Electric Heart (Dark Planet Warriors Book 7)

by Anna Carven

  Her body was on fire. She began to grind her hips, gently at first, her body acting of its own volition as it sought satisfaction. The upper length of his cock brushed against her clit, giving her bursts of pure pleasure.

  That set Kail off. He growled and wrapped his hands around her ass.

  He pushed his body against hers, going even deeper, pushing harder, until Riana’s groans turned into high-pitched cries.

  He rocked back and then slammed into her, fucking her with a wild intensity that took her breath away. Riana closed her eyes and fell into a world of blissful abandon. She surrendered her body to him, allowing him to dictate the rhythm, which was no rhythm at all.

  He muttered something in a foreign tongue, something low and guttural and sexy, and Riana responded by speaking in English.

  “Do your worst. I want you to fuck me senseless, you beautiful, outrageous monster.”

  And he did just that.

  Chapter Thirty

  The driver dropped them off at the outskirts of the Russian Market, taking the untraceable credit chip from Riana without even a word of thanks. The woman shot her a final cold glare before jumping into her hauler and driving off through the winding alleys, leaving Kail and Riana standing in the middle of a throng of people.

  The market was located at the entrance to the Underground proper; it was a kind-of nexus between the law-abiding world above and the growing network of super-engineered tunnels and basements that stretched beneath the ancient city of London.

  The city hadn’t allowed people to build up, so they had gone down instead.

  Riana was still tingling all over. Kail had left her raw and spent, and her legs were still a little shaky as they made their way through the crowds.

  He, on the other hand, looked a little too pleased with himself.

  “I still do not understand,” Kail murmured in her ear, keeping close as they wove through the crowds. “Why do you need to come to this specific place in order to access data? Does your world not have a volaret?”

  “A what?”

  “It’s a type of information stream. Never mind. There is no word for it in Universal.” He shook his head. “This planet of yours is complicated and disorganized. Why do you Humans have to have so many… options? Why can you not just simplify things for yourselves?” He glanced around at the various underground market stalls, a look of disapproval crossing his stern features. “Look at this place.”

  “We Humans like variety,” Riana said quietly. “As for the information side of things, it’s a little… complicated.”

  “You think I am incapable of understanding some simple Human technology?”

  “Not at all.” If anything, Kail had proven himself to be scarily observant. “If you really want to know, you’re absolutely right. We make things unnecessarily complicated, because… well, that’s just what happens. The flows of information on this planet have become increasingly segmented over time. There are the official Networks, which are controlled and censored by the Federation. They track our every move, and they have infinite amounts of data about each and every citizen in the Federation.”

  “Governments monitor their citizens. That is not unusual.”

  “Apparently.” They passed through a bustling food market where vendors had arranged extremely rare and valuable real fruit items in elaborate displays. Drones sped overhead, some loaded with deliveries bound for wealthy clients in the city above. “But that’s just what happens on the surface. People don’t like being controlled. That’s why the real information flows through other channels.”

  “This Darkweb of yours?”

  “Exactly. It’s hard-wired, and as a result, it’s the fastest thing on the planet and super secure. Everything’s encrypted to the max. You can only access it from physical dataports, and you have to be vetted. But once you’re in… you can find anything, if you have the skills.” Information pirates all over the world were constantly hacking the Networks and uploading highly sensitive data onto the Darkweb. It was Earth’s unofficial information black market.

  Kail was watching her with great interest. A warm flush spread through Riana. People usually switched off when she tried to explain anything technical, but not Kail.

  “This topic means a lot to you.”

  “Yeah.” She regarded him with mild astonishment.

  Kail raised a cryptic eyebrow but said nothing, continuing to look at her with a fierce scrutiny that made her feel… wanted.

  Oh, he was deliciously intense.

  “So, we are going to this Darkweb now?” They turned a corner and entered a narrow tunnel. It was lined with nondescript looking doorways and windows that discreetly advertised their services; the dealers here specialized in illegal alien tech, probably obtained from pirates or smugglers.

