by Anna Hackett
Before he realized what he’d done, Nik grabbed the man around the throat, yanked him up and slammed his against the wall. “Where did she go?”
Arar’s eyes flickered around like crazy, not landing on any of them and avoiding Nik completely. “I don’t know, man.” When Nik shook him, Arar’s voice rose. “I don’t, I swear! She was here one minute, whispering hot things in my ear, the next she hit me, took the invite and was gone. Like a fricking nebula ghost.”
Nik released him and watched him drop back onto his butt.
“Xander, don’t worry. We’ll find her.”
Malin’s voice yanked Nik out of his dark thoughts. One glance and he saw the CenSec was tense as a board and obviously ready to hurt someone.
“I’ve failed.”
For the first time, Nik heard something in the cyborg’s voice that wasn’t just mechanical blankness. Desolation? Despair?
“No.” Mal had a hand pressed to the cyborg’s arm.
Nik’s frown deepened. He really didn’t like whatever the hell was going on with his cousin and this man. She was going to get burned…badly.
“Without the invite, I have no way to get to Technis. My planet….” With a shake of his head, he pressed his hands to the wall, his head dropped to his chest.
“It isn’t over yet, CenSec. Everyone spread out. Look for Darc,” Nik said. “Justyn, get to the front entrance. If she didn’t make it out already, stop her from leaving. Xander and Mal, search the dance floor. She might be hiding somewhere in the crowd. I’ll search these back rooms. We still have a chance to find her.”
Xander visibly pulled himself together. With a short nod, he left with the others. Nik looked down at the nightclub owner sniveling at his feet.
“Get out of here.”
The man swiped a hand over his mouth, lurched to his feet and practically ran out of the room.
Okay. Think. Where would Nera go? He raked a hand through his hair. He’d brushed up against Nera countless times on various hunts. Usually he was the one with bruises. She was deadly, no doubt about that, but damned if that kept him from obsessing over her.
His brothers kept telling him she was going to kill him one day.
He suspected that was true.
It didn’t stop him from being drawn back to her. Again and again. Half the time he didn’t know if he wanted to kill her or fuck her brains out.
Where would Nera go?
He knew the answer in an instant.
Nowhere.
Nera Darc didn’t run. She sauntered—when it suited her. And she didn’t hide by cowering in a crowd.
His hands dropped to his sides. “You can come out now, Nera.”
Against the wall, there was a shimmer of the spectrum camouflage she favored and she appeared.
Nera Darc, lethal treasure hunter with dubious morals.
The most beautiful, fascinating and frustrating woman Niklas had ever seen.
“Very good, Niklas. I see I’m beginning to become predictable.”
“Only to me.”
She tilted her head. “Yes, only to you.”
She usually favored light body armor but since she couldn’t wear that to a club, her long, lean body was covered by a black catsuit that slicked over every single one of her slim curves. The top of it was open a little, low enough to show the tops of her small, high breasts.
Her hair was short, and a pale platinum blonde like starlight. A long, slim neck that made him think of regal queens led upward to a perfect face dominated by those multi-colored eyes—a blend of pink, green, blue and silver like collection of gems scattered on black velvet.
“Predictable is never a word I’d use for you,” he said. “Where’s the invite?”
“I heard the Technomancer is throwing a ball to celebrate a fabulous new artifact he’s acquired. Something very, very old. Something Terran and invaluable.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to…remove it from his collection.”
“I need the invite, Nera. An entire planet’s safety is dependent on it.”
Her spectacular eyes narrowed. “Have I ever given you the impression that I’d care about a planet that has nothing to do with me?”
“I know you aren’t the superbitch you portray to the galaxy.”
Her face didn’t betray any emotion. “You don’t know me, Niklas.”
He knew she was smart, devious and fascinating. And damn it to hell, he wanted to know more.
She turned away with a graceful move that drew his gaze down the leather hugging her body. Damn it, he felt his cock go hard and he cursed his weakness.
