Stolen Lies (Fates of the Bound 2)

The corner of Tristan’s mouth twisted. “What a coincidence. I have two weeks’ vacation coming too.”

“Focus, Tristan.”

They drove for a few blocks in silence, passing row upon row of the same sort of suburban houses with the same sort of dogs barking in the same sort of yards.

Tristan cleared his throat. “You do realize that when I tried to talk about us, you brought up something else? Again?”

Lila pinched the bridge of her nose. “What do you want me to tell you?”

“Something. Anything. But you can’t tell me to fuck off one day and come back the next. Just meet me halfway, Lila. Oracle’s light, it’s not even halfway. It’s just one step.”

Lila fumbled with her words, not sure what she could or should tell him. She had feelings for him, that much was obvious, but she wasn’t sure she wanted the feelings, much less admit to them.

And encouraging him was just cruel.

They always seemed to end up in the same place, didn’t they? Pissed off at one another?

The game flickered, drawing her eye to her palm.

“I backed up your messages,” she mumbled finally, giving in because it was easier than dealing with the mush in her mind.

“My messages? Doesn’t your kind back up every message you receive and seal it in some data vault on your family’s compound? You have to access it with a key and DNA scan and…” His joking grin faded as he saw her face tense. “You don’t back them all up, do you? Have you ever done that before with any of your other lovers?”

“No.”

“But you backed up my messages?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose that’s something,” he said with a little nod.

Lila drummed her fingers on the windowsill and turned her head away, glad he’d been mollified, at least for the afternoon.

Tristan reached out and clasped her hand, their intertwined fingers resting in the middle of the front seat.

“You’re driving,” she said.

“I know.”

Chapter 28

The trail of aliens had not moved, and the score had not budged. One hour had turned into two, and Lila shifted in her seat, worried and losing hope as time dragged on. Perhaps the tracers were too old to send out a signal.

Tristan’s palm vibrated in the silence like a lost swarm of bees humming in the car’s heater, startling them both. He pulled to the side of the road and put the call on speaker.

“Our good karma is alive and well,” Dice said, his voice pouring into the car. “We’ve found them.”

“Where?”

Dice related the address, promising to contact Toxic and have the rest of the group meet two kilometers from the location. Tristan would give them all further instructions after he got a look at the scene.

“How many mercs do you think there are?” Tristan asked as they sped across the city.

“At least a dozen,” Lila said. “You might have sixty, but you’ll lose some if you attack directly. The mercs will be prepared, they’ll be well armed and well trained, and they’ll fight to the death.”

“What on earth makes you think I’m going to attack directly? I’ve learned a thing or two from your sneakiness over the last couple of years. Besides, more than a few of my people spent time in the army. I listen when they speak.”

“Good,” Lila grunted as her palm picked up the tracer’s scent. “My expertise only extends to protecting compounds from stunts like this.”