Daggertail

by Kaitlin Maitland

  With a cool hum, the doors slid open, and they entered the Persian Maiden. Plush, imported carpet stretched the length of the corridor and intricate scrollwork covered the stylized alloy walls.

  “You knew they would do that,” he said in a low voice. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re on the board now, Tavish. At some point this is going to get back to Louie.”

  She stopped, staring up at him and wishing she knew his thoughts. “Mendez is the quarry, and this is the best way to get him.”

  He was grinding his teeth again. Obviously she’d said or done something to make him irritated. She wasn’t trying to make him take care of her. If he wanted her to be responsible for herself after they finished this job, she would be. She just wished she knew if there was any chance for a shared future.

  Tavish had no answers for questions she didn’t really want to ask. After everything they had been through, she hoped that they would have gotten past this confusion. But it seemed she was wrong. So instead of circling, she focused on the present. “Now we’ve got to find Mendez in this maze.”

  “I could’ve gotten that information from the droid manning the service entrance.”

  She shook her head. “It would’ve made him suspicious. It’s a droid. You don’t make small talk with it. “

  “We’ll have to find a way to get to Mendez in the main gambling area, then. If we get lucky, he’ll be right there holo-dicing in the wide open.”

  They approached a narrow door that would place them at a choke point between the service areas and the main gallery. The sounds of the casino were a low hum on the other side of the door. Tavish took a deep breath and paused while Xave twisted the crystal on his IID. He shook himself a bit, as if settling into a new skin. His avatar image looked much like the one she’d outed a few hours ago, with a few minor changes. She didn’t know why, but she got the feeling he didn’t much like the holo image dulling his sharp senses.

  Forcing the events of the last fifteen minutes to the back of her brain, she focused on that moment, on the task of entering the main floor of the Persian Maiden like a trophy wife on the arm of her man. Even if the man whose arm she occupied wasn’t really hers.

  He walked with purposeful confidence while managing not to drag her along like baggage. As they negotiated the press of people in the gallery, he tucked her into his side, protecting her from the jostle. He was warm, and his familiar scent soothed her nerves.

  When this was over, how could she go on without Xave? She’d known him for a short time, but he’d gotten beneath her skin. How could she have ever thought him a machine? And how would she ever do without this man who had brought her such vivid awareness of herself?

  The answer hit her hard and fast. Xavier Kovuchenko was all man and all hers, and somehow, she would have to find a way to make it work.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Xave could smell her emotional ups and downs as she walked at his side, though no hint of her thoughts showed in the vapid smile she offered to the casino patrons. He tucked her arm around his elbow and tried to focus on the task ahead. It would do no good to be distracted, and he’d be a fool to believe their troubles had passed. Securing Mendez was important, but it wasn’t worth Tavish’s life.

  Her reaction to his origins hadn’t come as a surprise. He couldn’t blame her, not really. Most humans were raised on stories of cyborg units attacking settlements and colonies in the known systems and dealing death with each visit.

  There had been other women before her, though they had been few and far between. The relationships hadn’t lasted long enough to include any in-depth conversations about his origins, but they’d suspected him of having genetic anomalies in his background. He’d resigned himself to being alone. He’d accepted that he might never discover his true mate, the one woman who could complete him.

  He knew what happened when someone like his father—someone like him—settled for less than a perfect match. His parents’ passion had scorched them both, burning hot and fast until it consumed itself. He’d watched his mother grieve the loss of his father until her death.

  Then he’d met Tavish in a seedy brothel on Janus 5. And though Xave had been cut to the core by the revulsion in her eyes when she learned of his origins, he could not make himself sorry to have shared what little time they’d had together. So he would keep her safe and protect her life with his own, if necessary, even if there was no future for them when the mission ended.