“I’m guessing the planet you’re referring to is Centax since I saw the cyborg with you.” Her eyelids lowered. “I think Centax and her cyborgs can look after themselves.” She shrugged. “Besides, I think I’m in the mood for a ball, so I don’t think I’ll be handing the invitation over.”
She sprang over the table and sprinted for the door.
With a curse, Nik chased after her. She ran down the corridor and into the club before he caught her.
Damn it to hell! He thundered into the club. The lights blinded him for a second. If anything, the place was more crowded than before, the dance floor packed to bursting.
Something tugged on his senses and he glanced into the heart of the dancers. And saw her moving leisurely through the crowd, like she belonged there. Like she was just a woman out for fun evening with her friends.
He followed. When a cute, curvy blonde snagged his arm, he scowled down at her and gently shook her off.
Ahead, Nera was smiling at a big square-jawed man who looked about twenty and was grinning at her like a fool. The man gripped her hips, starting to pull her closer.
Nik reached them and slid his arms around her.
“Back off, kid,” he grumbled at the boy.
The young man thought about arguing but one good look at Nik’s face and he held his hands up and dissolved back into the crowd.
The music beat around them. Loud and hard and rhythmic, like the drum of a racing heart. Nik succumbed to the need he never let himself think about. He pulled Nera backward until her spine was pressed hard against the front of him. Her ass nestled into him and he bit back a groan. She was almost as tall as him and her head pressed against his neck and shoulder.
“Niklas.” She whispered his name but even over the music he heard it. He clamped one hand on her hip while his other slid over her flat belly.
The crowd around them moved, gyrated. They stayed still, pressed so close together their hearts were beating in sync.
He pressed his lips her ear. “There was coup on Centax. The new dictator is enslaving the planet’s women. They aren’t allowed to work, get an education, they are completely dependent on the men. Some are being sent off planet as payment to the mercenaries.”
Nera stiffened. “Slaves.”
“Yes.”
She went silent and shifted. It rubbed her body against his. The world had narrowed to just the two of them.
He knew she couldn’t miss his huge fucking erection prodding against her ass. Sometimes he didn’t have a clue what the hell he was doing with this woman.
Closing his eyes, Nik drew in the scent of her hair. Leather, steel and lime. That fresh citrus scent was one he always associated with her.
“You’re so damned beautiful, Nera.”
She shivered against him. “Niklas.” She turned her head and her lips pressed against the thundering pulse at his neck.
Fuck. Nik nearly lost it, right there in the middle of a crowded dance floor. He was a man who’d always prided himself on his control. But this woman seemed to shred it with ease.
He moved them to the edge of the dance floor. She curled into him, her hands gripping his shoulders, her lips nipping at his skin. His hands slid down and cupped her ass, pulling her tighter against him.
He heard her small moan and it enflamed him.
He wanted her. He didn’t care who she was or
what she’d done.
Then she bit him. Hard.
“Nera,” he growled.
With a cool, feminine laugh, she lapped at the mark she’d left. “I’d like to bite you all over, Niklas Phoenix.”
His cock leaped at her words. He wanted to strip off that slick suit and get to the skin beneath. He wanted to put his mouth on her, between her legs, eat her until she came all over him. He wanted to fuck her all night long, so hard she’d feel his possession for days.
“I want you.” His voice was hoarse. “I need you now.”
She pulled back, her hand at his nape, fingering his hair. Something flashed briefly in her colored eyes, something he couldn’t read. “You’re a good man, Niklas. Too good.”
Her hand slid down his neck.
Then her fingers dug in and pain flared through his body before his vision blurred.
“N-Nera—” For some reason he couldn’t get the word out properly and he was falling.
He felt warm breath on his face and thought he heard a whispered “I’m sorry,” but since she’d just killed him, he figured he’d imagined it.
Chapter Fifteen
“Nik! Nik!” Mal pressed her palm to her cousin’s face and slapped gently.
“His respiration and heart rate are steady.” Xander’s voice was all calm and reason. “He’s fine, Malin, just unconscious.”
