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Onnika paced the mess hall, working off some of her anxiety. Her ankle and elbow were beginning to bruise from her unplanned attack on Aidan. The man’s head was harder than stone.
A volley of the crew’s individual wavering intent bounced around with no real resolve for Onnika to catch. She didn’t know any of them well enough to accurately discern from which of them her magic was gleaning the information, but one thing was clear: No one knew what to do with the unwanted newcomers, and that made her nervous.
The redheaded woman whose name she’d learned was Priya sat across the room with her boot perched on a metal storage unit, one elbow on her knee, and a pulsar gun draped in her hand. She followed Onnika with an assassin’s gaze, but Onnika felt certain Priya wouldn’t take aggressive action unlessshemade the first move.
“Nice gun,” Onnika chirped.
Priya inclined her head. “Thanks.”
Obviously, the gun was on display for intimidation purposes. It was working.
Caryn remained seated, doing her best to disappear into the bench. Except every now and again her eyes darted in Lear’s direction. He was leaning against the bulkhead next to the open hatch, arms crossed, gaze on the floor. He hadn’t said a word since Aidan gruffly informed him that he might have ruined their chances of winning Phase Nine. Onnika couldn’t tell for sure, but she suspected Lear was taking it hard…and Caryn was about to express her remorse.
Onnika quickly manned an offense. “Caryn, don’t forget he lied to us, too, about being the captain. You don’t have to feel bad.”
Lear’s head snapped up. “I dinna lie. Iwasthe captain. Just not for very long. If they hadn’t announced it over the feed, informing Aidan of the change, I still would be.”
Priya lightly interjected. “You might have been captain on paper, but no one on this ship would have treated you as such. We’re here for Aidan. We couldn’t care less about you or your dragon clan.” Her tone held no real disdain; she sounded like she was merely stating a fact.
Lear just shrugged in concession. To Onnika, he said, “You are the ones who are liars.Andthieves. Who knows what other dishonorable employment occupies your time?”
Onnika squared her shoulders. “Anything we do is not dishonorable if it means survival.”
Priya cocked her head. “And how does tricking mygeniusfriend over here equal your survival?”
Onnika calculated how much to safely reveal. “People were after us. Dangerous people.”
Lear said coolly, “A thing to be expected when you steal from them.”
“We didn’t steal anything fromthem.” Too late, she realized that was technically another lie. Shehadtaken something from Tag, something he wanted very badly. Something he’d kill to retrieve. But since the Tranzinite hadn’t actually belonged to him, could it really be considered stealing?
“Then why are they after you?” Priya asked, her fierce gaze hard.
Onnika recognized that Priya was trying to sniff out any falsehood in her story. She had to tread carefully. “A besotted male won’t take no for an answer.”
Priya’s eyes narrowed.
It wasn’t entirely a lie, Onnika reasoned. Tag had made little effort to hide his attraction to her.
Lear studied Caryn. “A man hunts you?”
Was it guilt over lying to Lear that averted her gaze, or did she feel Onnika was crossing the line where truth met deception? Caryn was a terrible liar and knew it. Even bending the truth made her fidget uncomfortably.
Onnika answered for her. “Yes, him and his friends. They’ve been following us for days.” Since she thought she had glimpsed Tag alive, as a precaution, she had to assume Ajay had survived the rockslide as well, along with Tag and Rice.
In turn, Priya openly assessed Caryn, then Onnika. “You nearly took down Aidan with that wicked roundhouse of yours. Not easy to catch a dragon off guard like that. With those moves, I’d be inclined to think you could handle three measly stalkers.”
That was why Tag had fitted her with those electro-cuffs. “These particular men aren’t measly. They are ruthless. Dangerous. We didn’t want to get on your ship to do any harm to you or your crew. We just needed an escape.”
At that, Caryn returned her gaze to Lear and nodded earnestly. “It’s true. I’m sorry for tricking you.”
Lear just tightened his lips into a thin line, his expression giving nothing away, but Onnika got the impression the tears swimming in Caryn’s eyes had affected him.
“Will you tell your captain what I’ve said?” Onnika beseeched them both. “Ask him if he’d permit us to stay aboard? Not for the whole race, just long enough for us to find a safe harbor. I was truthful about being able to fly a ship. And Caryn really can cook. We’ll help out wherever needed.”
Priya shared a look with Lear before speaking. “I’ll give him my opinion on the matter, and that’s all, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m sure he’s already decided what to do with you.”
