Fenturi Fate Page 10

  “Rude, irritable and a delectable piece of female flesh.” Castor winked.

  Ren wished he’d never met the female.

  Not only had he taken ribbing from his men, something that never happened, but he’d been unable to get her out of his thoughts. Worse, his dreams had become so erotically charged, it was a wonder the ship didn’t go up in flames.

  The men thought it vastly amusing their normally solemn captain had met a woman who didn’t fall prey to his looks or status, as most did. The Hams, with their wild Fenturi nature, had the same luck with females that Ren did, though not to Ren’s degree. But unlike their captain, they capitalized on their alien differences.

  “Truly, Ren. The woman is waiting on you.” Castor shoved the telecom unit toward his face.

  Ren schooled his features and ignored his racing heart. “Put her on the vid screen.” He waited until the large screen cleared to show the stubborn female glaring at him.

  The room around him grew silent, and Ren watched her for any sign of duplicity.

  “Well, Captain?” came the icy question. “I was instructed to contact you by the third day, yet you refuse to accept my call.”

  “I’m here now. Report.”

  “I report nothing as yet.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” He looked down at the Informa tugging at his sleeve, and seeing his concern, commanded Dare to wait a moment. He cut communications, masking his end, though he could still see her aggravated expression as she sat in front of the vid screen on her ship.

  “Captain, how much do you know about this person?” Phin studied Dare’s face as if mesmerized.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Something about her…” The blue alien drifted in thought as he stared at her.

  “What is it?” Ren’s suspicions went on high alert. Phin had been brought along on their expedition due to his abilities. As an Informa, the small man could ferret details and maintained an extensive flow of information about the System that could rival Bylar’s archives.

  That Phin couldn’t immediately figure the woman out gave Ren pause. “Activate the vid screen. Phin, keep silent.” Once the vid screen showed Ren again, he said, “Continue.”

  “Sure thing, your worship.” Behind her, someone chuckled. “We’ve had to clean up the rest of our caseload to make room for your grand mission. So I’ve only been able to make a few discreet inquiries. Now before you get that temper in a twist, let me explain.”

  Ren heard the twins cough to smother laughter and out of the corner of his eye saw Castor try to mask a grin.

  “I’m working with my crew to find your lost Mari. I haven’t heard much, but as Jace and I were looking through some things in the library, we think we may have stumbled onto something you need to see.”

  “Fine. Bring it here in two hours, that’s Bylaran standard.”

  “I know, Captain. Even we space pirates use your oppressive planet’s measure of time,” she bit out, looking every bit as wild and tempting as Ren recalled. Her blue eyes blazed at the oddest times, as if she banked their true brilliance behind a veil. “I was hoping you could come down to the SpaceStalker.”

  “No. You’ll come to me. Don’t be late,” he ended with a quiet warning. Ren cut the vid line and turned to Castor. “I want to meet with her in the main cabin. Phin, you’ll be with me. And Castor, keep those obnoxious comments of yours to yourself, else I’ll forget you’re my Second and lop your head from your shoulders.”

  Castor seemed to take the threat seriously, because he gave a sober nod. But as Ren stalked through the doors with Phin behind him, he heard his Second laugh with the twins. Phin blinked but said nothing, the only one of Ren’s crew appropriately cowed.

  “I’m obviously too lenient with them,” he muttered, saw Phin nod furiously, and stomped down the passageway, dreaming up new tasks to punish his insolent crew. Some cleaning of the corridors at the least. Had to make the ship shine for their new pirate allies. He fought his own grin, recalling how annoyed Dare had seemed to be. Then he thought back to how soft and warm her mouth had been under his and started swearing up a storm.

  ***

  Two hours later, Dare and Jace used the directions given them by Primo, the Eyshan6’s pilot, and transferred via shuttle bay to Ren’s ship. Dare kept her illegal teleporters a secret for future use. No sense in letting the Legion know all their capabilities.

