He shifted up behind her and slid an arm around her waist, splaying his hand over her stomach and pulling her hips back against him. She took in a sharp breath, and he could feel the tension rippling through her body.
“Jase is on point.” He nodded to where Jase stood a few rows closer to the elevator, gaze trained determinedly on the doors. He turned his head and brushed his lips over her ear. “We can let him get shot first. That way we’ll have some warning.”
She laughed, the sound a little breathless. “You’re terrible.”
“Maybe. But I’m also fun.” He kissed her neck just below her ear.
“And inappropriate.” Her words might have warned him away, but she tilted her head, giving him better access to her soft skin as he kissed along the line of her jaw.
“I think you enjoy me being inappropriate,” he murmured.
Whether or not she had any kind of comeback for him, he’d never know, because yellow lights started flashing above them. Qae glanced up, expecting the disco effects to be followed by some kind of alarm, but nothing else happened.
“Tannin?” He glanced over his shoulder as he moved away from Cami and took up a defensive position opposite her.
“Nothing to worry about. Silent alarm,” Tannin replied distractedly.
“Nothing to worry about until the security guards turn up. Or better yet, UAFA.” Qae took out his gun and crouched down, settling his aim on the elevator doors.
“You were the one complaining about wanting people to shoot before,” Cami tossed at him, not sounding concerned.
“Is it too late to take it back? I liked it when things were going according to plan.”
The panel above the elevator lit up in ascending numbers, all the way to the ground floor, before flashing down again.
“We’re about thirty seconds away from having company, Tannin,” he warned the hacker.
“I need a few minutes. I’ll jam the elevators, but it might not slow them down for long.”
True to his word, the numbers stopped on sub-level eight.
Jase glanced back at him, a hint of apprehension in his gaze, but Qae sent him an easy grin. “Time to put down some money on the occupants of the lift. Fifty hard creds. I’m betting two dumb-ass security guards who don’t know which end of their gun to hold.”
A grin flitted over Jase’s lips. “Four. All Reidar.”
Qae shook his head at him. “You always gotta go to worst-case scenario, man. It’s a problem.”
“Three,” Tannin called out. “One Reidar, two oblivious humans.”
The numbers above the elevator doors began flashing again, and Qae settled his attention. “Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, betting pool is now closed. Get ready to hand over your creds.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rian wanted to say this kind of glittering scene was completely unfamiliar. It almost was, because the guy who’d grown up in a wealthy family on Dalphin was long dead. His childhood and teenage years felt like they’d happened to a completely different person. So it was a little surprising he’d so smoothly and seamlessly settled into the crowd elegantly packed into the Central Metro Archives on Khan Mau, socializing amongst hundreds of years’ worth of priceless artifacts. Of course, he could have also put it down to his ingrained Reidar conditioning that he could fit in anywhere at any time. He wouldn’t have been a very successful assassin otherwise. Seemed fitting he was now using those skills against the bastards to take down one of their own.
Tension rippled through him, but he forced himself to counter it and relax. The darkness, the rage and chaos within him was stirring higher than usual, ready and willing to be unleashed. Part of him didn’t want to rein it in, wanted to let it free to do what it would. But it was too risky, not only for himself, Ella, and Varean, but their plans here were meant to be subtle and low-key. Kill Baden Niels and leave without anyone the wiser. Going on a rampage and slaughtering every Reidar he could find, like the shadows within him were seductively whispering, would be anything but subtle.
“You look like you belong here,” Ella murmured from where she stood beside him, hand tucked into the crook of his arm. Whether she was getting a sense of his feelings or that was simply her own observation—actually, the two were barely separate any longer, so it probably didn’t matter. Clearly, however, she was trying to distract him from his internal battle—not unusual for him to be so on edge, but definitely more intense tonight.
He glanced down at her. She looked utterly breathtaking in a long silk gown of understated green that perfectly matched her eyes. Her bronze skin looked flawless, her dark hair piled elegantly on her head, wisps escaping to rest lightly on her neck. When she moved, the dress flowed around her like it was made of nothing more substantial than air, and a daring split revealed a mind-numbing length of thigh. Not to mention the depth to which the dress dipped at the back. The plan had been to blend in, but Ella had effortlessly captured the attention of every man—and a good number of women—they’d walked past.
“You can’t talk. You might as well own this room,” he replied in a low voice.
She sent him a serene smile. “Attending events such as this was part of my training.”
“One of these days, you’re going to have to give me an accounting of all this training you’ve had.” As much as he knew about Ella—which admittedly wasn’t a lot, despite the fact she’d been with his crew for nearly two years—he still didn’t know exactly what all her Arynian training had entailed. He had picked up hints, however, that it hadn’t all been parties and learning simple mind tricks.
