Page 29 of Claim
“Then why let it closer?”
“Perhaps you should’ve thought as much before dealing with your Ajellomenes acquaintance.”
This time, Mag wasn’t able to disguise his rising tension.“That arrangement is separate from our business here.”
“Not when you seek a place among us.”The Dastard glanced over at thePratorim’s captain and crew.“Per the Luster accords, all outstanding transactions must be completed or discharged before dealing with me.And apparently, Illgattoa hired thePratorimto recoup your debt.Whatever is between you must be cleared before your request to join us can proceed.”
The captain of thePratorimstalked closer.“So that is permission to open fire?”
The Dastard lowered one hand to his cloaked side.Whatever weapon he held—apparently deadly force didn’t require performative foolishness—he didn’t even glance at the balcony’s security, which indicated to Mag that the unseen deterrent was deadly indeed.“Not here,” he repeated.“Neither ship will find a place here until you’ve resolved your debts.”
If he’d been alone, Mag thought he might’ve howled in frustration.He’d made his deal with Illgattoa to survive long enough to join the Luster.Now he couldn’t join the Luster until he cleared the debt?He was just trying to keep his ship flying—and now they were flying in circles?
He had to hold onto the frustration because the next stop was fear.
Not of the Dastard, certainly not of thePratorim’s captain, and not for himself, but for his ship.
He faced off with the other captain.“How much is Illgattoa paying you to hunt me?”
“Enough.”The Sauronilan flashed fangs as long as Mag’s own tusks.“Would do it for free since you put a slagging hole in my ship.”
“Just a reminder.You put a hole in my ship first.”
“But I was just trying to retrieve my thief.”
The Dastard watched their exchange curiously.“How rude.”
Mag wasn’t sure which of them the vreign felt was at fault, but it hardly mattered.He’d brought theDeepWanderto this place in the hopes of charting a path to a new fortune.Instead, it seemed they were closer to destruction than ever.
Chapter 9
June was given a bunk room with Adeline and Teq.When she’d tried to sneak away, saying they deserved some private time, especially since Oliver had stayed on theDeepWanderwith Amma, Adeline just gave her a look.
“As overwhelmingly sexy as my crusher is, I can go a night without him vibrating my innards into a screaming O.”
June blinked at her.“That…doesn’t sound sexy.”
“Well, it is.Just not tonight.”
Which, honestly, only made June want to sneak away even more.As if it wasn’t bad enough to have shown her heart only to have him stomp on it with the extra-huge boots she’d given him herself, now she had a front row seat to what she was missing.
Ugh.So much for being kind and cheerful.She was just a greedy, needy whiner underneath.A fifty-gallon drum of Manic Panic plus Rit plus, like, original india ink wouldn’t be enough to cover up her jealousy.
At least since all the suites assigned to theDeepWandercrew opened to a private hub, she didn’t have to worry about encountering any non-orc aliens.Seeing all the different beings in the flesh—and fur and feathers and scales and slime and some surfaces she didn’t have names for—had been amazing, but she didn’t want to risk an interstellar incident by complimenting someone’s earrings only to find out it was their ears or whatever.
So she was tucked into a corner, quietly moping, when Mag and his two orcs returned.And as she popped to her feet, she realized she’d actually been waiting for him.Emphasis on the needy…
But her unconscious smile faded when she saw his face.Not that orc faces were so expressive, but there was something about the set of his antennae—maybe too deliberately not tense—that made her tense.
She clasped her hands in front of her.“Mag?Is everything…” She couldn’t ask if it was all right when it clearly wasn’t but she wasn’t sure what his guards knew.So she just gazed at him, as if he could read her mind that she was there to talk to if he wanted.
“It’s nothing.”His long stride never slowed, and as he swept past, the cloak she’d designed wafted past without even touching her.
Was it really nothing?Or did he mean there was nothing she could do?Nothing he wanted from her?As Ollie would’ve told him, even the farthest, darkest vacuum of space wasn’t trulynothing.
She swallowed hard.
Really, what had she been thinking?Just because he’d been forced to confide in her once didn’t mean she was his trusted advisor.Except she wasn’t trying to be his advisor, he must know that, since he already had those in Teq and Sil and Amma.
