A stuffed creature with excessively long ears hung from a cage. Gray from wear and mostly devoid of its stuffing, it dangled there as if it caught in the act of escaping.
Ren pulled it free. The poor thing nearly fell apart in his hands, but at least it was free from captivity.
Broken flooring tiles were scattered across the floor. Unglued, the tiles shuffled and whispered as warriors stalked forward.
The path split.
“This way.” Havik pointed to the path on the left.
“I want to burn this place to the ground,” Zalis said with such vehemence that it shocked Ren. Zalis was like a mountain or some other natural wonder—unavoidable, lurking, quiet, and also tranquil.
The narrow path opened into a clearing.
A female sat tied to a chair.
“Don’t come any closer!” she warned.
He recognized her in an instant. Identical, his mate had said, but that was incorrect. His mate was moonlight; this female had a warmer tone, as if spun from sunlight.
Gemma.
He moved forward.
The floor tile sank under his weight.
Ren froze, caught in a trap.
Emry
“A what?” Emry nearly laughed in the guard’s face. Only his stern expression made her realize the seriousness of the situation. “You’re serious. Why do you have a warrant?”
Thalia crossed her arms over her chest. “She doesn’t own a ship.”
“Emmarae LeBeaux, mated to Ivon Ren,” the guard said.
“Yes,” Emry confirmed at the same moment Thalia said not to answer that.
“Communal property rights of spouses are recognized by Sangrin law; thus I have a warrant for your ship,” the guard said.
“It’s a Mahdfel ship and not subject to Sangrin authority,” Thalia countered.
“Cargo Class Vessel XJ2324 is not registered as a Mahdfel vessel.”
“Dammit.” Thalia tossed her hands in the air. “That’s what I get for being too clever for my own good. Fine. Search the ship. If this is about the cat, it’s a domestic breed rescued from a shelter. We have papers and registration.”
The guard gave her a serious glare, which was somehow more intense than his default stern glare. “Smuggling wildlife is a serious offense.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me. Poachers suck,” Thalia said, marching to the ship.
Pashaal and two other guards waited at the base of the ship’s ramp.
“There she is! The thief!” Pashaal pointed a finger at Emry, her voice pitched to carry in the bustling docking bay.
“I think I need to see that warrant,” Emry said.
A guard handed her a tablet. She scanned over the document, flicking the screen down. Pashaal was petty enough to sue for breach of contract but…
“Theft? I’ve got a lot of flaws, but I am not a thief.” Emry kept her voice calm, doing her level best not to throttle her former boss. Just like Ren predicted, Pashaal came back for the necklace.
“My obsidian pendant choker,” Pashaal said. “It’s priceless. My Kullar gave it to me, and you took it and I want it back.”
Priceless. Emry kept a straight face and didn’t roll her eyes. Mom would be super proud of her.
“Do not mock me,” Pashaal said.
Apparently, Emry’s straight face wasn’t that straight.
“Is this the item?” A guard emerged, carrying Mittens. The cat slumped in his arms, limbs dangling in a way that was all wrong.
“What did you do to my cat?” Emry demanded.
“A sedative was required to pacify the animal,” the guard answered.
“A sedative? Is that safe for a cat? If you killed my cat, I’ll… I’ll…” She blanked on potential threats. She liked the cat well enough, but Ren loved Murder Mittens, and she loved him. Nothing could happen to Mittens while he was away. She wouldn’t let it.
Thalia took Mittens from the guard and pressed her ear to the cat’s mouth. “Still breathing,” she said. She removed the necklace, tossed it to Pashaal, and carried Mittens back inside the ship.
Pashaal gasped when she found the pendant missing.
“What did you do? Where is it!?” Pashaal waved the choker in Emry’s face, screaming to the point she turned blue in the face.
“I don’t know. It was fine when I put it on the cat. It must have fallen off.”
Neutral expression. Blank. Don’t think about that Zalis guy taking the chip to decrypt it.
