Sunscapes Trilogy Book 1: Last Chance

by Michelle O'Leary

  But there was no relaxing around Webster Griffin. His every action was calculated, starting with choosing a small couch that would allow only the two of them to be seated. Sin sank into the cushions gracefully, holding her expression to one of bland interest while taking note of where her brother and Griffin's daughter went. She was amused to see Liaena pause at a long, curved couch to greet someone, who of course invited them to sit with the small group there. Kai would not get the opportunity to mimic her father's action that time, but he took it with his usual poise and charm.

  The official part of the luncheon began with a speech by the lead Golden Sun ascetic. All listened politely and rang the approval chimes when he was finished, but the actual pledging of funds would be done as the guests were leaving. Then the food began circulating, and the room echoed with a river of conversation as the unofficial business of the luncheon began in earnest.

  For her part, Sin played the game with Griffin with the ease of long practice. They danced verbally with one another, Griffin's studied courtship the chessboard on which they tested one another's weaknesses and fought for concessions. So it had been between them since her father had died. At first, Griffin may have entertained the idea of controlling Shay Enterprises through her, but his lack of success in wooing her over the years may have ended those hopes. He continued to make the attempt, though, his advances a study in refined flattery. If it had been anyone else, she may have been moved to consider it, but she knew him for the monster he was beneath that gentlemanly exterior.

  After a while, they arrived at the subject of her courier service. It was what she'd been waiting for. Having handed her a delicate little pastry, he watched her eat it with a hunter's light in his eye as he commented, “I hear you've contracted with the Cortecans for an off-lane run. They seem beneath you."

  Sin sent him a sidelong glance as she took a sip of her wine, before saying, “You know that only illegal runs are beneath me, Web."

  "Hm,” he responded noncommittally, glancing away as he plucked another small pastry for her. “Abantium, wasn't it?"

  "Yes,” she answered with seeming disinterest, nibbling daintily on the pastry.

  "Such a poor load for you to be protecting. Surely your time would be better spent on richer cargo."

  "Corteca has met the fee. The type of cargo hardly matters,” she replied in an indifferent voice, amused by his dissembling but hiding it from him by snagging another glass of wine from a passing tray. Abantium was hardly a prize cargo in itself, but its value was in what it could be mixed with. Certain combinations could produce a volatile substance, capable of becoming a useful explosive for the Cortecan miners—or a weapon in the wrong hands.

  "The type of cargo always matters, my dear,” he contradicted, and she smiled at him without comment, waiting. Silence was as useful a tool as words. “I hope you set your fee at a sizable amount."

  "Profit often comes from unusual quarters,” she said with a pointed lift of her eyebrows.

  "So it does,” he responded and lifted his glass to her with an ironic tilt of his distinguished head.

  She gave him a shrewd smile and clicked her glass against his, satisfied that the groundwork had been laid. And she hadn't even been the one to introduce the subject.

  "Speaking of your couriers, is that new pilot working out for you?"

  Careful, she thought to herself as she inclined her head in assent. “I'm told he's coming along nicely."

  "Splendid. I'm glad he seems to be ... answering your needs.” The cynical glint in his eye did not escape her, but Sin ignored the innuendo.

  "He's untried yet, but I'm sure we won't be disappointed to have acquired him."

  "I'm sure,” he murmured. “He looked quite capable."

  She ignored that one, too, glancing around the room casually. She caught sight of Kai and Liaena and was amused to see her brother wearing his wolf's smile. He was sitting close to the red-head, his arm lying along the back of the couch behind her. Nothing in her movements spoke of tension, but Sin noticed that she never met his eyes.

  "It seems my brother and your daughter are getting along for once,” she said in a musing tone, casting Griffin a sidelong glance to catch his reaction.

  His gray eyes narrowed a bit when he caught sight of the pair, but that was his only sign of disapproval. He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and commented with a grim smile, “At least this time there has been no bloodshed."