  She and Jace waited while the giant, ferocious-looking twins scanned them for weapons. Finding none, the twins escorted them to Castor, Ren’s Second. He didn’t look as if she’d bruised him a few days ago, and though she badly wanted to mock him for letting such a small, weak woman beat up such a badass Legionnaire, she kept her tongue.

  Jace had cautioned her to be very low-key. He wanted nothing to stir the emotional output of the Stalker crew while he read Ren’s thoughts. Emotions could muddle his abilities, and Ren already had Jace’s back up. Her Second didn’t like the captain. At all.

  Castor gave them a wary glance before gruffly giving the order to follow him. One of the twins trailed their small party to make sure no one stepped out of line, no doubt.

  Dare took the time to study the Legion-class vessel. Obviously Bylaran in design, the ship possessed a heavy armament and shield generator, no doubt useful in combating System miscreants. The material of the ship appeared to be from Rovi, and she guessed that in a true fight, the Eyshan6 would easily outgun her. That was, if they could catch her.

  She smiled to herself, pleased the Nexian who’d sold her the SpaceStalker hadn’t lied about the ship’s legendary speed.

  They moved down and around another corridor. Then another. The ship was much larger than hers. They’d passed several rooms already and hadn’t yet gone above or below deck.

  Castor halted in front of a paneled door and pressed the intercom to let Ren know of their arrival. He stepped aside after pressing the panel’s keypad and waited for them to step through.

  Dare and Jace caught each other’s eye. They moved as one through the doorway, not surprised when Castor followed them through and locked the door behind them.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t our friends from the SpaceStalker.” Ren watched them from his seat behind a desk. “I trust you have something of importance to tell me? Something that will make me forget that mess on Vembi with the Shorhu Lord?”

  Jace and Dare stood motionless, but as Ren’s gaze moved to the text she held, she moved toward him. Slowly. She noted the little blue alien seated at Ren’s right but paid him no mind. As before, her instincts warned her that a physical threat wouldn’t be forthcoming from such a weak creature. No, the captain was the one to watch.

  She captured Ren’s attention so Jace could keep back out of Ren’s line of sight. Unfortunately, the suspicious captain would have none of it.

  “Set the book down and sit on the other side of Phin,” Ren ordered. “I want your blond friend to sit next to you, where I can keep an eye on him.”

  “My name is Jace.” Jace obeyed, but Dare knew he wasn’t happy about it.

  “Well, Jace, tell me what you brought with you.”

  Not good. Dare needed to hold Ren’s attention so Jace could focus on Ren’s thoughts.

  “Excuse me,” she said with icy disdain. “I’m the captain. Jace is my Second. You’ll deal with me.”

  “Oh?”

  Pleased when Ren’s gaze narrowed on her, she sat back and crossed her leg over her knee. She’d worn plain space clothing—a simple pilot’s jacket over a black tunic, dark trousers and knee-high boots. Nothing that would hint of her past. She felt Phin staring at her and glanced at him. The blue man looked too intent, and she revised her opinion of him as no threat.

  “Why is he here?” She motioned to Phin.

  “Because I asked him to be,” Ren answered. “I’d remind you I ask the questions. What’s with the book?”

  Dare wondered how best to play this with Phin in the room, then decided her animosity toward the mission as a wh
ole would sound a lot more convincing than any lie she might fabricate. “You gave me little choice but to hurry and finish my outstanding business. With that done, I had little time to search for your Mari.”

  Yes, keep talking about the Mari. Show him the pictures you found in that book, Jace advised.

  “Is this the part where you throw yourself on my mercy and beg that I don’t scuttle your ship and crew out to space?” Ren asked, his threat very real. “Why did you come out here if this is all you had to show me?”

  “Why? You ordered me to come, you Dark World tool.” Her temper flared, and she had to fight to keep from leaping over the desk to flatten him. For some strange reason, Ren had a tempestuous effect on her emotions, specifically her temper.

  That’s it. Keep them focused on you.

  “What in the five hels did you expect with so little time for me to work? I’m not a magician you know.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Castor palm his phaser.

