Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Kolt
So much for hearing anyone who entered the theatre.
I reluctantly pulled away from Skye, already missing the softness of her lips as I slid my gaze to the green boots tapping rapid fire.
At least they weren’t Imperial boots. I tipped my head back to see who they belonged to and wasn’t surprised to see the orange-haired stage manager who’d snagged us the day before.
“You two again.” His mouth was pursed, his arms were crossed, and he did not look pleased to see us again. “Don’t try to tell me you’re our newest cast members.”
I favored my wounded leg as I stood and pulled Skye up with me, leaving the fake weapons on the ground and fluttering my hand to check that the blaster I’d tucked into the waistband of my battle kilt was still there. I doubted I would need it, but you could never be too careful or too armed.
“No one else has keys to the theatre but me,” he snapped. “How did you get in here?”
“They never left, Hal.”
The voice that called from the wings was soft and sultry and familiar. Athena sauntered onto the stage, looking unflustered as she sized up the situation, smiling indulgently at the man she’d called Hal and cocking a perfectly arched brow at us.
“What do you mean…?” Hal asked, then he gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth. “They aren’t the escaped convicts, are they?”
“We aren’t convicts,” Skye said as she fussed with her hair.
Athena walked to the stage manager and draped an arm languidly over his shoulders. “You know the Empire, Hal. When can you ever trust anything they say?”
He mumbled something that sounded like a tacit agreement.
“Remember when they closed us down for performing a play about freedom?”
Red stained his cheeks. “That was outrageous. There was nothing obscene about that play.”
“Of course there wasn’t. Just like there’s no truth to most of the things they claim. They’re trying to turn us against each other so we forget who the real enemy is. It’s what those in power always do. Get the people to fight for scraps while they rob us blind and tell us that art is the problem.”
“Soulless brutes,” Hal hissed.
“We hate the Zagrath as much as you do,” I said, once I sensed that the man was on our side. “Our only crime is not being one of them.”
“Then join the club.” Hal threw one arm wide. “This entire theatre is run by people chafing under the thumb of the Empire.”
“Athena said you welcome like-minded individuals looking for safe harbor,” Skye said, her tone firm. “That’s what we are.”
Hal shifted his gaze from Skye to me, his gaze dropping to my tail. “Oh my. I don’t think we’ve had one of your kind here before.”
“He’s Vandar,” purred Athena. “His people fight the Zagrath in space.”
Hal’s eyes widened. “You live in space?”
I remembered little of my life in space, but I knew that I lived on a Vandar warbird, which was part of a horde of warbirds. What my life had been on board, I couldn’t tell him, but that didn’t matter. “I did until the Zagrath took me.”
“And me,” Skye said. “I was part of a rebel group on my planet until the Zagrath used me as bait.”
Hal sucked in a breath. “That’s awful. You poor thing.”
“They brought us here so our people couldn’t find us,” she continued, “but they’re also trying to get the Vandar to come here looking for us.”
The man’s gaze went to me, and he blinked as rapidly as his foot had been tapping. “More of your kind? Here?”
Athena chuckled, the sound low and husky. “As fascinating as the Vandar are, we don’t want that to happen.”
“It would mean a battle,” I told him, and watched the glint in his eyes dim. “With much collateral damage.”
“We’re trying to get off your planet so we can get word to our people about the trap,” Skye said, stepping close to Hal and taking his hands in hers. “We’d be so grateful if we could take sanctuary in your theatre until it’s safe for us to sneak out.”
The man hesitated for only a heartbeat before giving a definitive nod. “Of course.” He glanced at Athena. “They’re welcome to stay as long as they need to. No one in this theater company likes the Zagrath.”
Athena crinkled her nose. “No one, and we’re quite the band of miscreants. Most of us have been in trouble with the Empire at some time or another. That’s one reason we all ended up together, I suppose.”
Hal smiled at her. “I guess we are a bunch of misfits who’ve found our place and our family here.”
“Talented misfits,” Athena corrected.
“Very talented,” Hal said quickly. “And you, my dear, are our shining star.”
Athena pretended to be embarrassed by the compliment, but her cheeks did not flush. “Now that it’s settled and we have the most important person in the theatre on board,” she fluttered her lashes at the stage manager whose cheeks flamed, “I should probably get you two back to your hiding spot.”
I allowed myself a sigh as Skye smiled at me. We might have made a miscalculation, but it wasn’t the end of the world. The circle of people who knew about our presence remained small, which meant the chances of being caught were also low.
As Athena looped her arms through ours, keeping one of us on each side, a group of people emerged from the wings with paper bags in hand.
“Breakfast has arrived!” A tiny woman with lavender hair chirped as she held up a bag. Then her smile slipped along with the bag, which landed on the floor with a thunk. “What the tvek is a Vandar raider doing here?”