Athena's Ashes (16 page)

Renna sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Finn placed a hand on her lower back, and she shivered at the warmth of his touch.

“Everything is so strange now.” She was too much of a coward to meet his gaze and studied the white tiles on the floor instead. “I hate feeling so awkward around you.”

Finn stopped in the middle of the passageway and tugged at her hand, turning her to face him. “There’s nothing to feel awkward about.” He smiled down at her, unusually earnest. “I worried about you every minute we were gone.”

Renna forced herself to look up at him, her insides heating at his concerned expression. “Why? I was perfectly safe.” Until she’d walked into Samil’s trap. She’d been too damn cocky for her own good.

“Anything could have happened. MYTH could have locked you away. There was no guarantee they’d believe you.”

Renna’s eyes widened as she remembered. “Finn!” Her hand clutched his. “Dallas is alive. He made it off Hesperia before it was destroyed.”

Finn’s grin split his face. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. I hate that he thinks I’m a traitor, but at least he’s alive.”

Renna shook her head. “He doesn’t. He knows you better than that. I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t know if I could trust him or if he was working with Pallas.”

“Never. And he might be the only one who can help us now.”

Renna chewed her lip. “Maybe we can find a secure channel once we’re at Wall’s. I don’t want to use the MYTH frequencies in case one of Samil’s spies is listening in.”

Finn’s gaze swept the narrow corridor. “But what if there’s already a traitor on board? What if someone on the
Eris
is working for her?”

“Then I guess we’re already too late.” Dread curled through her, heavy and thick. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Finn. I don’t know which way is up or who to trust. I don’t even know what to do next. I always have a plan.” She hated that her voice cracked on the last word.

Finn pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. She rested her head on his chest and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent.

“It’s going to be all right, love,” he said. “You’re not alone, Renna. We have a team of people behind us. And we’re going to make Samil pay for everything she’s destroyed.”

“But I don’t know where to go next. She could be anywhere.” The thump of Finn’s heart was strong and steady in her ear. His arms tightened around her, and she felt safe for the first time in days.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he said, his voice vibrating low and sexy. “Samil will find us, long before we’re ready. But that’s okay. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

“We set our own trap?”

She felt him nod. “But before anything else, we have to get your implant stable.” He tilted her chin up so he could look at her. “I need you at your best, Star Thief.”

She chuckled. “I don’t feel much like stealing anything right now.”

“Except my heart,” he deadpanned.

Renna moaned and pushed away from him. “I can’t believe you actually said that.”

“But at least I got you to smile.” He brushed away a strand of hair from her face. “Let’s go get you some food, and then you’re going to rest some more. Aldani will have something for you soon, I’m sure of it.”

Hopefully he was right. She had too much to do to give up now.

NINETEEN

The mess was empty except for the matronly woman stirring something in a pot on the stove, and the little boy who sat at one of the nearby tables chatting with her.

As she entered, the boy looked up, pausing from kicking his feet against the chair legs. A grin split his face and he launched himself at her. “Renna!”

She braced herself for impact as he threw his arms around her, rocking her back on her heels. “Hey there, kid. How’ve you been?” She smiled down at Myka’s dark, curly hair and hugged him back. An unexpected warmth spread through her.

He pulled away, grinning up at her. “Better now that you’re here.”

“Well, of course. I make everything better.” She winked at him and sat down at the table, smiling over at Miss Mary, the cook, before she turned back to Myka. “So tell me all about your adventures since I’ve been gone. Did you keep that pirate Viktis in line?”

He sat down across from her. “He’s not that bad, I guess. And he showed me how to play Costa Five Poker. I won twenty credits from Uncle David.” He preened, and Renna tried not to laugh.

“I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, aren’t I? You may give me a run for my money some day.”

“Nah, I’ll go easy on you. I owe you.” He stuffed a handful of crackers into his mouth, talking around them. “Uncle David said you were sick. They wouldn’t let me see you. What happened?”

Renna glanced at Finn over the boy’s head. How much had they told him? Finn nodded, and she let out a breath. “Well, back at Navang’s, he injected me with that drug to see if my implant would integrate with my nervous system. Looks like it’s trying, but the rest of my body is fighting it. I’ve been pretty tired.”

Myka nodded. “Yeah, I remember feeling like that, too. But it gets better. And then we’ll be the same.” His eyes lit up hopefully. “It’ll be cool to have someone else like me around.”

A pang of sadness shot through Renna. It must be tough for the kid, knowing he was different. But if he could deal with it, so could she. And even better, Myka hadn’t changed too much. Maybe there was hope for her yet, despite the drug cocktail Samil had given her to change the way her implant worked.

She ruffled the kid’s hair. “Right? I mean the rest of these people don’t get how cool it is to be part-machine. I can’t wait until some of those super powers you were talking about kick in. Running extra-fast or being extra-strong could sure come in handy in my line of work.” Hell, she’d just take being able to turn the damn implant on and off when she wanted.

Myka frowned. “Well, yeah, it’s cool. But I thought the captain said you weren’t going to do that stuff anymore. He and Viktis got in a fight about it last week.”

