Page 69 of Bela's Bounty
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Treto
The farther I get away from Pamia, the tighter my chest becomes until I’m nearly doubled over from it. The pain comes in waves, and each wave is getting stronger.
“What’s the matter with you?” Tenir asks from the captain’s chair.
I shake my head as the waves of agony currently rolling through me slowly abate. When I can breathe again, I lean back in the jump seat he pushed me into as soon as we boarded his cruiser.
I’ve already been speculating that Bela could be mysors, but I still didn’t believe it. Not until now. The old stories warned me about this, this pain at being separated from my fated female. I just thought they meant it in more of a metaphorical way.
“Why am I here?” I ask, wiping away the beads of sweat from my forehead.
“My apologies,” Tenir says, and damned if he doesn’t sound sincere. “I needed safe passage off the planet, and with you on board, I knew they wouldn’t shoot me out of the air before I could jump.”
That’s understandable, but— “Why did you leave without your bounty? You’re not exactly known for being compassionate.”
Tenir turns his chair so he’s facing me, wearing a smirk. “I’m not, am I?” Leaning back, he slowly strokes at his writhing chin coils. “WhatamI known for, hmm?”
He has a reputation for being single-minded when hunting, which isn’t anything he doesn’t already know. “You’re not known for backing down from a bounty.”
“Who says I’m backing down?”
Another roiling starts in my gut, and I lean forward with my elbows on my knees, rubbing my temples. “I’m really not in the mood for riddles.”
“Alright,” Tenir sighs. “I don’t deal in children, so learning that one is still a kit is a deal breaker for me. But that still leaves one more. What mightyouknow about the madame’sotherstolen girl?”
Tilting my head to the side, I look at him from the corner of my eye, contemplating how much to tell him.
“She’s mine,” I finally say, straightening in my seat and focusing my eyes on his. Daring him to question me.
I expect to be taunted, but instead Tenir merely nods. “We have that in common then.”
Before I can demand to know what he means by that, another wave of agony crashes over me. With a low groan, I bend over my knees, swallowing the saliva that is suddenly flooding my mouth.
Waves of agony roll through my guts, and I slide from my chair where, on hands and knees, I start to crawl toward the cleanser, praying I make it before I’m sick all over Tenir’s cruiser.
I’m so focused on slithering on my belly, I don’t notice the shimmy that runs through the shuttle at first. It isn’t until I’ve emptied my stomach into the cleanser bowl for the second time that I feel the shuttle drop, violently, out of light speed.
Oh, Kurva.
“Treto!” I hear Tenir shout from the cockpit. “We’re about to have company.”
My skin is slick with sweat, and my empty stomach is still roiling as the telltale sound of grinding metal tells me we’ve just been docked and are about to be boarded.
“What thefuckdo you think you’re doing to my ship?” Tenir bellows, followed by the meaty sounds of punches landing on flesh. “I swear to the ether, if there is so much as a scratch—"
The shuffle of footsteps comes closer and closer to the cleanser until a pair of legs encased in ragged trousers appears in the doorway. My eyes follow them up to an equally ragged shirt. The cut is flouncy and might have been of excellent quality at one time, but now is little more than rags. When I get to the male’s shoulders, my gut starts to clench again, and by the time my eyes reach his face, I know exactly who is standing before me.
“Look what crawled onto the wrong ship,” Tenir growls from where he’s got his arm bent around the male’s neck with his blaster shoved against his temple. “You know, Volethos, if you wanted to end your life, I guarantee there are easier ways to go about it than antagonizing someone likeme.”
“You can’t kill me,” Volethos sputters. “It’s against thecode.”
“Fuck you. And fuck the code.” Dropping his voice, Tenir leans in so his lips are practically touching Volethos’ ear. “Do you really think something like a silly bounty hunters’ code is going to keep me from squashing a bug like you?”
I can’t help grinning as the cocksure look on Volethos’ face slowly melts away. “Come on, Tenir,” Volethos tries again, taking a different angle. “There are two. We can split them.”
Tipping his head back, Tenir lets out a deep belly laugh. “You’re assuming I haven’t already bagged them both.”