“Ugh, your human face is so ugly with lies. Tell me what you did.”
Emry held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry. Sorry!” Pashaal’s anger seemed to compound on itself, growing with every word. “Was this your plan all along, hmm? Blackmail? Ruin me? Where is it!”
She raised her hand, the palm open, ready to slap Emry.
Thalia caught the hand by the wrist and pulled it down. She said, “Why don’t we cool down? Take a step back. Good. Because if you hit my friend, we’re pressing assault charges. Never mind what her mate will do when he finds out.”
Pashaal’s eyes narrowed. “Mind your business.”
Thalia shrugged and stepped back. She took out a tablet from her pocket and stared down at the screen like the whole situation bored her.
“You want credit?” Pashaal turned her attention back to Emry. “Fine, name your price, but I want to see the stone first.”
“I can’t give you the stone.” Because it was cheap glass and it broke.
Pashaal stomped a foot, her decorative chains jingling. “You are purposefully obtuse. No one is this dense.”
Yeah, more than family photos on that chip.
Emry’s gut told her to act in good faith, as if she wanted to help Pashaal find the nonexistent stone, but Pashaal’s tantrum soured her play-acting. They both knew—or at least Pashaal suspected—that the stone had been broken and the chip discovered.
“Wow, I’m super motivated to help when you call me dumb. Please, keep inspiring me,” Emry said, her tone dry.
Thalia snickered. “Sorry. Don’t mind me,” she said, not bothering to look up from the tablet screen.
The guards clattered down the ramp. “Ma’am, we were unable to locate the missing item.”
“I’m tired of this. Perhaps time in the brig will refresh her memory,” Pashaal said.
“You’re arresting me?” She looked at the ramp, debating if she was fast enough to lock herself in the ship.
The guards advanced.
Nope. Not fast enough. Before she could blink, her arms were bound in front of her.
“Wow, that necklace must be pretty valuable,” Thalia said, holding up the tablet as if she were recording the arrest. “I mean, considering what you have on your personal tablet, and it wasn’t even password protected. Actually, you just seem pretty careless with your stuff. Maybe you shouldn’t go blaming other people because you can’t keep track of your things.”
“That is my comm!” Pashaal patted the pockets on her robe, then snatched the device from Thalia. “How did you get this?”
“Please. I stole it.” Thalia did not seem concerned that she was caught red-handed. Gleeful, even. “Honestly, you can’t tell the difference between loaning a piece of jewelry and it being stolen and someone actually stealing your property. Makes me question all your accusations.”
“Arrest her,” Pashaal ordered. The guard snapped into action.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in ages,” Thalia said, holding out her hands to be cuffed.
“Can’t say the same,” Emry replied.
Chapter 20
Ren
“Do not move,” Havik said.
“I was not planning to.” Ren kept his voice smooth and even. A pressure plate to trigger an explosive. An amateur mistake. He had been so focused on the female—Gemma—that he failed to notice the wires creating a ring about the females.
While Havik and Zalis worked on disarming the explosives, Ren focused on the
tidy little trap the traffickers left.
Nine females. Three were in cages barely large enough for an adult Terran. Five had their hands and feet bound. They sat on the cold floor. One had been tied to a chair.
“How long have you been here?” Ren asked.
“Long enough,” Gemma said. “Weeks. But they left us like this for maybe half a day. I dunno. I hope you’re the good guys.”
“Emmarae sent us.”
A dry, croaking laugh tore from her throat. “Thank fuck for that. Creepy Twin Powers. I told you, Sarah.” Whoever Sarah was, she did not reply. “You don’t happen to have any water, do you?” Gemma asked.
“Yes. If I toss you a pack, will it cause trouble?” Ren asked.
“The explosive triggers make a ring around us so we can’t leave. There’s nothing to worry about inside the circle.”
“That is important information you could have shared,” Zalis said, surprising Ren for a second time. Voluntarily speaking. To a stranger.
