Boundless (Pandora Book 2)

by Kali Argent

  The words had barely left his mouth when Katana came strolling down the hallway with a blue cupcake in her hand and pink icing dotting her bottom lip. For once, she didn’t sound angry when she spoke. On the contrary, she sounded almost blissful.

  “She likes the cupcakes.”

  Xavian snorted. “I gathered as much.”

  Rolling her eyes, Katana dug into the pocket of her brown, leather pants, and removed a small, button-like device, which she tossed at him. Catching it, Xavian held it up to the amber light that flickered from the fixture on the wall and grinned. He removed his commlink from around his ear, inserted the lexcom, and replaced his earpiece.

  “Thanks.”

  Katana bowed her head. “Your mother is a wise woman.”

  Xavian didn’t bother to confute the accuracy of Neith being his mother. For all intents and purposes, she was exactly that, and she’d always treated him like a son.

  “She really is.”

  Leading the way to the foyer, Aeryn inquired about Mila. “Is she staying?”

  “Mila is quite comfortable with the human female they call Charli. She has decided to stay here on Nekron until we return.”

  Aeryn nodded, but she still worried her bottom lip between her teeth as they donned their coats and exited the house. All the way across the front lawn and into the waiting glider, she continued her assault against the flesh.

  Once seated inside the four-person transport, Xavian instructed the onboard computer to take them to the landing fields. Settling back against the leather seat across from Katana, he shifted to the side to watch his mate. Beside him, she sat unmoving, staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused, while she continued to chew her bottom lip, so that the skin had become red and raw.

  Careful, so as not to startle her, Xavian slid his fingers along her jaw, turning her head as he applied gentle pressure to her chin with his thumb, urging her to release her lip before it bled. He didn’t need to be a mind reader to know she was thinking about Mila, just as he knew nothing he said would truly alleviate her anxiety. Still, he felt compelled to offer some kind of reassurance.

  “Nothing is going to happen to Mila. Commander Schiva’s house is one of the safest places on the planet, and Charli will watch out for her.” When Aeryn didn’t react, he tried a different approach. “Remember, Deucalion is staying. He’s not going to let anything happen to her, right?”

  Finally, it seemed he’d said something right. A slow smile spread across her face, and she released a long breath as she eased back in her seat.

  “Yeah, you’re right. This really is the safest place for her right now.”

  “You’re all very protective of Mila.” It wasn’t a question, but he didn’t know how else to tactfully broach the subject.

  “She’s special,” Katana answered, but she stared out the window and didn’t look at him.

  “Mila is brilliant,” Aeryn expounded. “Socially, however, she gets easily flustered and overwhelmed. Unfamiliar situations are stressful. Once, some asshole on Zeta Station yelled at her for bumping into him. She didn’t say a word for three days.”

  “I broke his arm.” Katana sounded neither upset nor proud. It was merely a statement of fact. “And his nose.”

  Xavian still didn’t get it. The female was a bit awkward and didn’t like conflict. He knew several people like that, Charli being one of them.

  “I don’t understand,” he relented.

  “Humans used to call it a disorder, though I’ve traveled enough of the universe to say definitively, it’s not exclusive to humans.” Toying with the zipper on her jacket, Aeryn stared past Xavian to the large, circular window. “Her brain just processes information differently, that’s all.”

  In his opinion, humans relied too much on labels. Still, he found them utterly remarkable. For a race barely out of diapers, they’d accomplished much, and yet, he’d never met another species so hell bent on destroying each other.

  Xavian didn’t know what more he could say, and Aeryn clearly considered the matter closed, so they rode in silence until the glider slowed and the onboard computer announced they’d reached their destination. The craft touched down on the tarmac beside the Nightshade, and the curved door rolled upward, opening to the frozen night.

  A female waited beside the ship, her back turned to them, but Xavian would recognize the flaming pink braid anywhere. “Danvers? What are you doing here?”

  Tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket, she hunched her shoulders against the wind as she turned, her lips tilted down in a deep scowl. “Lieutenant. I’m looking for Captain Chase.”

  Aeryn followed him out of the glider, cursing the temperatures under her breath. “I’m Chase.”

  “Captain Chase, I’m Lieutenant Phaedra Danvers.” She extended her hand for a brief shake before shoving it back into her pocket. “I apologize for the way my men conducted themselves earlier. Their behavior was unacceptable. I wanted you to know they’ve been dealt with, and seven thousand GSUs have been transferred to your account.”

  “Seven thousand?” Aeryn blinked. “While I appreciate that, Lieutenant, it’s too much. I haven’t done inventory yet, but I’d estimate the cost at no more than four thousand.”

  Phaedra’s lips twitched, and while she didn’t actually smile, she did look less severe. “That includes the cost of the product, the packing supplies, as well as refueling and ship maintenance since you’ll need to make an unscheduled trip to replace the product. As for the remainder, let’s just call an asshole surcharge, shall we?”

  It was about as close to a joke as Phaedra ever came, and Xavian didn’t know what to make of it. “What about the recruits?”

  “They’ll be spending the rest of winter in Taldor,” she answered, her expression impassive once again, “as security at The Plaza.”

  Xavian approved of the punishment, but Aeryn threw her head back and laughed. She laughed so hard, moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes and spilled over to track down her cheeks.

  “Oh,” she breathed through more giggles. “You demoted them to mall cops. That’s amazing.”

  “Essentially,” Xavian answered through his own laughter. “Trust me, they’re going to hate life for the next few months.”

  “Agreed.” Phaedra offered her hand to Aeryn once again. “If there’s anything else, Captain, please let me know.”

  “I like her,” Aeryn said as they watched the lieutenant walk away. “She’s interesting.”

  “Interesting” wasn’t necessarily the word Xavian would use to describe the female. “Come on, nikka. Let’s get this over with.”

  “That’s no kind of attitude to have.” She leaned sideways, bumping against his arm with a laugh. “Cheer up, big guy. I’ll buy you a drink at the Blue Fog.”

  After the past few hours, he could definitely go for a drink. Plus, the Blue Fog welcomed a mix of all types, from Pandora guards to Jurdanian bounty hunters and everything in between. It would be good practice for Gamma Station, a test to see if he could keep his cool while Aeryn spoke with other males, laughed at their stupid jokes, shook their hands.

  A deep, threatening growl rumbled through his chest, and a red haze descended over the night. He shook his head when Aeryn jerked back and arched an eyebrow at him.

  “I don’t test well.”

  The creases across her brow deepened. “I have no idea what that means.”

  He’d been mated for less than a day, and he was already losing his damn mind. “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “Xavian, are you okay?”

  No. “I’m fine.” Not even close. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  It had taken closer to three hours for them to complete all of the deliveries, another half an hour for Xavian to calm down long enough to pack, then ten more minutes for Aeryn to repack for him. She hadn’t said a word the entire time, letting him rant and rave while she removed a rock—she didn’t even want to know—a takeout menu, twelve of the nineteen pairs of s
ocks, and three bedsheets from his bag.

  He hadn’t murdered anyone at the Blue Fog, which was really the best she could say about the trip to the popular Taldor bar. There had been a lot of growling, posturing, and threatening, with one particularly colorful incident involving a Jurdanian male who’d done nothing more than smile at her.

  Still, Xavian wondered why she insisted he stay on the Nightshade in the docking bay while she spoke with her contacts on Gamma Station. She wasn’t completely unsympathetic, though. She imagined how hard it must be for him, how tightly wound he felt with his instincts and rational mind in a constant state of conflict. Hell, she’d almost climbed a pretty Nekros server and ripped her hair out for simply asking Xavian what he wanted to drink.

  The mating bond pushed at them hard, amplifying their moods to the point of instability. She couldn’t explain the sensation to someone who had never experienced it, but she likened it to feeling every single emotion the human psyche was capable of all at once—times a hundred.

