“Move back a bit,” Adi growls at me, his voice low and harsh. “Your tit’s on my shoulder.”
“Sorry,” I whisper, and do as he suggests.
No sooner do I edge back a little than the comm connects and a pair of unfamiliar faces show on the screen. They’re aliens—an avian and an ooli—and their gaze moves from Adiron to land firmly on me. I run a finger over Adiron’s horn, pretending I’m super into him.
“Greetings, my friends,” Adiron says in that same growly voice. “I was told this might be the place I needed to conduct some business. Let me speak to the slaver in charge.”
“Slavers?” says the ooli. “There are no slavers here.”
“Then I’ll take my business elsewhere,” Adiron says, leaning forward as if he’s going to turn off the comm. I fake a yawn, stretching and making my dress fall a little lower.
“Wait,” says the ooli before Adiron can shut the feed off. “Is that a qura’aki?”
“Yes. She was gifted to me and I was told someone on your end might be able to help me…duplicate my bounty, so to speak.”
They exchange a look.
“We need some more information from you,” the avian says.
Adiron relaxes in his chair, leaning back again. “What do you want to know?”
I caress his horn again, hiding my excitement. We’re getting somewhere. The plan is working.
CHAPTER 84
MATHIRAS
I watch from the monitors in the rec room as my brother talks with the slavers, gesturing to Helen. At one point he has her stand up and turn around, showing off her body, and Helen prances in front of the comm. I can tell from the expression on her face that she’s enjoying the game, from the way she strokes Adi’s horn to her eager twirl in front of the vid.
I hate it. I hate all of it. My gut churns with a feeling that’s not quite jealousy. I know Adi and Helen aren’t interested in each other. Adi’s been mooning over Jade ever since we left and Helen only has eyes for me. Adi’s my brother. I love him. But I really, really hate this situation so much. I hate the eyes that watch Helen with calculation. I hate the little smack that Adi gives Helen’s backside. I hate the slavers that are forcing us into this situation.
“You look downright murderous,” Zebah comments at my side. She’s been watching the performance with me.
Unclenching my jaw, I force myself to shrug. “I know it’s all pretend.”
“Obviously. I was just thinking to myself, here’s a male that clearly knows this is all for show.” Her tone is dry and sarcastic.
I ignore her. On the vid screen, Helen and Adi are exiting the bridge, and I rush out to meet them in the hall. The moment I see them, Helen flings her arms around my neck and clings to me. “I missed you!”
“I’m gonna go wash my hand,” Adiron says. “I feel queasy after patting Helen’s backside.”
Wrapping my arms around my mate, I kiss her upturned face. “You both did well. Did they buy it?” We couldn’t listen in as it was a secure comm-link, but it looked as if things were proceeding on plan from the visual. “What did they say?”
“They were very interested in me,” Helen says, shrugging. “Which, duh. And we have an invite to dock.”
“Dock the entire ship? That seems like a terrible idea.”
“I know, right? Adiron said as much. He said we’d shuttle out there for a visit before deciding.”
I nod. Docking the entire Little Sister is just asking to be taken captive and never seen again. It’s not fair to the females, and it won’t help us with an escape plan, so it’s a no-go. Helen and Adiron will be going over to the other ship to meet up there and wreak havoc…and I’m irked, because I can’t go. It’s not that I don’t trust my brother. Helen will be more than enough to protect him. I just want to be the one to go. I’m better at hacking into systems than he is. I can keep a clear head better than he can. Truly, the only reason I’m sending Adiron is because he’s got a different face than me.
Then again…does the face matter if we go in with our blasters blazing?
A new plan begins to form.
Adiron returns with dripping hands, shaking off the water as Bethiah and Zebah join us in the hall. “So when are they expecting you?” Bethiah asks. “Any specific time?”
“Whenever we want to fly over,” Adiron replies. “I’m ready to go if Helen is.”
Bethiah moves over to him and begins to take weapons out of her belt, transferring them to Adiron. She pulls out two blasters, then four different-sized knives, a set of tiny throwing daggers, and what looks like a gas grenade. Then she removes her necklace and holds it out to him. “A garrote. You never know how handy they are.”