Page 48 of Silent Lucidity

Abella frowned. “What is it?”

“Just do it!”

She flinched, caught her lower lip between her teeth, and took several backward steps.

The red dot on the map moved to reflect her new position.

He hissed a curse and slammed the ilthurii’s hand down before rising. He’d removed his tracker, so they’d found a way to track Abella instead—undoubtedly through a tracking device Cullion had implanted in her to safeguard his investment.

Tenthil raked his fingers through his hair, tugging it back from his face. He turned slowly to take in the scene. Four dead acolytes in and around the alley’s entrance, and a dead peacekeeper—Tenthil had killed the borian shortly after the peacekeeper abandoned Abella to the assassins—fifteen meters down the street.

The body count was high enough to call trouble down upon them even without counting the peacekeeper amongst the dead, and the Master was tracking Abella on top of that. The Infinite City held enemies at every turn.

Tenthil stalked toward Abella.

She retreated, holding her hands up as though warding him off, until her back bumped a wall. The fear in her expression struck Tenthil like a blow; she was afraid ofhim.

Abella’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I’m sorry! I know it was stupid, but—”

Tenthil stopped directly in front of Abella and pressed a finger over her lips, silencing her. He bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes. “The people of this city arenotyour friends. They will buy and sell you if it benefits them even a little.No oneis going to help you, Abella. No one butme. Do you understand?”

Her breath quickened as she held his gaze, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She nodded.

Adjusting his hold on the vorgal’s blaster, he dropped it into the holster on her hip. His throat felt like it had been shredded and lit on fire. “Need to go.”

Without waiting for her to respond, he put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her against his side, and walked into the nearby alleyway.

“Are there more of them?” she asked quietly.

“Always.”

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I know I screwed up, but I had to try.”

Tenthil couldn’t recall ever experiencing anything like the maelstrom of emotion raging within him. He’d plummeted from a sexual high—a peak of intimacy he’d never shared with anyone—to sinking disappointment when he heard her leave the apartment. That disappointment had quickly given way to anger and fear as he’d tailed her through the streets; he hadn’t been sure how the acolytes had found her, but they hadn’t been subtle about following her.

He wanted to rage at her for leaving.I screwed upwas an understatement, to say the least. But he also wanted to hold her, to comfort her, to run his hands over her body and know she was okay.

But he wouldn’t be able to provide comfort for either her or himself. Not for a while, anyway.

“There is a tracker in you,” he said.

“What?”

Tenthil guided them into an intersecting alley and ducked into one of the recesses along its length, positioning Abella with her back against the wall. He turned to face her. The pipes and ductwork running into the building nearby hummed and clanked steadily.

“There is a tracking device implanted inside your body, Abella.”

Her brow furrowed, and she frowned. “No. I’d feel it, wouldn’t I? I would know.”

He raised his hands and pressed the pads of his fingers to the back of her neck.

Abella’s muscles tensed beneath his touch. She flattened her hands on his chest. “What are you doing?”

“Relax,” he growled. He felt for anything abnormal beneath her skin; the device would be tiny, but there were only a few places in which they were typically installed.

If they were lucky, they had a few minutes before the bodies were discovered—but he didn’t plan to put their lives in the fickle hands of chance.

“Don’t growl at me,” she said.

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