Diffraction

by Jess Anastasi

  He rocked back, and she tilted her hips to meet him, altering the angle of his thrust from good to somewhere around the level of mind-blowing. She bit her lip on crying out, even as he groaned low in her ear, as though the slight shift had been just as good for him.

  The next thrust came shorter and harder, and the urge to moan long and loud was almost too hard to resist. But Varean saved her, catching her mouth beneath his on the next reckless plunge, taking the cry she couldn’t hold back.

  She was lost, but she didn’t care and let herself go, Varean her only reality. The detonation came sudden and intense even though she’d been expecting it. She couldn’t breathe, but it didn’t matter, as she shot into the stratosphere and burst into a shower of stars, powdering the darkness with a million pinpricks of brilliant, twinkling light.

  Varean groaned her name on a shuddering breath, pinning her into the cushions with one last explosive piston of his hips, filling her with swelling, rolling waves of delirious aftershocks.

  With a long, ragged exhale, he dropped against her; the weight of him relaxing into her was beyond gratifying as she, too, sank boneless and replete into the couch.

  Only a few seconds had gone by before she felt him tensing.

  “No, don’t move, you’re not too heavy, I promise.” She tightened her arms around him, not ready to give up the sated glow of the moments after.

  “It’s not that.” He secured her more firmly to him, gently rolling them off the couch, onto the floor, so she ended up on top of him. She let her cheek rest on his chest, as he smoothed a hand over her no-doubt tangled hair.

  “Then you better not be feeling guilty. I told you, I wanted this and I don’t regret it. I never will.”

  For a moment he was silent, the steady stroke of his hand mesmerizing, lulling her toward the sleep she’d been thinking about earlier.

  “I grew up in the foster system. My mom died when I was too young to remember her, and I had no other family. I never got adopted, and the longest I was ever in one place was about two years.”

  Her breath caught at the sudden avalanche of information, and she went totally still, desperate to hear what he’d say next, unable to imagine not having a family or home. Was that why he’d been such a successful commando, why he didn’t value his life, because no one else had? Her heart ached for him, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and never let go until he realized he was worth everything.

  “It probably sucked compared to having a normal childhood, but I never knew any different, and once I got too old for the system and they kicked me over, I bounced to the military. It gave me a place to sleep, regular meals, and something to do with my life. In all the years I’ve been old enough to understand the concept of regret, I’ve never wished for anything to be different.”

  He seemed to run out of words after that, and for a long moment, silence stretched between them. But she’d never been one for tiptoeing around things.

  “And now?” She tensed, worried about what his answer would be. Did he regret what they’d just done?

  But his hands moved to smooth up and down her back in calming strokes, and she relaxed against him.

  “I don’t regret us, Kira. But for the first time, I am wishing things could be different.”

  He didn’t elaborate further, but he didn’t need to, because she was feeling the same thing.

  …

  Varean ducked his head out of the room, glancing up and down the hallway before stepping out with a light tread. Kira followed a moment later, shooting him a small, intimate smile then disappearing into the bathroom.

  He took a second to tug his borrowed clothes straight—the damn things didn’t fit him all that well, plus they’d dressed quickly, not wanting any of the others to realize they’d both been missing for a while now.

  When he returned to the main room, he found Lianna still dozing in front of the viewer. He sat down and flipped through a few channels disinterestedly.

  Maybe he should feel bad things had gone so far between them when they both knew he had to walk away in the next few hours. But she’d said she accepted their fate, the same as he had. And finding contentment in each other for that short amount of time had been something he wouldn’t ever regret.

  “Where’s Kira?”

  Varean glanced over his shoulder to find Zahli standing in the doorway of the room Tannin had been using.

  “Bathroom, I think.”

  Gun in hand, Tannin appeared next to his fiancée a second later, checking the power chamber, his expression taut.

  Battle-honed instincts flipping on like a flare, Varean put down the remote and pushed to his feet.

  “What’s going on?”