  Sin chuckled, wondering if he disapproved of Kai's hunt or his daughter's reticence. Maybe it was both. “Not yet there hasn't, but why tempt fate?” She rose before he could protest and began making her way towards the pair, taking a malicious delight in the fact that Griffin had to trail her.

  Kai caught sight of them as they approached and gave them a smug smile, which Sin knew was just to irk Griffin, since she could see by the calm serenity on Liaena's face that he'd gotten nowhere with her.

  At least that's what she thought then.

  "Brother, shall we mingle once more before we go? I believe the Vreen chancellor wanted to speak with us."

  With a nod of his dark head, Kai sat forward and set his glass down on a hovering tray as he answered, “Good, the chancellor owes me twenty credits. We bet on how many times I could get her to say ‘no thank you.'” He flicked a negligent finger at Liaena as he spoke, before rising to his feet smoothly.

  Sin covered a grin with one hand, but was astounded to see Liaena's gray eyes turn into steely daggers on Kai's back before she lowered her lashes and her lovely features smoothed back into serenity. So, the hot-tempered girl that had bruised Kai's shin hadn't been totally trained out of her. Sin was perversely glad to see it, but she decided not to tell Kai.

  "Aena, it was a pleasure to see you again,” she said, surprised to find that she meant it. Of course, she hadn't had to deal with her for the past two hours. “Please don't be a stranger. You're welcome at Shay Enterprises anytime."

  Liaena's eyes lifted to meet Sin's, her composure restored as she smiled pleasantly. “What a generous offer,” she responded smoothly. “Thank you."

  Sin pressed her lips together to hide her amusement at the other woman's evasion of the invitation.

  "It's been ... interesting as always, Lie,” her brother said with a twinkle in his green eyes and a curl to his mouth.

  "Manakai,” she murmured with cool reserve and tilted her gilded head, not betraying even a fraction of the fire that Sin had seen in her eyes.

  The twins turned to face Griffin together. He offered his hand to Kai with an amused expression that may or may not have been real. “Shay, you haven't changed."

  Kai shook his hand with a charming smile. “That makes two of us, Griff."

  Griffin's look turned dry at that, but he didn't comment as he turned to Sin. Taking her hand, he bowed over it. “Delightful to see you again, my dear.” This time his lips brushed her skin, and she clenched her jaw to keep from grimacing.

  "Charming to the end, Web. Until next time,” she replied, fixing a winning smile on her lips.

  With a nod, Kai cupped her elbow, and the two of them moved away, much to Sin's relief. She sighed inaudibly, but Kai was her twin—he glanced down at her with a frown. “That bad?"

  "It's been worse,” she answered tersely.

  "Get anywhere?"

  "He took the bait."

  "Good."

  They circulated through the crowd, but with their main reason for coming here accomplished, they didn't linger for too long, especially when they saw the Griffins leave. The twins made sure that their path of circulation led towards the door and managed to make their own graceful exit.

  Chapter 10

  As they walked the pathway back to their transport, Sin looked around and sighed heavily. “We need a damned vacation. It would be nice to come back here just for the pleasure of it some day."

  "We will,” Kai answered absently, and Sin snorted, giving him a disgusted look.

  "Sure we will."
/>
  He caught her eye and grimaced in acknowledgement, but didn't answer. It was obvious that their chances for a vacation were slim to none in the near future, but even if they did have the time, neither one of them would take a respite. It wasn't how they'd been trained.

  Their return trip to Shay Enterprise's main station was mostly quiet after Sin had given her brother an account of her time with Griffin. He had a couple of questions on specific topics, but when she'd finished, he grimaced and wrapped a commiserating arm around her without a word. Grateful for the comfort, she leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder.

  After a minute, he murmured, “If I could take your place, I would."

  It was a sweet comment, but it also woke her sense of the ridiculous, and she grinned. “Thanks, but you wouldn't do this dress justice."

  He chuckled, plucking at the cloth over her hip. “Wouldn't be so bad if we let it out some..."

