by Zoe York
“Medscopes are expensive.” Her gaze lifted again. “How’s an ex-spy like you afford one?”
That was the drawback of the device, and the singular reason why every person in the galaxy didn’t have one. He set it aside. “It was a gift.” For an assassination he’d carried out. “From a grateful princess who was exceptionally impressed with my abilities.”
The smallest smile flickered on Lexa’s face. She was slowly shaking off her fright and shock.
“Did they hurt you anywhere else?”
She shook her head. “I’m okay. They were after the map.”
Damon stilled. “The map? You’re sure?”
She nodded.
Shit. That complicated things. He’d been hoping they were just opportunistic thieves who preyed on new arrivals. “Who else knew about the map?”
She shook her head. “Only us. Marius.” She paused, her mouth firming. “Dathan.”
Damn, Damon didn’t want the kid to be behind this. He’d thought he’d read a need in the young treasure hunter to prove himself the old-fashioned way. Not by taking shortcuts.
Lexa snapped her fingers. “And Brocken Phoenix.”
Hmm, that made more sense. “We’ll check with Dathan in the morning. In the meantime, we need to be careful. No wandering off alone, always keep your Sync in reach.”
“They took my Sync.”
“Damn. At least they can’t get into it.”
Her lips quirked. “Not with the new encryption you put on it.”
“That you bitched about endlessly.” He pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. “We’ll get you a new one tomorrow.”
“I doubt we’ll find one with a 4D scanner built into it like mine.”
“We’ll see. Here, take this.”
She took the laser pistol. Her touch wasn’t hesitant, like he expected. She examined the weapon like a pro. He raised a brow.
“Standard self-defense training for astro-archeologists. Never know when you might be on a dangerous dig…or a deadly treasure hunt. Plus, that brother thing again.”
“Do you have another copy of the map and its clues?”
“Yes. It wasn’t all on the Sync.”
Clever girl. “Where is it?”
She grabbed the chain around her neck and lifted the purple pendant. “The thief was closer to it then he knew. I saved images of the map and the text, as well my translation, onto a memory chip and had it made to look like jewelry.”
He fingered it. “Not bad, Princess. We might make a spy out of you, yet.”
She grinned. “I have my talents too, Mr. Malik.”
His fingers brushed hers and something arced between them. He suddenly realized she was wearing only tiny sleep shorts that left her slim legs bare, along with an equally tiny tank top. One strap had been torn, revealing the top swell of one full breast.
Her eyes stayed on his face. “We don’t like each other.”
“Right.” Unable to stop himself—him, the king of control—he brushed his fingers over her bare shoulder. Her skin was so smooth.
She shivered. “You think I’m a trouble magnet.”
“And you think I’m arrogant.”
“An arrogant ass.” She lifted a hand and ran it down the side of his face. Her nails scratching over his stubble.
“That was it.” He brushed some of her hair back from her face. Then he touched her now-healed neck. “Does it hurt?”
She shook her head, her lips parting. “Not anymore.”
“This is probably a really bad idea.”
“Yes. Really bad.”
Thinking about those angry red marks reminded Damon she’d been attacked and hurt. She was vulnerable. For all his faults, taking advantage of a woman wasn’t one of them.
He took a deep breath and pulled back. “You should get some sleep. You need to be rested to start our hunt tomorrow.”
Her eyes flashed and her lips pressed into a line. “You’re just going to ignore this?” She waved a hand between them.
“Like you said, we don’t like each other.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?”
God, if she kept pushing him, he’d crack and push her back on that uncomfortable bed, strip her naked and put his mouth on her. “You’re high maintenance. I don’t need the aggravation.”
With a sniff, she got to her feet, clutching the torn strap of her shirt. “I’m remembering why I don’t like you.”
Reluctance sat heavily on him, but he forced himself to move away from her to the window. He slammed the shutters closed and pulled a multi-tool from his pocket. He flicked on the mini-welder, watching as it shone bright gold. Quickly, he welded the shutters closed.
