. This is merely a part of a larger puzzle. I’m not responsible for gathering all the pieces and fitting them together. I merely found one part and am giving it to them.”
“What do you know about these two men?” Julien asked Miguel.
“Nothing,” Miguel answered from where he leaned against the wall. “I imagine that they have changed their names a few times over. Tracing their past is virtually impossible.”
Julien strode around his desk and sat down. He glanced over a page and made a couple notes on the edge of the paper. “I’ve ordered the twins bring your ship back. They should be here within the hour.”
Part of Kass wanted to leap for joy, but another part stood uncertain of where this left them. Miguel stepped up next to her and handed her the package.
“Thank you.” She accepted it.
“Please be careful, mi corazón.”
“You’re not following me?” She didn’t completely understand what Julien’s plan was here. He was reading over pages on his desk as if nothing was wrong.
“Not this time.” Miguel walked over to a chair on the other side of Julien’s desk and stared at him as if he wanted to tell him something.
Kass backed up a few steps, not entirely certain this was the end of the conversation. Her mind was already going over what she was going to need. It shouldn’t take too long to get to the rendezvous point. She’d be a few hours late at this point, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Turning and walking away tore at her heart. Is this the end? For good?
“Kassandra?”
She looked over her shoulder and met Julien’s violet gaze. His face was void of emotions, something she’d never seen on him. “Will you be back?”
A simple question and one word could define her future. She’d never stopped loving Julien, but she wouldn’t run away like a frightened child again. When she returned, she would tell him the truth about what she’d seen and why she left. For now, they were letting her do what she needed to do. It was a step in the right direction.
“Yes, I’ll turn around straight away and return. This shouldn’t take me more than a day or two on the outside.”
Julien nodded and then looked back down. Kass stepped through the door, trying to figure out what he was playing at. The door whooshed open behind her and she turned in time to be swept up into Julien’s embrace.
His lips claimed hers in a kiss that promised everything she ever wanted. “I love you, Kassandra. Come back safe to us.”
Kass understood what it was taking Julien to let her go like this. What he was giving up. “I love you, too, Julien. I’m coming back. I promise.”
He smiled and pressed another quick kiss against her lips before turning her into Miguel’s embrace.
Miguel wrapped his arms around her, tucking her under his chin. “Don’t believe for a moment that I’m happy with this either. I understand, but if you’re injured in the smallest way, it’ll kill me.”
She looked up into his expression. His large dark-brown eyes held as much emotion as Julien’s had. “I’m very lucky to have two men who care this much.”
“I do love you, Kass. I know we don’t know each other as well as Julien, but I want to have many years to learn every secret you hold.” He pulled her up onto her tiptoes and claimed her mouth with a passionate kiss that brought tears to her eyes. She clenched her jaw to stop from saying something she wasn’t ready to admit. It was too soon. Julien came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and Miguel. She reached behind her and gripped his waist as she wrapped her other arm around Miguel. “I’m going to miss sleeping like this. I’ve never slept as well as I did last night.”
“You come back to us and we’ll go straight to bed.” Miguel kissed the top of her head. “I promise.”
Kass laughed and took a deep breath, memorizing the scent of the two of them surrounding her. There was always a risk on any mission or drop-off, and if the worst happened, she wanted a memory that no one could take away from her.
* * * *
Letting Kass walk away from them was the hardest thing Miguel had ever done. She finally insisted on them letting her go so she could get the things together she needed. He’d offered to help, but she said she didn’t trust herself near a bed with either of them close. Which had been his idea. He’d planned to fuck her senseless and then go on the damn mission as she slept.
Julien had a hold of his hand and was pulling him back into the office with him as Kass walked in the opposite direction. The door slid shut behind them and Julien turned and wrapped his arms around him. “I’m scared, Miguelito. What if something happens to her?”
“Nothing will happen to her.” Miguel cupped Julien’s jaw and looked straight into his beautiful eyes. “You did what you needed to do to prove to her that you trust her. I’m going to stow away on that damn ship.”
Julien’s mouth came down hard on his with a passion that conveyed all the terror and love between them. Miguel knew this because it was exactly how he was feeling. His cock hardened and pressed against his pants, pushing against Julien’s erection. They clung to each other, whispering words of love and promises.
“Watch out for Walter Miller,” Julien said. “He’s good. Grizz caught him sneaking around up here. I’ve no doubt that Kassandra would have an excellent and talented crew, but there was something about him that seemed wrong. I don’t trust him.”
“No one will get near her without me knowing exactly who they are.” Miguel pressed another kiss against Julien’s swollen lips. “And another thing, if either of those twins lays a hand on her, I’ll shoot them.”
Chapter Eight
Three hours after leaving Atlantis, Kass felt more alone than she had in the two years she’d been on the run. The Aphrodite docked with Atlantis an hour after Julien told her he was letting her go. Thankfully Raz and Gabe hadn’t dropped any of her crew off yet, so they were all still onboard when they returned. It took another hour for her to inspect it and get her ready for another flight so quickly.
Julien had wanted to raise Atlantis and make it easier, but she thought that ridiculous. Docking was the hard part. Leaving was as simple as releasing the clamps and slowly rising to the surface. From there it was no different than lifting off from the ground. Water displacement meant the engines had to work a bit harder, but she’d learned a bounce technique long ago that helped save strain on the engines.
It took some getting used to, as the twins found out. Kass discovered that both men were very intelligent, witty, and strong but Raz didn’t have a stomach for flying. He’d turned as green as a lagoon by the time she’d gotten them up into the air and coasting on the currents.
“Kass, I beg you. Never ever do that again.” Raz sat sprawled out on a bench with his head resting back against the wall. He’d returned to his normal coloring but still laid a protective hand over his stomach.
“I’m surpri
sed a big guy like you doesn’t have a better constitution like your brother.” Kass grinned as she nodded over at Gabe before looking back down at the air charts, planning their flight.
“He’s afraid of snakes,” Raz was quick to reply, making Kass laugh. The two of them had seemed so intimidating when she’d first met them. She liked seeing this more natural side. She’d been pissed when they’d insisted on staying on board. If Julien had ordered them to, she’d have taken offense on principle, but she knew they hadn’t had a chance to speak to him. They asked her permission to stay aboard first, which she appreciated.
Kass moved along the table making marks on the large map resting there. She marked the path of least resistance but also the quickest route there. She wanted to get in and out fast and back to Atlantis.
“Um, Kass. What does this light mean?” Gabe pointed at the small flickering red light next to the control panel.
Kass clenched her teeth. Someone was going to get their ass kicked. “Gentlemen, I’ve marked out the path we’ll follow for the next five hours. Please keep us on track and watch for lights here and here.” She pointed at two lower ones on the panel. “If they light up that means that the area has been taken over by the New World militia and we’re about to have our asses shot out of the sky.”
“Do you need help with that other light?” Raz asked.
“No, that’s something I can take care of myself.” She secured the maps and markers. “The button on the side of my chair will alert the galley if you’re hungry. You can ring for tea when you’re ready.”
“That button is broken, Kass”—Gabe gave her a curious look—“didn’t your crew tell you?”
Kass couldn’t help but smile. It looked like her crew wasn’t as helpful as they tried to act. “I imagine now that I’m back on board, it’s working fine.”
Davies, Corinne - Steam-Driven Seduction [Steampunked Lust 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10