His gaze dipped to her lips, and Alix could almost swear a hungry look darkened his eyes, but he quickly looked away. He cleared his throat, then turned to face Zarina. "Behave," he warned her before reentering the pub.
Zarina pursed her lips into a becoming pout until the door closed behind him. She looked down at Alix and smiled. "You've got a crush on Devyn."
The words startled her. "What?"
Zarina nodded, a knowing smile on her face. "I saw the look the two of you exchanged when you touched. The heat from it almost scorched me."
Alix opened her mouth to deny it, but wasn't sure what to say.
"Don't worry. I know just the thing you need to get his attention. Listen to me, and we'll have his gorgeous body in your bed before another week elapses!"
Chapter Three
Heat stung Alix's cheeks as she stared at Zarina in disbelief. "How do you know what it takes to get Captain Kell in—"
"Relax," Zarina interrupted her. Shaking her head, she said quietly, "You could give Taryn lessons in hostile tones."
She took Alix by the arm and started walking slowly down the corridor. "I have no physical interest in Devyn. He's like a brother to me. He, Sway, and my brothers used to terrorize me when I was growing up. Not that they've changed much now, but at least I can get away from them on brief occasions."
Alix frowned at her words. "Why do your brothers leave you alone to travel with Taryn?"
Zarina laughed and squeezed her arm. "Taryn is one of my many overbearing, overprotective, overly obnoxious brothers."
Alix scanned her suspiciously.
"I know we don't look anything alike," Zarina said with a sigh. "Taryn looks like our mother, who's human, and I look like our Deucalion grandmother. Leave it to me to get all my father's recessive genes. You can't imagine what it's like looking Deucalion while your mother and siblings look human."
Alix bit her lip, a wave of empathy washing over her. She understood only too well the isolation and bitterness that came from being different. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."
Zarina shrugged. "Don't worry. I'm used to it. Anyway, back to you and Devyn."
"There's nothing between us," Alix hastened to assure both herself and Zarina. "I work for him and that's it."
Zarina pulled her to a stop and probed her with a stare that seemed to see all the way to her soul. "But you want more?"
"No," Alix said calmly, knowing she denied the truth. "All I want is enough money to buy my own freighter and have my own life."
Zarina cocked a suspicious eyebrow. "Alone?"
"Alone." Alix had the distinct feeling Zarina didn't believe her, but Zarina said nothing else as she led the way into the restaurant.
They ate their meal in a chatty camaraderie.
Alix found Zarina a good listener, with more insight than a sage, and a sense of humor that kept her laughing throughout all six courses.
As they finished their rich triata cream dessert, Zarina locked gazes with her. "You know, Devyn's not the pacifist you think he is."
Alix looked up with a smile. "I can't imagine him hurting anyone. He's just too nice."
Zarina shook her head. "Stay on his nice side. Believe me, you don't ever want to see him angry."
Licking the back of her spoon, Alix thought over Zarina's words. "He doesn't even have weapons on his ship. Systems disrupters are the only protection we have. For a dangerous man, he certainly has mild toys."
Zarina's face turned serious. "Never underestimate anyone. Devyn knows he can outfly anything a HAWC Prober or enemy might have, and the disrupters are just a safeguard in case he has a malfunction while being chased." She scooped up a large spoonful of cream. "Trust me, Devyn isn't the type of man you want to cross."
"Okay," Alix said with a smile. "I'll do my best not to try his patience."
Zarina returned her smile and set her spoon on the table. "I don't know about you, but I can't eat any more."
Mischievously, she glanced around the room. "Why don't we take my brother's card and buy ourselves something expensive and useless!"
"Excuse me?" Alix asked.
"Don't look so shocked. He deserves it after sending me off like an errant child. The least I can do is erode some of his balance."
Zarina's words and obvious dislike for her brother confused her. "If Taryn bothers you so much, why don't you buy a shuttle ticket to go wherever you want to?"
Zarina pursed her lips and declined using Devyn's debit card for their meal. Instead, she ran Taryn's debit card through the table payment slot and punched in an enormous tip. "Taryn is the lesser of my banes. If I abandon him without a proper escort, my parents will sic ten bodyguards on me for the rest of my natural life."
"What?"
Zarina rose to her feet and led Alix out of the restaurant. "Our father is the Kirovion Emperor," she said, her voice full of disdain. "If not for my brothers and their extremely overprotective natures, I'd be stagnating in the summer palace, and not out here annoying Taryn."
With a speculative frown, Zarina paused in front of a clothing shop and eyed several pricey dresses. "In fact, my staying with Taryn is punishment for disappearing from my brother Tiernan's side while he was visiting a friend in Quiyarda Square."
Zarina sighed and scanned the other shops around them. A slow smile curved her lips.
Alix shook her head in amusement. By the look on Zarina's face as she headed into the jewelry shop across the corridor, she knew Zarina had found her revenge.