Well, an attractive female, Ren supposed. Gemma had the same qualities as his Emmarae, but blander. Not as interesting. Too flawless.
“I did say don’t come closer. That person shouting? That was me.” She coughed, sounding dry and rasping. “Fuck. Sorry. I’m parched.”
Zalis withdrew a meal pack from a pouch at his waist. “Water and nutrition are in there. If I add a blade to the pack, will you be able to get yourself and the others free?”
“Yeah.” She wiggled her arms, and the chair wobbled. “It’s a loose knot. The ’sploding was what really kept us here.”
Zalis chuckled. Actually laughed. If Ren wasn’t so focused on not exploding himself, he’d be astounded. More astounding, Gemma smiled back.
Zalis added a small blade to the pack and tossed it into the circle, landing neatly at Gemma’s feet. “I will fetch more. Enough for everyone.”
“Do not be concerned about me,” Havik grumbled. “I will disarm the explosives. It is not a concern.”
Ren was concerned but kept his quip to himself, as he did not wish to alarm the females. Gemma worked her hands free from the binding and cut herself free from the chair. She crawled to the nearest bound female, pushing the pack before her.
“You are injured,” he said.
“Just my ankle. Doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
“Drink this,” he said, pressing a water cube to the female’s mouth.
While Gemma worked to cut the bindings on the other females, Ren examined the wires. Visually, he traced the path as the wires twisted around the room, connecting a ring of dull gray cylinders. He had no doubt the bombs would spray deadly shrapnel in all directions. He needed to get closer, to better inspect the fuses and detonators, but he was pinned in place. If he stepped off the pressure plate, the detonator would trigger.
“Be my eyes, Havik,” he said, pointing to the nearest cylinder. “That one. Describe the wires.”
“There are wires.” Havik squatted in front of the cylinder.
“No, I know—” Ren swallowed his frustration. Havik was not to blame. He warned Ren against rushing in, and Ren failed to listen.
He could fix this. He had to. He swore he would return to his mate, and he would never break a vow to Emmarae again.
“How many wires? Two? Three? It must be connected to the pressure plate. Describe it to me.”
Ren talked Havik through the slow, arduous process of disarming the pressure plate. Cautiously, he raised his foot.
Nothing happened.
Relieved, Ren set about dismantling the rest of the bombs. Fortunately, whoever created the trap took no pride in their craft. The work was sloppy and rushed. Ren could kiss them for their slovenly work ethic.
While distributing water and rations to the captive females, Zalis had contacted a medical team. They arrived within the hour.
“No, I’m fine,” Gemma protested. “I want to see Emry.”
“Your ankle is fractured. You are unable to stand,” Ren said. “You are clearly injured. Your stubbornness only hurts yourself.”
“Where’s Emry? You’re him, aren’t you? The guy who broke her heart?” Gemma’s eyes narrowed, and she gave him a very assessing look, one she shared with Emmarae.
Brutal honesty seemed the only answer under such scrutiny. “Yes, I was the foolish male.”
“I expected you to look more like a cartoon devil.”
Ren did not know how to respond to that, so he said, “I swore to my mate that I would find you.”
“Good job. Here I am. Where’s my sister?”
“On Tholla, where you would be if you got on the shuttle and allowed the medics to do their job,” he said.
“Fine, but only because I’m dehydrated, and the room is a little spinny.”
“Stubborn female,” he muttered, picking her up in a cradle hold and carrying her to the medical shuttle.
“Swear that you’ll bring her to me. I need to see Emry. I need her.”
“I swear, female. I did not disarm eight crude bombs to send you back to Earth without speaking to your twin.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be a waste,” she said.
For some reason Ren could not fathom, Zalis chuckled.
Emry
“This is cool.” Thalia sat on the platform bed, swinging her feet like this was a treat and not a stark gray holding cell. “I’ve never been arrested before, which is surprising, you know, considering all the crime.”
