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“Uh oh,” I hear Danielle breathe.
All I see is red. “You fucking lizard-brained...” I lunge across the table at him, sending dishes clattering to the ground. My fingers curl into claws, but just before I have the chance to swipe at his startled face, an arm curls around my waist.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Volethos lifts me straight off the table, pinning my back to his chest.
“Let me go!” I shriek, arms and legs kicking.
“Stop it.Now,” Volethos orders me. His voice is soft but deadly serious in my ear, and his arms tighten around me to the point of pain. “You are causing a scene.”
Embarrassment has me stopping immediately, and I go limp.
Shit, what got into me?
I expect Volethos to set me down, but he doesn’t. Instead, he continues to hold me against him. I can feel the heat from his body seeping into my back, the thudding of his heart along my spine. The curl of his fingers that have pulled my shirt up so they brush against the bare skin of my side.
A chill runs through me, and I close my eyes at how his solid warmth seeps through my back to collect between my legs.
“Perhaps we should finish this conversation back on the cruiser,” Zell grits through his clenched teeth as he stands and starts gathering the dishes still on the table.
“That’s probably smart,” Volethos agrees.
I start to wiggle then pull at the arm banded around my middle, until he finally lets go of me. After stepping away, I drop to the ground and start cleaning up the dishes I pushed off the table. “Yes, let’s get back to the cruiser,” I snap at him over my shoulder. “Because I’m far from done discussing this.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
Volethos
* * *
Zell rubs a hand down across his face. “I can’t believe I’m even entertaining this idea.”
We’re gathered around the galley table on Zell’s cruiser. I’m sitting next to him on one side of the table, with Shae and Danielle across from us. Between us is the film with the invitation to Kurrahstka’s masquerade.
“Because it’s the best chance we have to get what we want,” I remind him.
A growl rattles through his chest, but he doesn’t argue.
Our trip to Pamia has been put on hold since Shae refuses to let her need for revenge go, and I find myself firmly on her side. Zell has been trying to come up with an alternative idea for rotations, but we keep coming back around to the masquerade. And now we’re running out of time.
“If this fails, there is no guarantee I’ll be able to rescue you,” Zell says, his eyes looking from me to Shae. “Either of you. And Kurrahstka’s retaliation will not be kind.”
“So, we won’t fail,” I say as if this is the simplest thing in the universe. It’s not. I realize we’re taking a huge risk, and the chances of it going sideways are in Kurrahstka’s favor. “Would you feel better if it was you going in?”
Zell scrunches up his face. “No.”
At the same time, across from him, Danielle shakes her head. They will be staying behind, leaving this plan to Shae and me.
“Then stop making up things to worry about,” I say.
It’s at that moment my comm chimes, and all eyes drop to it.
On the display is my contact I’ve been waiting to hear back from. With a tap of my finger, his hologram appears above the table.
“Volethos! I have good news,” the Vopsor says.
“Dravik! I wasn’t expecting to hear back from you so soon,” I reply.
“What can I say? I work fast.” The bald green tinted alien chuckles. “I just so happen to have access to two holo-suits. They will hide your identity from just about anything you could put it through. Is that what you had in mind?”