  “We are. Sort-of. It’s not a place. It’s a series of secret dataports. I just need to find one, plug myself in and do my thing. It’s a little tricky, though, because their locations keep changing.” She placed a hand on Kail’s thick arm, feeling the solid mass of his biceps beneath his coat. “I’m going to need your muscle to get in, though. One doesn’t just get to access a dataport, especially when your name is Delores Love.” She was still in disguise. Revealing her true identity here of all places would be a total disaster.

  Although it was interesting that since she’d had her monitoring chip removed, there hadn’t been any more attempts on her life.

  Kail shrugged. “Just tell me who I need to kill.”

  “I don’t mean for you to kill anyone.” Riana was aghast. Sometimes, when it was just the two of them, she forgot… what he really was. “Just show your weapons and look mean and let me do the talking.”

  “Hm.” He nodded slightly but didn’t offer her any promises. That was Kail. He was behaving himself for now, but Riana got the feeling that if he really wanted to, he would play by his own rules, and she wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.

  Kail was a law unto himself.

  A temanjin, whatever that really meant.

  Despite his elaborate disguise, he was a Kordolian to the core, and nothing she said or did was going to change his true nature.

  But that was okay, wasn’t it?

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Excuse me,” Riana said sweetly, offering the man a radiant smile, “may we sit down?”

  The man looked up at her suspiciously as Kail moved behind him, allowing Riana to take the lead. After all, this was her turf.

  They were in another section of the massive labyrinth Riana called ‘The Underground’. Beyond the infernal overcrowded market, with its cacophony of unbearable noises and overpowering smells, there lay a series of cavernous tunnels. As they’d walked along the crowded thoroughfare, the bright lights lining the walls had assaulted Kail’s sensitive eyes and made him wish for the protective shield of his visor. Incessant noise blasted from hidden speakers, shredding Kail’s acute hearing.

  But interestingly, his pounding headache was gone.

  “Sure, darling, go ahead.” The Human looked Riana up and down.

  An irrational surge of jealousy rose up in Kail, and he found himself wishing her smile was directed towards him. He suppressed the thought as he moved closer to the Human, folding his arms.

  He refused to sit.

  He would not sit down amongst the Humans like some fickle acquaintance.

  “Whaddaya want, sweetheart?” The Human leaned back in his chair, taking a long drag on one of the pungent smoking sticks the humans called juvi. He was a thin man with cunning black eyes and hollow cheeks. “And what makes you think I can help you?”

  “You’re an infodealer, aren’t you?” Riana was doing that thing again, where she pretended to be vapid and innocent.

  “Now what on Earth would make you think that?” The man’s slow drawl had a condescending edge to it. “A man like me, dealing with the blackhats? I think you’ve got the wrong person, love.” He was testing her, somehow. “The blackhats are like royalty do
wn here. You want information from a Darkweb surfer, you’re going to have to pay for it. I’m not sure I’d be able to help you, honey.”

  Kail didn’t like his tone or the language he used. His hand drifted to the sikkor concealed under his long coat. Riana’s smile never faltered, but for a brief moment, her gaze locked with Kail’s.

  “Oh, I don’t think I’ll have to pay for anything.” Her expression hadn’t changed, but her eyes had become sharp. “I think you’ll bring me to your source, free of charge.”

  The man laughed coldly. “Get the fuck out of here. Go-on, stop wasting my time.” He shook his head. “Crazy bitch,” he muttered under his breath.

  Kail’s sikkor was out and resting against the back of the man’s neck before the fool realized what was happening. He nodded at Riana, who actually winked at him.

  That small gesture warmed his cold, dark heart.

  “I have to apologize in advance for Carlos here,” she said. “He’s not as nice as me, and he has a very sharp knife. I think it’s made from… what’s that metal called again, my love?”

