“Is it really so ridiculous? We could be partners. You’d be safe with me, you don’t have to go to Dali?—”
“I’d hardly call assassinations and bounty hunting safe, Mira. You spend most of your time shooting at Feds.” Zane yanked up his sleeve, ripped the okul packet open with his teeth, and slapped the patch over his healed wound. At her raised eyebrow, he shrugged. “Better treatment than I got on Oppalli. Have them charge it to my tab.”
A smile twitched at Mira’s lips. “You mean my tab, don’t you?”
Grinning, Zane strode to the door. “Walk and talk. I’m running late.”
Her expression soured as he passed her and emerged into the hallway. Blinding lights blasted his eyes.
“Dali is Grimson’s Bar all over again,” Mira muttered.
Zane whirled on her. “Don’t—” soldiers marched past, and he flattened himself against the wall— “don’t go there. Don’t you dare.”
“I thought after you quit bartending, you moved on with your life. But here you are, still hiding, still shutting yourself off, still wasting your talents.”
“You can kill all the Feds you want, but I’m not getting involved in another war.” Zane shoved past her. “Not again.”
“Are you blind?” Mira’s angry voice thundered down the hallway. “She’sgoing to lead you into another war! That’s what she and Gar were talking about. She wants revenge.”
Zane tensed. He wanted to keep walking towards the waiting shuttle that promised him riches and security, but Mira’s words raised the hair on the back of his neck. Mira’s ops usually left a trail of dead legionnaires in her wake, and with all the contracts she’d taken from Gar, she was already waging a silent war. But Hannover… Zane clenched his fists. He’d thought she had some sense.
“War is coming,” Mira pressed, “and if you’re her guard, you’ll be in the thick of it?—”
“By then, I’ll be in my manor on the beach. Maybe I’ll find a few Dalian girls to keep me company.”
Mira’s face darkened. He rounded a corner and walked away.
Guilt pressed down on his chest, but that was the point. He knew he should treat her better. She deserved better. But he couldn’t. If he let himself get too close, and he lost her… He couldn’t do that again.
Mira caught up with him, but she only spoke to tell him to go left instead of right. She hovered behind him like an ever-present shadow. Still supporting him, after everything. With every step he took into the busy hangar bay, the guilt grew, until he couldn’t hold it in.
“I’m sorry.” Zane stopped under a ship’s massive wing, scuffing his shoe against the polished floor. “I don’t know why I said that.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Mira exhaled sharply. “Yes, you do. We both do. And you know my opinion.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.”
Tiptoeing around, again.
Zane frowned. “You don’t care?”
“It was just a fling.” Mira strode towards the boarding tube where Hannover’s shuttle waited.
Zane bit the inside of his cheek. He’d said that first, the last morning, and he’d meant it. After all the times he’d tried to open up to her, only for her to offer her predictable remedy of getting drunk off their asses, he’d thought it was only sex, brought on by booze and the thrill of danger. She’d echoed it, but sometimes he wondered if it hadn’t been something more for her. Something real. Something dangerous.
“You’re my best friend. I just want you to be happy.” Pausing in the shadow of the boarding tube, Mira smirked and reached into her pocket. “If you could actually remember how to use a comm from time to time, that would be nice.”
“Oh, Mira,” Zane said, bringing his hand to his chest in feigned shock, “are you admitting that you enjoy talking to me?”
Rolling her eyes, Mira thrust a small metal pod into his hand. A thumb-sized depression was imprinted on the metal shell, and a tiny glass panel covered the top.
“It’s something new from Vak’shad.” Her eyes gleamed, as theyalways did when she was showing off her new gadgets. “Untraceable line. I have the other one, see? If you need anything, press your thumb against this button. I’ll feel mine vibrate, and we’ll be able to talk. This way, we can’t be tracked.”
Zane grinned. “Good idea. Thanks.”
“You can thank me by using it.” Her pointed look eased into a smile, and she wrapped her arms around him. “See you around, Zane.”
