Queen of Swords (11 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Ophelia reeled, only staying on her feet because of the people crowded so tightly around her. She bounced off someone and came back swinging. Sadie ducked under her right hook, but Ophelia followed up with a left jab. She caught a handful of white hair and yanked the albino down, bringing her knee up and smashing the bitch’s face.

By this point, people began to realize there was a fight in their midst. Some screamed, but most backed up, giving Ophelia and her attacker lots of room. And then they cheered.

Ophelia was about to stomp the albino’s face when tree trunks wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air. She glanced over her shoulder to see a giant of a man—no, not man. Abura-Sumashi. No other species had those wickedly sharp tusks.

Her stomach screamed in protest, but she had bigger things on her mind than whether she’d puke or not. “Put me down.”

The Abura-Sumashi grinned, revealing teeth smaller but no less sharp than his tusks. “Make me.” His voice was surprisingly musical considering it came from an apelike face with a mouth that could easily rip flesh from bone.

Ophelia slammed her heel into the side of his thigh, engaging the switch, which sent the cover flying, leaving only the knife. She jerked her knees to her chest and struck downward with all her strength. The flesh of his thigh gave beneath the force of her kick but the giant only grunted.

Ah hells.

He stumbled, half dropping her, and Ophelia caught sight of Jenny wrapped around his shoulders, her fist slamming into his face. She had her shiny silver gauntlets out, and they were doubling the damage she could have done on her own.

Ophelia wriggled out of the giant’s grip and turned to finish what she’d started with the albino, but the Harpy Queen was gone. Hells, most of the people were gone. The entire crowd shuddered and parted, revealing a glowering figure she knew all too well. And not nearly well enough.

Boone.

His gaze skated over her, but didn’t stop until he stood in front of Jenny and the giant. “Down, Jenny.”

She froze for half a second, perhaps surprised to find him here in the first place, before she let go of the giant’s face and slid off his back. Boone waited until she hurried over to stand next to Ophelia before he turned back to the swaying Abura-Sumashi. “Yuel.”

The giant blinked blood the same color as his fiery hair out of his eyes. “Boone?” It was hard to tell in the low light with the blood and all, but Ophelia thought his dark face went gray. “I didna know these two belonged ta you, I swear. I wouldna touched them.”

Boone didn’t even blink. “Who hired you?”

“Sadie ti’Luana.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Even when they were at each other’s throats, Ophelia had never seen Boone so angry. She shuddered at the chill coming off him, one she could feel even three meters away. “Boone.”

“No. You will not speak.”

Oh hells no, he did
not
just say that to her. She’d just taken a step forward when a hand clamped over her mouth.

“Don’t. Just don’t.” Jenny sounded scared, really scared, which gave Ophelia pause. But only for a second. She pushed against the other woman, but the arm didn’t waver. “Don’t make me hit you, Diviner. I can knock you out with a single punch.”

All she’d wanted was to go out and dance. Ophelia should have known it was too much to ask.

Yuel shook his head, sending droplets of blood flying. “I canna say.” He lunged at the smaller man and Ophelia shrieked against Jenny’s hand.

Abura-Sumashi were renowned for their battle prowess, were damn near undefeatable. Hells, they’d annihilated the first explorers to land on their planet, as well as the next two waves of soldiers.

Boone ducked under the giant’s arms and pulled a laser from his boot. He shot up through the Abura-Sumashi’s chest three times, sheering his huge body in half. It fell to the floor with a sickening squelch that could be heard through the now-silent club. Then the screams started and there was a mini-stampede to the door as the rest of the clubbers suddenly decided they wanted to be anywhere but here.

Wiping the blood from his face, Boone turned. Jenny released Ophelia just in time for him to grab her around the waist and toss her over his shoulder.

“Put me down!”

“No.” His tone could have turned even a day on Keiluna icy.

Ophelia took a deep breath and reminded herself that being irrational never helped anyone. “I can walk, Boone. Put me down.”