Mal didn’t feel calm. At all. Ever since she’d found Nik slumped in an armchair completely out of it, fear was a wild animal eating at her insides.
“I take it our missing treasure hunter is to blame?” Justyn appeared behind them.
“I’m guessing yes.” Mal shook her head. “Not the first time Darc’s tackled Dathan, Zayn and Nik. And she appears to have a particular hard-on for Nik.” Malin was truly afraid for her cousin. All the stories about Nera Darc were…really, really scary.
Niklas’ blue eyes opened. He sat upright. “Fuck!” He looked around the club, eyes searching. “Fuck, she got away.”
Nik didn’t swear much. Not unless he was really, really pissed. “Well, your vocab seems to have temporarily devolved, but otherwise you seem fine.” Mal studied him, then her eyes zeroed in on his neck. “Is that a bite mark?”
Nik’s hand flew to his neck. He ignored Mal’s question. “Did you see where she went?”
“No, she was gone when we found you,” Xander answered. “I take it you didn’t get the invite.”
Nik shook his head. “I’m sorry, Xander.”
Mal watched Xander’s face. She knew no one could read him like her.
He was on the edge. His jaw was clenched so tight she was worried it would shatter. If he couldn’t save his planet…Mal was really worried about him.
“Where does that leave us?” Justyn sank into the chair beside Nik.
“We’ll have to find another way to locate Technis.” Mal tried to put as much determination into her tone as she could.
Justyn frowned. “I don’t know of anyone else on Galaxy’s Edge who received an invite.”
“We’ll sneak in, then.”
“Tough to do. Forge’s security is legendary. Has to be when your planet wanders the galaxy, encountering who knows what.”
They all lapsed into silence.
Xander’s next words were low and dangerous. “I will hunt down Nera Darc and get the invite. If she won’t give it to me, I’ll kill her.”
“Xander!” Mal’s heart stuttered. She’d never seem him so icy.
“Wait a second—” Nik started.
Xander gave a vicious shake of his head. “Enough playing. My people are running out of time. I will get the invite. Whatever I have to do.”
Mal closed her eyes for a second. In her heart, she knew Xander was an honorable man. His duty was vital to him but if he crossed this line… She knew he’d killed, but outright murder wasn’t him.
“Let’s get out of here.” Nik started to rise, then he paused and patted the pocket of his black trousers. He sank back into the chair and from his pocket he withdrew a beaten square of metal. With a frown, he studied it, then his face cleared of every emotion. His eyes closed for a second then he handed the metal out to Xander. “I think this is for you.”
Xander stared at the square, his gaze shooting to Nik’s. Justyn and Mal both leaned over. Mal couldn’t make anything out of the strange strokes engraved on the metal.
“Well, fuck me,” Justyn said, a small smile on his lips. “What the hell did you do to her, Phoenix?”
Nik shook his head. “Nothing.”
“What is it?” Mal snapped.
Xander looked down at her. “It’s the invite to Forge’s ball.”
Mal looked at Nik. “She just gave it to you?”
“It appears so.”
“I don’t like this. Dath and Z won’t either.”
Nik fingered the side of his neck. “Well, it just shows that Nera Darc continues to be as unpredictable as ever.”
Xander gripped Malin’s arm. “We have the invite. Now we need to get to Technis.”
Nik nodded. “We need to take on some supplies for the trip.”
“And you’ll need the coordinates for the portal for the Via Maris Bridge,” Justyn said. “I can help with that.”
“Well, looks like we’re going to a ball.” She let her gaze travel down Xander’s long form. “I need a ball gown and you need a tuxedo.”
***
Xander watched as the Infinitas pushed back from Galaxy’s Edge and Zayn maneuvered the ship away from the station.
Finally, they were heading to Technis.
Finally, he was going to get the Antikythera back.
He listened as Zayn finished communication with Galaxy’s Edge Docking Control. Behind them, he heard Malin and Dathan talking at the holo-table, discussing and studying what they could find about Forge and his base on Technis.