  It changed nothing, though. Since she felt the clawing possessiveness less intensely than Xavian, it made it easier for her to control her baser instincts. Despite his claims to the contrary, his presence on Gamma Station would almost certainly result in bodily harm to one or more of her contacts, and his combativeness would get them nowhere.

  “I’ll be gone for an hour tops,” she promised for what felt like the millionth time. “Cypher is going to talk to a few of mercenary friends of his, and I’m going to make the rounds at a couple of the bars. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “You don’t know that,” Xavian argued, but he sounded calmer than he had at any other time during the four-hour flight to the station. “I hate this.”

  “I know.” Standing near the cargo exit of the Nightshade, she took both of his hands and squeezed. “I don’t like it, either, but we’re wasting time.”

  Releasing one of her hands, he reached into his pocket and removed an earpiece identical to his own. “Take this.” He pressed it against her palm. “If anything happens, anything at all…”

  “You’ll be the first to know,” she promised. Pinching the ends of his hair, she tugged gently, pulling him down so that she could press their lips together. “Just remember, Katana is not opposed to using force to keep you on the ship.”

  Xavian chuckled and kissed her again. “I believe you. Now, go before I change my mind.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to her.” Stopping beside them, Cypher held his hand out to Xavian. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I want to make two things very clear. One, I’m not my brother. Two, I have no designs on your female.”

  “Good,” Xavian answered, finally accepting Cypher’s hand. “Let’s keep it that way.”

  They shook longer than propriety demanded, understanding passing between them. She’d heard males described as “strong and silent.” Most races believed men were just naturally less communicative than females. Aeryn didn’t believe any of it. Males said a lot with a look, a nod, or just a shift of their shoulders.

  Whatever Xavian and Cypher said to each other now, it seemed to be enough, because Xavian dipped his head once and stepped back to let them pass. Before Aeryn could exit the ship, however, he caught her around the waist and pulled her in close.

  “Watch your back, nikka.”

  “Easy, big guy. I’m not going to war.”

  “No, you’re going to ask questions of people who deal in secrets. Remember that.”

  “Good point.” She still didn’t think it would be as dangerous as he feared, but a little caution never hurt. “I’ll be careful.”

  After another lingering kiss, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and moved away. “If you’re not back in an hour, I’m coming to get you.”

  Knowing he meant every word of it, Aeryn hurried down the cargo ramp to where Cypher stood waiting for her. Together, they followed the tunnel-like corridor from the east platform to the doors of the docking bay. Aeryn pressed her thumb to the bio-scanner, then used the adjoining keypad to enter her ship’s identification code.

  Metal grinded together as the doors slid open, revealing the bustling docking bay. Workers hurried from one side of the room to the other as they loaded and unloaded the various cargo ships. Some greeted them with a wave, others with a nod. Most, however, ignored them.

  “I’ll head to Nova’s first,” she told Cypher, referring to a popular watering hole where most of the runners and merchants liked to drink. “You check out the Vortex.”

  “What about Anomaly?”

  They stared at each other, neither wanting to admit they’d rather skip the sketchy pub with its questionable clientele.

  “We’ll meet in half an hour. If we don’t have anything, we’ll check out Anomaly.”

  Cypher wrinkled his nose as he led the way through the next set of sliding doors and down another long, curving hallway to the main level of the space station. They passed what minimal security Gamma Station offered, and stepped into the massive, rectangular atrium amidst the throng of visitors.

  There, they parted ways, Cypher turning left past a Crimnian bakery with its metal shutters drawn. Aeryn greeted a couple of traders she knew, smiled at an Atrean mother and her child, and waived dismissively to the various vendors peddling trinkets and miracle cures in their small kiosks.

  Across the vast, open galleria, a blue, neon sign illuminated a large portion of the wall, stretching across three store fronts and casting its glow across the doorway to Nova’s. As usual, the place was packed, every table filled, and patrons lined the chrome bar in the back corner, shouting their orders to the harried-looking bartender.