  Tannin slipped the gun away, glancing at Zahli, who sent him a confident nod, and now that he was standing, he could see she gripped her own pulse pistol.

  “We’ve got company. Someone sneaking around in the yard,” Tannin replied.

  “What’s the plan?” he asked as Kira came back into the room.

  Zahli stepped forward and shook Lianna’s shoulder, rousing her, then turning off the nearby lamp.

  “We’re going to find out who it is and what they’re doing.” As he said the words, Tannin moved over to the window, inching the curtains aside to look out while Zahli filled Lianna in.

  “Maybe we should just leave.” Apprehension replaced the contented expression Kira had had when he’d been alone with her. He wanted to cross the room, wrap an arm around her, and tell her everything would be fine. Except now was definitely not the time to be distracted by her.

  Tannin turned from the window, shaking his head. “We can’t go yet. I still haven’t found Quaine. I’ve got a few leads, but I need the next few hours until the house staff turn up.”

  Lianna nodded her chin toward the room Zahli and Tannin had emerged from. “You get back to it, then. Zahli and I will take care of the intruder.”

  Tannin crossed the room, pausing to kiss Zahli. “Be careful.”

  She murmured an agreement as he continued back toward the crystal display screen in the study.

  “Kira, you and the commando stay here. I don’t want to shoot either of you by mistake…” Lianna paused. “Actually, him I don’t care about. But we need our doc, so keep out of trouble.”

  A familiar pulse of frustration flared within him, the same one he’d had countless times since encountering the aggravating crew of the Imojenna.

  “As hilarious as I find your lack of concern, why don’t you let me come? I can take this guy down before he even knows anyone is here.”

  Lianna bristled, her stance tightening as her hand landed pointedly on the butt of her gun.

  “And you don’t think a couple of girls can do the same thing?”

  The irritation burned hotter. It was really starting to get on his nerves how she had decided to hate his guts without reason.

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. This is what I’m trained to do, and if it were Rian and his gorilla standing here, I’d probably suggest the same thing.”

  Lianna’s tenacious expression didn’t alter. “Well Rian and Callan aren’t here, and that leaves me in charge. You’re not crew, and I don’t know you. So do us all a favor and stay out of the way.”

  Zahli got between them. “And while we’re standing here arguing, the intruder is doing who-knows-what. Lieutenant Captain, I appreciate you wanting to help, but you understand why it would be better to stay here. Besides, someone needs to stand guard while Tannin is working, and no offense, Kira, that’s obviously not you.”

  Though he was well aware Zahli was pandering to his delicate soldier ego, offering him the runner-up-bitch award of “guarding” Tannin against the solitary intruder who would probably turn out to be some lowlife burglar taking advantage of the offline security, he backed off and sent her a nod of agreement.

  That apparently settled, Zahli and Lianna hurried from the room. He turned on his heel and headed into the of
fice where Tannin was working.

  “You got security feed of the intruder?”

  Tannin didn’t glance up from whatever he was doing, but pointed to one of the three screens he was working with. “Here.”

  Varean moved partway around the desk to get a better view, Kira coming up beside him. And while Tannin was still running some kind of program that seemed to be searching a database, his attention was mostly focused on the person jimmying a door in the kitchen.

  On the inside, Zahli and Lianna were taking up covert positions. Didn’t seem like much of a fair fight—the intruder wouldn’t know what hit him. Lianna already had her pulse pistol out and steadied across the edge of the bench. She’d no doubt stun him unconscious as soon as the door swung shut behind him.

  However, burglary couldn’t have been this guy’s regular gig, because it seemed to take forever before he got the lock undone. And the first thing he did when he got inside was trip over a bucket of cleaning products the staff had probably left for the morning shift, sending him stumbling into the bench and knocking off an empty vase to shatter, the noise echoing through the otherwise silent house.

  On the screen, Zahli and Lianna exchanged a short glance, which he imagined was probably filled with the same exasperated puzzlement both Kira and Tannin had on their faces.

