In the Devil's Nebula (Phoenix Adventures #2) (7 page)

Ria took one step forward. “I don’t believe
in good luck. Usually when things are too good to be true,
something’s about to bite you in the ass.”

He eyed her face. Vik’s face. “Yeah.”

They waited the few seconds it took for
their enviro suits to self-clean, then they entered the Tekton
base.

They were in a plush hallway lined with what
looked like real wood—a rare commodity in this part of the
quadrant.

Ria scanned the map. “Let’s find the
library. We need to go right.”

They headed down the hall. Zayn was
impressed. The woman moved without a sound, with a liquid grace
that was damned sexy and, he knew, harder than it looked. Vik had
moved with a brisk stride, like she was always in a rush.

Ria paused at a corner, checking before she
waved him on. Along the hall, she stopped. “You sound like a herd
of Tambaa beasts tramping down to the river.”

He frowned. He thought he was pretty darn
quiet.

“Loosen your muscles. Let your knees absorb
your steps. Think light.”

He followed her advice. After a few steps,
she nodded and kept going. Damned if his steps weren’t quieter.

Soon they passed through another door into a
magnificent room.

“Holy hell,” he whispered.

Shelves filled with Old World books and
folders rose up to the double-height ceiling. The domed roof was
lit with a warm glow and coated in some orange-hued metal.

“Incredible.” Ria turned in a slow circle.
She ran a hand over one of the shelves. Fingering the documents.
“We’ll never find the plans just by searching.”

He agreed. “It’d take months.”

“We need to find their catalogue system and
find the Assassin’s Guild record.”

“There’s some sort of console in the
center.” Zayn approached a small domed pedestal that stood
waist-high. Inside, it swirled with what looked like smoke. “At
least I think it’s a console. I’ve never seen anything like
it.”

“Me neither.”

“All right then.” Zayn held his palms over
the console. “Let me see what I can do. What if it trips an
alarm?”

“A risk we have to take.”

He touched the dome.

Nothing.

He swirled his hands around, looked for
anything to activate it.

Suddenly voices echoed in the outside
corridor.

“Son of bitch.” Zayn followed it with some
more curses. They both searched the room for a hiding space. Damn
the Tekton for being so neat and tidy.

“There!” Ria pointed at a tiny niche behind
a statue. An ornate grate was attached to the wall. She whipped out
her multi-tool and in seconds had the grate off. Zayn frowned. The
space behind it would be a tight fit for one, let alone two.

The door to the library creaked open.

Zayn ran and dived into the space. Ria
followed in behind him and tugged the grate back into place.

Zayn’s breathing was rapid. One, because of
the two Tekton who’d just entered the library.

And two, because he had a lap full of
luscious female.

Ria kept her gaze glued to the two men in the
library—at least she thought they were men. Tekton men and women
looked very similar.

She tried to pay attention to what they were
doing, but she was distracted by the hard male body pressed up
behind her.

She was used to hiding and being patient.
She knew how to deal with the anxiety that came from the risk of
being discovered. But she was almost always alone, and on those odd
times she wasn’t, they rarely ended up plastered together with no
room to move.

Zayn surrounded her, overwhelmed her. She
drew in air but every part of her was aware of him. His scent
filled her senses—hot male mixed with plain soap.

He moved, his mouth pressing to her ear. She
closed her eyes, trying to control the shiver traveling up her
spine.

“They’re using the console. Can you see what
they’re doing?”

Ria blinked and tried to see through the
grate. God, he was so hot. “One has their hands on the dome. And
both of them have their eyes closed.”

“What else?”

She focused on the one at the dome. “He’s
concentrating.” More successfully than her. Zayn moved beneath her
again and this time she thought she felt a hard bulge. She bit down
on her lip. “Maybe it’s some sort of telepathic thing?”

“Nothing in our research showed the Tekton
are telepathic. But they are secretive.” He shifted again. “Damn
Ria, you have a body designed to drive a man wild.”

She froze. He felt it too. This powerful
pull that was tangling them closer together. But did he see
her
or Viktoria? She wrestled with her emotions and tried to
focus. “Maybe the console is attuned to thoughts. You direct it
with your thoughts.”