  She snickered at the image of her brawny brother in soft and revealing femininity. “Dad wouldn't have approved."

  Kai went still, and Sin grimaced, silently calling herself an idiot. The subject of their father was still a touchy one and probably always would be. It was one subject her usually lighthearted brother could not find humor in.

  "Maybe not,” he said in a low tone, “but I think he would have been proud of you just the same."

  Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, and she kept her head on his shoulder so he wouldn't see how he'd moved her, as she gave him a silent hug. He kissed the top of her head, and they remained that way for most of the return journey.

  As they approached the station, Sin sat up with a sigh, rolling her head to get a kink out of her neck muscles. Kai took the opportunity to stretch like a big cat, yawning so wide, there was an audible pop to his jaw.

  "So did you find Marcus’ anonymous tip?” Sin asked, taking the opportunity to give him a mischievous poke in the side to sour his stretch.

  He flinched, sagging back into his seat with a glare and a warning growl, but he answered without animosity. “Becker from information systems. Seems he caught the two Core members sending cryptic messages out-of-company."

  She made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. “Those two make better Krell dung than they do spies."

  "Well, Marcus promised to watch out for them, so hopefully he can keep them from screwing up too badly and giving themselves away."

  "What are we doing about Becker?"

  "He's being transferred to this location. Marcus seems to think he's a good man, but I'd like to find that out for myself."

  "Works for me,” Sin responded. “You'll handle him, then?"

  He grunted an affirmative as they landed, stretching again while keeping a jaundiced eye on her. She grinned, but refrained from poking him a second time.

  "Need to loosen up? How ‘bout some time in the Circle? I've got some hostility I'd like to release."

  He gave her a sour look as they rose to their feet and exited the transport, nodding thanks to the pilots. “Why do you always wanna beat the snot out of me after we see Griffin? It's not like I look anything like him."

  "Transference of aggression,” she answered with a sage nod as they headed towards the maintenance bay.

  He snorted. “So why don't you ‘transference’ on somebody else?"

  "When you make such a good punching bag?” she asked with a razor-edged grin. “Why would I?"

  He bared his teeth at her in a mock snarl. “All right, Sissa, time for you to get another lesson in humility.” She burst into laughter, but he ignored her, rolling his shoulders and flexing his muscular arms as he finished with, “Plus I could use the exercise."

  "Yeah, you could,” she retorted and skittered away with another laugh as he swiped at her. “Meet you there?"

  "You're on,” he replied, veering away from the maintenance bay to head in a different direction. His quarters weren't on this side of the station and going through the maintenance bay wasn't the fastest way to get to them.

  Sin continued on with an eager spring to her step, looking forward to the release of tension that the Circle of Fire would afford her. Entering the maintenance bay, she took a quick inventory of the slicers. Cassie and Del's Shadows were missing, so they must still be out training. There was a moment when she wondered if that was what they were truly doing before she pushed the thought away impatiently. No matter how Cassie felt about Del, she would never jeopardize the upcoming run by allowing an unprepared pilot to accompany them. Still, Sin was aware of an acid bitterness in her stomach that was suspiciously like jealousy at the thought of them spending so much time together.

  "Just the person I wanted to see."

  The deep voice startled Sin out of her thoughts and she looked around to see Del's brother stepping out of the shadows towards her. She smiled in cool greeting, aware that he'd been waiting for her. “Nick,” she murmured, taking in his disheveled appearance and wondering what he'd been up to all day. “How have you been enjoying our station?” she added, looking him up and down with raised eyebrows.

  He grimaced, looking down at himself and hastily straightening his clothes. Even with his face averted, she could see the flush that darkened his skin. “Had a run-in with one of your pilots ... the blond kid—ah, woman."

  She chuckled, but didn't comment, turning instead towards the back door to the bay and inclining her head in tacit invitation. He gave her an uncomfortable smile and joined her, shortening his stride to match hers.