Renna glanced up at Finn and raised an eyebrow, but he looked away. “Guess I’ll have to see what else there is out there for a washed-up thief, then,” she said with a smile. “Don’t worry about me, kid. We’ll figure it out. Now, I’m starving. What do you recommend?”

“Miss Mary made up a big pot of stew. It’s the best.”

“Then I’ll have that. Why don’t you go ask her for a bowl?” She needed to have a little chat with Captain Finn about her future.

Myka darted away to the kitchen.

Renna leaned back in her chair and tilted her head to study Finn. He glanced away and tugged at his collar as he leaned against the table.

“Care to tell me what that was all about?” she asked.

“It was just a discussion Viktis and I had. I didn’t know Myka overheard us.”

“And what did you two
gentlemen
—” she emphasized the word slightly, “—decide about my future?”

Finn cleared his throat. “Nothing, really. I assured Viktis you were done with mercenary work and wouldn’t be interested in any other contracts. That you had given up that sort of thing. That MYTH could trust you.”

“You assured him, huh?” She raised an eyebrow. “And how did you know that?”

Finn tugged at his collar again. “I thought… since you were working for MYTH…”

“That I’d give up the only job I’ve ever been good at?”

“I…”

“Save it, Finn.” She shook her head. “Neither you or Viktis know anything about my future plans. And to be honest, right now my only plan is surviving this mess. After I know I’m not going to die, I’ll think about what comes next.”

She’d spent most of her life planning what would come next—an early retirement on a vacation world. But she knew no matter what happened, that could never work for her now. If she was really honest with herself, she was hardly the type to settle down. Either in life or relationships. Which made her current situation all the more confusing. Part of her wanted to see what happened with Finn. Part of her wanted to run the moment this was over. She wasn’t sure which part would win at the moment.

Finn’s voice deepened, and he leaned forward to rest his hands on the table across from her, his gaze at her eye level. “I’ve been thinking about what comes next since we went on the run.” He looked like he wanted to devour her for lunch.

Renna swallowed.

“I hate that you left as we were getting to know each other again. I missed you, Renna.” He smiled wolfishly. “Obviously you missed me, too, if you took control of the
Athena
to get us back here.”

Heat blossomed in her face. “That had nothing to do with you,” she protested, getting to her feet. “I was unconscious. I didn’t even know what I was doing.”

Finn circled the table, and Renna backed away from him until she hit the wall. The expression on his face made heat pool between her legs and her mouth go dry. He stopped, just far enough away that he wasn’t touching her but close enough she could feel the heat from his body.

His blue eyes bore into hers. “Look at that. The Star Thief’s afraid,” he said softly.

She shook her head, her tongue darting out to lick her suddenly dry lips. Finn’s gaze dropped to watch. Once upon a time, she would have used that to her advantage, to seduce him and turn the tables. To take control of the situation. What the hell had happened to her?

She inhaled Finn’s scent—citrus and sandalwood. Damn him, he was right. She had missed him. But with everything going on now, she couldn’t afford to let him distract her. She couldn’t think about the future. There was only the present.

Damn, she wanted him, though. Now. On the freaking mess hall table.

Finn’s gaze trapped hers as he caressed her jaw with one of his long fingers, letting it drift lower down her neck to brush butterfly-light against her collarbone.

Renna’s skin tingled with fear and desire and lust until she could barely see straight.

And then he lowered his lips to hers. Just a soft brush of skin at first, but heat zapped through her and she sucked in a breath.

Finn took that as an invitation, smiling before he kissed her again softly. The feel of his mouth against hers sent a blaze of fire through her. Renna curled her hands into his arms, and he jerked her to him, deepening the kiss. He forced her mouth open, stroking her tongue, teasing her until she moaned.

“Finn,” she whispered, pressing herself against him, her fears forgotten for the moment. His hands tangled in her hair, and he kissed her until she was dizzy, until her knees trembled—along with other, more intimate parts of her.

He pulled away slightly to press kisses to her jaw, sliding his tongue against the sensitive skin beneath her ear. They were tangled in each other, his hard strength holding her against the wall. And she felt an even harder part of him pressed against her.

Another surge of heat shot through her. Gods, she’d missed him. She didn’t care what it meant at that moment. “I want you.”

“I know.” He nibbled on her earlobe before capturing her mouth again.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” Myka’s voice made them shoot apart so fast that Renna grabbed the wall, using its strength to hold her up so she wouldn’t slide bonelessly to the floor.

“Why do you always have to kiss like that? It’s gross. It’s like you’re eating her face or something.” He grimaced at them and then dropped a bowl of stew on the table. “Miss Mary said she’d bring out some biscuits in a minute, and you’d better eat before it gets cold.” He put his hands on his hips like a mother hen, his gaze shifting between the pair.

Finn ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “Better do what he says, Ren. You don’t want Myka and Miss Mary to gang up on you. You need to eat to keep your strength up.” A feral smile curled his lips. “For later.”

TWENTY

Renna ate her stew and tried to ignore the desire burning in places she didn’t even want to think about. Somehow she was able to hold a halfway coherent conversation with Myka, but that might have been because he was full of stories about being on the run. She just had to nod her head and look interested.

She wanted to kiss Miss Mary when the cook called the boy back to the kitchen to help with dinner.