In the Devil's Nebula (Phoenix Adventures #2) (8 page)

Cursing, Ria struggled under him. She
gripped the gun, aimed past him and pulled the trigger. It was an
awkward shot but the guards still scattered for cover.

The action snapped Zayn out of his freeze.
He jumped up, pulling her with him and they were running again. The
shadowed hulk of the
Infinitas
loomed above them.

Zayn raced to the main door and pressed his
palm to the door control. The door hissed open and he pushed Ria
through the entry ahead of him. The door closed behind them.

Inside, it was eerily quiet.

Ria tensed and brought her gun up. “You
really need to carry a weapon. You’re going to get yourself or one
of the others killed because of your squeamishness.”

“You can’t take a bullet or a laser blast
back,” he snapped. “BEll?”

The computer bleeped and followed with a
garbled voice.

“Where the hell is Nik?” Zayn muttered, fear
working through him.

“There!”

They raced to the figure slumped over in the
pilot’s seat. “Nik. Nik!” Zayn lifted his brother’s head. There was
no blood, no visible injury. Zayn pressed his fingers to his
brother’s throat. A strong pulse.
Thank God
. Zayn tapped the
console and the screen flared to life.

“About bloody time.” BEll’s very irritated
voice filled the cockpit. “They set off a plasma pulse. It knocked
Nik out and scrambled my sensors for a bit.”

“Okay, well I think Dath and Eos would
appreciate some help.”

The
Infinitas’
weapons flared to
life. Laser fire sprayed the ground in front of the advancing
guards, sending them diving for cover. Eos and Dathan managed to
reach to the ship and seconds later were boarding.

Eos was breathless. “I don’t think I’m
getting that palace.”

“Everyone strap the hell in.” Zayn
maneuvered Nik to another seat with Ria’s help.

“I’ll strap him in.” She held Nik’s head
back but her gaze was on Zayn. “You get us out of here.”

He nodded and seconds later, they lifted
off.

***

As soon at the
Infinitas
broke orbit,
Ria wrenched off her harness.

In her mind, she kept reliving that moment
on the landing pad, watching the Tekton bearing down on them. Zayn
Phoenix wasn’t a coward but he’d almost gotten both of them
killed.

Eos and Dathan were maneuvering Nik’s
unconscious body off the bridge. “We’ll get sleeping beauty here to
a bed. Check him over.” Dathan grunted under his brother’s weight.
“Hope to hell you two got the plans.”

Ria nodded and touched the bag at her waist.
After they’d left, she moved up beside the pilot’s chair. Blood
oozed from the wound on Zayn’s shoulder. “Put the ship on autopilot
and get up. You need your injury looked at.”

He stared straight ahead. “Can’t. We aren’t
clear of the asteroid field yet.”

Her jaw clenched. “Fine. I’ll heal you
here.” She stomped back to the medical alcove and snatched up the
medscope.

When she got back, she yanked at his shirt
buttons until she bared his chest.

“Hey.”

“Shut up.” She gave the smooth muscles a
quick—and damn it, admiring—glance before focusing on the ugly
wound. She probed around it with a finger, hard enough to make him
notice.

“Damn.” He scowled at her. “Lucky you didn’t
take up a career in medicine.”

“Just shut up.” She snapped on the medscope.
“You’re lucky you didn’t die back there. You should have fired the
gun.”

“I told you, I don’t use guns. End of the
fucking story. What’s your problem?”

She clicked the medscope off, even though
his wound wasn’t finished healing yet. She shoved her hands on her
hips. “It’s not your fault she died. It’s the Guild’s. You not
firing a weapon just tells me you’re still fucked up about it.
You’re letting the Guild win and will probably get yourself killed
in the process.” She turned the scope on again.

Zayn cocked his head. “Why are you so
angry?”

“Because it could have gotten me killed.”
And you, you stupid idiot.

“And that stunt you pulled at the treatment
plant? Risking yourself instead of letting me go. Is that any
different?”

She looked away from his penetrating gaze
and turned off the scope. “All finished. Not even a scar.” Just
smooth, warm flesh.

He gripped her hand. “Thank you. For saving
me. Twice. And healing me.”