  “Work some magic or your crew dies.” Ren gave her a biting smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “How’s that for an order?”

  Praying Jace had wormed his way into Ren’s mind, she gave a shrug. “Threaten all you want, it won’t make a bit of difference, Bylaran.” She nodded at the book. “I did some digging, and this text is a history of the Bylaran colonization from a Nexian perspective. The Nexians first discovered the System, and their love of knowledge is legend.” She paused. “Nowhere in there does it mention the Mari.”

  Ren green eyes seemed to darken, like the frost pools of Ocaia. “I thought I told you that you don’t need to understand why I want the Mari captured. All you need to know is that your life depends on finding him.”

  Dare refused to back down, oddly intrigued by the clear menace he exuded. The man could turn from hot to cold in the blink of an eye, and she found herself unwillingly fascinated by his swift mood changes. As had been happening since their last altercation, she vividly recalled his drugging kiss. Not something she would have figured the cool and controlled warrior before her could bestow.

  “Patience, Ren.” She tapped the cover of the book. “If you’ll open the book up to the marked section, you’ll find something interesting.”

  Ren turned the book toward her. “You do it. If this is some kind of trick, your friend will be the first to suffer the consequences.” Castor stepped forward, his phaser out and pointed at Jace’s head. Ren stared at Dare without blinking.

  She opened the book and looked down at the large picture she’d marked. Seeing it again made her mouth dry and her heartbeat quicken.

  “Behold, the Mari moon.” She’d swear she’d seen it before, though she knew she’d never seen Mari that bright blue. The color occurred rarely, perhaps twice a millennium. “I think Rovi is the wrong place to look for your fugitive.”

  “The Mari moon,” he repeated and stared at the book. “So you think our Mari is hiding on that uninhabitable rock?”

  “No, but I have to know more if I’m to find and capture this creature. Do you really believe that withholding knowledge from me and my crew is smart? I thought you said this was important.

  “Look, you said you need him alive. But what if we run into him and accidentally kill him?”

  He snorted. “Accidentally?”

  “Well, what if stunning him with a phaser has a weird effect and kills him? Different weapons have different effects on certain species.”

  “She’s right,” Phin piped up in a high-pitched voice. All eyes save Jace’s turned to him. “You should tell her a bit more about who you’re looking for, if not the why of it yet, Captain.”

  Ren considered Phin, then sighed. “Very well. You—” He closed his eyes on an indrawn breath.

  Castor frowned and circled to him. “Ren? What’s wrong?”

  “I—” Ren shook his head and blinked, his eyes appearing a startling black for a brief moment before returning to their customary green.

  Castor swore. “Should I fetch a med-kit?”

  “No.” Ren waved him away.

  “Captain? You don’t look yourself.” Phin frowned.

  “I’m fine.”

  Dare didn’t look at Jace. She could feel his power swelling, brushing against her, and nudged his foot. They had to be careful. If Ren suspected he’d been mentally tampered with, he’d kill them. Of that she had no doubt.

  Ren evened his breathing and shook his head.

  “Perhaps we should go. Your captain seems ill,” Dare said to Castor and moved to stand.

  Ren’s hand shot out like a whip, latching onto her arm. “No,” he growled. “I’m fine. As I’ve told you, the Mari, the one you seek, is of Fenturi blood. For some reason only he—”

  “Or she,” Phin interrupted and fixed his eyes on Dare with a disturbing scrutiny.

  Ren narrowed his gaze on her. Terrific. “Or she, can fix a problem the System will soon face. Time is of the essence. It’s vital to the System itself that we find him. Or her,” he conceded to Phin.

  Dare wondered just what he wasn’t telling her. “How do I know that the moment I bring you the Mari, you won’t haul off and kill him? That this is just an excuse to slaughter more Fenturi? I may be a pirate, but I’m not a murdered. I don’t condemn a man because he’s from a race different from my own.” He couldn’t miss the snide reference to his people’s Fenturi genocide.

  Ren’s opened his mouth to retort, then grimaced.

