Kissed by Smoke (22 page)

“And you want me to murder him.”

Zala barely refrained from an eye roll.
“Execute him. It’s a Rider’s job. Serial rapists get two choices:
Castration or death. Since this guy uses knives on his victims,
let’s just say option number one is out.”

“One problem.” Xander leaned back in his
chair, crossing one leg over the other.

His satin dress rode up his thighs ever so
slightly revealing a seriously gorgeous pair of legs. Zala could
have killed him just for that. How dare he look better in a dress
than she did? Stupid man.

“And that problem is?” she scowled.

“I am not a Rider. You are. You kill him,
it’s execution. I kill him, it’s murder.”

“What do you care?” She snapped. “You’re a
wanted terrorist.”

He laughed at that, the corners of his eyes
crinkling. “I brought down one of the most vile, corrupt Houses the
Syndicate has ever spawned. I’d say “terrorist” is a matter of
perspective.”

“And you don’t think bringing down a serial
rapist who brutalizes his victims isn’t equally important?”

Xander leaned forward, his eyes locking with
hers. “Of course it is. But it’s your job. Why do you want me to do
it?”

Zala swallowed. “A ship usually has both
Captain and Rider. Mine is deemed too small, so while I’m Captain
in truth, I am only Rider by default.”

“Surely they trained you in the law so you
could administer justice properly.”

She nodded. “They did. But this is
different.”

“Why?”

She glanced down at her hands, then back at
Xander. “Tannen, he has a very specific type.”

“Okay, what? Blondes? Brunettes?”

She shook her head, silken hair sliding
across her shoulders. “Enhanced.”

He stared pointedly at her chest. “You’re
not enhanced.”

That got a laugh out of her. “I mean implant
enhanced. The kind of implants that come with being a starship
Captain and a scion of a major Syndicate House. The kind that make
you stronger, let you tap into the web, speak mind to mind. He’s
got similar implants. Implants only you can hack.”

He frowned. “Hacking skills aside, I’m still
not sure I understand why you need me. What are you going to do
while I’m down there playing at executioner?”

“I’m the bait.”

* * *

“Remember, if you don’t hack him before he
hacks me, I’m screwed.” Zala glanced over at Xander. “Please don’t
let him hack me.”

He reached down and gave her hand a squeeze.
“I promise.”

The fear of being hacked was a very real
one. There were few entities in the known universe that could hack
implants like hers. The Syndicate itself, of course, though
technically she supposed that wouldn’t be hacking.

For the most part, her own implants would
allow her to stop a hacking attempt, but hackers like Xander could
get around that. It was how he’d brought down the house of Lodai.
He’d shut down the brains of their entire fleet as well as their
top scions. In one fell swoop, the House collapsed.

Hackers like Tannen used their skills for
far more evil purposes. The Lodaians had eventually recovered,
though too late to prevent expulsion from the Syndicate. The
rapist’s victims had not recovered. Their minds now lay trapped
within bodies scarred for life by his body and his blade.

She’d rather be dead.

Her fingers tightened around his. “Promise
me something, Xander.”

He glanced at her. It was almost like he
read her mind. “If the worst happens, I’ll end it. I promise.”

She nodded and released his hand. “There he
is.”

Tannen stood in the center of the town
square across from where they lurked in the alleyway. He was
dressed in full-on Santa gear and was passing out sweets to the
village kids.

Despite its regal name, Regis was hardly
more than a village tucked back into the rugged hills of Vega. Zala
found it odd that a rapist fleeing the justice of a Rider would
choose a remote farming world to hide. It wasn’t like he’d have
much of a pool of victims to choose from.

Then again, Vega had a major spaceport for
food exportation. Lot of captains coming through there. Lot of
scions, too.

It was time to stop this bastard from
hurting anyone else. She threw off the cloak that had been hiding
her Syndicate uniform and swept her hair up off her face, exposing
her House sigil.

Xander grabbed her arm. “Are you sure you
want to do this? I can maybe hack him from here.”

Zala shook her head. “Maybe isn’t good
enough. We have to take this bastard down. Now.”

He nodded and removed his own cloak
revealing a plain black body shirt he’d borrowed from her, and a
pair of olive flight pants. The pants were Audley’s and he’d been
pissed as hell when Xander chopped several inches off the bottom of
the legs. Zala had to promise Audley a new pair in order to avoid
bloodshed. He was very proprietary about his clothes.

She had to admit her shirt looked darn good
on Xander. It was skintight and showed off all his muscles.

She dragged her focus reluctantly to the
wide wristband on his arm. A tiny green light flashed. “Ready?”

“All I’ve got to do is touch a button and
we’re golden. Good luck out there.” And with that he slipped into
the crowd, fading away like a ghost. Damn he was good.

She took a deep breath and stepped out of
the alleyway. She was immediately flocked by villagers begging her
to taste their fruits or buy one of their crafted goods.

She smiled and played along, sampling a
sweet here and fingering a beaded necklace there. Normally she’d
have enjoyed such an adventure. It wasn’t often she got to go
planet-side for purely pleasure.

Keeping a subtle eye on their target, she
continued through the throng of vendors. One had a basket of
hand-sewn silk handkerchiefs in ridiculously bright hues. Audley
wanted to celebrate Solstice, fine. She’d give him some
Solstice.

She bought one of the brighter squares of
silk and tucked it away in the pocket of her flight pants. The
vendor grinned and bobbed her head as though Zala had done a great
service. Probably she had. A starship Captain and scion of the
greatest House buying your wares could pretty much set you up for
life. Everyone in Regis would be wanting those stupid handkerchiefs
now.

She knew the minute she caught Tannen’s
attention. Her implants shot a flash of amber through her vision.
It was like a danger signal on a starship. Not only had Tannen
spotted her, but he’d already caught her implant signal. She could
only pray Xander was in position. And that he was faster.