“Damon! You’re damaging someone else’s property.”
“I already broke the lock on your door to get in here. I’ll pay Stellar. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to take my e-creds.” And Lexa would be safe.
He strode to the door and glanced back. Damn. Just looking at her—her hair a tumbled disarray, the creamy skin of her arms and legs bared by that tiny little outfit that would haunt his dreams—made him want to slam the door shut and grab her. He’d had more beautiful women than Lexa Carter, certainly more experienced. But she seemed to ignite something in him that had been dormant his whole lifetime.
She strode toward him, a determined look on her face. Every muscle in his body went tight.
“See you in the morning, then.” She slammed the door closed in his face.
Damon stood there for a second, then he grinned. She was cute when she was angry.
He pulled one of his laser pistols out of his belt, checked it, then he slid down the wall to sit. He was going to do whatever he had to do to keep her safe. Even if it meant an uncomfortable night on guard duty.
— FIVE —
The next morning, Lexa stepped out into the bright Zerzuran sunshine and came to an abrupt halt. “We’re riding on those?”
Two steps ahead of her, Damon looked back and grinned. “Your central systems upbringing is showing, Princess.”
Three huge…beasts stood in the center of the dusty street. They were very round, and close to the size of the small transport she drove to work, with shaggy, brown hides that were full of tangles. They were fitted with simple riding blankets and rope reins.
Beside them, their treasure hunter was talking with a huge hulk of a man with a bald head. All the animals were laden with supplies tied onto their unkempt hides.
Damon ran a hand down the side of the nearest animal. “Ballo beasts. These things can bloat themselves on water and go for months through the desert without needing water again. People here have been using them for centuries.”
She eyed a nearby desert speeder. “Why not take something like that? They don’t touch the sand, so they won’t get bogged.” She looked at the ballo beasts again. “And surely they’re faster.”
“Sand.” Dathan appeared beside them. “Gets into everything and engines usually quit. Plus, we’d have to carry too much fuel. Desert speeders are okay for day trips, but nothing longer.” The treasure hunter slapped the hulking man beside him. “That’s why my man, Hunk, here, has set us up with some of his best ballos.”
Lexa swallowed. The man was…enormous. He had a faint orange tint to his skin, and no hair on his head, just tiny ridges of bone and a face Lexa guessed only a mother could love. He was almost seven feet tall with giant shoulders and legs like tree stumps. “Hi, Hunk.”
The man ducked his head and looked at his boots.
“Hunk doesn’t say much. Actually, anything at all. His mouth can’t form the sounds. His species, the Doshan, communicate with sign language and grunts.”
“Hey, bitch!”
A deep voice echoed through the street. The few people out and about this early all looked up, some scrambling away.
A tall, disheveled man was bearing down on them.
“Fuck,” Dathan muttered.
The man looked like he was north of
fifty. He had the weathered face of an outdoorsman, and an athletic, stocky body. “We had a deal.”
Lexa blinked. He was talking to her? The man strode right toward her, menace radiating off him.
Damon stepped in front of her. “You want to stop right there, or I’m going to have to hurt you.”
Something nasty ignited in the man’s blue eyes.
Eyes exactly the same shade as Dathan’s.
Brocken Phoenix. She saw the resemblance now and could see this man had once been as handsome as his son, before the ravages of hard living and alcohol had gotten to him.
Lexa wasn’t about to let a drunken bully call her out in the street. Or let Damon play the macho hero to her damsel in distress. She stepped around Damon, pressing a calming hand to his arm.
“Mr. Phoenix, I presume?”
Brocken sneered. “That’s right.”
She smelled kila fumes wafting off him. “Well, my deal with you was for you to meet us at the spaceport…yesterday. I paid you a significant deposit for you to be there with the supplies I’d requested.”
Brocken opened his mouth but Lexa kept going, using the tone she reserved for unruly schoolchildren who visited the museum.