  “Callidum.”

  “It’s a real Kordolian weapon. Jupiter knows where he managed to find a thing like that. They say Kordolian blades can slice through anything, even steel. Carlos, be careful with that thing. You might slip.” She seemed to be enjoying this.

  “I never slip.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “Lady, are you fucking crazy? Tell him to get that thing away from my—”

  Kail pressed the curved blade into the man’s skin, drawing a sliver of blood.

  “Ouch! Shit! You can’t do this to me. You’re insane!” The man’s voice was laced with brittle anger.

  “I’ll do you a deal.” Riana leaned forward, her expression so beautifully innocent that even Kail was nearly fooled. “If you lead us to your source, I’ll try and convince Carlos to leave your neck alone. I can’t make any promises, because he’s his own man, but I can try.”

  “I’ll fucking kill—”

  “You’ll what?” Kail voice was deceptively soft.

  The man froze. With Kail’s blade resting against his neck, he didn’t dare move a muscle. Finally, he spoke. “And if I lead you to to her? What happens then?”

  “You might live.” Her sweet, pure smile melted his heart all over again.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The infodealer led them down a series of side-alleys which grew progressively narrower and darker until Kail’s hulking form blocked the light from behind, throwing shadows down the confined space.

  They reached the residential zones, where pipes and cables ran along the low ceiling and metal entrance doors were set into the thick grey walls. At one point, much to Riana’s amazement, real sunlight filtered down through a small, cloudy skylight.

  She looked over her shoulder. Kail winced and shielded his eyes with a gloved hand as he passed through the shaft of light. He didn’t have to hold his blade to the infodealer’s neck anymore. The man had quickly understood that Kail was bigger, stronger, and much faster than him, and that any attempt to escape would not end well.

  Abruptly, they stopped. “The red door on the right,” the man said sullenly. “It’s monitored. But she’s not going to let me in when she sees the two of you.”

  “We will be the ones to worry about that,” Kail growled. He gestured towards the door. “Tell her to open it, or I’ll do it for you.”

  The man’s hand was already on the door-panel. “Hey, Marie, open up.”

  “Marie?” Riana’s voice was sharp. There weren’t too many Darkweb surfers—or blackhats, as they were sometimes called—who went by that name. Riana knew of one.

  The infodealer shot her a baleful look. “The most-sought after blackhat in the North Quadrant ain’t going to open up for the likes of you.” He half-heartedly slapped the door-panel. “It’s Ricky. I’ve got customers for you.”

  There was no response. Ricky’s shoulders slumped. “You see? She’s not going to open the door to a couple of strangers, especially the likes of him.”

  Kail flipped his blade. “Riana, Callidum can cut through…?”

  “Anything,” she answered, as if she were a star pupil.

  Kail’s lips curved into a vicious grin. “Exactly.” There was a metallic screech as he slammed the blade into the door’s surface. It slid through the metal like a knife through butter.

  Riana gaped. The rumors were true. Callidum could cut anything.

  Kail looked up. “I can cut my way through, if that is what you’d prefer.”

  A tiny red light flashed above the door. Surveillance. Of course. Darkweb surfers were by nature the most paranoid people in the entire Underground. That was why they parceled off their information and sold it offline through the infotech dealers, who never revealed their sources.

  It was a dangerous but highly lucrative trade.

  Kail stared up at the light and waited. There was that sense of stillness again. It was as if he were a hunter who had all the time in the world, and he was certain he would eventually flush out his prey.

  Riana was supposed to be taking the lead here, but it seemed Kail was doing just fine on his own.

  The door slid open, revealing a woman holding a gun in trembling hands. “Get the fuck out of here, or I’ll shoot—”

  “Marie?” Riana knew this woman.

  Kail moved faster than lighting and disarmed her with a flick of his wrist. Her small bolt-gun clattered to the floor. Marie shrank back as he set foot inside. “Wh-what do you people want?”

