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22
At Luscious Vibes, Ash, Zeek, Vin, and Priya slapped their vouchers down on the table in front of Aidan. Between them, they had earned six. Not a bad haul, but not great if they wanted to really gain ground.
He’d just returned from delivering their new shield generator to Vin’s workroom. “Good work. So, tell me about the tournaments here on Latherial.”
“Some are pretty standard,” Zeek said. “Another VR race, this time allowing eight competitors at once. Last I saw, Onnika was strapping in for that one.”
“Of course.”
“There’s another cage match. Naturally, Ash won that right away. A couple of brainteasers. All me. Feats of strength, Ash again. Then there’s a dance competition, if you can believe that. Friggin’ frilly Angilius. I’m surprised they haven’t declared flower arranging a cultural sport. And, get this, both PriyaandVin dominated the shooting competition.”
Aidan raised a brow at Vin. “Been practicing?”
“Got me the best teacher right here,” he said, then kissed Priya’s cheek. “The most beautiful, too.”
“You’ve been extra sweet all evening.” Priya gave him a side-eyed glance. “What did you do?”
Vin’s expression took on an over-the-top innocence. “Can’t I just pay my woman a compliment?”
Eyes squinting, Priya observed, “Your nose is flaring. That’s your guilty twitch.”
“What? No, it isn’t.” He rubbed his nose.
She canvassed him up and down for a moment, appearing to grow more suspicious, but then apparently decided to let it go, for she said no more.
“Anyway,” Zeek continued. “There’s actually one tournament where they’re offering two vouchers to each winner, but none of us are willing to partake. They’re calling it a death match, though it’s not clear if that was the original intent. The way I see it, it was supposed to be a simple spacewalk. You go out and grab a few floating rings and get back before your opponent does. Here’s the kicker: you’re in a spacesuit, obviously, but your oxygen comes from an air tube that’s tethered to the station. Can you guess what’s been happening?”
Aidan could. “They keep going after each other’s air supply.”
Zeek’s finger shot in the air. “Exactly! No, thank you.”
“It’s practically all they’ve been showing on the feed.” Vin pointed to the holo-screen set up behind the bar, where a pair of contestants happened to be donning sleek spacesuits—
One of the contestants had…stark-white hair!
Aidan shot out of his chair so fast it toppled to the floor.
Asher had noticed, too. “It can’t be.”
Her back was to the cameras, but Aidan had no doubt who it was. Stubborn, reckless, overconfident Onnika.
He had to stop her before she got herself killed. Beforehegot her killed. Deep down, he knew this was his fault, demanding all those vouchers. He suspected she’d taken on Caryn’s burden, too, as fiercely protective of the girl as she was.
“Take me to where this is happening,” he ordered of no one in particular.
The entire group jumped to obey, racing out of Luscious Vibes and through the crowded arena, strong-arming people out of the way as they cut a path through the crowd.
They arrived just as the airlock’s inner hatch lowered, closing Onnika in with her opponent. Aidan banged on the porthole. “Dammit! Open this door!”
Both she and her opponent glanced back. The man looked exactly like the wrong sort to go up against: scruffy beard, shaggy, greasy hair, a scar running down half of his face, and the cold look of a killer.
Looking confounded to see him thumbing his fist on the hatch, Onnika mouthed Aidan’s name. She might have said it out loud, but the barrier between them blocked the sound.
“Get your ass out of there!” She might not be able to hear his words, but maybe she’d read his lips and actually follow an order for once.
No such luck.
She simply smiled and waved as the airlock began to pressurize.
