Born of Ice

“No buts. I always win. Give up now before you annoy me.”


Alix sighed as she realized that Zarina was a power unto herself. It was better to give in and get it over with than to fight against an omnipotent opponent.

It was not only frustrating. It was impossible.

Please get me out of here soon.



“Hey, Dad. Where’s Alix?”

Devyn looked up from the paperwork he was forging to see Omari and Vik entering the bridge. Manashe ran from where he’d been sleeping at Devyn’s feet to attack Omari. “She was off with Rina last I saw.”

Omari shivered as he stroked Manashe’s ears. “Poor thing. I wonder what Rina’s doing to her. Should we send out a search party?”

Devyn laughed. “Might not be a bad idea. I vote we send Taryn in to extract her. He’s got nothing to live for.”

Vik arched a brow. “Well, at least you didn’t pick on me this time.”

“Feeling left out?”

“Not where Princess Stubborn’s concerned. Happy to be left out, boss. Thanks for the uncharacteristic consideration. You feeling all right, or is there a brain malfunction going on that I need to be aware of before your father removes parts of me I might miss?”

Omari laughed. “You know, I wish I could have seen Vik back in his aviary days. He must have been a riot.”

Devyn smiled nostalgically as he remembered Vik’s old mecha form. “Not really. He just took up less room and was able to sneak up on me a lot easier. Happiest day of my life when my dad made him human.”

“Happy for you, bonebag . . . It cost me my girlfriend.”

Omari arched a brow as he pulled a treat out of his pocket and fed it to Manashe. “You had a girlfriend?”

Devyn chuckled. “It was a lamp, Vik, not a girlfriend.”

Vik sighed wistfully. “I really loved that lamp. She lit up my entire world.”

Omari frowned as he met Devyn’s gaze. “Is he for real?”

“ ’Fraid so. He used to carry it around with him until it stopped working. I think your grandfather screwed up his processors when he pulled him apart.”

Vik cuffed Devyn on the back of his head. “Respect your elders, embryo.”

Devyn hissed as he rubbed the back of his skull. “I might not know how to repair you, Vik, but I do know how to break you into small pieces.”

“As if.”

Deciding he was losing this argument, Devyn indicated the bag in Omari’s hand with a tilt of his chin. “So what did you get?”

Just as Omari started to speak, the intercom buzzed.

Devyn leaned back and would have ignored it had it not been the station’s security. He opened the channel. “Kell speaking.”

“Captain Kell, we have a warrant here to search your cargo and review your manifest and logs. We need you front and center. Now.”

“On my way.” But not at their pace. They could wait until he got there. He didn’t answer orders well.

Sighing, he looked at Omari. “Sorry, kid. I’ll look at it later.”

“No problem. Let me go lock up Manashe so he doesn’t get out while they’re looking for contraband, and then head over to warn Sway in case they’re in his room . . . you know.”

“Yeah, I do.” Devyn walked off the bridge and to the ramp where the authorities were waiting. As soon as the loading ramp was extended, they barged up so they could bluster in front of him. As if they could ever scare him.

Their captain handed him a printout for the warrant. “We want to see your cargo bay and sweep your ship.”

It was all he could do not to laugh at them. “Whatever.” He stood back as two dozen guards swarmed through his ship. This was going to be highly entertaining.

He pulled the fake manifest and log up on the screen by the door, then stepped aside for the captain to review it. “Just out of curiosity, why are you guys here?”

“We were given a tip that you have illegal contraband on board.”

“A tip from whom?”

“A Lieutenant Whelms.”

Devyn scowled at a name he’d never heard before. It didn’t make sense that someone here would turn him in. Then again, it didn’t make sense anyone would turn him in . . . period.

Weird.

He started to argue until his gaze went from the fat officer to the beautiful woman coming up his ramp.

It took a full ten seconds before he recognized her.

Alix?

Yeah, it was her, and she was delicious. Someone had lightened her hair a couple of shades, making the blond even more vibrant. Her lips were painted a bright red and whatever they’d done to her eyes made them glow. They were dark and seductive now.

An image of her naked in his bed went through him so fast, he could almost feel her skin against his.

For a moment he couldn’t breathe and he actually had a momentary fear that he might be drooling.

She frowned at the officer as she stopped in front of him. “What’s going on?”

I want you to get naked . . .

Yeah, that was a bad idea when they were in the middle of a crisis.

Clearing his throat, he diverted his attention back to the enforcers. “We’re being searched.”