Fenturi Fate (Spacestalker Saga Book 1) (13 page)

She blinked a few times to hide the tears pulling at his heartstrings. “I know. I love you all too.”

“Good. So you know we care for you. Dare, we need to talk about something.”
He waited until she stopped pacing and turned to face him.
“The lapses you’ve been having lately, the starfire.”

Her expression closed off. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“We have to. Deep down, you know you’re not like other Fenturi. Mra’s told you enough about your people to know that.”

She shrugged but said nothing.

Mra’s ears perked, and the cat watched Dare with an intensity Jace found interesting.

“Sure, you have Fenturi features, if one looks close enough. But without the glowing skin and purple eyes—” features he’d helped her learn to conceal with Psi skills “—you could be mistaken for a Vembi pleasurer,” he added for levity.

Dare quirked a small grin that soon disappeared.
“I thought I’d been doing such a good job of hiding, but Shea and Roc knew.
I have to wonder how many others do. Blane figured it out. That’s why he tried to take me down on Vembi.”

“He was an isolated incident. But give Roc and Shea some credit. They’ve been living with you, side by side, for years.
I’d think something wrong with them if they
hadn’t
ferreted your identity.
Besides, you feel comfortable with them or you’d never have let down your guard.”

“Yet you never let yours down, do you?”

He felt uneasy at the sudden turn of attention. “Not often. But this isn’t about me. I think—and so do you, if you’d admit it to yourself—that you
are
the Mari.
T
he starfire you harness is what they’re after. It has to be. It’s too unusual and what makes you so different from other Fenturi. With a look inside Ren’s mind, I can learn information you need to know, to help you.”

“It will be dangerous.
The captain is more than he seems.”

“For that reason, we need to find out why he wants you.
You’ve never before heard mention of a Mari? You’re sure?”

Dare shrugged.
“I haven’t been around another Fenturi for twenty years. Everything I know comes from Mra.”

Jace knew she wouldn’t want to hear it, but it needed to be said.
“If we don’t get the answers we need from Ren, we’ll have to seek them at the source.”

A flash of panic hit him hard before she shielded herself again.
“No.”
She looked calm and composed, but he’d felt her unease. “It’s not safe. Bylar is off limits. I won’t ever go there again, not while I have breath.”

“You will, Dare,” Jace said, feeling the prediction as truth.
“I fear you’ll have to.”

***

“Ren, you’ve got a message from your pirate,” Castor boomed in a loud voice filled with speculation. “You remember her? That beautiful creature you—”

“Enough.
By the Dark World, you’ve been riding me about her for days,” Ren growled.
He should never have kissed her in front of his men.
He’d only intended the kiss to reinforce his authority, and grate the blond male watching. Or so he kept telling himself.

“Never seen you kiss a criminal before is all.” Castor grinned.

“Aye, Captain,” Primo chimed in.
For weeks the sullen pilot had ignored everyone.
Now he’d finally found his voice…and at Ren’s expense.
“I hear she was a rare beauty, almost as precious as a Nexian gem.”

The Hams laughed, and even Phin had a comment.
“Truly, Captain,” the little blue Informa added.
“From the descriptions I’ve heard she seemed just perfect for you.”

“Rude, irritable and a delectable piece of female flesh.”
Castor winked.

Ren wished he’d never met the female.

Not only had he taken ribbing from his men, something that
never
happened, but he’d been unable to get her out of his thoughts.
Worse,
his dreams had become so erotically charged, it was a wonder the ship didn’t go up in flames.
 

The men thought it vastly amusing their normally solemn captain had met a woman who didn’t fall prey to his looks or status, as most did.
The Hams, with their wild Fenturi nature, had the same luck with females that Ren did, though not to Ren’s degree.
But unlike their captain, they capitalized on their alien differences.

“Truly, Ren.
The woman is waiting on you.” Castor shoved the telecom unit toward his face.

Ren schooled his features and ignored his racing heart.
“Put her on the vid screen.” He waited until the large screen cleared to show the stubborn female glaring at him.

The room around him grew silent, and Ren watched her for any sign of duplicity.

“Well, Captain?” came the icy question.
“I was instructed to contact you by the third day, yet you refuse to accept my call.”

“I’m here now. Report.”

“I report nothing as yet.”

“Why am I not surprised?” He looked down at the Informa tugging at his sleeve, and seeing his concern, commanded Dare to wait a moment.
He cut communications, masking his end, though he could still see her aggravated expression as she sat in front of the vid screen on her ship.

 “Captain, how much do you know about this person?” Phin studied Dare’s face as if mesmerized.

“Why do you ask?”

“Something about her…” The blue alien drifted in thought as he stared at her.

“What is it?” Ren’s suspicions went on high alert.
Phin had been brought along on their expedition due to his abilities. As an Informa, the small man could ferret details and maintained an extensive flow of information about the System that could rival Bylar’s archives.

That Phin couldn’t immediately figure the woman out gave Ren pause. “Activate the vid screen.
Phin, keep silent.” Once the vid screen showed Ren again, he said, “Continue.”

