Break Out

chapter Fourteen

Skylar landed the shuttle, and wordlessly, they made their way to the bridge. As they arrived at the door, Rico put his hand on her arm. He had a feeling the whole world was about to go to shit. He was expecting it, but even so, he wished he could put off the moment for a while. What he really wanted to do was turn around, drag Skylar back into that tiny shuttle, and disappear into deep space for the next hundred years. Maybe longer.

But he wasn’t going to do that.

All his life, he had taken what he wanted. Skylar was different; he needed her to come to him freely. Right now, he was sure she was planning to bolt, and he wouldn’t stop her. But he wasn’t leaving everything to chance, either. He’d left her a little something in the shuttle, for when she ran again. Something he hoped would tip the balance in his favor.

“What?” she asked.

“Just this.” He took her in his arms and backed her against the wall. Thrusting his hands into her short hair, he curled his fingers around her head to hold her still while he bent down and kissed her. She didn’t resist, her tongue thrusting fiercely into his mouth, her hands gripping his shoulders as though she would never let him go. He pressed into her, feeling the whole length of her against him. His cock nudged her belly, and she squirmed against him.

Behind him, the door slid open. Tannis coughed. “We have a little problem here, Rico.”

Skylar went still in his arms. Her tongue slid from his mouth. Reluctantly, Rico raised his head.

“What’s that?”

“Well, it seems that little Jonny has just woken up, and while he’s very grateful to be rescued, it appears he doesn’t actually have a sister.”

Rico raised one eyebrow. “How surprising.” Skylar met his gaze, her own steady. “Anything you want to add?” he asked.

The tip of her tongue came out to lick her lower lip, still swollen from his kisses. “He must be confused. I’ve heard cryo can do that, and Jonny never was too bright.”

He watched as she strolled across the bridge and sank into a chair. God, she was cool. Even now, he was impressed. “Aren’t you eager to go have a tearful reunion with baby brother?” he asked. For a moment, he wished she’d break, confess, and throw herself on his mercy. And he would be merciful. But the thought was fleeting—if she’d been the sort of woman who broke, he probably wouldn’t have cared one way or the other. There was still a chance if he gave her a choice, she would choose him.

She pursed her lips. “I think I’ll wait till he’s a little less fuzzy. It will break my heart if he doesn’t recognize me after all the trouble I’ve gone to.”

Rico smiled in admiration. “Hmm, and we wouldn’t want to break your heart, would we?”

Tannis stood, hands on her hips, her gaze flicking between the two of them. “Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”

Skylar remained silent, and Rico shrugged. “She’s Collective.”

Tannis stared at Skylar. “She can’t be. Her eyes are the wrong color.”

“Have I mentioned the word gullible before?” Rico shook his head. “Skylar?”

Skylar reached up and removed the contact lenses, dropping them on the floor. Her eyes glowed with the violet of Meridian. She turned to Rico, a look of resignation on her face. “When did you know? Was it the blood?”

“Actually, no. I suspected almost from the start, but Janey confirmed it. You were the only one who could have called up that space cruiser, and as you were with me, you must have had some internal comm link. The only people with that are the Collective. It gave you away. Why did you do it?”

“I had no choice. You were about to munch on me, and you’d just told me you could tell how old I was from my blood.”

“You could have said no.” He studied her face. “So, how old are you?”

She shrugged. “Two-hundred and thirty-two.”

“A baby.” He shook his head. “When the ship attacked, at first I thought you’d had a lucky break, then I got to thinking.”

“I make my own lucky breaks,” she said.

. . .

Skylar was furious with herself. How could she have not seen this? She looked up at where Rico lounged, one shoulder against the wall. She couldn’t believe that all the time he’d been making such sweet love with her, he’d known what she was. One thing was sure; he was a damn better actor than she was.

Time to get off his ship.

There was a good chance that they would attempt to kill her before her backup got there, but right now, she couldn’t think of an alternative. She closed her eyes and opened her internal comm link.

And hit a wall.

She tried again. Nothing. They had cut her off, and the first stirrings of panic awoke inside her. She opened her eyes to find Rico watching her, an amused smile on his face.

“Janey reconstructed the frequency,” he said. “She’s put up a wall. I’m afraid there’s no calling for help.” He grinned. “Oh, and you told them to rendezvous about two hours from here. So don’t be expecting them anytime soon.”

A sense of fatality settled over her. This was it. It was over. They even had an assassin on board who knew exactly how to do away with the Collective on a permanent basis.

“If you knew all this, why am I still alive?” she asked.

“Good question,” Tannis said.

“I had planned to kill you,” Rico said. “I don’t like being double-crossed. But you saved our lives back on Trakis One. Those Collective would have killed us and by now you’d be back with your own kind.”

She scowled. “It was a reflex action.”

“Of course it was. Whatever, I owe you, and, like you, I pay my debts.”

“What does that mean?”

“You can go. Get in your shuttle and leave.”

She looked from him to Tannis. The captain’s face was set, but she didn’t speak. Skylar rose slowly to her feet.

“Just one thing,” Rico said.