Subtly she edged herself closer to Tannen.
She wanted to keep his attention as long as possible to give Xander
a chance to hack him.

Her vision flashed red. Shit, he was
attempting the hack. Her thoughts snarled around, collapsing in on
each other and she felt her body crash to the ground.

She was frozen, helpless. She heard women
screaming, men shouting. Running feet flashed across her field of
vision as she lay motionless on the ground. Xander had been too
late.

* * *

Xander watched in horror as Zala crashed to
the ground. Tannen was better than he’d realized. Much better.

But there was one thing Xander had that
Tannen didn’t. It was his own secret weapon and there was no one
alive who knew about it.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Inside his mind he saw Tannen’s implants laid out, ready to be
hacked. They were cheap implants and half of them were nearly burnt
out. Beautiful.

Xander cracked his knuckles, metaphorically
speaking, and dove in. His fingers flew over the mental images of
Tannen’s implants, manipulating them on a molecular level. There
was no finesse, just pretty much smashing them to hell.

A scream grated against Xander’s ears. He
opened his eyes, his mind half focused on the mental images of the
implants and half on the true image in front of him. Tannen was on
the ground next to Zala, holding his head in his hands and
screaming. Blood poured from his eye sockets, his ears. Not long
now.

Xander continued with his work until every
last implant was destroyed and the screaming had stopped. The image
of Tannen’s mind faded and Xander slowly opened his eyes.

It was pretty obvious Tannen was dead, his
head twisted in a horrible angle. He’d clawed at his face, leaving
bloody furrows carved in his cheeks with his own hands. His death
had been ugly and painful. Fitting.

Around him, villagers stared in horror. He
wasn’t sure if they were scared of him, or simply horrified by what
they’d just witnessed. He supposed he should probably make sure
they didn’t try lynching him or something.

“Good People of Regis. My name is Xander and
I am Rider.”

There was an excited murmur as the villagers
passed this information back and forth. Apparently Regis didn’t get
many Riders.

“This man, Tannen, has been found guilty of
hideous crimes of violence against women. As such, he has been duly
executed.”

Somebody started clapping and pretty soon
the entire village was carrying on like he was a bloody hero.
Frankly he didn’t give a damn. He scooped up Zala in his arms and
headed back to the ship, leaving the villagers to deal with
Tannen’s corpse. With any luck they’d burn it so there wasn’t a
scrap of the monster left.

* * *

Xander leaned back, exhausted. He’d spent
hours inside Zala’s mind, repairing the damage Tannen had caused by
his hack.

“Is she going to be okay?” Audley hovered
over the bed, concern etched across his dark face. His usually
bubbly nature lost under a cloud of fear.

“I think so. All we can do now is wait.”

And so they did. For three long,
excruciating days.

On the fourth day, Xander was sitting alone
by her bedside, having sent Audley off for a nap. He himself was
half drowsing, so at first he thought he was imagining things.

“Xander?” Her voice was scratchy, but
strong.

He leaned forward to check her pulse. Also
strong. Damn she was a fighter. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve got the mother of all
headaches.”

Guilt crashed over him. “I’m so sorry, Zala.
I wasn’t expecting him to use sheer, brute force. I should have
been faster.”

She waved it aside. “Neither of us expected
it. It’s done and everything’s okay. He’s dead, right?”

“As a doornail.”

“What does that even mean?”

He laughed. “I have no idea.”

“My implants?” Worry colored her tone.

“I fixed them.”

Zala frowned. “How? We don’t have the
facilities.”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t know how to
answer without giving away everything. Fortunately she drifted back
to sleep, so he could keep his secrets. For now.

* * *

Zala woke to stars streaking by her window.
Audley was really gunning the engines.

Her headache had finally gone, though she
still felt drained. She turned her head to find the man himself
sitting in a chair, glaring at her.

“You totally freaked me out, you know.”

She smiled. “I’m sorry, Aud. Hey, where are
the pants I was wearing?”

He waved to a pile of clothes on the floor.
Just like a couple of men to throw her stuff in a pile instead of
hanging it up properly.

“Get them for me? Please.”

He hauled his large frame out of the chair
and brought her the wadded up ball that was her flight pants. She
dug through her pockets and brought out a square of brilliant blue
silk. “Here you go. Happy Solstice.”

He took it from her, a look of wonder on his
face. “It’s beautiful. Where?”

She grinned. “My secret. Now go find Xander
and tell him I need to speak to him.”

“Aye, aye Captain.”

Minutes later Xander was standing by her bed
looking solemn. This time he was wearing a black kilt and a green
shirt that looked suspiciously like they belonged in her
closet.

“I know who you are.”

He went from solemn to blank in half a
second flat. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Do you honestly think you could rummage
around in my brain like that and not leave something of yourself
behind, Xander Lodai?”

He froze. The blood drained from his face.
“Xander Lodai is dead.”

She snorted. “So said House Lodai when they
tried to pin their crimes on him. The Syndicate, all the Houses,
know better. There’s no point lying about it, Xander. Not to
me.”

“Are you going to turn me in?”

“Nope. The only other person that knew the
truth is dead.” She smiled at his look of surprise. “There’s no
point in anyone knowing but us. Thought I’d offer you a job.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“I need a Rider. A real Rider to help me
track down these criminals, execute justice.”

“And you want me?”

“The man that brought House Lodai to its
knees? In four-inch heels? Hells yes.”

He grinned at that. “Could be fun.”

“So, it’s a deal?” She held her hand out
toward him. Xander took it, fingers tangling with hers.

“It’s a deal.”

“Good,” Zala smiled. “Let’s ride.”