She caught sight of Jenny hurrying to keep pace with them, shaking her head frantically at Ophelia. She mouthed something that might have been “shut up” but it was hard to tell from upside-down.

Boone stalked out of the club and the wind went straight up her dress, stealing her words. Lady, but it was cold. She fought harder, desperate to walk on her own, where at least she had some control over which parts were going to freeze off. “Put me down, Boone. Now.”

“No.” Just no, not some reasonable explanation about why he had to carry her ass-up through this freaking blizzard.

Ophelia didn’t want to hurt him again, but this couldn’t stand. She flailed, getting one leg free. She bowed her back, reaching behind her until she could grab her shoe. It came off easily and she switched her grip, smacking him in the ass. And Lady but this man was shaped nicely. It was only a grazing blow, but it got his attention.

Boone cursed and let her go, which would have been fantastic if she hadn’t fallen headfirst into a snowdrift. She came up cursing and then he was in her face. Ophelia held up a hand, limping backward.

He waved her bloody shoe in her face. “You just hit the man who saved you?”

“Saved me?” They were both yelling now, but Ophelia couldn’t care less. She reached down and slid off her other shoe, brandishing it between them. “You idiot, I was just fine without you.
We
were just fine without you.”

Jenny looked between them, eyes wide. “Yeah, about that. I’m going to go, uh, go somewhere important, really, really important.”

“The shipyards. You know what to do.” Boone spoke without looking at his little sister.

“Yeah. Okay.” She turned tail and fled into the night, leaving Ophelia to deal with Boone. But what did she expect? Jenny was related to Boone, after all.

Boone didn’t give her a chance to say anything. “You were dealing with a pissed off Abura-Sumashi. He would have ripped you to shreds.”

“I had everything under control!” What was it about this man that made her lose her head?

“You were dead and you didn’t even know it.” His fists clenched and unclenched, and Ophelia stepped back and dropped into a crouch. She really, really didn’t want to fight him. He could kill her without even trying. A small part of her mind whispered that Boone would never hurt her, that he’d gone out of his way in the past to keep her safe. She told that part to shove it.

Boone threw up his hands. “What are you doing now?”

Ophelia tried and failed to hold back a shiver. It was too damned cold for this crap. And now he was making her feel ridiculous. “I thought we were fighting.”

He stared down at her for a long moment, and then doubled over laughing. Ophelia considered taking advantage of his distraction, but she hadn’t heard him laugh like this…ever…and found herself reluctant to break the moment.

He finally straightened, wiping tears from his eyes. Then his gaze sharpened on her. “What in the seven hells are you wearing? Are you trying to lose all your limbs to frostbite?”

She had the sudden, irrational urge to kill this man. Or kiss him. Before Ophelia could carry out either intention, he scooped her up again, hugging her to his chest. Since Boone was so blessedly warm, she decided she’d wait until they were inside. Then they were inside and those stairs were so damn daunting, she allowed him to carry her a little while longer.

Exhaustion set in, making her lethargic. Ophelia wanted a warm sans shower and her bed. She didn’t have the energy to fight anymore tonight. It should have panicked her, feeling like this, but all she felt was tired and cranky. And safe.

She
so
wasn’t going to think about that last bit.

Boone unlocked the door and pushed it open, heading straight into the bedroom. Ophelia pushed at his chest, trying to see his face. “What are you doing?”

“Carrying you into the bedroom.”

“Yeah, I got that.” A shiver racked her body. “Put me down.”

“No.”

There was no arguing with this man, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to anymore. “I’m tired and I want to go to bed. Just put me down.” He dropped her onto the bed and gripped the bottom of her dress, pulling it over her head before tossing it to the floor. Ophelia resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. Barely. “Thanks but no thanks. I’m not really in the mood.”

Boone ignored her, grabbing the comforter and tucking it around her. He sat on the bed and kicked off a boot.

Ophelia started to slide away but he reached over and grabbed the comforter, halting her movement without looking at her. She swallowed. “What are you doing?”