“You broke our deal. We did go looking for you, only to be told you were indisposed.” She leaned toward Damon. “That’s polite code for drunk in a gutter with an empty bottle of kila.”
Damon ran his tongue over his teeth. “Got it.”
“We found someone else more suitable.” She sniffed. “Consider yourself lucky I didn’t ask you to return the deposit.”
Brocken’s eyes bulged, his face turning red. “You can shut your high-and-mighty mouth. One stinking day late and my own son steals my hunt away!”
“That’s not my problem, Mr. Phoenix. Dry yourself out and then you’ll get your hunts.”
“Are you fucking him?” Brocken glared at his son. “He’s got an eye for the pretty ladies, even ones as hoity-toity as you. He’s got a face the ladies love to ride, something about a talented tongue.”
Lexa felt anger pulse through her. “You rude—”
“Dad.” Dathan shouldered forward. “Back off. You can’t talk to Lexa like that—”
Brocken swung out with a fist.
Dathan dodged with a practiced move and avoided a blow to the head, but his father caught him in the shoulder.
Lexa gasped and leapt forward, but Damon beat her to it. He knocked Brocken’s arm away and shoved the man back a step.
“Drop it, Phoenix. I’m not a boy or a woman, and we both know who’ll end up lying bleeding in the street if you try that again.”
The chill in Damon’s tone made Lexa swallow, but she couldn’t look away from his face. The easy charm was gone leaving behind the hard-eyed stare of man who knew how to kill.
Brocken clearly saw it as well. He stepped back. “You’ll die in the desert with this young fool leading you. The desert vultures will pick at your bones.” He spun and strode up the street.
Dathan sighed, his gaze on his father’s back. “He used to be so good. Best treasure hunter on the planet.”
Lexa watched a wealth of emotion cross the young man’s face—grief, anger, resignation.
“Least my brothers got out. They aren’t here having to deal with him every day.”
But Dathan was. And judging from that fading black eye, he bore the brunt of Brocken’s bitterness himself. Lexa’s heart ached for him. She knew what it was like to want your father to be proud of you. For a long time she’d done everything she could to get her father to see her, to recognize her achievements.
She knew her father loved her in his own way, and he’d never abused her like Brocken did his son, but she’d realized very early on that if she didn’t do things exactly her father’s way, she couldn’t make him happy. At least her brothers were proud of her career.
Dathan shook himself. “Let’s get this hunt on the road. You going to tell me where we’re headed? What’s the first clue on this map of yours?”
“First off, we want to know why Lexa got attacked in the inn last night,” Damon demanded.
“What?” The young man’s eyes widened and swung to Lexa. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. There were four of them, about four feet high. I didn’t get a good look at them because they wore hooded robes, but they had furred hands.”
Dathan’s face turned grim. “They’re Primas, an ape-like species, fast as hell and very good thieves.”
“They were after the map.”
He frowned. “You think I sold you out?”
There was a brief, uncomfortable silence. “We considered it. But after meeting your father…”
Dathan rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t put it past Dad to sell the information in a heartbeat, or at the very least be loose-lipped in the Desert Dragon.” The young man’s shoulders slumped. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Well, others might try to come after the map,” Damon said. “We protect it and Lexa, whatever it takes.”
Dathan nodded. “I’m pretty handy in a fight.” A small smile. “I suck at cooking though, so don’t expect gourmet food on this treasure hunt.”
Lexa was glad to see the sadness fading from Dathan’s face. “Well, I didn’t hire you for your cooking.”
A megawatt grin this time. “So, where exactly are we headed? Sea of Dunes is a big place. Time for you to share a bit more about your mysterious map, Dr. Carter.”
She nodded. “The map was etched onto a vase from the Temple of the Divine Goddess.”