  Just a little more. Jace sounded tired. He’s thinking that the Mari must find the Thrax before… before…

  “Enough,” Phin interrupted, his gaze fixed on Jace. His eyes widened in what she hoped wasn’t alarm, and she stood to block Jace from view.

  Then Phin smiled, and she wanted to run from the room. Small or not, this blue alien alarmed her. “You can’t hide forever. The truth has a way of working itself free, no matter where, or who, you are.”

  Did Phin had some sort of Psi talent? Yet if he had, Jace should have sensed it and warned her.

  “We need to return to our ship.” Dare said to Ren, who rose on wobbly legs. “And you might want to rethink drinking so much before our next meeting.”

  Ren scowled. “You may be right, Captain. Now get the hell off of my and find the Mari.” When Dare moved to recover the book, he placed a large hand on it. “Leave it. And Dare, know if you have nothing more to tell me the next time we talk, I’ll take that as an invitation you’d like to do…other things to satisfy me.”

  Dare didn’t need to ask what he meant. His look said it all. Too bad she couldn’t convince herself that his kiss would be a punishment. For a moment she let herself want him right back, let herself feel the need he stirred as no one else ever had.

  His glare faded, and he took a step forward, right into his desk. His stare burned into her, past the places she normally shielded without thinking about it.

  “Ren?” Castor said quietly. “Want me to escort them back to their shuttle?”

  Yanked back to reality, angry at her lack of control around the commandeering captain, she turned on her heel toward the door, Jace close behind her.

  “Yes. Get them off my ship,” Ren barked.

  Castor opened the door, waved one of the twins away from his position guarding the room, and led them back the way they’d come.

  Dare refused to glance back, a part of her already mourning her separation from the sexy—aggravating—Legionnaire. What is wrong with me?

  Yes, I’d like to know that as well, Jace said, startling her to realize she’d lowered her inner shield with him. And don’t think we won’t talk about this later.

  Could my day get any better? she snapped, sarcastic.

  I’m thinking it’s going to get a lot worse.

  ***

  As soon as they left, Ren sank back into his chair. His head throbbed as if he’d been walloped with a Rovi war club. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples to ease the ache. He had the odd feeling he’d been battling someone or something but had no idea why.

&n
bsp; “Captain?” The Informa stared at him with confusion on his face.

  “Well?” Ren wanted to get back to the matter at hand. He’d always found that accepting pain and pushing it to the back of his mind was the easiest way to deal with it.

  “I have much to go through.” Phin rubbed his hairless chin. “I believe I’ve picked up a good bit of information on the SpaceStalker captain and her Second. But I need time to process it. As soon as I’ve drawn my conclusions, I’ll report back to you.”

  Ren nodded and watched as Phin left the room. Having an Informa on the mission would prove fruitful. Phin’s ability to pick up the smallest, most minute detail and compare it to his vast store of knowledge would give Ren the advantage. And he had a feeling he’d need it, dealing with Dare and her companions.

  He had no idea what had come over him. He’d been listening to Dare and watching Phin for his reactions when sudden pain clawed at his brain.

  He hadn’t noticed much of anything after that except for Dare. Her eyes had seemed blue one moment, violet the next. As if she were…Fenturi? Not possible. Phin would have noticed and said something before now. And what about her Second? The male put Ren on edge. Something about him didn’t fit, wasn’t normal, even for pirate standards.

  When Castor returned, Ren told him to take command. “I’ll be resting for a few.”

  “Aye, aye.”

  Ren left for his quarters, and once inside, he fell into bed and lost himself in a deep sleep. In the middle of a particularly erotic dream involving Dare, himself, and a pool of glistening green water, he wasn’t happy to wake to the intercom squawking at him.

  He checked the time. To his surprise, he’d been asleep for almost six hours.

  “Yes?” He sounded slurred.

  “You okay, Ren?” Castor asked. “I checked on you twice, but you didn’t move. Phin suggested we let you rest.”

  “I’m fine.” Six hours? Ren never needed more than four to function. “Probably just the stress of our mission.”