“I need a shower and I’m too freaking tired to walk back to the ship. You’re stuck with me tonight.” He pulled his shirt over his head and walked into the bathroom.

She listened to the sans shower turn on and tried not to be jealous of all the places the water got to linger on his body. It would be so easy to get up, drop the blanket, and go in there, maybe say something about how she was still cold and a sans shower would be just the thing to warm her up. Before Ophelia could work up the energy to actually get up, the water shut off. Then Boone was there, wearing only a pair of low-slung sweats. He moved closer but stopped when her entire body went tense. “Ophelia.”

Nothing good ever came from his saying her name. “What?”

Boone waited until she met his gaze before he spoke again. “Relax. Tonight is for sleep, nothing more.”

Which might be the problem. Or maybe not. She didn’t know anymore. Ophelia sighed, the fight going out of her. “Fine. No funny business.”

He climbed onto the bed while she tried to pretend she didn’t notice how the muscles moved beneath those scars. She’d never found scars particularly attractive before but, on this man, Ophelia was willing to make an exception.

Boone leaned against the headboard. “Come here.”

Ah hells. Ophelia let him tow her over and tuck her against his side. The comforter ensured they weren’t skin-to-skin but she was still closer than she wanted to be. Or not close enough. She shut her eyes and tried to still her thoughts. It was surprisingly easy, her tired body lulled by his warmth. Or maybe it was because Ophelia felt like as long as she was in Boone’s arms, nothing bad could touch her.

…

Boone held Ophelia while she fell asleep, trying not to think about how close he’d come to losing her. He expected Jenny and Ophelia in a fight when Gee told him where they were—there was no other reason for the man to come tattling—but Boone had naively thought to find them in a bar fight. But of course that would be too tame for this pair. No, they had to go against an Abura-Sumashi. The species known for their battle skills and fickle temperament.

Seeing Ophelia trapped in the giant’s arms, Jenny wrapped around his shoulders, and both dressed in little more than scraps of cloth… Boone’s heart had stopped beating at the thought of losing either of them.

Even more alarming was the fact they hadn’t just pissed off a random Abura-Sumashi. Yuel had been one of Sadie’s crew. Not family, thank the gods, but crew nonetheless. Which meant she’d taken a job that put her directly at odds with him sometime in the last week. They’d butted heads and worked together for damn near five years—that was a lot of history to throw away for a handful of credits. He didn’t bother to acknowledge how much that stung. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t felt betrayed before. He hoped the loss of Yuel would be enough to make Sadie hesitate. Boone would hate to have to kill someone he’d once considered a friend.

But he would if she came after Ophelia again.

Ophelia gave a little sigh and snuggled closer, rubbing her cold nose against his chest. The crack in his heart widened alarmingly, followed by a surge of protectiveness Boone didn’t know what to do with. He wasn’t in a position to protect anyone else right now, let alone a Diviner with a penchant for finding trouble. No, it was best she go home, where she’d be safe, while he dealt with this new threat and the ever-present old one.

Too bad the thought of letting her go broke something in him.

Boone shifted, reaching around to turn on his wrist unit. A few seconds later, Jenny’s face appeared. She looked much the worse for wear, her makeup smeared and a thin trickle of blood running down the side of her face. “What?”

“Report.”

Jenny wiped at her face with a towel. “I was just down at the shipyards. The
Harpy Queen
is gone.”

Boone cursed. “She had to have been geared up and ready to take off.” Either she’d been ready to take Ophelia with her, or she was planning on fleeing the planet after killing the Diviner. Neither option sat well with him. “How the hells did she know you were going there in the first place?” He hadn’t been told. Hells, Gee had gone out of his way to make sure Boone was distracted on
Boreas
—at least until the Evarven got worried.

His little sister shrugged. “Like I know. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m tired and you have company.”

He glanced down to where Ophelia was now drooling on him. Drool shouldn’t be so damn cute…annnnnd he had lost his godsforsaken mind. “Yeah. Okay. Give the order to have
Psyche
ready to go tomorrow.”