Born of Fire

Syn?

The man whose location she’d turned in to the Ritadarion officials had paid for her sister’s treatment?

Suddenly the light gray walls around her seemed a little too close, a little too bright. She felt as if someone had just delivered a debilitating blow to her stomach.

How could Syn have done such a thing after she’d gone after him?

Why would he have done this?

It didn’t make sense. No one would do such a thing. Kindness was not in people’s natures. Ever.

Especially not someone with Syn’s brutal past.

No, he must have wanted something from her. Something more than just her oath. That was it. That made sense.

It was a good thing she’d made her pact with Merjack because C.I. Syn would have eventually come to her for repayment. Without a doubt.

Wouldn’t he?

“Thank you.” She turned and left the office.

But what if she was wrong?

You’re not wrong. He raped and murdered that poor girl in cold blood—you saw what her father said. Her fellow tracers wouldn’t be terrified of him without just cause.

And her own interaction with him had proven just how cold and dangerous a person he was.

No one would ever do a good deed without expecting payment for it. Gaelin had taught her that. And she’d learned her lesson well.

Her mind whirling, she didn’t bother to stop in and say goodbye to Tessa. At the moment, she couldn’t face anyone. Especially not her gentle sister who would never understand why she’d gone back on her word and turned Syn in. Even if it meant Tessa’s life.

I didn’t go back on my oath. Technically. She’d sworn not to stalk him. She hadn’t sworn not to call the authorities and tell them where to find him.

You’re arguing semantics.

Tessa would be the first one to beat her up over that, but then Tessa could afford the luxury of naivete. She couldn’t.

In a daze, she made her way home.

Shahara pushed open her front door and saw Kasen sitting on her sofa, munching her last handful of friggles while she watched a small handheld viewer.

Kasen’s strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that curled around the nape of her neck. Out of all her siblings, Kasen was the only who shared her eye color, which had come to them through their maternal grandfather. Big-boned and stocky, Kasen was cute enough on the outside, but her churlish personality was sometimes rather difficult to stomach.

“Hey, Sis,” Kasen said absently as she kept watching her show.

“Hey, Kase.” Though she loved her sister, she wished Kasen would leave. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now.

Kasen frowned. “You look like you were chewed up by a wolf and shit down the wrong side of a mountain. What’s wrong?”

I just remanded a man to custody who bailed me out and I feel like crap over it.

That was something she couldn’t share with Kasen and her acerbic personality.

So she shook her head as she dropped her blaster on her kitchen counter. Kasen was not one to confide in. She left such things to Caillen. But not even he could help her right now because if she dared tell him what she’d done, he’d have her head. He didn’t like the idea of her being a tracer to begin with, but their desperate financial situation had made him accept it. If he ever learned that she’d taken a mission to travel alone to apprehend a man of Syn’s reputation, he would absolutely flip.

Kasen went back to eating. “So how do you know Syn?”

Shahara went cold at the unexpected question. She looked up in shock from her laptop, wondering how Kasen knew of their encounter. “What do you mean?”

Kasen pointed with one crispy-fried friggle to the jacket Syn had loaned her. The one that was still slung over the back of her chair where she’d placed it after he’d stormed out of her condo three days ago. “I know that jacket. It’s one of a kind. Syn bought it three years ago from some big-name auction house. Gave something like four thousand credits for it. It was the jacket High Commander Gillian was wearing when he signed the treaty that ended the Colonial Wars.”

Shahara looked at the jacket, awed at the price. Just how much money did Syn have?

But then, how long did it take to steal a fortune?

Kasen dug around the bag, scrounging for crumbs. “I can’t believe he’d let it out of his sight. He’s real possessive when it comes to his stuff. Worse than Cai is with us.” She gave a dreamy smile that was at odds with her usual caustic personality. “Syn’s a great guy, isn’t he?”

Shahara cocked a brow and stared at her sister, who’d returned to watching her program. Kasen never respected anyone, and the admiration in her voice when she talked about Syn was not something she needed to hear at the moment.