  The kaleidoscope of colors spun across the floor, the black tiles displaying one massive, swirling galaxy. Against the back wall on a raised dais, customers gathered on plush sofas, rounded armchairs, and cushioned ottomans, speaking in loud, excited conversations as they watched the universe beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass.

  Aeryn spotted the tourists right away, those stopping on Gamma Station for a quick meal while their ships refueled. They all had the same wide-eyed stare, the same gapping expressions. She liked those people. Their enthusiasm and wonder made her smile.

  The regulars—traders, runners, a couple of bounty hunters, and even a dark market dealer or two—had become desensitized to the atmosphere and beauty of Nova’s, maybe to the entire universe. They gathered in shadowed corners, or leaned against the wall with a drink in one hand while they watched the milling crowd, uninterested in the everyday lives of others.

  It was easy to become jaded, especially when many of the races lived for hundreds or even thousands of years. Aeryn figured if she lived long enough, she’d probably develop the same cynicism, but thankfully, that hadn’t happened yet.

  “Chase!” A young Stravoris male shoved his way through the crowd, growling at anyone who complained, until he stood right in front of her. “Didn’t I just see you last week?”

  “Hey, Calix.” In actuality, it had been nearly three months since she’d seen the guy, but it wouldn’t do any good to argue with him. “It must be your unique charm that keeps bringing me back.”

  In some ways, it was true. Rune Calix had a certain way about him that just made everyone happy. Maybe because he was always smiling, or because he always had a compliment ready for every situation. Whatever it was, people always seemed to gravitate toward him, no matter where he went. A good thing for him, but not so much for Aeryn. She’d lost out on three lucrative trade contracts to the male, and while she didn’t like to hold a grudge, it still burned her ass.

  Rune’s amber eyes lit up with amusement, and he smiled wide, showing off his sharp, pointed fangs. At over seven feet tall with broad shoulders, thick arms, and leather-clad thighs the size of tree trunks, the joyful expression should have looked strange on such a physically imposing male, but somehow, it suited him.

  He’d pulled his bronze hair back from his face, tying it into a loose, messy
knot at his crown. A few loose strands fell down over his right shoulder, the bright tresses a stark contrast to his black, long-sleeved shirt. A rustling behind him drew Aeryn’s attention, and she smirked when several passersby gasped at the spindly, leather wings folded against his back, their clawed tips rising up to a point just above his nape.

  “Tourists,” Rune commented, rolling his eyes as he purposely rustled his wings, startling a nearby female so badly she spilled her drink down the front of her dress. “So, what are you doing here?”

  “Looking for information.”

  “Then you’ve come to the right place. What do you want to know, Captain?”

  “I want to know more about this auction everyone is talking about, the one happening on Earth during the Celebration.”

  “Ah, I’ve heard whispers and rumors about that. Nothing concrete, though.” His eyebrows drew together, and his lips turned down at the corners. “It sounds shady, to be frank. Why the hell do you want to know about it, Chase?”

  “It’s a long story.” She didn’t know how much she should reveal, so she decided to err on the side of caution. “You can’t tell me anything?”

  His shoulders rose and fell. “I know it’s on Earth, in New Orleans. That’s all I’ve heard.”

  “Damn it.” Well, at least he’d been able to narrow down the location, which was more than she’d had. “Thanks, Calix. I’ll pass the information along.”

  “You working for someone? New contract?”

  “Something like that.” She didn’t want to appear rude, but unless Rune could give her something useful, she really needed to get moving. “Let me know if you hear anything else, yeah?”

  “You’re wasting your time here.” He glanced sideways toward the exit and the galleria beyond. “Most of the chatter about this auction is coming from Anomaly.”

  Yeah, Aeryn had been afraid of that. She thanked the male again, took a deep breath, and prepared herself for the chaos that was Anomaly. Thankfully, as she exited the bar, she spotted Cypher marching across the wide expanse of the atrium. Judging by the look on his face, his inquiries at the Vortex had proven just as fruitless.