Born of Ice

Before he could stop himself, he pulled her into his arms. “It’s all right, Alix. It’s all right.”


“No, it’s not.” She pulled away from him. “I’m so tired of this. Tired of being the one who has to come up with solutions. And I don’t know what to do now.” She looked at him and he saw the desperate sincerity in her eyes. “You think lying to you has been easy? It hasn’t. I don’t like using people and I hate lying. You’re a good man. The only one I’ve ever met. But I can’t let them kill my family any more than you could save me if it meant seeing Omari abused and murdered.” She brushed angrily at her tears. “I want Merjack’s head in a way you can’t imagine. If you swear to me that you’ll help me get it, then I will trust you.”

Devyn pulled her back into his arms and kissed her wet cheek. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the scent of her and debated the sanity of trusting her. Clotilde had carved out his heart.

How could he open himself up to Alix after this?

And yet, he understood her motivation. He would have done the same himself.

“Let me tell you a story, Alix.” He pulled back to show her the ship around them. “This ship . . . the Talia? It’s named after my father’s older sister.”

He swallowed as he saw the image of his aunt’s battered childhood face staring at him from the sole photograph his father had of her. “She killed herself when she was fourteen because she couldn’t stand living the horror of her life for another day. With her death, she both condemned and freed my father from his monster of a father. I never knew the pain of her life or his. But I named this ship after her to remind me of all the children out there like her and Omari . . . the children like you and your sister who are silent in their pain. They have no voice and no hope.”

He gave her a hard stare. “But I hear them. Every time I think of my parents. Every time I see Omari, I hear the sobs that are kept inside for fear of it making their lives worse, and I will not stand by and see your sister torn apart by an animal. You help me nail him and I swear to you, I will lay Merjack down at your feet and hold him there while you take your revenge.”

Alix bit her lip as she heard words she’d never thought to hear. Did he really mean them?

She swallowed. “I’m going to trust you, but know that it’s not in my nature. If you betray me—”

“I won’t betray you.”

She reached up to cup his prickly cheek in her hand. Trusting was so hard . . .

I will believe in you, Devyn.

“I didn’t do anything to your ship. Merjack’s agent, Lieutenant Whelms, did it. He wants me to have you land on the Charisis station for repairs. I’m supposed to have evidence then that he can use to arrest you.”

“And if you couldn’t get the evidence?”

“He wanted me to fabricate it.”

His jaw ticced under her hand. “Frame me?”

“According to Merjack, bring you to justice.”

He growled low in his throat as he pulled away. “That sleazy bastard. You do realize that if they did arrest me, that means the entire crew would go down, including you.”

“They offered me immunity to testify against you.”

“And you believed them?”

“No. I’m not that stupid. I’m sure somehow I’ll end up being sold again. It’s what I am, right? Worthless property.”

He saw the humiliation in her eyes as she said that, and while he might be mad at her for what she’d done, he didn’t want her to hear those haunting voices. “You’re not worthless, Alix. But right now, I have to say that I don’t like you as much as I did before I found all of this out. I don’t appreciate being toyed with or betrayed.”

Alix wrapped her arms around herself as those words hit her like a hammer. He’d killed the last woman who’d dared to do that.

But at least he wasn’t killing her.

Yet.

“So what are we going to do?”

His eyes glittered with malice. “We’re going to set our own trap.”





CHAPTER 8


“I think we should kill her.”

Devyn gave Sway a hard stare as they sat around the council table to brainstorm a plan of action.

“What?” Sway actually managed to look innocent in a cold-blooded, ruthless sort of way. “She’s ruined my entire day. Made me fight with my wife and now you tell me she’s a spy sent to put us all under the jail. What part of ‘kill your enemies before they kill you’ did you sleep through? Your dad was an assassin, same as my mom. Don’t puss on me now, boy. You know what they’d do if they were here. Hell, your own mother would tear her up, spit her out in pieces, and not blink.”

“He’s right,” Alix agreed. “None of you have any reason to help me. Why should you care?” She clicked the vid wall and a picture of a teenage girl was there. One who bore a scary resemblance to Alix except that her sister held an almost angelic quality to her features.