He made a humming sound. “Possible.” He
moved an arm and it slid around her waist. “Sorry, it’s going to
sleep where I had it.”

She needed air. She needed some space
between her and this man or she was going to turn into him and
plant her mouth on his.

“One of them has moved to a shelf,” Zayn
whispered.

Ria saw one of the Tekton at a shelf but his
body blocked what he was doing. Then he moved away. “They’re
leaving.”
Thank God
.

After the two Tekton had left, she pushed on
the grate and crawled out of the tight space. She stood, and
squashed the small pang of loss she felt now that she was no longer
pressed against Zayn.

Zayn moved to the console and pressed his
hands to the dome and closed his eyes.

Ria watched the gases inside start to swirl.
“Something’s happening.”

His brow crinkled. “I’m focusing on the
Assassin’s Guild Headquarters. Come on,
come on
.”

She saw an image through the fog. A plan
inscribed on a silver plas-sheet. A quiet chime sounded and she
spun. Discreet lights built into the base of one shelf were
glowing, about eight feet up.

“Got it! Well done, Zayn.”

His eyes popped open and he grinned. “Let’s
grab the plans and get out of here.” He reached the shelf but
couldn’t quite grab the map. He glanced around. “Where’s the
ladder?”

She didn’t see one.

He made a ‘come here’ gesture with his
hands. “Get on my shoulders.”

Ria straightened her spine and gripped his
hands. In a smooth, powerful move, he dipped and swung her up. Ria
swallowed a squeak and settled on his broad shoulders.

“Can you reach it?”

She focused on the carefully rolled
plas-sheet in front of her eyes, and not the fact that Zayn
Phoenix’s head was between her thighs. Her fingers closed around
the plas. “Got it.”

He set her down and Ria carefully slid the
plas-sheet into an airtight bag on her belt.

Zayn waved to the door. “Shall we go?”

“Sure.”

They’d taken two steps into the hall when
the entire building shook. Zayn grabbed Ria’s arm to steady her.
There was another dull boom in the distance.

“Ah, I think our diversion might have been
discovered,” Zayn said.

They ran toward the door to the tunnels.
They turned the last corner. And saw a group of uniformed and armed
Tekton running toward them.

“Shit.” Zayn skidded to a halt. Ria almost
slammed into the back of him. “Back the other way. We’re going to
Plan B.”

They turned and sprinted back past the
library. More explosions rocked the structure. Ria prayed Eos and
the others were okay. She tried to scroll through the map on her
Sync. Plan B was a secondary exit to the tunnels. “We need to get
to the arboretum.” She pointed. “That way.”

They ran together. Ria liked that he kept up
easily.

They sprinted into another room and both of
them stopped, looking up in awe. A glass roof showed the incredible
night sky and asteroids flying past. Inside was filled with various
forms of plant life. “The exit should be at the back of the room in
the floor.”

They hustled and Zayn lifted away a giant
vine. A small octagonal cover was set in the floor. It took both of
them to shift it.

Zayn dropped in first. As she followed, she
heard him curse.

She soon realized why. The tunnel was
smaller than the previous one and after a few meters, the angle
changed to near vertical. Ria slid downward. Her enviro suit was
nearly frictionless and she felt herself gather speed.

“Zayn?” Her voice echoed in the tight
confines of the tunnel.

“I’m here.” His voice came from below. “Hold
on.”

She felt an increase in heat. Then she heard
Zayn yell and a second later she shot out the end of the tunnel.
She caught of glimpse of him flying through the air ahead of her,
arms pin-wheeling. Below them was a small lake of sewage.

The air caught in her lungs like a cat with
claws. The lake wasn’t the biggest problem. The problem was where
the lake was flowing.

To a giant ultraviolet treatment system.

That incinerated everything that passed
through it.

Zayn and Ria landed with a thick splash.

***

“I’ve got you.” Zayn grabbed Ria’s arm and
yanked her upward.

He held her tight with one arm and wiped his
other hand over his face. Thank the fuck this sewage hadn’t been
treated yet. It smelled bad but it didn’t have the chemical burn of
the earlier green stuff.