  A nanosecond later, Lianna squeezed off a round, hitting the intruder dead center of his chest. He staggered a step and then fell back, half landing in the broken glass of the vase.

  As his head flopped to the side, giving a clear view of his face to the security feed, Tannin suddenly shot to his feet.

  “Goddamn!” Tannin bolted out of the room.

  Kira followed, so Varean fell into step behind her as they hustled to the kitchen. By the time they arrived, Tannin was kneeling next to the fallen intruder, lightly slapping him on the cheek.

  “Jase. Jase. Come on man, bring it around.”

  The man groaned but didn’t look like he was going to wake right away. Getting knocked unconscious by a pulse pistol blast hurt like a bitch. Some people could come right out of it, especially if they’d been hit by one before. But if a person wasn’t used to it, they could take up to half an hour to rouse from the stupor.

  Tannin glanced at Lianna. “Help me get him up.”

  “Who is he?” she demanded instead. Varean skirted around Kira and went over to the fallen man’s side. As he took the guy’s arm, Tannin shot him a grateful look.

  “His name is Jase Nevan. He’s a guard from Erebus. He was the closest thing I had to a friend the entire twelve years I was there.”

  “He’s an IPC officer?” Lianna half brought her pulse pistol up as though she was considering hitting him with a second shot, which would definitely kill the guy.

  “He was last time I saw him, but he’s not wearing a uniform now.” Tannin huffed the words as the two of them carried Jase toward the stairs. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions until I can talk to him.”

  They took the man back to the room they’d been occupying and laid him out on the couch.

  “Is this really a good idea?” Zahli’s voice held a deep note of concern as she flicked the lamps back on to brighten the room. “The IPC think you’re dead. That was your ticket to staying out of Erebus. Once this guy knows you’re alive—”

  Tannin cupped Zahli’s cheek. “He won’t tell anyone. We can trust him.”

  “You can trust him all you want”—Lianna took up a stance next to the couch, pulse pistol still in hand—“but I’m not taking that risk. Don’t forget, we’re still wanted for intergalactic terrorism.”

  Tannin stepped into her line of fire. “Jase isn’t a typical IPC military droid. He was my friend, and he won’t betray me.”

  As Lianna glared at Tannin, Varean tugged on Kira’s arm to get her attention.

  “Tannin was on Erebus. As a prisoner?”

  Kira nodded, keeping an eye on the pair facing off.

  “Then how is he free? No one escapes and lives to talk about it.”

  “It’s a long story,” Kira replied in a low voice. “Suffice to say, Rian decided he was useful. And so far, I’ve never seen Rian fail at anything. Tannin is the only person ever to escape Erebus successfully, but he couldn’t have done it if Rian hadn’t agreed to help. Somehow, Rian rigged the system so the authorities think Tannin died on Erebus.”

  Before Kira could expand or Tannin and Lianna argue further, Jase started coming around with a muttered curse, reaching down to clamp a hand on his side.

  Kira quickly brushed by Zahli and knelt on the floor next to him.

  “Are you injured?” She pulled a small med scanner from her pocket and held it up in front of his forehead, concentrating on the readings that flashed up on the small inset screen.

  “Feels like it,” Jase replied in a hoarse voice, still a little groggy. “My side.”

  Kira reached down and gently moved his hand, his fingers coming up covered in blood.

  “He must have caught some glass from the broken vase when he fell. Tannin, would there be a med kit somewhere in this house?”

  “Tannin?” Jace surged up, becoming lucid in a second flat.

  Kira set a firm hand on his upper arm before he could get up. “I really need to check your wound.”

  “Zahli, you’ll find a med kit in the bathroom on the ground floor,” Tannin instructed, then moved around Kira to crouch in front of Jase.

  What little color the man had washed out of his face, leaving him looking on the verge of passing out again.

  “Holy jezus above. It really is you.” Jase gripped Tannin’s shoulder, as if he needed to anchor himself to the guy to make sure he was real. “They told me you were dead. I saw a body.”

