Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Time was almost up.
Mal swiped at her eyelids with more makeup. She tried to copy what Eos had done last time. Instead of sexy, smoky eyes, she looked like she’d been crawling around a starship exhaust. With a sigh, she swiped some of the makeup off. Again.
She studied her face in the tiny mirror. Hmm, actually now it didn’t look too bad. Her eyes were definitely smoky looking. Next, she slicked on some lipstick. The red gloss made her lips look…lush.
She finished doing up her strappy shoes, smoothed a hand over the shiny satin of her dress, and then headed for the cockpit.
Her stomach was alive with flutters. Part nerves about the mission, part excitement to see what Xander thought of her outfit. She headed down the corridor, through the main room and into the cockpit.
And stumbled to a stop.
His back was to her, his legs spread as he stared at Technis outside, but damn, even from this view he was magnificent.
The tailored black pants of his suit clung to his well-formed ass and his muscled legs. His black jacket was tossed over the back of the chair beside him, leaving him in a shirt the color of palest ice.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Mal said. “I’ve dressed up more for you lately than I have in the last year total.”
Xander turned, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Malin…you…”
A smile teased her lips. “Speechless? Now that’s a reaction to make a girl feel good.”
“You look amazing.”
Her heart warmed. So did he. He’d put some sort of black cover over his implant. It was still obviously an implant, but it no longer screamed “Centaxian.” She fingered the fabric of her gown. “Well, I like this dress a lot more than my Rhage outfit.”
“It suits you.”
Her dress was a stunning metallic-bronze satin that shimmered under the lights.
A metal ring sat at her neck and the fabric fell from that in a drape that teased over her body and left her arms bare.
It fell in an asymmetric hem. She’d gotten lucky and found the perfect shoes on Galaxy’s Edge.
They were bronze as well, a strappy affair with a heel that was high but not too high.
She should be able to run in them—if she had to—without killing herself.
She’d slicked her hair back against her head, and in her ears, she wore a small dangle of jagged, metallic shards. The final touches were the metallic bands that wrapped around her bare upper arms. She loved the way they looked against her skin.
Suddenly, Xander was there, his big body an inch from hers. She noted the small black bow at his neck. He looked breathtaking. Her heart hammered, and stars, she was getting damp just looking at him.
“Stunning.” He traced a finger over her bare shoulder, then over the fabric, rubbing between his fingers. “Silky. Your skin is smoother, though.”
No one had ever called her—Malin Phoenix, salvage mechanic—stunning before. She dipped her head. “Thanks.”
His breath was warm on her cheek. “I still prefer you in your coveralls though.” He nipped at her earlobe. “Or even better, naked.”
She quivered. He was getting far too good at this seduction thing.
He straightened, his face taking on a more serious edge. “You’ll stay by my side. The entire time.”
She reached up and straightened his collar. “I’ll have to, you’ll need protection from the ladies.”
“I only have eyes for one lady.” He lowered his head.
“Don’t wreck my lipstick,” she murmured, at the same time wishing he would.
One gentle kiss to the hinge of her jaw. “One question.”
“Anything.”
“What’s beneath this dress?”
Mal pulled back, running her tongue over her teeth. “Nothing.”
His nostrils flared. “You should have lied.”
“The fabric’s too fluid, anything beneath would have left lines.”
“Be quiet.” He gripped her arm. “By my side. All the time.”
Her cousins trooped in. Dathan whistled, Zayn grinned like a fool, and even Niklas smiled.
“Mal, you are a vision.” Dathan circled around them. “And CenSec, I didn’t think you’d scrub up this well.”
“Only five minutes to teletransportation,” Zayn said, moving to the controls.
“Four minutes and twenty five seconds,” Xander said.
Mal smothered a smile.
“Okay, I’ve sent your biosigns through to Technis Control so they can lock onto you for the teletrans.”
Xander grabbed Malin’s hand, his hold tight.
“Right.” Mal swallowed. She really had avoided thinking about the teletransportation. Please don’t let us end up in a wall or muddled together.
“Good luck. Both of you,” Niklas said.
“Thanks, Nik.”
Dathan came over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Listen to the CenSec. He’ll protect you with his life if he has to.”
Mal saw something in her cousin’s eyes. Had he softened toward Xander? Well, wonders never ceased. She nodded.
Zayn tossed them a cheeky salute. “One minute.” He shot Xander a grin. “And five seconds.”
“Ready?” she asked Xander.
“Ready.” His hand tightened on hers.
