Page 11 of Her Lawless Prince

Payton had been the one to give Yevgen access to the database so that he could help them collate data evidence to keep the Federation Military off their planet. Her people still needed that information. Without it, what was to keep the Federation from deleting their wrongdoing, blaming everything that couldn’t be erased on a rogue general, and invading Qurilixen anyway? “What did he find?”

“Nothing that should concern a princess from Qurilixen,” Nyle tried to dismiss.

“I’m not having the best of days. Now, I never thought of myself as a violent person, but something about you makes me want to hit you. Hard.” Payton steadied her gaze. “Want to try that answer again? Maybe a little less patronizing?”

“I might have to disagree. The first time we met, you threatened me. The second, I ended up unconscious. And now, the third, I’m again being threatened. You may be more forceful than you think.” He locked his gaze on hers. “Can I ask you something? Because I’m exceedingly curious to know the answer. What is it about this cyborg that made you marry him?”

“Yevgen knocked you unconscious, not me. Stop trying to change the subject. This mission of yours wouldn’t have anything to do with that newspaper chip picture of you that he uncovered, would it? Maybe you’re only here to make sure your secret doesn’t get out.”

“Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

Payton sighed. This man was exasperating. “Yevgen is a hero. He saved many lives, including mine. Many times. I saw no reason not to give him what he wanted. It’s not like I plan on finding a life mate. Now your turn.”

“No.”

That was it. She was going to hit him. And no one could say he didn’t deserve it.

He glanced at her balled fist. “The answer is no. This isn’t about the newspaper chip picture he uncovered.”

“But the article connects you to the virus,” Payton argued. What else could it be?

Payton lightly touched her friend’s cheek, willing a spark of life into his eyes. Nothing happened.

“You know he’s a machine.”

“We’ve established that fact. But what I think you mean to say is that he doesn’t love me back.” Payton let loose a long sigh. Her feelings were clearly beyond Nyle’s understanding. How could she make someone understand loyalty and friendship if they didn’t already know it? “It doesn’t matter to me that he’s a cyborg. I’m not a machine. He’s my friend. All he wants is to understand love. Sometimes the yearning for something is enough.”

“No.” Nyle shook his head and knocked his fist on Yevgen’s metal chest plate. “I mean, he’s a machine. I can try to reboot him. If there isn’t too much damage, he’ll be mostly the same.”

Payton placed her hand over Nyle’s to stop the knocking. A tiny shock of awareness went up her arm, and she quickly drew away. That feeling had nothing to do with the desire to hit him. She flexed her fingers and stood, needing to put distance between them. The sensation had been unexpected.

“You can fix him?” Payton asked.

The room felt too small. The tight compression of the suit left her light-headed. It also made her very aware of every nerve and muscle in her body. She sat on the rectangular platform.

“Not without tools,” Nyle answered, even as he lifted Yevgen’s bloody shirt to check the tubing along his side. “And an infusion.”

“What information did he find?” Payton tried not to stare at Nyle’s hands as he worked.

“I’m not sure what our kidnappers think he knows,” Nyle said. “He probably hacked several things he shouldn’t have when in the Federation database.”

“Do you know who has us?”

“Mercenaries for hire. I thought I had a bigger head start and would be off the planet before they arrived. I managed to tag them with my locator while we were all on Torgan. Rumors of Yevgen’s breach had made their way onto the black market. I was there to erase the intel of his location, but I wasn’t fast enough. Luckily, not many people cared to pay for the information before I arrived. Of the handful who did find out, few people want to fly out to the Y Quadrant to fetch an outdated cyborg. Qurilixen isn’t exactly on any main flight routes. But I’m guessing our mercenaries have Federation contacts or plan on blackmailing them. Either way, these are not people we want to be stuck on a ship with.”

The thought gave no comfort, not that he had meant it to. Payton wondered if her family knew she was gone by now. Probably not. If their communication towers didn’t see this ship land (something that was troubling in and of itself), they might not start looking for her for weeks. After slipping the palace guards again, they would think she was roaming the forest. Her best chance was if one of her cousins went to check in with Yevgen and found the cyborg missing and signs of a skirmish.

“What information did he find that you are after?” she asked.

“Clues to a scientific formula that was meant to be lost.” Nyle pulled down the shirt and started twisting Yevgen’s head. “It needs to stay lost.”

Payton had to look away. Cyborg or not, she couldn’t watch Nyle decapitate her friend. “Tell me about the formula.”

The sound of twisting stopped. Yevgen’s head remained attached.

“It’s the kind you don’t want out in the universes,” Nyle said.

Payton gave an exasperated sigh. Whatever they used to knock her out had left her with a slight headache. “Your non-answer answers are annoying. We’re trapped in space, presumably because of this information, and you want to talk to me in riddles?”

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