Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Zayn paced across the cockpit.
Their mission had been a success, the autopilot was taking them home to Khan…but the feeling on the ship was subdued.
He glanced toward the hall leading to the cabins. After making her call, Ria had disappeared into her cabin again without a word to anyone.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. Damn, he was proud of her. She’d had plenty of options for taking the easy way out, but his girl had to do the right thing.
Except now she was going to have every trained killer in the Guild on her trail.
He sank into a chair. There had to be a way out of this. A way to keep her safe. He knew he wanted her by his side. Wanted to continue their adventure and see where it took them.
Of course, she wasn’t going to keep quiet about the Guild’s regeneration program. She’d want to help all assassins, all the victims of the Guild, not just herself.
“Zayn?”
BEll’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Yeah, BEll.”
“I wanted to let you know Ria has finished making her calls. To the Galactic Broadcasting Corporation. To News Central and the Dish.”
He couldn’t help but smile. Of course, she’d shout what she had to say to the galaxy through the top news networks. “Thanks, BEll.”
“She also left something for you on the holo-table.”
“What?” He jerked upright and strode to the table.
There, resting on the blank screen of the table was the Lincoln Derringer.
He picked it up, running his thumb over the polished wood stock. Funny how now it wasn’t a weapon to be reviled, but just a tool. An historically important tool. “BEll, where’s Ria?”
“I think she has some…plans that might not make you very happy.”
He dropped the derringer and raced down the hall. He opened Ria’s cabin door. Empty. The bed was neatly made and the scent of her lingered in the air.
A siren sounded, followed by an automated voice. “Shuttle readying for launch.”
“Dammit!” He sprinted toward the shuttle bay. Seconds later he skidded through the door.
The shuttle sat on the launch pad, her engines spooling up. He ran for the shuttle door and thumped on the heavy-duty glass.
“Ria.” Thump. Thump. “What the hell are you doing?”
She appeared on the other side of the glass. “I have to go. Don’t worry about the shuttle. I’ll send a message and tell you where you can pick it up.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the shuttle. Where are you going?”
Her face was so solemn it broke his heart. “Away. I’m the Guild’s number one target now. I don’t want any of you hurt.” Her voice hitched. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“Dammit, Ria.” He slammed a fist against the door. “Don’t go. We can protect you.”
“Assassins strike before you even realize they’re even there.” She shook her head. “If one of them hurt you…I couldn’t live with that.”
“Let me help you.” He spread his palm out on the glass, wished he could touch her.
Something flashed over her face. “I wish things… Look, it’s best if I go. You need to think of your brothers and Eos.”
“Ria.” Helplessness choked him.
“Can you please take care of Lala? Help her out, wherever she wants to go.”
“You know I will. But stay, and we can help her together.”
Ria pressed her hand to the glass, matching her palm to his. “I wish things could have been different.”
“Ria.” He moved closer now. “You love me. You can’t leave.”
She blinked, her mouth opened but she couldn’t seem to find any words.
“You love me,” he continued, “and I love you.”
She closed her eyes for a second. When they opened, their beautiful green depths were filled with a glaze of tears. “I’ve never loved or been loved before.”
“Stay and I’ll show you how good it can be.”
“God, Zayn.” She leaned her forehead to the glass. “I want to. I want to so much.”
He leaned his own forehead against the door and cursed the glass that separated them.
“But most of all,” she continued, her voice raw, “I want you safe.” She lifted her head. “If I stay, they’ll come for you. You know it and I know it.”
“We’ll fight them.”
“The entire Guild? That’s not possible.”
“We’ll run. I’m good at fast. We’ll find somewhere to hide.”
She sighed and a tear slid down her cheek. “You can’t hide from assassins. They’ll hunt us to the edge of the galaxy. Do you really want to live like that? Never see your brothers? It’s just another type of prison, another loss of freedom.”
He knew she was right, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “Please don’t leave me.”
Her chest hitched. “Take care of yourself, Zayn. Be happy.”
She leaned closer and pressed her lips to the glass. He did the same, feeling like his insides were being torn out.
Then she pulled back and walked away.
Left with no options, Zayn took a few steps back. Moments later, the shuttle lifted a few inches off the floor with a quiet roar.
The shuttle bay doors retracted, the opening covered by a purple huma-field that kept the atmosphere inside.
His hands curled into fists. He forced himself to watch as the shuttle launched. Through the field, he saw the shuttle lights spear into the black of space.
Then she was gone.
He spun and thrust a fist into the wall. Skin tore and blood bloomed. It didn’t ease the pain tearing through his insides.
He wasn’t sure if anything would.
Ria entered the comm booth on the busy Rendarian street. As the doors slid closed behind her, it cut out the noise of the busy city outside.
Rendar was a high-tech planet covered completely in megacity.
Huge skyscrapers speared high into the hazy sky and neon lights blinked in all colors from every surface.
She couldn’t even see the tops of the tallest buildings as they were lost amongst the clouds of pollution and the streams of air transports.
She turned to the control panel and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirrored surface above the panel.
She’d taken a page out of Lala’s book when she’d crafted her disguise.
Her hair was a bright, eye-searing pink and cut in a blunt bob that swung around her chin, and she’d changed her eye color to a muted silver.
She wore black leggings with a pink and black skirt that hit her mid-thigh.
A simple black tank on top showed off the temporary tattoos she’d applied to her arms. They circled her arms—a sprinkle of stars, comets, and pink-hued nebulae.
Zayn probably wouldn’t even recognize her. She rubbed at her ridges, covered by derma patches to hide them. The disguise wouldn’t fool the Assassin’s Guild for long, and she knew she needed to change her looks every few days to stay ahead of them.
She tapped the control panel and crafted a short, simple message to Zayn.