  "You wanted to see me?” she asked with polite interest.

  "Yeah, I have a few questions."

  "I'll be happy to answer them, but I do have an appointment that I need to go to soon,” she said smoothly, unwilling to give up her time in the Circle with Kai. “I can give you a few minutes, if you don't mind coming up to my suite?"

  "Ah...” he temporized as they stepped into the service hallway, and Sin saw him give her a once-over out of the corner of her eye. “Sure,” he finally answered in a dubious tone.

  She tried not to grin. Nervous, Nick? she thought to herself with a bit of malicious humor. You should be ... but not for the reason you're thinking. She let her lips lift in faint amusement as they stepped into the lift. “You'll be perfectly safe, you know."

  He made a noise in the back of his throat that might have been a choked off laugh. “Of course I will,” he said in a tone dry enough to make her bite back a snicker. “By the way, nice outfit."

  "Thank you,” she replied, unable to hide the laughter in her tone. “Not for your benefit, I can assure you."

  "Good to know,” he said, meeting her teasing gaze with a wry smile. Then his expression sobered again. “Did my brother see you in it?"

  The implications in that question and in his dark eyes sobered her as well. She stared at him for a long moment, seeing in him the hard edge of his resolve to protect his brother. With a rueful shake of her head, she said, “It's not for his benefit either."

  His expression hardened as the lift doors opened on the Gold Rooms, and Sin sighed as she stepped out ahead of him. He didn't believe her, and she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. Especially when there might have been a small grain of truth to it. The dress had been worn as one more weapon against Griffin, but she hadn't avoided being seen by Del. Idly she wondered if he'd liked what he'd seen, but then pushed the thought away with an impatient shake of her head.

  Leading Nick towards her quarters, she heard him mutter an imprecation and glanced around to see him staring at a delicate vase with something like shock. It was probably worth more than he made in a year. Keeping her expression bland, she pretended not to have noticed.

  Walking down the short hall to her quarters, she keyed open the door and smiled over her shoulder at Nick. “Come on in. Mina, this is Nicholo Givliani. Nick, this is my house companion, Mina."

  "Welcome, Mr. Givliani,” Mina's smooth voice resonated through the rooms.

  Nick's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he recovered wel
l. “Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Mina."

  "The pleasure is mine,” the AI answered politely. “And I thank you for being a part of my sister companion's naming. Samantha is a lovely choice."

  Sin hid a smile to see Nick's jaw drop. “Mina loves to mother the other AIs on the station. She was the first here and considers herself the matriarch."

  "They, ah...” He cleared his throat and shifted in place with obvious discomfort. “They talk a lot to each other, then?"

  "Certainly. How boring would their lives be if they could only speak to us? Besides, we're not around that much."

  "Speaking of which,” Mina interrupted, “you received a package while you were gone. It arrived by personal courier from Webster Griffin."

  Sin felt the hair on the back of her neck rise in alarm, but she managed to keep her voice even as she ushered Nick into the living room. “Has it been scanned?"

  "Yes. There are no dangerous components or substances. The object is made of data crystal matrix, but it has not been formatted or imprinted with information."

  "It's completely clean?"

  "Yes."

  Nick was watching her with intent eyes, dark, vibrant, and so like his brother's. Sin could see the package on the low table in front of the sofa, but she ignored it for the moment as she indicated that he should sit. “Can I get you anything?"

  He shook his head. “I'm good. Thanks. Will you open it?"

  She nearly laughed at that, admiring his directness. She could refuse, but that wouldn't ease any of his suspicions. Besides, she had a good idea of the kind of gift Griffin had sent. “Why not?” she said and moved to sit next to him, noting with amusement that he shifted slightly away from her.

  Pulling the package towards her, she passed a nail over the seal to break it and lifted the lid. What was inside made her suck in a sharp breath. She heard Nick's exclamation, but ignored him, eyeing the object lying with such insidious innocence on blood red velvet.