  He strode through the chrome doors of the Persian Maiden. The gaudy decor was a strange parody of the Persian Empire on Earth circa 500 BCE: voluptuous plants imported from the Terran system, girls serving drinks in gauzy harem outfits, and enforcers dressed in loose-fitting silk pants with bare chests. Droids of every description lingered in alcoves, awaiting instructions: service droids, maintenance droids, sexy pleasure droids to comfort even the unluckiest loser. And the latest in holo-gaming devices filled every last nook and cranny: slot machines, virtual poker, cyborg cage fighting.

  “Look over there,” Tavish murmured.

  He turned his head on the pretext of leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Isn’t that Aiello?”

  She giggled insipidly, convincing in her role as an empty-headed elbow trophy. “Yes.”

  “Fond of security cyborgs, isn’t he?”

  “You would be too if you shared his link on the food chain.”

  Xave eyed Aiello’s entourage. “So where is Mendez?”

  “Probably hiding from you in a private room somewhere.”

  Xave glanced around to get the basic layout of the casino’s main floor. Identical service droids came and went from a terminal near the center of the room, where Aiello holo-diced in a private game. Several of his human lackeys lounged against the terminal’s counter.

  He brushed his lips over Tav’s collarbone. “Can you create some kind of diversion?”

  “What’s your plan?”

  “I need access to that terminal over there without an audience. If I can link in, Warrick can run a scan of the place from base to locate Mendez.”

  Her full lips pursed for a moment before curving into a sexy-as-hell smile. “Yeah, I think I can manage something.”

  She left his side, easing through the room like a shadow. He tamped down on the rise of his territorial instincts. It was tough to remember that he had no claim on her. Worse still was the knowledge that Tavish was on the grid. If she drew enough attention to herself, she would wind up right back at Louie’s. No matter how flippant she seemed about that possibility, she’d be crazy to risk going back.

  Every male eye in the room swiveled around to follow the swing of her hips and the bounce of her breasts. Her dress slid over her skin, hints of flesh slipping in and out of view with each step. She fluttered her lashes, and her lips curved into a seductive smile that struck Xave as patently false.

  He relaxed. She had never given him that particular smile before. Her smiles for him had been entirely different.

  Tavish altered her path, angling between two well-dressed gentlemen. He watched, amused, as she slid past the elder of the two. Her murmured apology garnered instant attention when the man realized the identity of the warm flesh pressed against his backside. He ogled Tavish so thoroughly that he never noticed her hand slip into his pocket and pull out his casino card. Murmuring an apology, she palmed the card and continued her tour around the room.

  She approached Aiello and his entourage. Once they were distracted, Xave would have only seconds to affect his disguise. Marshaling his self-control, he waited for Tavish to make her move.

  “‘Scuse me.” Her voice sounded breathless. “I’m hopelessly turned around in here. Could one of you help?”

  A smile threatened to split Xave’s features wide open. She presented a classic picture. One long leg canted outward to draw the slit of her skirt tight against the firm, warm flesh of her leg. Her chest heaved up and down, her breasts bouncing with each bre
ath. Her hard nipples thrust against the thin fabric of her dress. She tilted her head, showing off the graceful line of her bare neck. There was enough sexual innuendo in her gaze to ignite the entire room. Aiello and his entourage responded like wild animals in the throes of mating season.

  An artificially white smile spread across Aiello’s face. “Are you looking for your husband?”

  Tavish gave a careless shrug. “He said he’d find me later. This is the first time I’ve ever come with him. He gave me a card and said to have fun, but I’ve no clue how to get started!”

  She tempered her girlish giggle with a woman’s knowing gaze. Aiello was hooked. “Well, sweetheart, this is your lucky night. I happen to own this casino.”

  “Really?”

  “So I think I’m the perfect man to help get you started.” Aiello gave her an appreciative once-over that made Xave bristle.

  Xave wanted to follow as the oily bastard led Tavish back toward the private gaming tables. But she’d been distracting Aiello for a purpose, and Xave still had a job to complete.