“Perhaps one day.” She looked up at him, a teasing glint in her eyes, reminding him of how she’d looked at him after—
They hadn’t talked about what’d happened between them when Ella had drawn him up from his nightmares and then helped him. Though he hadn’t intended to fall back asleep after, he’d been out of it within moments of closing his eyes. Just as Ella had promised, he’d slept soundly, deeply, without a single dark shadow to disturb him. When he’d woken up, Ella had been gone and his body had felt heavy. For a second, he’d panicked, thinking something was wrong with him until he’d realized he’d been experiencing a completely unfamiliar sensation of feeling completely rested.
He’d dragged his body off the couch, not letting himself remember what had happened there, and thrown himself into the shower. When he’d emerged and gone to find the others, it was to discover he’d slept for twelve hours and half the journey was already done. Ella had acted like nothing had happened between them, and he’d been more than happy to go along with it.
They’d had some kind of moment. So what? It didn’t mean anything had to change between them. Except, as he stared down at her now, he knew he was only fooling himself. It may have gone unspoken, but there was an awareness between them that hadn’t been there before. It certainly wasn’t helping the restless energy he was barely keeping contained, only adding to his simmering tension.
Not that it was going to alter anything. He was still completely messed up and he knew—could tangibly feel—she wasn’t interested in getting involved with him. In fact, the complete opposite was true. She definitely didn’t want to go there with him. Even if hell froze over and he, for some ridiculous reason, decided he wanted her.
The fact he was even thinking about it was completely insane.
It was just biological. She’d gotten him off with an intensity he’d never experienced before and they hadn’t even had sex. He didn’t actually know what they’d done, because it didn’t fit into any parameters of what physical relations between people should be.
“Seen him yet?”
Rian tore his gaze away from Ella as Varean and Kira stopped in front of them.
“No sign yet,” he replied, the thought of finally seeing Niels face-to-face sending a violent surge of dark anticipation through him. “But I’m not expecting him to make an appearance until it’s time for his speech.”
“And how long until that h
appens?” Varean asked, sounding bored and looking uncomfortable in his evening suit.
Rian checked the time on the giant antique clock face displayed on the far wall. Apparently, back on old Earth it had once been on top of some kind of ancient tower and called Big Ben, whatever that meant. “In about fifteen minutes. Let’s split up and do a final lap to make sure we haven’t miscounted the security officers, and double-check their positions.”
Varean sent him a subtle salute then led Kira off in the opposite direction.
Rian gave Ella a gentle tug and they moved around the perimeter of the room. His mind was taking in information almost faster than he could process it—the enhanced ability one thing he could thank the Reidar for, because it had come in handy against them and kept him alive. His brain worked as effectively as a device capturing actual footage. He could recall any detail with perfect accuracy, predict movements and outcomes so precisely he might as well be psychic.
Ella pulled to a sudden stop, breaking his concentration; her expression was pinched and alarmingly pale. She was staring at someone or something across the room.
In his mind, he felt a rush of her shock mixed potently with dread, fear, and weirdly enough, an underlying loyalty or devotion that made no sense. She was suddenly a storm of conflicting emotions, and Rian could see Varean quickly making his way back toward them, alarm on his features. Rian had to take a quick sharp breath, Ella’s sudden influx of feelings tipping him closer to his own edge before he got a handle on it and pulled himself back again.
“Ella?”
She swallowed as her hand on his arm tightened hard enough to almost leave bruises.
“It’s—it’s my brother.”
“Your brother?” He didn’t know why he found himself so surprised she had a sibling. She could have ten for all he knew. But what the hell kind of relationship did they have if the first thing she felt at seeing him was dread and fear? It was enough to distract him from their impending date with Niels, but the way her emotions radiated into him only served to feed the ferocity he’d been carefully maintaining.
“I can’t let him see me.” She spun, breathing unevenly, clearly trying to get her emotions under control.
“Which one is he?” The words didn’t come out at much more than a growl, because he was reminding himself why keeping cover to go after Baden Niels was far more important than beating Ella’s brother to a bloody pulp and promptly getting kicked out of this here fancy-ass party.
“Never mind, Rian,” Ella closed her eyes, features still tense. “Just let me find somewhere to keep out of the way until this is all over.”
“Which one?” This time the words were an outright demand, which made her eyes snap open.
“Why? What’s the point in knowing? I can feel your fury, Rian. Don’t forget why we’re here.”
“What’s happening?” Varean asked as he finally caught up with them.
“Just someone from Ella’s past she doesn’t want to deal with. Did you finish double-checking the lay of the room?”
Varean nodded. “No change.”
“Good, take up position. The speeches are due to start in a minute.”
Varean cast a concerned look at Ella, who gave him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but was weak at best. The commando gently squeezed her shoulder then hurried back to where he’d left Kira.
“You were about to point out your brother.”
Ella sent him a pained look, but sighed, obviously realizing resistance was futile.
“To my right, standing over by the broken statue. He’s not wearing an evening suit, he has on official Arynian diplomatic attire. He must be here on business.”
Rian found the man in question. He was tall and handsome, holding court with the people around him, easily charming them by the looks of things. His skin was a shade darker than Ella’s, and his charcoal-gray suit was just as formal, but less austere. Rian committed his face to memory. They were going to have words at some point.
