Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
The bar stank of high-octane kila and ale.
Ria Dante sat in a shadowed corner, avoiding the garish glow of the neon lights, and unlike the other inebriated patrons, sipped her coffee.
The drink had been popular on Earth and now was coming back into fashion.
Everyone else was gorging themselves on drinks in an entire spectrum of colors, some with mysterious vapors rising from the top.
She kept her eyes on the door, occasionally glancing at the chunky timepiece on her wrist. He was late.
Then she saw them.
Three men, clearly brothers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the doorway. One was taller, and a little broader than the others. He had short, dark hair and a raw-boned faced that screamed smart. He’d be Niklas, the former astro-archeologist.
Next to him was a rangier man with shaggy hair and eyes that scanned the entire room without appearing to do so. He had an alertness to him, like he was ready to throw a fist or slide in behind you and take your wallet before you knew it. The legendary treasure hunter, Dathan Phoenix.
Her gaze landed on the final man and her heart leaped into her throat.
Zayn. His name echoed through her head, in the same way the hazy images of his face haunted her dreams. He was leaner than his brothers, his hands shoved in the pockets of his navy trousers.
His tawny hair was no longer as regulation short as the Strike Wing required, but it wasn’t as long as Dathan’s.
Zayn rocked on his heels, almost like he couldn’t bear to stand still.
His trousers and loose white shirt somehow looked wrong on him.
He needed to be in something sharper, like a uniform or a flight suit.
Ria had spent months studying him, all of them. And she’d spent months luring Zayn out. She wanted—no, needed—to know everything about this man.
She’d been born and raised in the Devil’s Nebula.
Her earliest memories were of training with the Assassin’s Guild.
She fingered a scar on her arm. It had been brutal, but they were all she had in the way of family.
The Guild didn’t believe in children being raised by parents.
In fact, no adults saw the Guild children until they reached majority.
They were reared in secret, their training starting as soon as they could sit up.
But during the last few years, Ria had started to have strange nightmares. They were muddled and hazy, but she remembered one thing: Zayn Phoenix’s face.
And if that wasn’t enough, now she also had bigger problems than nightmares.
The Assassin’s Guild was out to get her.
Dathan looked over his shoulder and talked to someone else.
It was then the woman moved up between them.
This had to be Dr. Eos Rai-Phoenix. She was lovely, with a curvy body, flowing dark hair and floral designs on the back of her hands.
Most of the treasure hunting community had been shocked when the galaxy’s most notorious ladies’ man had up and married after discovering the biggest haul of treasure ever—the Treasures of the New Louvre at Star’s End.
The only thing missing from the haul had been the famed fragment of the Mona Lisa, spirited off Earth by colonists during the Great Terran War.
Her gaze was drawn back to Zayn, and she watched the group move through the crowded bar. He moved with a graceful, loose-limbed stride, and she noted other female patrons looking his way. She also noted the way the men surrounded Eos, keeping her between them.
Ria saw them spot Darwood who sat several tables away from her. She touched the communicator on her timepiece. “Keep it cool, Darwood.”
The small-time thief gave a jerky nod before slurping at his drink. He was wearing a tiny comm device in his ear that received and transmitted so she could hear the meet.
The Phoenix gang joined him around a tiny table, sinking onto the circular couches. Darwood bobbled his drink and spilled bright-blue liquid down his shirt. Ria rolled her eyes and touched her timepiece again. “Keep it together, Darwood. Calm down.”
She saw him try to relax, sprawling back and offering the Phoenix brothers a wide smile.
Her jaw clenched. The idiot looked about as sincere as one of the sharp-toothed Graga monsters that lived in the Helix nebula.
She needed this to work. She needed the Phoenix brothers to help her so she could get the Guild off her back.
“So, Darwood, you got us here,” Dathan said. “What have you got for us?”
Darwood leaned forward and set his elbows on the table. “You wanted information on this new player. Likes to leave a little metal bird behind.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“Well, I have info.”
“Then spit it out,” another voice said.
The low, dangerous tone sent a shiver through Ria. She knew that voice, deep in her soul. Zayn.
“He’s very mysterious. Doesn’t use a name and he isn’t selling his goods.”
A mumble. From Niklas.
“What else?” Zayn asked.
“Ah, well…”
Darwood stumbled on his words, and even from her table, Ria saw the beads of sweat glistening on his brow.
Zayn leaned forward. “You didn’t get us all the way out here to waste our time, did you?”
