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It took Kozien some time, but he worked through a couple of betting houses, eventually ending up in the backstreets where serious games were held. There were no rules but higher stakes. He tried to track down Gabe, not Gianna. He didn’t want to use her name, so instead, he acted as if Gabe owed him money.
Far too many people dared him to run Gabe down and make him pay. It seemed he wasnota popular man.
Around midday, Kozien had stopped for a rest and a cold beer when a skinny, unkempt fellow paused by his table. “You looking for Gabe, mister?”
Kozien looked up, casually. “Maybe. Why?”
“Because he’s not around, that’s why. You’re wasting your time. If he owes you money, forget about it. It’s gone.”
“How would you know this?” Kozien grinned.
The man shrugged. “I’m his best friend, Oliver. That’s how I know. He hasn’t been around for days. If anyone knew where he was, it’d be me.”
“Oliver.” Kozien held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
Oliver looked at the purple fingers extended out of the sleeve of the loose robe. “You’re from Lorr. I thought you were one of those scaley fuckers!”
“Good.” Kozien withdrew his hand. “That’s exactly the impression I wanted to give. You won’t tell anyone I’m a Lorr warrior. Will you?”
“No.” Oliver shook his head. “Certainly not!”
Kozien knew that certainty would not hold up if the royal guard were standing in front of him with a stack of credits. “Anyway, even though I am tracking Gabe, I’m doing it on behalf of his sister, Gianna. She seems to have slipped away from me. Do you have any idea where she might be?”
“No one’s seen her for days, neither,” Oliver muttered. “It’s like she disappeared with Gabe.”
“I know she didn’t because I was here with her last night.”
Oliver whistled softly. “So, she’s alive? That’s good.”
“Where would she be, Oliver?” Kozien kept his voice smooth and calm. He was tempted to offer money, but if Oliver realized he was royalty, he could bring the guards down on top of them both.
“I tell you what,” Oliver said. “I’ll give you directions to their old place. It’s not far. She might have gone back there. I’m afraid it’s the best I can do.”
Kozien wasn’t convinced that Oliver didn’t know more, but for now, this was all he needed. There would be time to track Oliver down again in the future if necessary.
Oliver gave him directions to the place where Gabe and Gianna lived. Kozien thanked him and left, hoping Oliver wouldn’t try and cash in by giving him up to the royal guard.
It would be bad enough for Kozien and Gianna if he did, but it probably wouldn’t go well for Oliver, either—the royal guard would rather kill him than pay him.
Chapter 5
LeavingKozienwasharderthan she had expected, but Gianna knew she had to abandon him. The place where he had rented a room was not that far from where she lived, and as dawn broke, she slipped from the inn and out to the back streets.
It took her some time to walk through the city since she didn’t have any money to get a ride. Pounding the street in her thin-soled shoes reminded her exactly who and what she was.
A lowlife like me has no business with a Lorr warrior, not to mention aprince!
Even though she’d set out not liking him, the more she thought about Kozien, the more she wanted to protect him. He might be a bit spoiled and arrogant, but it was probably because of his noble heritage. He had an innocence to him she didn’t want to see destroyed.
When Gianna reached the industrial area, the air became thick with machinery smoke. The old spaceship factory loomed over the surrounding buildings, throwing dark, cold shadows. The noise it made was horrid, a screeching clang that never stopped.
She slipped through a broken fence into the junkyard at the back of the factory. Anything no longer useful got thrown out here—living beings as well as tools and machinery. In the surrounding alleys, people like her had built lean-tos and huts from the refuse to live in.
Gianna picked her way through the debris, trying not to rouse the other occupants. She didn’t really want to deal with the collection of misfit aliens that made their home here. Most of them weren’t naturally bad, just poor like her, but her heart was sick with worry. Gianna doubted she could manage being civil today.
As she wedged open her front door, which was made from an old spaceship windshield, she heard heavy footsteps in the back. Gianna froze at the door, waiting to find out if she was going to get killed or just robbed.
Story of my life.