An announcement was made about the speeches starting and there was a smattering of applause as people turned their attention to the stage.
“Later, you’re going to tell me exactly why facing your brother scares you more than standing up to a shape-shifting alien.”
“I can’t.” Her gaze shuttered, and she turned her attention to the stage.
He cut another angry look at her brother while he struggled to put aside the unusually dark emotions echoing out of her like aftershocks. He couldn’t do what needed to be done tonight if he was preoccupied with Ella’s emotions. He filed it away for future consideration. Right now, he had a more pressing matter.
Up on the stage, an older woman in a tasteful dress-suit kind of thing made the introductions, gushing about how generous Mr. Niels had been with his time and money, and how they wouldn’t all be here without him.
A few moments later, the man of the hour stepped out, waving to the crowd who cheered enthusiastically for him. Rian had only seen Niels a couple of times over sub-space communications, never in person. The sight of him sent a revulsive chill through him, knowing there was a slimy, shape-shifting alien underneath the disguise. He clenched his fists, imagining how easy it would be to pull out the weapon he’d concealed and shoot Niels right here and now. Except that didn’t run with the whole subtle-approach they’d agreed on. No matter how the shadows within tempted him, the last thing he needed was to put himself or his crew back on the IPC most-wanted list and end up hunted by UAFA from one end of the universe to the other.
His comm vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to see the message he’d been waiting to get from Tannin.
It was done.
The company was in chaotic ruin and they’d jacked the servers, feeding as much data into the Ebony Winter as they could. They’d left the building after only a minor confrontation with a couple of security guards and were on their way back to Qae’s ship.
He sent Ella a grim but satisfied smile as he slipped his comm back into his pocket. “Now we wait for the real entertainment to begin.”
She gave a nod, but didn’t return his smile, her thoughts clearly overshadowed by the unexpected appearance of her brother.
Niels’s speech droned on for a few long minutes, before another man in a business suit—obviously not dressed for the party—edged onto the stage and went over to him. Clearly annoyed, Niels made a quick apology to the crowd and stepped back to talk with the man.
“Here we go,” Rian murmured, dark gratification thrumming through him. Niels’s expression turned into one of shock before he darted back to the front and gave another apology, explaining he needed to depart due to an emergency.
The crowd murmured in confusion, but Niels was already hurrying off the stage, talking intently with the man who’d come to fetch him.
“Let’s move.” He signaled Varean, and they followed Niels to enact the final part of the plan.
Rian hurried through the crowd, icy, precise anticipation threading through him. He kept hold of Ella until they’d reached the other side of the room, just as Niels and his accomplice disappeared through a side door. Varean and Kira caught up with them, and together, the four of them stepped into the deserted hallway, Varean pulling out a razar and a nucleon gun once they were clear of the crowd.
Up ahead, Neils’s angry voice echoed down the utility hallway. Rian kept a distance of fifty yards between them as they pursued their quarry, who was so caught up with what’d happened to his company, he hadn’t noticed they were being tailed. With the moment approaching fast, the malice and need for violence had settled—for a short reprieve only—leaving him with the familiar preternatural calm he always experienced before loosening the hold on his inner demons.
They exited another door about where Rian had predicted they would, and he went through first, holding out a cautioning hand to make sure the way was clear before letting the other three follow. They’d come out into a kind of small foyer. Niels had stopped in front of the do
uble doors, but had taken up pacing.
“I’ll bring the aerosphere around,” the other man was saying as he scurried through the doors, clearly wanting to be anywhere except near Neils, who was currently shouting into his comm.
Rian hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his pants as he sauntered forward until Niels finally noticed him.
“Hang on a second, Laylor.” Niels stared at Rian with a peeved expression. “What is it?”
He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised the man—alien—didn’t recognize him on sight, even though he’d been doing his damned best to kill or capture him for the past almost-two-years.
“Problem?” he asked instead, nodding his chin toward the comm in Niels’s hand.
“I don’t have time for this,” Niels muttered, half turning away and raising the comm again.
“I think I’m in the wrong business,” Rian said conversationally. Niels hesitated a fraction of a second, staring at him sideways. “If I’d known all you needed was a decent hacker to bring down an entire company, think I would have tried it a lot sooner.”
“Excuse me?” Niels demanded in disbelief, but with a definite undertone of anger.
“I mean, this time I did it for fun. But maybe next time, I can find a way to turn a profit from it.”
“Laylor, I’m going to have to call you back.” Niels disconnected. “Who are you?”
“Where are my manners?” He reached behind himself and pulled out the ion blaster he’d secured in a concealed holster then brought it up to aim at Niels. A cold burn unfurled through his limbs, focusing the icy ferocity within him like a laser point. “Rian Sherron. I believe you’ve been looking for me.”
When Niels’s fingers moved against the screen of his comm, Rian squeezed off a shot before he could call for help or whatever he’d been thinking about doing. Niels swore, cradling his scorched hand against his chest, the comm now in smoking pieces on the floor at his feet.
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