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“Wait, what?”
“Lakkavi will help yo—”
“No,” she snaps. “I thought you were going to tell me what to do with your body. Should I have him take you home? Forgetme, Niko. I thought the point was if you have some final business for me to take care of. A message to carry? Anything?”
“My body?” My mask is still beeping angrily. Raina’s glare has returned. I like her softness, but I still missed those angry little brows.
“You’re saving my life right now, even if I didn’taskyou to,” she says sharply. “The least I could do is make sure you have the funeral rites of your people. I can settle some affairs for you, or send a message home to—”
“Raina, my love,” I sigh. “I don’t care whether you let my corpse rot on the floor of the lawdrone that picks us up. You could shoot me into the closest sun or sell my organs for some extra cash. Whatever your cold, cold heart desires.”
“You’re infuriating. Now shut up and breathe slowly. I can’tfuckingbelieve you—”
“Calm yourself, or you’ll give me the impression that you actually care about my well-being.”
“Listen to me. Just because I don’t believe in mating calls doesn’t mean I want you to die. I came back for you once already when I thought Varger would kill you, and yeah, I do care about you—”
I see a flickering shape in the distance hovering behind Raina’s head. At first, it’s just a blip, but it starts to grow.
“—and I wish you would at least consider trying to share this breather somehow. You seem like a decent guy.”
“Tell a dying man the truth,” I say, knowing I’m a terrible male that likely deserves asphyxiation, or worse. “Do you find me attractive?”
Her cheeks seem to brighten.
“Pervert,” she mutters. Her little pink tongue darts out to wet her lips. “I might be rough around the edges, but I’m still a woman. I see what everyone else sees.”
The blip of hope behind her head is beginning to take shape.
“I want to know whatyousee.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the spirit struck me down in my prime for this.
“If we had met in the right circumstances, and you never told me I was your destined mate . . . If you had just approached me with that goofy fucking grin and some stupid line?”
Her pause makes my heart stop beating.
“I’d probably open my legs after one drink, Niko.”
“I’ll hold you to that statement,” I tell her. “Because it looks like our ride has arrived.”
She whips her head around to watch the law drone zoom towards us, cutting through the black blanket of space. I half expect her to batter my chest with her little fist and call me names, but she doesn’t. She gasps with relief and digs her fingers in my shoulders.
“Thank God,” she sighs. Her eyes look strangely shiny for a moment as she stares at the blinking light on my expiring breather. She closes them while taking a deep, deep breath and when she opens them again, the curious glimmer is gone. “As for your sneaky little comment, we have a phrase on Earth—Don’t hold your breath.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
RAINA
The front endof the law enforcement ship is shaped like a jack-o’-lantern mouth. When it opens its disturbing metal maw, a giant claw on a cord shoots out to scoop us up like little stuffed toys at the bottom of a crane game. Inside, the drone is nothing more than a holding cell with a screen that allows you to interact with the AI lawbot. I would think that a career criminal like Niko should be more nervous about calling the cops on himself, but he doesn’t hesitate to tap his information into the screen.
“Welcome, Niko La’Nira, Registered Privateer. How can I assist you today?”
“I’d like to report the recovery of a missing colonist, Raina . . .” He turns to me and waves his hand to encourage the addition of my surname.
“Raina Jones,” I provide.
“Raina Jones of Earth has been recovered from enemy territory,” he says to the screen.
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
