She took another bite. Just hearing that name made her chest constrict.
“You know who the Vega-Lyrans were?” he asked.
She lifted a shoulder, this time deliberately letting her robe slip, baring her skin. She saw hunger ignite in those ice-blue eyes. “Some mythical psionic race.”
“I have access to some recently declassified military records.” He was watching her intently. “They weren’t mythical. They were an advanced psionic race who were incredibly powerful.”
“Really?” She kept her tone bland but almost choked on the berry.
“It was said they’d started out as minor telepaths but used advanced genetic engineering to enhance their abilities. Over the centuries, they succeeded. It’s said they could control the minds of thousands of people at once. They could move objects and create fire. And I mean large scale—they could move starships in space and burn down entire cities in an instant.”
“Sounds like a fairytale.”
“They were hunted down and exterminated. People were afraid of them.”
Relda looked toward the window and the moonlight filtering in. Sadness was a weeping wound in her belly. “That’s usually what people do when they’re afraid.”
“Why do you have a Vega-Lyran artifact?”
She looked at him now. “I never said I had it.”
“You also haven’t said you don’t. These people targeted you for a reason.”
“I don’t know why.” She dropped her gaze, feeling so tired. When had she gotten so sick of lying? Or was it that she just hated lying to him?
“They’ll keep coming whether you have it or not. Those girls downstairs aren’t safe here.”
Infinite energy, he was right. Her hand circled the necklace, worrying the diamond orb at the end. “I need to get them out of here.”
“And you should go too, until?—”
“No.” She intended to stay right here and face these bastards. She’d vowed over the broken body of her mother to never be a victim.
“You want to be bait.” His voice was a growl.
She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you have some Vega-Lyran blood, Marshal. I feel like you’re reading my damn mind all the time.”
He laughed, a gruff, masculine sound. “I’m reading your face and body language.”
She scowled. She was good at hiding her true thoughts and wasn’t used to anyone seeing through her.
He moved closer, tipping her chin up. “Don’t pout, beautiful. I spent over twenty years in the Galactic Special Forces, and interrogated a lot of enemy combatants. I’m also Predian.”
Her stomach clenched. So he had some abilities of his own. She wasn’t surprised he’d spent so long in the Special Forces. With their enhanced senses and strength, Predians made exceptional soldiers.
Hunt’s thumb brushed her lips. “Don’t worry, you don’t give much away. I’m sure regular people just see a gorgeous woman.”
His fingers on her skin were so warm, big, protective. She swayed toward him.
“We need to send the girls away,” he said.
She pulled back and nodded. “I have a small house on Lake Gameelah. They can go there until this is sorted out.”
“Good. Then we’ll wait for your admirers to make their next move.”
We?“I don’t want you here.”
“Tough.”