Zarina paused in the doorway to allow her to catch up. "My parents figured Taryn would keep a tighter leash on me." She walked up to a long glass case in the center of the store and pointed to a huge, expensive taria necklace. "Now, if I have to wear a leash, that looks like a most attractive one. What do you think?"
Alix widened her eyes in appreciation. The clear, perfectly formed necklace would dazzle anyone. "I think your brother will kill you for spending that much money."
Zarina smiled like a hunting virago after its prey. "Won't he, though?"
Despite herself, Alix had to laugh. Zarina's carefree good humor wouldn't allow anyone to fault the princess for her shortcomings. "So how is it Taryn doesn't have a bodyguard?"
"He does. Didn't you see the two Deucalions sitting at the table next to his in the Runner's Den?"
Alix shook her head.
With a half-smile, Zarina took her hand and led her to the glass window at the front of the shop.
"There's one of them now," she said, waving at a tall Deucalion male who stood outside the shop with a stern frown on his face as he watched them. "He joined us in the restaurant not long after we sat down, and he won't let me out of his sight until I get back to Taryn."
Alix stared at the Deucalion, wondering how he had escaped her attention. "I didn't even notice him."
"You're not supposed to. They hang back until someone unfamiliar approaches; then they make their presence known rather rudely."
Zarina turned around and headed back to the case. She stopped a passing saleswoman and pointed to the necklace. "I'll take that, please."
Though Zarina was about as spoiled as any person Alix had ever met, she possessed a strange charisma. It wasn't that she demanded anything; she just assumed no one would ever deny her requests.
Alix watched the clerk take the necklace out of the case and hand it to Zarina. Without a care for the price, Zarina gave the clerk her brother's card. Alix shook her head in amusement. She couldn't even imagine having enough money to afford one small taria ring, let alone the necklace Zarina was securing around her neck.
Moving to stand next to Zarina, she frowned. "I think I'm confused. Sway, Devyn, Taryn, and you come from such different backgrounds. How did all of you meet?"
Zarina smiled and patted her shiny new leash. "Devyn's father and Sway's mother worked for my father. They ended up good friends, and by the time all of us were born, they were inseparable, which made us inseparable."
"Hey," Zarina said, go
ing to the next case. "That's perfect!"
Alix frowned and looked down at the dark blue vizier choker. Her mouth opened at the intricate workmanship that had interlaced white and clear tarias with the vivid blue stones.
"I'll take this, too," Zarina said to the clerk.
After the saleswoman handed it to Zarina, she turned and placed it around Alix's throat.
"What are you doing?" Alix asked breathlessly, a chill rising on her neck from the coldness of the choker.
"It's a perfect match for your eyes," she said, turning Alix to face a mirror. "See how it makes them darker? That'll get Devyn's attention."
Shocked, Alix just stared at the sparkling choker around her throat. Her mind couldn't comprehend Zarina's generosity. "You're buying this for yourself, right?"
"Don't be silly," Zarina scoffed. "What would I want with a blue choker? It'd look queer with my eyes."
Afraid to touch anything so costly, Alix unfastened the catch and handed it quickly back to Zarina. "I can't take this."
Before Zarina could protest, Devyn and Taryn entered the shop. Taryn had a fierce look on his face as he pierced his sister with his gaze. "How much did you bleed my account?"
Zarina ignored the question, placed the blue choker in a box the saleswoman had provided, and handed it to Alix, her hands lingering on Alix's. "I want you to have this," she said with a sincerity that brought a lump to Alix's throat, "so don't say no, or you'll hurt my feelings."
She looked back at Taryn and tossed her hair off her shoulder with a careless shrug. "I'll reimburse you for Alix's gift. But you owe me my necklace for what you did last night."
A blush spread across Taryn's cheeks, and Alix wanted to know what had happened so badly she almost asked. But from Taryn's face as he walked to the clerk to retrieve his debit card, she didn't think it wise.
Devyn cleared his throat and diplomatically changed the subject. "We need to get back and swap freight. I'd like to dock in Paradise City by the end of the week."
Taryn returned and handed Zarina another box. "You might as well have the earrings, too," he mumbled gruffly before leading the way out of the store.
A slight smile played on Zarina's lips as she stared after her brother. "I really hate it when he's nice. He knows just what to do to make me feel guilty."
Alix smiled at her dire tone.
Pursing her lips, Zarina linked arms with Alix and Devyn, and the three of them followed Taryn back to the bay.
"Where's Sway?" Alix asked.
"Claria came in not long after you two left," Devyn said. "He should be on board the ship."
Zarina's arm tightened around Alix, and she gave Devyn a calculating smile. "So, Dev, when are you going to calm down and get married?"
Anxious in spite of herself, Alix looked over at him. An angry tick beat in his jaw that surprised her.
"You know the answer to that," he said, his voice hard, his gaze brittle.