His fingers were warm on hers and, unable to
stop herself, she let her fingers twine with his. “You’re welcome.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “We made a pretty good team down
there.”

“Yeah, we did.” His fingers stroked over the
skin of her wrist.

“In the Guild, we’re taught not to care for
each other. That we should sacrifice another assassin if it means
completing the mission.”

“That’s a crappy way to run a team.”

She shook her head. “Assassins operate solo,
not as a team. We rarely work together and when we do…they tell us
not to feel. They tell us we’re already dead. Just a weapon of the
Guild.”

“You don’t belong there and we’re going to
get you out.”

Now she looked at his face, at his eyes.
Those fascinating, wild, bright blue eyes that she’d seen in her
dreams for so long. She felt the air around them still and her
breath caught in her chest. He tugged her closer and with a final
pull, overbalanced her into his lap.

Her mouth went dry. “I thought you had to
concentrate on the asteroids?”

“We cleared the field about thirty seconds
ago.”

She swallowed. She’d never been held on
someone’s lap before. He was hard and firm beneath her. He tipped
her face up with one finger under her chin.

“I’d have you on my team any day, Ria.”

A warmth spread in her chest. She’d been a
member of the Guild all her life but had never truly felt any sense
of belonging. Those quiet words from this man were enough to make
her feel like she was a part of something.

His gaze dropped to her lips and her stomach
knotted. Did she want this? Did he see her or Vik?

Ria decided not to think too hard about it.
She was going to take what she wanted. She closed the infinitesimal
distance, her hands sliding into his hair. After what felt like an
eternity, his mouth fused with hers.

God
. Ria froze for a second, the
taste of him flooding her senses. Then they were both moving
closer, devouring each other. His tongue met hers and she urged him
closer. She wanted more.

She shifted in his lap and felt the hard
press of his erection against her hip.

“You taste good,” he murmured against her
lips. One of his hands had slid down over her hip and was toying
with the waistband of her trousers. “I’ve wondered for a long time
how you’d taste.”

Ria froze. “You’ve only known me one
day.”

He blinked. “I…ah…”

He didn’t need to say anything else. She
pushed to her feet and straightened her shirt. “I’m not her. I’m
not going to be some poor substitute for your dead obsession.”

His jaw clenched hard, a muscle ticking.
“That’s not…I don’t…fuck!” He shoved a hand through his hair.

It was all she needed to hear. She needed
this man’s help, nothing else. The guy was stuck in the past and
had nothing to offer except his skills in helping her snatch the
derringer and gain her freedom.

She needed to make she sure remembered that.
But as she turned and walked out of the cockpit, her insides felt
fractured.

“I think this’ll be the best point for
infiltration.”

“I don’t think so, Dath. Check out this spot
on the southern wall.”

Zayn watched his brothers argue and debate.
They were all leaning over the Assassin Guild plans—newly scanned
off the plas-sheet stolen from the Tekton—on the holo-table. Eos
and Ria stood on the other side, talking quietly between
themselves.

Zayn found his gaze returning to Ria. She’d
pulled her hair back in a tight ponytail and was wearing dark
leather pants with a loose white shirt. She looked different
without the body armor. Softer. Friendlier.

Not that she was sending him any friendly
vibes. All he was getting now was either the occasional blank stare
or a glare.

Not that he didn’t deserve it.

He’d replayed their kiss in the cockpit…oh,
maybe a hundred times. When he’d kissed her, he’d known he was
kissing Ria. The woman he’d just finished surviving a dangerous
mission with.

But he couldn’t lie. Some part of him had
thought of Vik.

Ria looked the same, sounded the same and
sometimes used the same mannerisms. But Viktoria had been a
stickler for the rules, always living for the mission. Ria was more
relaxed, more flexible. Vik would never have stolen anything, even
if it was the right thing to do.

He frowned. It had been one aspect of Vik he
hadn’t liked. She refused to question their orders, even when she’d
known they hadn’t been right. She’d told him good Strike Wing
pilots followed orders. Yet, Zayn had always known a good pilot
didn’t just follow the rules of flying. It took guts, and some
risks, to be truly exceptional. Vik had never understood that.