  “Sorry, Jase. But being dead was the only way I could stay free.” Tannin stretched out a hand and returned the guy’s shoulder hold, then they grinned at each other and followed through with a hug.

  “Seriously,” Jase exclaimed as he sat back again. “I can’t believe you’re alive. And free. Mind blown.”

  Kira shifted to elbow Tannin out of the way. “Now that the reunion hugs are all done, you mind if I do something about your friend bleeding all over the place?”

  Tannin shifted sideways and sat on the couch next to Jase as Kira lifted his shirt to examine the wound.

  “Looks like there might be a shard of glass still in there,” Kira mumbled, seemingly more to herself.

  Zahli returned with the med kit, crossing the room and handing it to Kira.

  “What are you doing here?” Tannin asked Jase as Kira rummaged through the kit and came up with a pair of tweezers.

  “I came to tell your parents that you’d died and give them the few possessions you left behind. Except they full-on did not give a shite. They refused to even see me. Which kind of pissed me off.” Jase winced as Kira gave no warning before going in with the tweezers and plucking the bloodied shard free. “I know you told me they disowned you, but talk about heartless. Anyway, I came earlier to see if they were back from being abroad yet and noticed the security system was down—”

  “And then decided a spot of B and E was just the thing?” Lianna interjected.

  Jase shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I was just going to leave this in the old man’s office. It’s all they kept when Tannin was indentured.”

  Kira swapped out the tweezers for a small multifunction remedial device with a fine laser to close the wound.

  “But I left months ago. Why come now? And what about your post on Erebus?” Tannin asked, taking the envelope Jase held out and slipping it away without even looking at it.

  Jase made a grunt of pain when Kira set the MRD against his skin. “Maybe I asked too many questions about your death. I mean, in all the years I’d known you, when did you ever pick a fight, let alone one bloody enough to get you killed? It wasn’t the first time I’d been reprimanded for putting my nose where it didn’t belong. Guess I’m not the kind of guy to take orders
without thinking about the why behind them. They offered to put me on box duty, but I declined with a very polite screw you guys and then resigned my commission with the IPC.”

  “And came here with Tannin’s possessions to give to his parents,” Zahli finished. “That was very considerate of you.”

  “Despite being a prisoner, Tannin was my best friend. I knew he wasn’t guilty and hadn’t deserved anything that’d happened to him. I thought making that last contact with his parents was the least I could do. I couldn’t believe his parents would repeatedly refuse to see me, unless there was something else going on.” He glanced back at Tannin. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for Quaine Ayden.”

  Both of Jase’s eyebrows hiked up. “Quaine Ayden, who killed your friend and framed you for the murder?”

  Tannin’s expression shifted into a grim kind of rueful. “Turns out that wasn’t what happened. Quaine’s father was behind the murder. After I got free and started poking around into things, it flushed out Quaine, who’d had a falling out with his old man over the whole thing. He came back here looking for answers and disappeared. So we’re looking to find out what happened to him.”

  Jase nodded, passing a glance around the room. “Looks like you made quite an interesting bunch of new friends since you left Erebus.”

  Tannin glanced at Zahli, a spark of amusement in his gaze. “You can’t imagine the half of it.”

  Kira removed the MRD and took a piece of gauze to wipe away the last of the blood. “All done.”

  “Thanks.” Jase stretched out his arm, grimacing a little as though it had pulled. “And about Quaine Ayden. I might have a clue for you.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Forbes

  The low trill of the commpad near his face roused Rian out of the red-wine-laced doze he’d fallen into. He batted at the noise, sending his comm clunking to the floor. But it didn’t stop the trilling and, with an annoyed curse, he half rolled on the couch, groping for wherever the stupid thing had landed. His hand knocked into the two bottles of wine he’d put down trying to escape the lingering prickle under his skin from the run-in with Ella, and the gnawing cold belief that however things went down with Colt, it wasn’t going to end well.