Born of Fire

“May I ask what happened to it?” Please don’t tell me you trashed it.

“Well, I tried to sell it in the divorce, but no one would touch it. There was a professor at the local university who came over one night to appraise my collection. She had such a historical curiosity over the piece that I gave it to her. I thought it ought to go to someone who could look at it without flinching, and I was able to deduct it as a charitable contribution.”

That was at least something. With any luck the professor hadn’t looked at it too closely. “Would you happen to remember her name and how I might get in touch with her?”

“Oh, yes. Dr. Whelms. At the University of Eastern Speaks. She’s their Art History dean.”

“Thank you. I deeply appreciate it.”

“No problem. Hope the ugly thing brings you more luck than it did me.”

She had no idea. That statue would either set him free or get him killed.

He hung up and looked on Shahara, whose features were now pinched. “Ever get the feeling this is futile?”

She shook her head. “No. Because if it is, my sister is dead, and I’m not about to bury her.” She let out a tired sigh. “Gods, Syn. Couldn’t you have picked something better than a statue no one wanted?”

“Yeah. I should have known when I stashed the chip that I’d get caught by Merjack, sent to prison, escape prison, live twenty years, and then need to find it again.”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic about it.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but Vik cut him short.

“I have a couple of marks who look a little too interested in you.”

“Where?”

“Two o’clock.”

Syn turned and saw them instantly. “Shit.”

Shahara frowned. “What?”

“Don’t be obvious, but we have a couple of tracers on our ass.”

He used his gaze to point them out and he had to give her credit—she followed his lead without betraying them. She was good at this.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“I’m thinking.”

Her face changed instantly as she feigned laughter over nothing.

“What are you doing?”

She smiled and said in a fake happy tone, “Follow my lead.” Wrapping her arm around his, she leaned into him and acted like his silly lover as she walked him toward them.

He wasn’t really sure what she intended until she walked him past the tracers. “We have to find a place soon, Syn. I’ve got to have a taste of you.”

His cock twitched at her hungry words and his blood fired to the point where he actually forgot about the tracers.

Until she shoved him into an alley. The moment she did, she pulled out his concealed blaster and whirled.

She nailed the bastards as soon as they came in after them.

He cursed at her actions.

She scowled. “What?”

“You don’t just shoot them.”

“Why not?”

He rushed to them to verify his suspicions. As soon as he saw their earpieces, he cursed again. “They’re company.”

“Meaning what?”

He snatched the GPS locator off the lapel of the one he was standing over. “They’re tagged, and when they go down, their techs know immediately that they’ve located their target and been incapacitated. At which point they launch backup. You’ve just unleashed a thunderstorm on us.” He tapped his ear. “Vik. Visuals.”

“Uh, yeah. It’s ugly. Run north. Now. Fast if you want to live.”

He grabbed Shahara’s hand and did what Vik told them to do. The moment he cleared the alley, he saw the fugliness Vik had described. There were three bikes and two rovers coming for them.

Shit.

Think, Syn. Think.

If only he had Nero’s powers. You have your own, and they haven’t failed you in a long time.

Yeah, but he was sober, which put him at a significant disadvantage.

Shahara cursed herself for her stupidity. Since convicts as a rule weren’t organized, she’d never considered the possibility that their tracers would be.

Syn slowed them down to a walk.

“What are you doing?”

“We run, we stand out. Trust me.” He pulled her toward the area where the crowd was the thickest. “We’re going to have to separate—”

“No!”

“You don’t trust me?”

Shahara swallowed her fear. He won’t betray you. But really believing that was a whole other matter. She looked up into those eyes that were as dark as space. And yet for all their darkness, they weren’t empty. In them she saw the man who’d taught her so much in such a short time.

“Were do I meet you?”

“The Miner’s Inn on Fifth. It’s right off north campus. You can’t miss it. I’ll see you there in half an hour.”

She nodded.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I will be there. But first I have to get rid of them.” He touched his ear. “Vik, keep visuals on Shahara to make sure she’s not tracked.”

“What about you?” she asked.