Page 5 of Her Lawless Prince

2

Nyle glanced at his wrist,trying to blend into his surroundings as he followed the signal on his wristband. It wasn’t too difficult in the near-empty streets. He kept his head down and his path steady. No one appeared to care.

The city air smelled of rust and rotting wood. He imagined it to be an archeological site from some ancient civilization left to rot, only to be rediscovered centuries later by historians eager to peel away the secrets of who had once lived.

However, this city was only thirty years old.

The shocking contrast of Shelter City compared to Cysgod caused guilt to rattle around inside of him. Cysgod had prided itself on clean living. Buildings were constantly washed and polished until they took on the sheen of wet glass. The air had been filtered, probably too much in hindsight. Natural immunities had diminished over the generations to be replaced by artificial ones.

More than the physical difference between pristine and wreckage was the feeling radiating from the Cysgodian people. There used to be so much pride that it crossed over into arrogance. Now defeat and bitterness lingered in their expressions.

Nyle’s tracker led him to a large building. Someone had placed a rock in front of the door since the latch looked as if it had been struck by a heavy object. He kicked the rock aside and slipped into the dimly lit interior. He let the door swing closed behind him.

Light beams streamed through holes in the ceiling and walls to illuminate an eclectic collection of old engine parts and salvage scrap. Jagged pieces of metal had been cut from some of them, but the layer of dust said they hadn’t been touched in many years.

More recent were the footprints in the dirt that tracked like children playing, as were the occasional handprints climbing up the side of scrap. Nyle tried not to think of the carefully manicured parks and gardens on Cysgod.

This was not how Cysgodian life was supposed to be.

Tiny particles of dust stirred as he dragged his fingers over the top of a disassembled engine. He followed the tracker to the side of the building and frowned as he reached the wall. The tracker indicated he needed to be on the other side, but he was close.

Nyle pressed his ear against the wall and heard a muffled voice, “…Attor. The others. Did you tell anyone about—?”

The sound stopped. Nyle ran his hand over the metal barrier, pressing at it to test its strength. When he checked along the wall, he couldn’t find a door.

Taking the tracker from his wrist, he placed it against the wall and held down a button to activate a cutting laser. The device had originally been designed to help agents escape unfriendly situations and make their way back to a rendezvous point. Nyle had made a few modifications.

When he’d cut an opening large enough to fit through, he pushed at the wall to bend the metal back and slipped inside.

Nyle felt something press against his temple, and he stopped midway.

“What do you want?”

Though the tone was low, he recognized her voice. “Princess Payton?”

She snatched the tracker from his hand.

“Up. Slowly.” She pulled whatever weapon she threatened him with from his head and took a step back.

His eyes instantly went to her as he obeyed. Though he’d seen images of her, he never imagined he’d run across her on this trip. She pointed a blaster pistol at his chest. He watched to see if her hand wavered, but she held steady. This woman would have no problem shooting him.

Not surprisingly, that only added to her attractiveness. Nyle had a weakness for unpredictable women. The moment he’d seen her leaping onto the path ahead of him, he’d been struck by her wild beauty. The flush to her cheeks as her lungs contracted and expanded filled him with desire. The feeling had rocketed through him, making words tumble out of his mouth.

Blue lights flickered and outlined monitors, the backs of which faced him to create a partition. The space had been built out of exterior walls, which explained why he’d had to cut his way inside.

“Interesting hideout you have here,” Nyle stated. He lifted his arms to the side to show he meant no harm.

“I like it. It suits me,” Payton answered. “Or it did before you sliced a hole in my wall.”

Nyle smiled and glanced around. “Sorry, Princess, but I wasn’t talking to you, and this isn’t exactly your wall.”

He found it fascinating that this is where Yevgen’s programming had led him. When he’d smuggled the cyborg onto the Federation ship, Nyle had never imagined the device would cobble together such an impressive command center hidden in the heart of the city. It would be a shame to have to destroy it all.

“Is it, Yevgen?” Nyle called out.

The soft whirl of mechanical limbs revealed where the cyborg hid on the other side of the partition. Nyle gestured around the monitors to indicate his intent before stepping in that direction to face Yevgen.

“Stop,” Payton ordered. “I didn’t invite you in.”

---