Ria gripped him, their legs tangling. She
looked to where the current was dragging them.

Straight into the bowels of Hell.

Zayn saw the ultraviolet lasers arcing
through the sludge. They were set in a large arch, sweeping back
and forth.

“Suggestions?” She pushed her
sewage-drenched hair back with a grimace.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” He
liked that she didn’t panic. She’d make a fabulous pilot. Nerves of
steel.

“This isn’t on the map. It must be new.” She
glanced up. “Look! There’s a platform to the right of the laser
ring.”

He spotted it. Guessed it was probably used
for maintenance. “Swim that way.”

Their hands still linked, they both kicked.
They were making progress but the pull of the water flow was still
stronger.

Shit
. They weren’t going to make
it.

He wasn’t going to die and he sure as hell
wasn’t going to let Ria die either. He kicked harder.

They neared the platform but Zayn was too
far away to reach it. Ria lunged outward. He saw her fingertips
graze it and then grip on.

She grimaced. “I don’t have a good
grip.”

He had to let go. Without his weight, she
had a chance to save herself. He let go of her hand.

“No, damn you!” She followed with a string
of curses and clamped her legs around his waist, holding him
tight.

“Ria! You can’t pull both of us in. Let me
go.”

“No.”

“I won’t be responsible for your death.” He
couldn’t live with it. Not again.

“And I told you, I’m no assassin. I don’t
like to kill.” She strained, trying to pull them closer.

Feeling helpless, Zayn kicked his feet in an
attempt to help.

Incredibly, Ria managed to grasp the
platform with her second hand and pull them close. Zayn gripped the
rail, his chest heaving, then pulled himself up and yanked her up
after him.

She sprawled on the ground, holding on to
her left arm and panting.

“You are a stubborn idiot,” he shouted.

Green eyes flashed. “Right back at you,
Phoenix.”

He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time. His
shoulders sagged. “Are you okay?”

“Shoulder’s tender, but I’m fine.”

“Well, unless you want to spend a bit more
time swimming in shit, how about we get out of here?”

She let him help her to her feet. “Sounds
like a decent plan.”

Zayn cupped her cheeks. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stared at each other for a long moment
before he turned. They followed the platform to a set of stairs,
their self-clean suits spotless by the time they reached the hatch
at the top. Zayn twisted the lock and it opened easily.

Zayn popped his head through. “Some sort of
storage shed.” He glanced past the stacks of boxes and crates to
the small window. “We’re on the landing pads. Let’s go.”

Seconds later they were moving out, headed
toward the doorway, when an explosion rocked them. Close, too
close. Zayn stumbled and Ria was flung into the wall.

“Shit.” Zayn flexed his hands. “They had
better not hurt my damn ship.”

They exited the storage shed. They were two
pads over from where they’d parked the
Infinitas
. Two
figures were sprinting from the main building toward the ship,
followed by a group of armed Tekton.

Eos had lost her sarim and was wearing the
corset top and black, body-hugging leggings she’d worn beneath it.
She was firing a laser pistol. Dathan was running behind her, a gun
in either hand, firing random shots over his shoulder.

“Go,” Zayn yelled.

He and Ria sprinted. Zayn’s brain whirled as
he calculated. Go help Dath or get to the ship? He took in all the
options. On the ship, he could activate the weapons systems.
Speaking of which, why the hell wasn’t Nik or BEll doing that?

As Zayn ran, a spray of laser fire scorched
the ground near their feet. Ria pulled out her weapon and aimed at
the second group of guards moving in from behind them.

Another round of weapon fire hit. It moved
past Zayn, closer to Ria. He acted on instinct and dived for her.
He felt a burn on his shoulder, then they hit the ground hard
enough to rattle bones.

Ria was stunned for a second. Zayn glanced
back. The guards were advancing, their weapons raised. For a
second, he wished for a gun. As though she read his thoughts, Ria
pushed hers at him.

“Shoot them.”

He shook his head. Couldn’t make his hand
move.

“By the dagger, shoot them, or we die!”

His gaze went to the gun, then back to her
eyes. To his past. He remained frozen, unable to move.