Page 10 of Seducing Jenny
I decided to push our luck. “Jac’s debt—”
“Forgiven.”
My eyes went wide. I had never heard of Boundless forgiving any debts. Ever. Hell, I’d seen her debate the status ofpaiddebts. “Thank you on his behalf for that.”
“Way I see it, since she rides wit you, and you ride wit Jac, all our business is covered. In perpetuity.” Boundless grinned. “You ever need anything, you can call on me. That said, I won’t be ‘round much longer—”
“Oh?”
“Got me a new ship to sail to an island I bought wit me winnings. Leavin’ in a week. I’m gonna live the high life on me island, just me and what company I buy from the locals.” She winked at us. “Unless you two are lookin’ to retire, too. Wouldn’t mind seeing what else the lit’le one can do.”
Jenny stepped closer to me, clearlynoton board with that idea.
I smiled politely. “Flattering, but we’ll pass. We need to get to the ship.”
“Never hurts to ask, right? Thanks again, lit’le one.” She petted Jenny on the head and strolled into the office.
Jenny exhaled a deep breath. “Good lord, she is…something.”
“Always has been.” I motioned her along. “Come on.”
We walked between piles of city garbage until we foundSovereign, my boss’ ship. Sure enough, it was sparkling clean beneath the spotlights.
When we entered, the systems whirred on and sounded like home. We went straight to the cockpit, where we found message after message. I ignored them and called Deacon’s ship,Allegiant. On screen, Deacon popped up immediately.
“Jenny, thank the gods!” Relief etched Deacon’s features as he leaned to the side and called out, “Tell Sarah Jenny is alive and on call right now!”
Then he came back to us. “Tiger, it is a relief to see you—”
The signal glitched, fuzzing between our interfaces.
“Dammit, satellite interference again,” Deacon said, his tone frustrated. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”
“Yes to both,” I said, smiling. “It’s good to see you, Deacon.”
“You, as well.”
His normally perfectly styled gray hair had one rebellious group of strands sticking up. That alone told me how stressed he’d been.
A moment later, Sarah’s concerned face came on screen. “Oh my god, Jenny, are you okay? We’ve been so worried about you.”
Jenny began to cry, and something inside my chest cracked wide open.
“I’m fine, Sarah,” she said, trying to reassure her sister as she brushed away her tears. “I swear.”
“Illiapol—”
“Was a fucking nightmare,” Jenny said, voice shaking with laughter, like she was trying to soothe herself through sarcasm. “But I’m alive. I’m okay, more or less. Trauma to be processed later. Are you okay?”
Sarah nodded. “When we found out you were drafted into Illiapol…” She looked up at Deacon and tried to hide something. “Doesn’t matter now, you’re fine, we’re fine—”
The signal flickered again.
“Are you there?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, we’re here,” I said. “Is Jac around?”
A taupe hand waved from off-screen. “I’m right here. You can’t see me because my lovely consort keeps hogging all the good seats.”