  He rotated the crystal on his IID once, and his appearance shifted to match one of the many identical droids coming and going about the room. He adopted a purposeful stride toward the central terminal station.

  He opened his comm link and connected to base.

  “Warrick, I’m connecting you to the casino terminal via my data card. I need a tip on Mendez’s hiding place.”

  “Receiving,” Warrick said in his ear.

  A muted whirring sound kicked on as Warrick activated a remote scan from base. Keeping up the premise of being a busy service droid, Xave kept his senses tuned to the room’s activity. The fine hair at the nape of his neck lifted when his acute hearing caught the familiar sound of Tavish’s laughter mingled with Aiello’s low tones.

  “I’m getting old here, Warrick.”

  Something that could’ve been either a snort or a snarl came through the comm.

  Several service droids passed, one giving him a pointed look. He forced himself to remain nonchalant. It was possible the droids could tell on some strange mechanical level that Xave was not one of their own, despite his convincing physical appearance. Having limited personal experience with droids, he couldn’t be certain.

  “It seems your bounty is hiding on the thirtieth floor, room 3067.” Warrick said.

  “Anything there give us a possible in?”

  “He isn’t shy about charging entertainment to his room.”

  “What type?”

  “He appears to have a penchant for pleasure droids and prostitutes.”

  Xave’s stomach clenched. Mendez liked women, lots of women. And Tavish was an experienced woman. The solution seemed obvious, but Mendez knew her. He would know what they were up to the minute she showed her face.

  The idea of placing Tavish in that kind of danger was unacceptable to him. She’d already scanned herself into their system. That mistake alone could ruin any chance of freedom. This would make things even riskier.

  He realized that Warrick had started talking again. “Use Tavish, Xavier. The ruse doesn’t have to last long. If you’re with her, you should be able to subdue Mendez before he can cause trouble.”

  Xave stepped away from the terminal, keeping his pace deliberate and purposeful. The comm link blipped when Warrick ended the transmission. Xave had no time and fewer options for the job to come. Still uncomfortable with the part that Tavish would have to play, he veered in the direction of her laughter.

  She had remained with Aiello in the elite sector of the casino. He could hear her sultry voice and catch just a whiff of her distinctive scent in the air. Not wanting to burst in and blow her cover, Xave walked behind a potted hybrid banana tree long enough for his IID to project a new holo image. Hanging about like a loitering service droid would get him nowhere. The device left him with his own facial features and appropriate bodyguard attire instead.

  He stepped back into the mainstream, and a moment later, he felt the distinct sensation of being watched.

  He faded into the background and saw a woman not ten meters away, observing him with an eager expression on her face.

  Xave would’ve gone so far as to call her beautiful. Her young body curved in all the right places, with high, pert breasts and lush, ripe hips. Her tight dress left very little to the imagination. Tawny skin set off her tousled black curls, which reminded a man of a woman rising satisfied from his bed.

  She locked gazes with him, and her soft red lips curved into an inviting smile. The enticement in her eyes was unmistakable. She was a woman. He was a man. And for the first time in his life, Xave found his body completely uninterested.

  He could’ve blamed it on his preoccupation with Mendez or the likelihood that any interest in him would abate once she knew whose blood he carried in his veins. But it wasn’t either of those things. It was Tavish. She was warmth, light, and humor in his cold, colorless existence.

  As if the dark-haired woman could tell he was thinking of someone else, her smile faded to an unattractive pout. A grin twisted the corner of Xave’s mouth. Had he ever thought to see the day his psyche became monogamous? He was tied, body and soul, to a woman who had no use for long-term attachments.

  Keeping his expression bland, Xave approached the checkpoint between Aiello’s private gaming sector and the rest of the floor. Two beefy-looking enforcers stood guard, legs splayed, eyeing him with mild interest.

  The one on the right put up his flat palm. “This is a private game, sir. Please return to the public sector.”

  He hadn’t gotten the chance to open his mouth before Tavish appeared, Aiello in tow. “Is it time to go already?” she asked, her voice imploring.