She turned to him.

“What was this all for? Why go to the bother of freeing a man condemned by the Collective?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was told it was a training exercise.”

For the first time she saw a real reaction. “A what?” His tone was outraged.

She didn’t blame him; she was outraged herself, but she kept her tone bland. “You said it yourself. They were getting sloppy. The Collective houses a lot of political prisoners on Trakis One. We needed to be sure it was secure. Plus my boss hates the guy in charge of security.”

“And just who exactly is “we”?”

“The Corps.”

“Jesus,” Tannis muttered.

“So why don’t you introduce yourself,” Rico said.

“Lieutenant Skylar Ross.”

Rico studied her for a moment, and she wondered if he would make the connection. She saw the moment enlightenment struck. “Would that make you related to Aiden Ross?”

She nodded. “He was my uncle.”

“So Jonny assassinated your uncle.”

“It’s not personal.” She shrugged. “I never liked Uncle Aiden anyway. He was a pompous ass.”

“So what was the plan now? Call in your space cruiser, arrest us all, and ship us off to the Meridian mines with Jonny?”

“Something like that.”

Tannis took a step toward her. “I’m letting you go because, as Rico said, you saved our asses back there. But if I ever see you again—I’ll kill you.”

Skylar narrowed her eyes. “You might try. I doubt you’d succeed.”

She whirled around, strode off the bridge, and headed for the docking bay, aware of Rico keeping step behind her. She slammed her palm onto the lock and the door to her shuttle slid open. She stepped inside and turned to face him.

He grinned. “Thanks for the sex, and the blood. That Meridian sure tastes good.”

“I enjoyed it.”

“I noticed.”

She reached up to shut the door, and he leaned forward, kissed her lightly on the mouth. “Remember, querida,” he murmured against her ear, “there’s always a choice.”

Her gaze flashed to his face. “Really? You heard what Tannis said. Somehow, I don’t think staying is an option now you all know what I am.”

He ran a finger down her cheek. “I’ve always known what you are, querida. The question is, does it matter?” He gave her one last, fleeting kiss, and then he was gone.

Skylar moved automatically, strapping herself in, setting the engines. She expected any moment for them to change their minds and come after her. And all the while, in the back of her mind, something niggled.

She’d been flying for ten minutes when she crashed her hand on the emergency stop button. The shuttle spun to an immediate halt. She sat for a moment, staring out into the vastness of space.

Rico had always known what she was.

He already knew she was Collective when he’d asked her to stay. Her pulse roared in ears with the realization.

There’s always a choice.

But what were her choices?

No one had ever parted company with the Collective before. That didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. Skylar thought of going back, of taking the fallout from her impetuous decision, and of the tedious years that stretched ahead. Did boredom have to be the price of immortality?

She thought of Rico and had an instant flashback to the feel of him on her, in her, filling her completely. That low, husky voice whispering querida in her ear. A wave of heat rolled through her body. She didn’t understand her feelings for the vampire fully, but she did know that things would never be boring on his ship.

And there was another thing to consider. Her husband, Daniel, had died. Despite being offered the Meridian treatment, he had chosen a normal life and a normal death. But unlike Daniel, Rico would never grow old, and he would never die. Well, not of natural causes.

Skylar wasn’t sure what they had, or what they could have together, but whatever it was, she knew they’d have plenty of time to explore it.

All the time in the universe.

She leaned forward to switch on the engines and something glittered in the corner of her eye. For a moment, she was sure her heart stopped beating. A ring lay on the console; a purple jewel on a slender band of white metal. She picked it up and held it to the light, turning it so fires danced in the heart of the stone.

For a brief moment, she thought the ring might be a farewell gift, but the idea didn’t linger. This was an offer of a new life. A symbol of eternal love, Rico had said.

Skylar wasn’t sure anything could last forever.

But did that really matter?

The important thing was, right now, she wanted it to. For the first time in years, the thought of eternity filled her with anticipation rather than dread.

She slipped the ring on her finger and grinned as she remembered Tannis’ farewell comment. Hopefully, it had at least been in part rhetorical.

And if she survived Tannis, there was ‘Jonny.’ She had an idea Jonny wasn’t going to turn out to be a big fan of the Collective either.

At the thought of Jonny, something stirred deep in her mind. Something that had been bothering her since Trakis One. Closing her eyes, she visualized the scene, and a light clicked on in her brain.

Shit.

She’d been so stupid. She had to get back, warn them.

Switching on the engine, she swung the shuttle around, and headed back to El Cazador.

. . .

The door slid open.

Rico stood exactly where she had left him, as though he’d been waiting for her. They stared at each other, neither moving.

After a minute, Skylar raised her left hand with the ring sparkling on her finger. “Eternity, huh? Sounds like a long time.”

“You scared?”

She considered the question. “Yes.”

“Me, too.”

“But I kind of like it.”

He slanted her a smile. “Me, too. But don’t worry; we’ll take it one day at a time.”