Suddenly, light bloomed around them, a bright blue that twisted and turned.
There was a moment of disorientation. A feeling of flying apart and coming back together.
She blinked, and they stood in a small room. Two people, a man and a woman, stood at a console nearby.
“Welcome to Technis and the Technomancer’s Ball,” the woman said in a bright voice.
Stiffening her spine and pasting on a smile, Mal slipped her arm into Xander’s. “Come on, honey. I’m terribly thirsty.”
They moved in the direction of the door the woman pointed out.
“Honey?” A hint of a smile on his lips.
A bit more time with him and she bet she could bring out his smile.
A real one that he felt deep down. If only she could keep him long enough to hear him laugh.
The thought made pain twist inside her. Once this mission was over, Centax would be his only thought.
She would be a distant memory. Hopefully a pleasant one.
“You’re right, you aren’t a honey.” She pursed her lips studying him. “Maybe hottie?”
He shook his head and they stepped into the ballroom.
“Sweet scrap,” Mal breathed.
The cavernous room was spectacular. She’d never seen anything like it.
From the ceiling hung huge chandeliers of twisted metal. She tipped her head back to look at the one above them. It looked like it was made from, she squinted, from starships, consoles, and if she wasn’t mistaken, satellites.
There were statues made of other metallic parts dotted around the room.
They looked like old-fashioned robots fashioned from spare parts—an arm of syndroid, a head made from a computer, the body made from some sort of transport, and starship landing struts for legs.
They were kind of scary but intriguing at the same time.
But the recessed shelves set into the walls were the most amazing.
Each one housed a technological artifact or treasure. Mal and Xander strolled past each one. An ancient Terran tablet computer, a pre-Sync communicator, an old satellite, an early nuclear starship engine.
“Oh my stars, Xander. Look.” Mal kept her voice hushed.
It was an ancient Terran television. From long before holo technology. So incredibly old.
“Forge has quite a collection,” Xander murmured.
And Mal had no trouble imagining why he’d been so eager to add the Antikythera to his treasures.
Stars, Dathan, Nik, and Zayn would love to see this stuff. In a way, the place reminded her a little of home. With her salvaged scrap and her cousins’ treasures lying side by side in the hangar.
Mal swept the room with her gaze, this time studying the guests.
Lots of people, lots of species. A female Vatinae sauntered past them, towering over Xander.
Her skin had a green sheen, and she looked like a giant praying mantis with humanoid features.
Not far beyond them, stood a mated pair of Galli telepaths.
Both wore elaborate robes in rich colors, the taller woman stroking the neck of her shorter female mate.
The clothes throughout the room were also varied and colorful.
It seemed that out here, beyond the edge of the galaxy, people liked riotous color.
Many of the outfits were in crazy neon colors—pinks, oranges, greens, and blues.
Even the men were wearing bright colors with skin-tight trousers and blousy tops.
Mal tried to picture Xander in an outfit like that, and failed. She was pretty happy he’d gone traditional. The man looked sensational in black.
“Let’s circulate,” she whispered.
He tugged her around a group of laughing pointy-eared Rendarians. “Recon.”
“Yes, recon.” Once a CenSec, always a CenSec.
They moved in a circle around the room. Sampled the food on the heavily-laden tables. There was something to tempt everyone from unappetizing gray cloned fruit to fresh hydroponic salads. Mal grabbed a flute of golden champagne and allowed herself one sip. It tasted like gold as well.
They chatted and smiled with a few guests. Well, Mal smiled and chatted. Xander just stared and made people nervous.
With a quiet laugh, she pulled him away. “Any sign of our host yet?”
He shook his head. “I’ve heard he waits for all his guests to arrive before making a grand entrance.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
He tapped his ear. “Enhanced senses, remember. I can filter out multiple conversations at once.”
She eyed the room again. It was getting full now, and over in one corner, a band had started playing. The music was fast and loud. A few intrepid couples had ventured onto the dance floor and were moving to the frenetic beat.
She turned into Xander’s chest. “Want to dance?”
“No.”
“Come on, let’s—”
Suddenly, the music stopped, replaced by the deafening beat of drums. They spun, and at the head of the room, the walls began retracting with a muted whirr.
A huge metal…well, Mal wasn’t quite sure what it was. She forced her lips to stay pressed together to keep her mouth from hanging open. It was a creature made of scrap. It moved forward on six legs.
And standing atop it was a tall, thin man in a top hat and tails the color of copper.