  It was apparent that she wanted him to play along. Deciding he had no better alternative, Xave followed her lead. “Yes, it is.”

  “But I was just starting to have fun!”

  He had to hand it to her. The pout was more effective on Aiello and the enforcers than Xave’s fists ever would’ve been.

  “Are you certain you have to go?” Aiello brushed his hand down Tavish’s bare back.

  She froze solid as Aiello petted her like some exotic animal. Blood rushed to Xave’s head, pounding in his ears as he wrestled the urge to remove the man’s hand from not only Tav’s back but his arm as well.

  “Oh, when my husband sends my bodyguard to fetch me back, there’s no arguing.” She flashed a brilliant smile at Xave. “Isn’t that right?”

  “Quite right, madam.”

  Xave placed her hand upon his arm. He was careful to keep a respectful distance between their bodies. As her bodyguard and not her husband, pulling her into the curve of his body wouldn’t be appropriate. The hand on his forearm was ice cold. It trembled, redoubling his desire to pull her into the shelter of his body. Her scent was mixed. He could sense the remaining unease left from her contact with Aiello, as well as the relief she gleaned from his nearness.

  Tavish bobbed a cordial wave toward Aiello as Xave swept her along toward a bank of lifts that would take them to the thirtieth floor. Aware of Aiello’s eyes following their retreat, Xave kept silent until the doors opened and they stepped inside. A pair of security cameras whirred into action, following their every movement.

  “How are you?” he asked, his voice low pitched for her ears only.

  “Fine.”

  Something in the cant of her jaw and her scent didn’t agree with her words. He longed to pull her close and shield her from the world. But the situation wouldn’t allow for such reassurances, and he wasn’t altogether certain if she’d welcome his nearness.

  “Did you get what you needed?” she asked. Her murmur caught him by surprise.

  “Yes.”

  “Then it seems my bodyguard needs to escort me to my next engagement.” She lifted her chin, her green eyes meeting his with a strength of purpose he’d never encountered in a woman. She’d taken the decision out of his hands. Whatever happened next would be her doing, but knowing
that didn’t make him feel any better.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Why did Xave have to act like a stoic cyborg? She knew their situation had rendered him into an automaton, but it was hard to believe that it was caution leeching the feeling from his voice and forcing him to keep her at arm’s length. Of course, how could he be anything but cautious when she’d put herself on Louie’s radar and their mission in jeopardy?

  Tears of frustration welled behind her eyes, and she fought them back. This was no time to moan about things already done and over with. Instead she could hope for a chance to apologize or explain. She was coming to realize that there were two very distinct portions of her life: life before Xave and life after Xave. Before him she’d been in survival mode. The addition of Xave to her life had taught Tavish to hope for something more. Before him she’d not known it was possible to enjoy the touch of a man. He had taught her about lust and longing. Now there would be no one else. Nobody would ever bring such exquisite pleasure with just a touch. That knowledge changed her more than anything else ever could. And not even Xave’s biological status could alter that change.

  “Try to move out of the way as quickly as possible once he opens the door,” Xave said. “It won’t take long to subdue him. But I don’t want you getting caught in the middle, and I want it over before he can pull a weapon.”

  He wouldn’t meet her gaze, keeping his eyes averted and his voice bland. After the closeness they’d shared hours before, she felt his withdrawal like a raw wound. How could she have ever thought him a machine?

  She tried to focus on his speech. Instead her mind kept lingering on the uncanny blue of his eyes, the slope of his jaw, the familiar bump on the bridge of his nose, and the shape of his lips. She memorized every inch of him as if she might never have another chance.

  The acknowledgment of that possibility made her blood freeze. They moved in worlds full of death and other incomprehensible horrors. A place where every breath could be the last, and there was nowhere to hide from those who hounded you. If something happened and one of them failed to survive this night, she wanted Xave to know that she accepted him no matter where he’d come from.