Eternity, one day at a time. It sounded good to her. She closed the space between them, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. His mouth opened over hers, his tongue filling her, starting the slow burn in her belly, and the docking bay vanished, the Collective and Jonny driven from her mind.

Behind them, someone cleared her throat, and Skylar went still. She peeked over Rico’s shoulder. Tannis stood in the open doorway.

“Shit,” Skylar murmured, “here comes trouble.”

She wriggled out of Rico’s arms, though he kept a tight grip on one hand. Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear. “You want me to protect you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Sweet of you to offer, but do I look like I need protecting?”

He stepped back, his gaze wandering slowly over her body. Her insides melted.

“Hell, no.”

For a moment, she forgot Tannis and swayed toward him. The soft scrape of a laser pistol being drawn stopped her. Skylar sighed. “Just one thing,” she said, “If she really looks like she’s going to shoot me, you might ask her not to. Nicely, of course.”

“I can do nice.”

“Good.” Skylar turned and watched as Tannis strolled across the docking bay toward them, the pistol held loosely at her side. She came to a halt a foot from Skylar.

“What are you doing back here?” she growled. “I thought I’d made my position clear—I see you, and I kill you.”

“And as I said, you can try.”

Skylar searched her face, but had no clue what Tannis was thinking, or whether she would shoot. She must know the blast wouldn’t kill Skylar. The Meridian treatment made her almost impervious to normal weapons, and she could repair any amount of damage.

But Skylar didn’t want it to come to a fight. She wanted to stay on El Cazador, and to do that she had to reach some sort of understanding with the captain. Also, the Collective would waste no time coming after Jonny; they could be out there right now, ready to pounce. She needed to find a way to defuse Tannis and quickly.

Curving her lips into the semblance of a sweet smile, she waggled her ring finger in Tannis’ face. “I had to come back—you see, Rico made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

The yellow eyes widened, the pupils narrowing to slits. “No freaking way.”

Raising her hand, Skylar held the ring close to her own face, and batted her lashes. “Look—it even matches my eyes.”

Tannis glanced from the ring, to Skylar, to Rico, back to the ring. “Excuse me, while I lose my lunch.”

Skylar bit back a laugh at the response. She nodded at the laser pistol. “So, are you going to use that thing?”

“Actually, after that bit of news, I might just use it to shoot myself.”

But she jammed the pistol back in the holster and turned away, running a hand through her short hair, and muttering under her breath. Skylar reckoned Tannis deserved a minute to come to terms with the news, but she was impatient to talk about Jonny and work out what they could do. Maybe she could contact the colonel and offer to send his prisoner back, but she suspected they had moved beyond that being a viable option.

For the first time, she noticed the rest of the crew had edged into the room and were watching avidly. Daisy caught her eye and grinned.

Skylar inched closer to Rico and nodded toward Tannis. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think she could be okay sooner rather than later? There’s something you need to know.”

He obviously saw something in her face. “Tannis! Get over it, and get over here. We might have a problem.”

Tannis stopped pacing. “A bigger problem than my pilot losing his mind?”

“Much bigger,” Skylar said. “Where’s the prisoner? Has he talked yet?”

“Your baby brother? No, he’s sleeping off the cryo. Why?”

“I think the Collective are going to come after him.”

“Well, obviously. They’ll want him back.”

“No. I think they want him dead.”

Rico looked at her sharply. “Why? If it was nothing but a training exercise, why kill him?”

“I don’t know. I just know something’s not right.”

“Explain,” Tannis snapped.

“I couldn’t work it out until just now, but then it struck me. The soldiers I shot on Trakis One—the Corps—they weren’t carrying laser pistols. They were carrying blasters.”

“So?” Tannis didn’t attempt to hide her impatience.

“So, they were an assassination squad. All along, they meant to kill him.”

“That makes no sense. They’ve had him in prison for weeks. If they wanted him dead, why not kill him there?”

“If he’d died in prison, there would be all sorts of questions. I think they wanted it to look like a failed escape attempt. For some reason they didn’t want him to come round from the cryo. I’m guessing he has information they don’t want to come out.”

“And what would that be?”

She shrugged. “How should I know? I’m a soldier. I’m on a need-to-know basis.”

“Hmm. So they would have just blasted us all to pieces?”

Skylar nodded.

“And they’re going to come after us.”

“With everything they’ve got.”

“Great, just great. And I bet there’s no chance of me getting the rest of my money either.” She gave Skylar a black look. “You do know this is your fault?” She turned her cold gaze on Rico. “And yours.”

“Why the hell is it my fault?”

Tannis snorted. “She probably only picked this ship because she’d heard what a pushover you were. Forget that ‘I heard you’re the best’ crap. I bet it was more a case of she’d heard all she needed was to flash a big pair of tits in your face and your brain would fly out the airlock.”

Someone sniggered. Tannis glared at the crew, and the sound was cutoff abruptly. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she turned and stalked away.

“Well, that went well,” Rico murmured.

“It did, didn’t it?” Skylar waited until Tannis reached the door. “Captain?”

Tannis paused, but didn’t turn around. “What?”

“You still planning to kill me?”

“I’m thinking about it.”