“No shit.” Dathan’s eyes narrowed. “The Orphic priestesses were popular around here centuries back. And they worshipped a lot of Terran artifacts.” He patted the ballo beast beside him. “But most people think the Temple of the Divine Goddess is just a myth. There’s never been any sign of it.”
“The vase had a series of clues to locations on Zerzura leading to the temple…and a fabulous treasure.”
The young treasure hunter’s eyes lit up. “Gonna tell me what it is?”
She hesitated. But she was trusting him with their lives, and as he was risking his own as well, he deserved to know. “A Fabergé egg.”
Dathan went incredibly still. “There have been rumors of a Fabergé egg around here for years. No one’s ever found one.”
“Then we’ll be the first.”
“Worth a real lot of e-creds.”
“Which doesn’t matter a bit. Its true value to history is immensurable.”
Dathan got a resigned look on his face. “God, you astro-archeologists are all the same. Okay, so the egg is off-limits. But I get the right to anything else we might find.”
Lexa hated giving anything away, but she knew she couldn’t save everything and he was a part of this hunt. “One artifact. The rest will be secured for my patron, and the Galactic Institute of Historical Preservation will also want their share.”
Dathan crossed his arms. “Ten.”
“No!”
“Five.”
“Two,” she offered begrudgingly. Beside her, she saw Damon hiding a smile.
“Three,” the treasure hunter said.
She sighed. “Fine. Three.”
He slapped her on the back. “Don’t worry, Dr. Carter. It’s unlikely we’ll even find the place, let alone any artifacts.”
“We’ll find it,” she said firmly.
He shook his head. “Your optimism is…a bit sickening.”
“You’re too young to be so cynical.”
He sighed. “I wish.”
There were a thousand broken hopes and dreams in that sigh. “The first clue says we have to cross the Sea of Dunes under the Manifestor’s guiding light.”
Dathan rolled his eyes. “That’s it?”
“There are more clues, but that’s the first one we have to follow.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Okay, well, the Manifestor is a well-known constellation, also called Phanes. We follow it, it takes us west.”
She smiled. “Great.”
Muttering something nasty about optimists, Dathan said, “Let me help you mount the ballo.”
Damon sidestepped and blocked him. “I’ll help her, kid.”
“Roger that, old man.”
Damon muttered to himself and gripped Lexa’s waist. His touch burned through her khaki shirt. She took a deep breath and, as he lifted her, swung her leg over the massive beast. Damon had made it very clear last night that he had no trouble resisting her. She was chalking the experience up to an overload of adrenaline from the attack.
Today, it was business as usual. Two colleagues who didn’t like each other much doing a job.
He patted her leg. “All set?”
God, his touch was still burning, making her nerve endings tingle. “All set.”
“I have something for you.” He held out a brand-new Sync.
She took it. It was an even better model than her old one. “I’m not going to ask where you got this.”
He just smiled.
“Thank you.”
He inclined his head and headed over to his ballo. She watched him and Dathan mount their animals. The treasure hunter glanced at the sky, then at the Sync he’d pulled off his belt and tapped the screen.
“Okay, we’ll start by following the Ruins Route. It’s a well-known caravan route through the Sea.” A serious look came over his features, making him look older than his eighteen years. “Now, the Sea is full of dangers, so don’t go off the path. The desert is filled with sand traps that can swallow an entire herd of ballo beasts. Not to mention the wolves.”
“Wolves?” Lexa asked.
“Yes. Desert wolves. Don’t worry, they don’t attack during the day, and for the nights, I have a deterrent system.” He patted the packs hanging from his beast. Then he nudged the ballo forward. “Okay, let’s get moving.”
With the bright-blue sky stretching overhead and the suns warm on her back, Lexa soon adjusted to the shambling rhythm of the ballo she was riding. It wasn’t that different from the horseback riding she’d done as a girl. Dathan told her the ballo beasts were herbivores and ate any and all vegetation they could find…with a special fondness for the sweet date fruits that grew on the trees at the planet’s oases.
