Born of Fire

“Fine.” She pulled up the bounty lists. With the swipe of her stylus, she deleted her name.

Syn’s temper cooled a bit as he saw that one of his threats had been removed. He handed her the Seax dagger. “Now I want you to swear on this that you’ll never stalk me again.”

Furious hatred burned in her eyes. She gripped the dagger. “I swear. Blood oath. I will never hunt you again.”

Inwardly Syn cringed as she brought her hand away and he saw the blood where she’d cut herself. The doctor in him wanted to tend her wound, but he knew she wouldn’t take anything from him willingly and he wasn’t one to push himself where he wasn’t wanted.

He handed her the rest of her gear and walked out.

Somehow it was the longest walk of his life as he closed her water-damaged door and stepped out into the low-rent district of her city.

Gah, that she had to live here, like this.

“What is wrong with me?” He had enough problems of his own, why did he care about her and her bills?

It was his loyalty to Caillen, he decided. Tessa was his sister, too.

Shahara stared at her screen, her heart hammering. There was nothing that could pay even close to what she still needed to keep Tessa in the hospital.

I have four hours . . .

An image of her dying mother played through her mind as she saw her lying on the hospital bed. Her mother had fought so valiantly, but in the end, it hadn’t been enough.

I don’t want to leave you, Shay. I’m so sorry that I won’t be here for you. Please take care of your brother and sisters for me. I know it’s a hard thing I ask, but I have faith in you to keep them safe.

“I can’t do it anymore, Mom,” she whispered, her voice breaking. She was so tired of all this responsibility. She just wanted one day where she didn’t go to bed at night with a panic attack and one morning where she didn’t wake up with a knot in her stomach as she feared what trouble her siblings would be in before the sunset.

An image of Tessa dying tore through her.

Syn’s bounty pays enough . . .

I gave my word.

Her gaze fell to the picture she had in a frame by her computer. It was them as kids. Caillen was only five and they were holding on to each other, smiling bright.

She reached out and touched Tessa’s beautiful face.

The promise to her mother was much more important than an oath made to a convict.

I hate myself for this . . .

Picking up her link, she did the one thing she knew was wrong and hoped that, in time, she’d be able to forgive herself.

Hours later, Syn smiled as he turned off his laptop. He felt better than he had in a long time. Of course Shahara would want his head once she found out what he’d done, but it didn’t matter.

What he did felt right.

Now, he could finally get some sleep.

Yawning, he started toward his bedroom.

A loud knock thundered on his door. Only a handful of people knew where he lived, and out of them only Caillen knocked like that. He must have returned early and found out what he’d done. No doubt he was pissed.

Without checking the corridor vid, Syn turned off his scanner and opened the door.

It wasn’t Caillen. Son of a. . . . It never failed. Everytime your defenses drop, you get screwed.

“Well, well, what have we here?” Uriah Merjack, the Ritadarion Minister of Justice, sneered.

Syn cursed. He started to pull his blaster out, but the sight of forty Ritadarion enforcers in full body armor with weapons pointed at his heart, head, and chest kept him from suicide. Red targeting dots danced over his body, letting him know exactly where they’d be shooting if he tried to escape, and it wasn’t pretty.

This had to be a nightmare. There was no way they could have found him here. None.

The lease wasn’t even in his name. It was in Nykyrian’s.

Syn swallowed, praying he’d wake up.

He didn’t.

And when one of the enforcers came forward and slammed him into a wall he knew it was real enough. Every bit as real as the throbbing pain along his cheekbone and shoulder.

Wrenching his arms behind him, the guard cuffed his wrists together.

Merjack grabbed him by his hair and pulled him around to face him. His fat jowls shook from his laughter as the ugly bastard beamed in satisfaction. Too bad age hadn’t been kinder to him.

Then again, youth hadn’t been all that kind to him either.

“I’ve waited a long time to find you, rat. Now you’re going to wish to God you had cooperated with me the first time.”

Too stunned to think, Syn could do nothing but stare at the intense hatred in the Minister’s eyes. He knew the truth about Merjack’s past and he was more than sure Merjack would make good his threat.

The demonic laughter continued to fill his ears. Merjack turned and faced one of his soldiers. “Get him out of here. We have a long interrogation ahead of us.”

That he did, cause Syn wasn’t about to give him what he wanted. If he did, the Minister would kill him.