Shuttle on Rendar. Hangar #4509, Gormand Spaceport.
Her fingers hovered over the screen, and a lump the size of a starship lodged in her throat. God, she missed him. There were so many other things she wanted to say.
Instead, she just sent the message.
By the time he got here, she’d be long gone. She was booked on a transport shuttle leaving for the galaxy’s edge in an hour. Maybe from there she’d hook up with a deep-space convoy headed outside the galaxy into uncharted space or find some seedy edge bar to get drunk in.
She turned, ready to leave, when her senses flared to life.
Someone was watching her.
Ria stared at the steady stream of people on the sidewalk outside. Nothing jumped out. She grabbed her makeup applicator from the tiny backpack on her back. She dialed in for a pink lipstick and applied it, but her focus was on the street.
There. The assassin lurked in the shadows across the busy street. Still, but poised for action.
Ria shoved the applicator back in her bag, then pushed through the doors. She moved quickly, trying to put as many people as she could between herself and her hunter. At the next corner, she glanced over her shoulder.
The assassin was in a full sprint, heading straight at her.
Ria ran.
She slammed through the crowd and raced out onto the street. Transports screeched but she dodged and made it safely across. She turned a corner and kept running.
Another glance back. She’d put some distance between them, but he was still coming.
Ria dodged into a busy bar. It was packed with people drinking.
“Hey Pinkie, let me buy you a drink.”
She ducked under the arm of the inebriated man in the elegant suit and pushed through the revelers.
A crash of glass had her spinning. The assassin was headed toward her, shouldering people out of his way.
Several people had lost their delicate fluted glasses filled with brightly colored drinks, and splinters of glass scattered across the floor.
“Hey! Stop.” Three dark-suited security guards were shouting and heading in their direction.
Dammit. Ria kept moving. She spied an elevator at the back of the room. Quickly, she slipped inside and jabbed the button for the top floor.
When she lifted her head, she saw the assassin running toward her at full speed.
“Come on, come on.” She jabbed the button again.
The doors started closing. The assassin reached out.
And the doors hissed shut before he got there.
Ria sagged against the wall. Too close. The assassin looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. There were far too many in the Guild for them all to know each other. What she could see was that he had that focused intensity of the die-hard assassins who lived to kill.
This was her life now. Running. Hiding. Changing disguises. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Then she thought of Zayn. The taste of him, the feel of his strong arms around her. Her heart ached.
The elevator slowed and when the doors opened, she straightened. Time to think about survival, not the things she could never have.
She stepped out into a giant glass-encased room. Although it wasn’t the tallest building in the district, it still showed death-defying views of the neon city below. She headed toward the large balcony. Outside, a brisk wind ruffled her hair.
The ding of the elevator had her turning. The assassin exited. As he strode toward her, he pulled a sword from the scabbard on his back. Now she recognized him. One of Master Ronin’s apprentices.
Ria looked over the railing. It was seventy stories down to the hectic street below. She looked back at the assassin.
He followed her onto the balcony. “You are a traitor to the Guild.”
“The Guild betrayed us all. Didn’t you hear about the regeneration lab? How you, how we all, were created?”
The assassin’s clean-cut face remained unchanged. He sliced his blade through the air. “You are also the murderer of my master.”
Okay, she probably wasn’t going to get through to this one. She wrapped her fingers around the balcony railing.
When the assassin lifted his sword, she jumped onto the railing and crouched like a gargoyle. When he swiped the deadly blade at her, she leaped out into space.
The wind rushed past her as she fell. She touched the button on the strap of her backpack. Small, aerodynamic wings exploded from the pack. Her descent slowed, but was still terrifyingly fast. She used the wings to guide her plunge, eyeing a patch of concrete that would make the best landing spot.
The ground rushed up at her much faster than she would have liked. Her feet hit and she somersaulted. The impact jarred through her and pain burst in her shoulder. But she rolled back onto her feet and pressed the button to retract the flight wings.
She didn’t know if her hunter could see her, but she tossed a jaunty salute upward, and then blended into the crowd.
After three blocks, she ducked into a side alley. She needed to get to the space port and catch her ship out of here. The more distance she put between her and Zayn, the safer he and his family would be. The more distance between her and the Guild, the safer she would be.
A movement in the shadows had her slowing. Two dark robed figures pulled out of the darkness.
Great. She yanked her blades from under her skirt. These two didn’t waste time with words. The taller one came at her holding blades of his own.
Steel met steel. Ria pivoted, ducked, and swung upward. Her blade sank through fabric and into the flesh at his side. With a hiss, he spun, swiping out with his own knife.
She felt the kiss of the metal on her bare arm. She ignored the pain, readying herself. The assassin moved in again. She jumped upward, planted a foot in his belly, and used it to launch herself up. She brought her second blade down, straight into the back of his neck.
He fell to his knees, a gurgle escaping his throat. She leaped off him and landed in a crouch.
Before she could draw a breath, a thin, silver garrote wire flashed in front of her.
The second assassin yanked back. Ria managed to get two fingers between the wire and her skin, saving herself from a quick beheading.
“I will kill you,” the woman whispered. “Just let go. End your miserable existence.”
Ria’s existence was pretty miserable right now. But she wasn’t giving up. The Guild had already taken her life not once, but twice. She sure as hell wasn’t making it a third time.
But as the female assassin yanked back harder, one of Ria’s fingers slipped off the wire. The metal dug into her last finger and part of her neck. Blood started a steady flow down her skin.
She couldn’t hold the woman off much longer.
With her free hand, Ria tried to reach back and grab the assassin. But she was well-trained and kept out of reach.
The blood made Ria’s fingers slippery. In those moments, she thought again of Zayn. His lean, handsome face and his voice as he told her he loved her.
Her hand slipped. She cried out as the wire met the flesh of her neck.