“Sure thing, your worship.” Behind her, someone chuckled. “We’ve had to clean up the rest of our caseload to make room for your grand mission. So I’ve only been able to make a few discreet inquiries.
Now before you get that temper in a twist, let me explain.”

Ren heard the twins cough to smother laughter and out of the corner of his eye saw Castor try to mask a grin.

“I’m working with my crew to find your lost Mari.
I haven’t heard much, but as Jace and I were looking through some things in the library, we think we may have stumbled onto something you need to see.”

“Fine.
Bring it here in two hours, that’s Bylaran standard.”

“I know, Captain.
Even we space pirates use your oppressive planet’s measure of time,” she bit out, looking every bit as wild and tempting as Ren recalled.
Her blue eyes blazed at the oddest times, as if she banked their true brilliance behind a veil.
“I was hoping you could come down to the
SpaceStalker
.”

“No.
You’ll come to me. Don’t be late
,” he ended with a quiet warning. Ren cut the vid line and turned to Castor. “I want to meet with her in the main cabin.
Phin, you’ll be with me. And Castor, keep those obnoxious comments of yours to yourself, else I’ll forget you’re my Second and lop your head from your shoulders.”
 

Castor seemed to take the threat seriously, because he gave a sober nod. But as Ren stalked through the doors with Phin behind him, he heard his Second laugh with the twins. Phin blinked but said nothing, the only one of Ren’s crew appropriately cowed.

“I’m obviously too lenient with them,” he muttered, saw Phin nod furiously, and stomped down the passageway, dreaming up new tasks to punish his insolent crew. Some cleaning of the corridors at the least. Had to make the ship shine for their new pirate allies. He fought his own grin, recalling how annoyed Dare had seemed to be. Then he thought back to how soft and warm her mouth had been under his and started swearing up a storm.

***

Two hours later, Dare and Jace used the directions given them by Primo, the
Eyshan6’
s pilot, and transferred via shuttle bay to Ren’s ship.
Dare kept her illegal teleporters a  secret for future use. No sense in letting the Legion know all their capabilities.

She and Jace waited while the giant, ferocious-looking twins scanned them for weapons.
Finding none, the twins escorted them to Castor, Ren’s Second.
He didn’t look as if she’d bruised him a few days ago, and though she badly wanted to mock him for letting such a small,
weak
woman beat up such a badass Legionnaire, she kept her tongue.

Jace had cautioned her to be very low-key.
He wanted nothing to stir the emotional output of the Stalker crew while he read Ren’s thoughts.
Emotions could muddle his abilities, and Ren already had Jace’s back up. Her Second didn’t like the captain. At all.

Castor gave them a wary glance before gruffly giving the order to follow him. One of the twins trailed their small party to make sure no one stepped out of line, no doubt.

Dare took the time to study the Legion-class vessel. Obviously Bylaran in design, the ship possessed a heavy armament and shield generator, no doubt useful in combating System miscreants.
The material of the ship appeared to be from Rovi, and she guessed that in a true fight, the
Eyshan6
would easily outgun her. That was, if they could catch her.

She smiled to herself, pleased the Nexian who’d sold her the
SpaceStalker
hadn’t lied about the ship’s legendary speed.

They moved down and around another corridor. Then another. The ship was much larger than hers. They’d passed several rooms already and hadn’t yet gone above or below deck.

Castor halted in front of a paneled door and pressed the intercom to let Ren know of their arrival.
He stepped aside after pressing the panel’s keypad and waited for them to step through.

Dare and Jace caught each other’s eye.
They moved as one through the doorway, not surprised when Castor followed them through and locked the door behind them.

“Well, well, if it isn’t our friends from the
SpaceStalker
.”
Ren watched them from his seat behind a desk.
“I trust you have something of importance to tell me? Something that will make me forget that mess on Vembi with the Shorhu Lord?”

Jace and Dare stood motionless, but as Ren’s gaze moved to the text she held, she moved toward him. Slowly.
She noted the little blue alien seated at Ren’s right but paid him no mind.
As before, her instincts warned her that a physical threat wouldn’t be forthcoming from such a weak creature.
No, the captain was the one to watch.

She captured Ren’s attention so Jace could keep back out of Ren’s line of sight.
Unfortunately,
the suspicious captain would have none of it.

“Set the book down and sit on the other side of Phin,” Ren ordered. “I want your blond friend to sit next to you, where I can keep an eye on him.”

“My name is Jace.” Jace obeyed, but Dare knew he wasn’t happy about it.
 

“Well,
Jace
, tell me what you brought with you.”

Not good. Dare needed to hold Ren’s attention so Jace could focus on Ren’s thoughts.

“Excuse me,” she said with icy disdain. “
I’m
the captain. Jace is my Second. You’ll deal with me.”

“Oh?”

Pleased when Ren’s gaze narrowed on her, she sat back and crossed her leg over her knee. She’d worn plain space clothing—a simple pilot’s jacket over a black tunic, dark trousers and knee-high boots.
Nothing that would hint of her past.
She felt Phin staring at her and glanced at him.
The blue man looked too intent, and she revised her opinion of him as no threat.

“Why is he here?” She motioned to Phin.

“Because I asked him to be,” Ren answered. “I’d remind you I ask the questions. What’s with the book?”