Born of Ice

“Follow me.”


Alix walked down the narrow corridor of the ship, her heart hammering against her ribs. She hated being on a new ship, surrounded by strangers. For the first time in her life, she didn’t know every crevice of machinery, every chink in the cold, titanium walls.

She wanted to go home. But the only home she’d ever known now belonged to whoever had bought it at auction. Her throat tightened. She clenched her teeth, refusing to cry any more tears over her lost ship. She’d done what she had to, and there was no going back.

Now she had her remaining family to worry over, which meant she’d have to find evidence of Devyn’s illegal activities quick so that she could free them. Every minute they were in prison was her fault.

“You can bunk in here.” Sway pushed the controls to open a door.

Alix’s eyes widened at the large sleeping compartment. The bed in the room occupied as much space as her entire private chambers had on her father’s freighter. Rich, blue carpet lined the floor. She’d thought only aristocrats had ships with carpet in them.

Without a word, she stepped inside and ogled the rest of the furnishings.

“I’m sure Devyn will want to run over the ship with you, but he’ll probably wait until after we launch.”

She found it strange that he referred to Kell by his first name. Normally the crew was more formal than that. “So how many other people make up the crew?”

Sway leaned his back against the open doorframe and folded his arms over his chest. He eyed her suspiciously. “Just what you met. You got a problem with that?”

Alix pursed her lips as she scanned Sway’s body. He reminded her a lot of Captain Kell—both of them had attitude problems and a lethal undercurrent that said they could take down even a League assassin without breaking a sweat.

They also had the same tough, muscular build, but Sway wasn’t quite as handsome to her. Of course, she’d never been partial to Hyshians, and Sway’s yellowish eyes unnerved her.

“I’ve never had much of a problem with sober men chasing me around decks, if that’s what you mean. As long as none of you gets desperate or drunk, I think I can manage.”

Sway laughed. “I think you’ll fit in pretty well with us.” He tucked one of his multitude of black braids behind his left ear. “This isn’t sexist or anything, but can you cook?”

Alix wondered at the strange question. “Nothing fancy, but I do all right with the basics.”

“Oh, thank God. I’m sick of eating synthetic food.”

“And I’m sick of listening to you bitch about it, you old woman.”

Alix’s heart sped up at the sound of Devyn’s deep voice. She told herself not to feel this way. Her heart and body had done this to her before and she’d been crushed.

To this day, she could see Edwin’s mocking sneer. “Trust me, baby. There ain’t enough woman in that boy’s body of yours to ever entice a real man.”

Yeah, that had taught her to never again let a man know she was interested in him. And Edwin hadn’t been anywhere near as handsome as Devyn.

Besides, she was here to ruin the captain. Something that would get her killed if she wasn’t careful.

Devyn knocked Sway lightly on the arm. “If you two don’t mind, I think it’s time we get out of here.”

Sway inclined his head and left.

Alone with the captain, awkwardness consumed her. Alix studied her feet, wishing she could think of something to say. But as usual, when she was around a hot man, her brain couldn’t focus on anything except the way his shirt clung to his muscles.

Gah, she could lick that man all night long, and she wasn’t the type of woman to have those thoughts. Too many years of being the sole “entertainment” on her father’s ship had left her disgusted with men in general and with sex in particular.

But then, none of her father’s crew had ever looked like this. And that made her wonder if Devyn would actually be good in bed . . .

Stop it. He’s your captain and the man you have to frame.

He cleared his throat. “Your cooling unit isn’t stocked, but we’ll take care of that at our next stop. There’s plenty of water and other liquids in the galley if you start dehydrating . . . Take your time unpacking and whenever you’re ready, the bridge is at the bow of the ship.”

Alix nodded, still not willing to even glance at him.

She heard the door slide shut. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she finally looked at the door and sighed. She’d seen the disbelief in Devyn’s eyes when she’d told him her age. His reaction was normal, but for some reason, it bothered her more that he’d done it.