Page 10 of Crossing Quinn

“Papa insists on it. The sand gets in my lungs and causes a fever,” I lied.

“Females are so drekking fragile.” He dragged me over to our sleek black flitter.

A swarm of var bugs popped from the sand, making a rattling click noise. The louder the click, the hungrier they were. They were always hungry.

I mentally rubbed my hands together in glee. Welcome to Qeeturah and all its nasty little critters.

The henchman jogged up. “Your sister is in the holding cell, my lord.”

“Good. Go keep an eye on Lysis.”

“Yes, my lord.” The henchman swatted at the bugs scurrying up his legs. By the time he reached our ship, he was scratching like a madman. Once the bugs fed, they would drop off the henchman, leaving him with dozens of oozing, itchy sores. The henchman placed his hand on the scanner pad, but nothing happened. He shot a worried look at my uncle and tried again.

I hid a smile. The moron didn’t realize it was an eye scanner. Even better, they had locked themselves out of our ship. What a shame.

I typed the entry code into the keypad, and the flitter door slid open. Before I could sit in the pilot’s seat, Dolon shoved me out of the way. “No female pilots a ship I’m riding in.”

This should be interesting. The flitter was equipped with biometric locks too. I took the copilot’s chair and waited for Dolan to realize that.

When the flitter wouldn’t start, Dolon hammered the console with his fist. “Turn it on or I’m going to slit your father’s throat.”

If I didn’t do what he wanted, he would soon discover they were locked out of our ship. I knew without a doubt he would turn his rage on Mami. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Papa also needed time to recover from being stunned multiple times. I placed my hand on the sensor pad, and the engine started.

Dolon looked around. “Which way?”

“That way.” I pointed at the towering rocks.

The ship bucked violently, throwing me against the console. Evidently, Dolon didn’t know how to fly a flitter.

“What the drekk?” My uncle pushed the throttle forward. The engine whined in protest, and the flitter shuddered violently.

“You might want to release the docking brake.”

Dolon shot me a murderous glare. “Shut up. When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.”

I rolled my eyes. Males and their fragile egos. I would have warned him about the powerful solar flares creating freak weather conditions, but he didn’t want my advice. Too bad. Because one minute it could be eerily calm, and the next, a hurricane-force wind was knocking you down.

He released the docking brake, and the craft shot toward the rocks.

I quickly fastened my harness. Dolon was going way too fast, and there were boulders hidden in the sand. Since my uncle hadn’t buckled up, I hoped we would hit something. Hard. He needed to die.

The flitter zoomed up a sand dune and went airborne for twenty feet before banging down hard on the other side.

My teeth snapped together. Why was Dolon so desperate for the treasure? Gambling debts or something else?

Papa’s angry voice filled my head, “Is he even looking at the heads-up display?”

“No, if he did, he’d notice the crosswinds are approaching gale force.”Through our link I could hear banging. “What’s that noise?”

“Dolon’s thug wants in. The bugs find him tasty.”

“You don’t have time to do a proper interrogation, but I bet he knows what Dolon is planning.”

“I will ask.”The banging stopped abruptly. I felt my father’s rage and disgust. The henchman had wet himself.

I grinned. Papa in his berserker mode was beyond scary.

Dolon demanded, “What’s so funny?”

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