“Why? I mean… why are you?” Desperately needing to burn off nervous energy, Emry paced the cell. It didn’t help.
“Relax. Now you can check off alien prison from your bucket list.”
“This isn’t a prison. This is a holding cell, and this is not fun or a good time,” Emry said.
“A little.”
“No.”
“Yeah, of course no, but also a little fun.”
Emry blinked. This woman was bananas. “I don’t like you.”
“You do.”
For fuck’s sake, she did.
“So, what’s the deal with the necklace?” Thalia asked.
Emry blinked. Thalia knew what the deal was. They had a big team meeting about it.
She opened her mouth to say this, only something snarky and witty, but Thalia tugged on her ear and pointed to the ceiling.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” Thalia said, tugging and pointing again.
Ah. Bugs. Their conversation might be recorded.
“I don’t know,” she said, a bit too stiffly. “Pashaal insisted I wear something ‘decorative,’ and that was the least gaudy option.” Emry ran a hand through her hair, knocking loose the last of her hair from the ponytail. “I barely remember taking it off.”
“Well, Ren kept you occupied.” Wink, wink.
“Okay, gross. You don’t get to joke about my sex life. The only person who can is my sister, and you ain’t Gemma.” Even then, gross.
“Fair enough,” Thalia said, full of good humor and not the least bit offended.
This woman was so damn likable it was aggravating. Gemma would love her and want to know all about life in the alien big house.
She’d insist on matching tattoos.
“I worked Pashaal’s dinner party,” Emry said, redirecting the conversation, “which means my day started about twelve hours before the guests arrived. I was exhausted. It was all I could do to shower before I fell asleep.”
“Why is she so hot and bothered about this necklace? Seems sus. I mean, there was so much incriminating evidence on her tablet, and she didn’t even have a password set. 1234 is not a password. Sloppy. She deserves to be robbed blind.”
“She is a lead member of the Sangrin Council.”
“Ah. That explains why the guards were tripping over themselves to obey.”
“I need a lawyer.” She had no idea how she could afford one. Her bank account was rather light, and she didn’t want to spend Ren’s money. Technically, he was her spouse, but it didn’t feel right. So, would she rather spend hou
rs, maybe days, in a holding cell because of, what, her pride?
Maybe? She was too proud to take Ren’s money, even though he told her to get whatever she needed.
He probably didn’t mean bail and a retainer for a lawyer, though.
“This is embarrassing,” she said, slumping against the wall and sliding down until her butt hit the floor.
“Don’t worry. I know a guy,” Thalia said.
That did not fill Emry with confidence.
* * *
“The councilor’s allegations are preposterous.” The lawyer’s image flickered over the display, her voice echoing off the harsh cinder block walls.
“Your client was in possession of stolen property,” the guard said.
Thalia did not, in fact, know a guy. She had a loose association with the spouse of a friend of the husband of her husband’s ex-wife. Yeah. Emry did not want to untangle that mess. What mattered was that Nakia Sykes was an actual attorney, from Earth, and willing to take her case immediately.
“It was a loan. Ms. LeBeaux was instructed by her employer to pick a piece of jewelry and wear it for a dinner party.”
“And then she ran away with it!” Pashaal pointed an accusatory finger at Emry.
“I didn’t run—”
Nakia spoke over Emry. “Let me remind my client to remain silent until I advise her to answer a direct question.”
“Right. Sorry,” Emry muttered. For a person not even in the room, or on the same planet, Nakia had a way of commanding the space.
“First, I must protest Councilor Pashaal’s presence. This is witness intimidation,” Nakia said.
“This is mediation,” Pashaal said. “We cannot have mediation if I am not present.”
“Mediation, my ass,” Emry muttered. Then added, “Right, remain silent.”
Her temper got her in a lot of trouble and she needed to keep it in check now. Pashaal wanted to intimidate her, to make Emry slip up and possibly spill all the intel Ren had gathered investigating her. This was a tricky situation and running her mouth would only make it worse.
Ren Page 17