“No. No.” Darwood wiped a shaky hand across his mouth. “The thief likes jewelry. Expensive stuff.”
Zayn tossed a hand in the air. “Info we already know. Give us something good. Why’s he after our hunts? Where’s he from?”
Ria chewed on her bottom lip. If she didn’t give them something, they’d walk. She wasn’t ready to reveal herself. Not yet. But she needed them wanting what she had to offer. “The Devil’s Nebula. Tell him that’s where I’m from.”
Darwood’s gaze swung across the bar to her, his eyes wide.
“No,” she whispered frantically. “Don’t look this way! Just tell them.” Idiot.
“Ah, the Devil’s Nebula. She is…I mean he’s from there.”
Zayn stiffened and Dathan Phoenix swore, uttering some pretty creative curses Ria had never heard before.
“The Devil’s fucking Nebula.” Dathan’s hand pressed over the top of Eos’ on the table. “That place just keeps coming back to haunt us.”
Zayn was staring at the scarred surface of the table, his face hard as stone. “So, the thief is from one of the guilds.” He looked up. “Which one?”
“Ah, well.” Again, Darwood looked her way.
“Tell them you don’t know and quit looking at me,” she growled.
But Zayn’s head snapped up, like a predator scenting prey, and followed Darwood’s gaze, scanning the bar.
Ria sank back into the shadows, her heart thumping.
She ran her fingers down the side of her face, along the tiny, parallel ridges that her species were known for.
The ridges were nestled against her hairline and dotted there in a darker brown than her skin, continuing down the side of her neck.
They itched like crazy whenever she was nervous.
Like now.
“I don’t know which guild,” Darwood replied, tugging at his ear.
Suddenly Zayn leaped up, knocking the small table over and sending drinks crashing to the floor. Darwood jumped, his face blanching white. Zayn gripped his shirt and lifted the smaller man a few inches off the sofa.
“Who the hell is feeding you info?” Zayn dropped Darwood and plucked at the man’s ear.
Ria watched in horror as Zayn picked up the small comm device and held it to his lips. “Where the hell are you? Talk to us and quit being a coward.”
Ria dragged in rapid breaths. He didn’t know where she was. She was safe.
“What the hell do you want?” he demanded.
“I can’t answer that. Not yet.” The words were out before she could stop them. She knew she wanted the Guild off her back. But this man was a stranger despite the fact she felt a powerful pull toward him. She wasn’t sure what to do about those feelings yet.
Zayn stilled, his gaze probing the crowd. “You’re a woman.”
“Problem with that?”
“Show yourself.”
Ria stood, turning her back on him and heading for the door. “Not yet. What I want you to know is that I need your help. Yours and your brothers’.”
“Funny way to get our attention. Stealing our hunts out from under us.”
“I got it, didn’t I?”
“Yeah. You need us to hunt something for you.”
“Yes, she whispered. “Something big.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“It’s an old Earth treasure. Ever heard of the Lincoln Derringer?”
“Hang on.” She heard Zayn talking to the others. Heard Dathan’s excited exclamations and Eos’ indrawn breath. “Apparently, we’ve heard of it. It was a small handgun used to assassinate a famous Terran president.”
“Yes. Abraham Lincoln. A president of the United States of America.”
“Okay, we’ll talk,” Zayn said. “Come out.”
She paused at the exit of the bar, resisting the urge to turn and go to him. But she wasn’t ready yet, the swirling emotions in her conflicted for so many reasons. “No. I’ll contact you.” She couldn’t resist a glance over her shoulder.
He was still looking around the bar, turning in a slow circle. Then suddenly, his head turned her way and his gaze collided with hers for the briefest second.
Ria’s pulse spiked. She turned and left the building as fast as she could.
“Flame-burned piece of crap.” Zayn yanked his bleeding hand back and swiped at the cut. He kicked the piece of the ship engine he was working on. Stupid part was stuck.
“Here.” His cousin, Malin, leaned over and handed him a rag.
He eyed the dirty thing, covered in black smudges of engine oil. At least he thought it was engine oil. “I’ll probably get an infection from that.”
“Big baby.” She pressed the rag to his hand. Then she passed him a small, slim tool. “Laser cutter will help get that off before you lose a body part.”
“Thanks.” He fired up the cutter and sliced into the metal.
“No, thank you for helping me pull scrap off these junkers.” She adjusted the cap pulled low over her choppily cut dark hair. She was dressed in baggy coveralls that swamped her tiny frame.