His brothers’ arguing brought Zayn back to
the present. He forced himself to focus on the blueprints of the
Guild Headquarters. “Whatever way we get in, there will be far too
many highly trained killers inside.”

Ria tapped her fingers against the table.
“What are you saying? That it’s too hard for you? You want to
quit?”

“No.” He watched her steadily. “I’m saying
we need to lure them out.”

“Excellent idea,” Eos said. “Empty the place
and we increase our odds.”

Dathan crossed his arms over his chest.
“What would entice them out? What’s the perfect bait for an
assassin?”

All eyes went to Ria.

“A big target. Or a failed target. Someone
they’ve been after for a long time.”

Zayn leaned his elbows on the table. “And
who would that be?”

Ria’s gaze turned inward. “I can only think
of one. Lastite Lala.”

Zayn shared looks with their brothers, who
both shrugged. “Lastite? As in the highly volatile explosive?”

“Yes.”

“Who is Lastite Lala?” Zayn asked.

“She’s a crazy bomb maker. Notorious for
making the absolute best explosives on the black market. Her goods
have been responsible for a lot of death and destruction.”

“She likes lastite, I take it?” Zayn
asked.

“It’s one of her favorite explosives. Rather
disturbing to think of a fifteen-year-old who loves to play with
the galaxy’s most dangerous explosive.”

“A fifteen-year-old notorious bomb maker?”
Eos’ eyes were wide.

“Yep. And crazy. Don’t forget that,” Ria
added.

“Where do we find her?” Dathan asked.

Ria winced. “I have no idea. The Guild has
never been able to track her down.”

“Can we approach as buyers again?” Eos
suggested.

“Maybe,” Zayn mused. “But I don’t like the
idea of going in completely blind. Nik, can you and BEll run some
searches, see if you can find any info on this Lala?”

“On it,” BEll said as Nik nodded.

“Think Eos and I will head down to Souk and
see Sel,” Dathan said.

Selesos ran a store on the market world
selling electronics—and weapons—of all kinds. He might know
something.

“And me?” Ria asked.

“You and I will keep going over these
blueprints. Identify the primary way in and a Plan B.”

She didn’t look too happy about his answer.
“Fine.”

The team scattered. Zayn and Ria worked on
the plans until Zayn found his eyes were blurring.

“If we can create a diversion, I think we
come in here.” He pointed to an air duct.

“They have security on all the services.”
She raised a brow. “They protect all the same weak points they use
to infiltrate other people’s bases.”

Her snarky, cold tone was starting to grate
on him. “So what do you suggest?”

She chewed on her lip for a second. “I
suggest we use the front door.”

“What?” he asked, incredulous.

“Do what they won’t expect. If we can find
Lastite Lala and use her to draw most of the assassins out, they’ll
be in a bit of disarray. I sneak in, dressed as an assassin, and
find the derringer.”

“
We
sneak in.”

She shook her head. “They’ll pick you out as
a flyboy from a mile away.”

“I can blend and I can dress up.”

“Fine. It all depends if we find Lala or
not.” Ria stretched her shoulders.

Zayn realized his muscles were tight as
well. “Dathan and Eos won’t be back for another hour or so. Why
don’t we take a break? I can get you something to eat.”

She shook her head. “I saw your gym
downstairs. Think I’ll go and work out for a bit.” She swept out
without a second glance.

Zayn stared at the empty doorway. She was
still mad at him. Which wouldn’t be good for their mission. You
couldn’t take all your emotions with you, or they’d get you
killed.

Without thinking, he followed her.

Moments later, he stood in the doorway to
their spacious gym, watching her move.

She’d switched her casual clothes for
form-fitting leggings in electric blue and a black tank that molded
to her skin. She was moving her arms through the air, bending her
knees deep and doing sweeping movements that looked like a cross
between martial arts and a dance. The graceful moves were almost
hypnotic.

Then she spun and kicked high in the air
before moving back into the slower, controlled moves.

“You just going to stare?” She turned
slowly, leading with her hands, palms open, her gaze hitting
him.

“What is it?”

“The Guild call it taiji.” She turned again,
lifting a leg, extending it up in an awesome display of
flexibility.

“I imagined you doing cross-fighting.
Something deadly, high impact. You used to like that.”