He wanted this over with. The mechanism back in his hands.
He wanted his control back. He’d been ready to murder a woman—maybe she wasn’t an innocent woman, but she’d never done anything to him. His hands curled, his knuckles tight.
If this is what emotion did to him, he wasn’t sure he wanted it. He looked over at Malin. She was smiling at Dathan, and it lit up her sweet face. She had hot, potent emotion bursting through all of Xander’s emotion filters like they were paper.
But without emotion, he couldn’t have Malin. And that seemed just as untenable.
Needing something else to focus on, Xander glanced at the brooding Niklas beside him. The man sat touching the bite mark on his neck.
Since they’d returned to the ship, Niklas had refused to talk about what had happened with Darc. Xander didn’t care, they had the invite, but he knew it worried Malin, so that in turn worried him. He wanted her happy.
“How long until we reach the bridge portal?” Xander asked.
Zayn was tapping the control screen, his gaze flicking between the screen and the windows out front. Ahead a huge starfreighter was moving past them, heading into dock at the station. “Not long. Couple of hours.” He glanced at Xander. “Ever taken a bridge before?”
Xander shook his head.
“It’s a pretty cool experience. Downsides are once you’re in, there’s no coming out until you reach the other end. Once you’re committed, you’re committed.”
“And it’ll take us four days to reach the end instead of two months.”
“Right.” Zayn touched a button. “BEll, let everyone know we’re about to hit interstellar speed.”
“Got it, Zayn,” the computer answered. Then her voice came over the loud speaker. “Sixty seconds to interstellar speed. Please strap in for transition.”
Seconds later, Malin and Dathan slipped into the chairs behind the pilot’s seat. “Hey.” Malin shot Xander a smile.
“Malin.” He wanted to touch her.
Her gaze moved to Niklas and her face turned troubled. “You okay, Nik?”
“You’ve asked me that ten times.”
> “Actually, she’s asked you twelve times,” Xander said.
“And you haven’t given me an answer once.” She sniffed. “You keep answering with some prevarication.”
Nik let out a deep sigh. “I’m not. But I will be.”
“Interstellar speed now,” Zayn said.
In the windows, the pinprick stars turned into a stream.
Dathan crossed one leg, resting his ankle on his knee. “Best you steer well clear of Darc from now on, big bro.”
Nik made a sound, which Xander guessed could be agreement or not. He also suspected it was another prevarication. Xander hadn’t mentioned to anyone that he’d detected elevated levels of testosterone and vasopressin in the oldest Phoenix brother back in the club, both indicative of sexual arousal. Whether he wanted to be or not, Niklas was extremely attracted to Nera Darc.
“How well do you know Darc?” Xander asked.
It was Dathan who answered. “She appeared on the treasure hunting scene about seven years ago. Out of nowhere. At first, we didn’t pay her much attention. Wanna-be treasure hunters come and go.”
“But she didn’t go.”
“Nope. To my ever-living regret.” Dathan shot a quick glance at his brother. “Then she started targeting our hunts. Not every one, just the really valuable ones. And started taking an unhealthy interest in all things Phoenix.”
Niklas stayed quiet.
“Centax Security has records on her,” Xander said.
Nik’s head shot up. “What?”
“She’s brushed up against us a few times, stolen some artifacts from a neighboring allied planet. We took interest.”
Nik’s jaw worked and finally he said, “What do you know about her?”
“Not much,” Xander admitted. “I suspect she created the identity of Nera Darc.”
Nik’s shoulders slumped.
“And I don’t blame her.”
Malin leaned forward, brow creased. “What do you mean?”
“The only thing we could find was a minor reference linking her to two planets.”
“What planets?” Nik asked.
“Novalia and Klavinoi.”
“No,” Malin breathed.
“Never heard of them,” Dathan said.
“Novalia is a military world. Children are bred and raised to be soldiers,” Xander told them.