  Ricky was trying to slip away, but Riana grabbed him by the shoulder. “He won’t harm her as long as you don’t do anything stupid. Don’t go calling the local area militia or anything like that. If they suddenly show up, I can’t promise your source will be safe.”

  The infodealer stared at her, wide-eyed.

  Riana stepped out of his path. “Keep this quiet and nothing will come of it. Nothing will happen to her as long as you don’t do anything reckless.”

  He ran, and she let him go. After all, she didn’t really want Kail to harm him.

  Riana followed Kail inside, a little awed at how quickly everything had unfolded. There was something mildly terrifying about having your own personal bad-ass Kordolian intimidate and threaten his way through the London Underground.

  And she had no doubt he would back up his threats with the blade, if pushed.

  The woman had backed into a corner, and she was staring at Kail with wide-eyed terror. “I’ll call the area militia,” she warned. “You can’t do this to me. You don’t understand who I am.” Her gaze flicked to Riana, but Marie didn’t recognize her at first.

  Then she did a double-take, her mouth forming an O of recognition. “Riana?”

  “You know this woman, Riana?” Kail’s voice darkened with suspicion. He glared down at Marie, who was still decked out in a typical Darkweb surfer’s gear. Mesh-like Neuralnet gloves covered her hands, and her hair was hidden beneath a Neuro-cap. Only a pair of VR goggles and a spatial chair were needed to complete the picture.

  “I know her.”

  “Riana, if this is about you getting arrested back then, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  “You sold me out to the Feds, my friend.” Riana reached Kail’s side.

  “What do you want me to do with her?” Kail’s voice was low and soft, but there was no mistaking his intentions. The only thing standing between Marie and good old-fashioned Kordolian ruthlessness was Riana.

  Somehow, she’d become Kail’s moral compass; his humanity.

  Holy hell, what a responsibility that was.

  “Who the hell is this guy?” Marie’s eyes darted back and forth in disbelief. “If anything happens to me, the militia will come for you.”

  Riana took in the naked fear etched onto the woman’s face. A small part of her sympathized with Marie. Human disguise or not, Kail was fucking scary. She remembered seeing him for the first time on the Hendrix II. As c
old-as-ice and Kordolian to the core. That was Kail.

  And now he was on her side.

  An old, bitter anger rose in her. Marie had been the one to alert the Federation to Riana’s suspicious Darkweb activity. Why? She still wasn’t sure. Blackhats didn’t like newcomers moving in on their turf, and Riana was a very competent surfer. Perhaps Marie had seen her as a threat.

  The information black market was fast and cutthroat. Only the most cunning and the most paranoid survived.

  A sinister thought entered her head. She could ask Kail to end Marie here. He would do it. He didn’t care much for Humans—aside from her.

  The amount of power at her disposal suddenly terrified her. Riana quelled the thought in an instant. “I’m not here to seek revenge,” she sighed. “I just need to use your dataport.”

  “I— I didn’t realize how serious it could have been until after you were arrested. I’m really sorry, Riana.”

  “You didn’t know that the Federation imposes cryo-sentences for cyber-guerilla activity?” Riana shook her head, anger sharpening her words.

  “But they didn’t find any evidence of that.”

  “No.” Riana’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies had saved her ass. She’d been ultra careful, constantly purging data and covering her tracks. “But they got me on information piracy.”

  “You let them catch you.”

  “I had to throw them off the trail somehow. I let them think I was a petty criminal.” Looking back, a year of compulsory service in the peacekeepers hadn’t been such a bad sentence. The judgement algorithms had probably taken into consideration her previous clean record. “I didn’t want to end up in cryo-stasis.”

  “She has wronged you. Shall I get rid of her? I would be honored to execute revenge on your behalf.” Kail was an ominous presence at her side.

  What the fuck? “Kail, no!” Riana placed a hand on his arm, as if she could somehow hold him back. “I’m not interested in that right now.”