Alix swallowed at his strange reaction. Normally, he appeared so even-tempered that she couldn't believe just a question could elicit such an emotional response.
His eyes filled with pain, Devyn left them and went to open the cargo hatch of the Mariah. Biting her lip, Alix looked to Zarina for an explanation.
Zarina sighed and shook her head. "It's a long story. I keep hoping he'll get over it, but I guess it just epitomizes his career in the HAWC."
"Devyn was in the HAWC?" Alix asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Zarina answered, her voice shaking. "But don't ask him about his training. He gets in a nasty mood at the mere mention of it."
Alix watched Devyn program the cargo robots to exchange crates with Taryn's ship.
She just couldn't quite believe everything Zarina had told her about Devyn. In the last three days, he hadn't even raised his voice to anyone. Everything he did, from evading probers to dealing with irate controllers, he did with a calm, good-natured gentleness.
"I'd better go see if I can help him," Alix said. "I'd hate to be fired so soon."
"All right, but just remember what I told you about men and how to attract them."
"I'll remember," Alix said with a smile, thinking about all the outrageous things Zarina had suggested she try, things she knew she could never do. "Thanks for the choker. I've never had anything so nice, or beautiful."
Zarina returned her smile. "You deserve it, and more. Take care of yourself, and watch Devyn's and Sway's backs."
"I will."
Zarina nodded her head before walking toward Taryn's ship.
As she placed her hand over the box in her pocket, a warm rush flooded Alix. She'd never met so many kind, generous people in her life. Her heart light, she made her way to Devyn's side.
"Alix," Devyn said when he saw her nearing him, "could you please check the front quarter panel and see if we can squeeze in another crate up there?"
"Sure, Captain," she said, moving to the front of the ship.
She pulled open the compartment. With a grunt, she tried to move one crate over, but slipped and cut her hand. Hissing at the pain, she pulled her handkerchief out of her pocket and wrapped it around the cut.
"I thought it was you."
Alix tensed at the sound of the all too familiar voice. The one voice she'd hoped never to hear again.
Slowly, she turned around to face her father's old navigator. "Hi, Irn," she said with a politeness she didn't feel, knowing rudeness would only bring out one of his temper bursts.
No doubt he just wanted his wages. She had tried to pay him, but he'd disappeared after her father's murder. She stepped down. Might as well pay him now and get rid of him.
He stood to her left with four men she didn't recognize. Her throat tightened. Irn always lost what little sense he possessed when he was with a group of men to impress. She hadn't seen him in six months, but even sixty years wouldn't be long enough to forget his long, stringy hair and the unholy stench that clung to his body.
He leered at her and there was no mistaking the lust that burned in his eyes. "I've been hoping to come across you."
Alix clenched her fists at her side, debating what to do. She wished she had her blaster with her. The last time they'd been together, he'd ended up ripping her shirt before she managed to dissuade him from rape.
Pay him off before he asks, her mind warned. She reached for her wallet. "Look, why don't you—"
"You don't order me around no more," he said, looking at his friends to see their reactions. "I'm claiming freeman's rights. From now on, I own you."
No! her mind screamed. Her vision dimmed in panic. How could he possibly know her secret? She gripped her makeshift bandage, trying to think of something to do, but her mind was numb.
Irn grabbed her wrist. Instinctively, Alix snatched her hand away. "No one owns me!" she snarled.
He backhanded her. She stumbled backward, her sight dimming, and she fell against the ship. Enraged to the point of murder, Alix pushed herself away from the ship and struck out at him with her good fist, catching him on the chin. He fell to the ground.
Irn's hate-filled gaze bore into hers as he wiped the blood from his split lip. "You'll pay for that, bitch," he said, pushing himself up.
Her heart pounding in her ears, Alix tensed for his attack. He reached for her, but his hand froze inches from contact.
Devyn wrapped his arm around Irn's throat and held him in a headlock. "What's going on?" he asked in the calmest voice Alix had ever heard.
Before anyone could answer, Irn's cronies attacked. Devyn shoved Irn away from him and turned to fight. Irn moved to join the number against Devyn.
Scared and furious, Alix clenched her teeth. Not willing to stand by and see Devyn hurt because of her, Alix grabbed Irn's shoulder, pulled him around to face her, and caught him on the chin again. This time, she succeeded in knocking him unconscious. Her swollen fist throbbed as Irn fell to the ground.
In stunned awe, she watched Devyn finish the others with a precision that confirmed Zarina's tale of hi
s military training.
After the last one crumpled, Devyn turned to face her. "Are you all right?"
Her throat tightened with a gamut of emotions—fear, pain, regret. She stared at his concerned eyes and wanted to hug him for his kindness. No one had ever stood up for her before. But if he learned her secret, he'd hate her. That thought hurt more than her throbbing cheek or hands.
Biting her lip, she had only one choice. She must leave before he found out, too. Without answering his question, she ran from the bay.
The League 3: Paradise City Page 4