He nodded, his expression grave. “I will,” he promised. He slanted an unreadable glance at Nilo, then added, “She is safe with me.”
I believed him. I said farewell and received a distracted nod from Kee as she explained something to Nilo. I didn’t take it personally. She would be lost to the world until she bent the data to her will—and I had no doubt that she would.
By the time I returned to the house via a long walk around the property, Torran was in his office, having showered and changed into another tunic and slacks. The deep blue color of the tunic complimented his fair skin and dark hair.
I plopped into one of the guest chairs in front of his desk before I did something foolish like climb in his lap and kiss him senseless. Last night had been an aberration brought on by close quarters and not enough sleep. I didn’t need to continue making a fool of myself, especially after he’d set his boundaries. He didn’t want more, and if I kissed him again, I would.
“Tell me about the kidnappers,” I said when it became clear that Torran wasn’t planning to start the conversation. “We know that they’re human and want power. What else? Why did they target Cien? How did they know he was here?”
“As you thought, they are hoping that Cien is the lever they need to move the empress.” He sighed. “I suspect they turned Cien’s bodyguard long before the attack, and that’s how they knew when he would be here alone. My house is easier to breach than the Imperial Palace.”
“Does your nephew stay with you often?”
Torran shrugged. “Often enough.”
So the team had been on-planet for a while, but maybe weeks rather than months. Humans weren’t exactly forbidden on Valovia, but they weren’t encouraged to visit, either. The number of full-time human residents was probably in the low thousands. Without special flight authorization, visitors had to take approved ships from Bastion in order to reach Valovia. A team of nine would’ve likely come in on several different ships.
Even with an inside informant, planning an operation of this size and complexity took time and skill. Disappearing wasn’t easy. Disappearing with a Valovian child on a planet full of telepaths was even more difficult.
“Tavi, are you armed?” Eli asked over the comm. His voice was tense and urgent.
“Just a blade,” I responded subvocally. I’d left my guns behind this morning because I hadn’t planned on leaving the house.
“I need you to come to the war room. Ditch Fletcher if you can.”
A glance at Torran revealed his eyes were distant. Whatever Eli had found, Torran already knew about it.
I stood. “Eli needs my help for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
Torran stood as well. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just inclined his head in acknowledgment.
Then he followed me out.
Kee, Lexi, and Anja were crowded around Eli’s station. All bristled with weapons but none of them was drawn. Whatever Eli had found, he’d relayed it to the others first, which meant he expected trouble with Torran.
Chira, Havil, Varro, and Nilo stood nearby, expressions guarded. The lines had been clearly drawn, and it was humans versus Valoffs.
That was proved true when Eli leveled his flat, cold, killing gaze on Torran the moment he walked through the door.
“Tavi, you need to see this,” Eli said without taking his eyes off the threat.
I eased closer. The screen showed the outside of a low building. The video was likely from a traffic or security camera. “What am I looking at?”
“I’ve been tracing the origins of all the transports that entered the garage in the hours leading up to the attack. This is one of them.” He pressed a button and the video began to play.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then a transport pulled up outside the building. The entrance door opened and nine people walked out. They were dressed in suits, but the clothes couldn’t disguise the fact that they moved like soldiers.
Or the fact that they were carrying the exact suitcases I’d found hidden in the parking garage last night.
The nine soldiers loaded into the transport. Their disguises were clever. If the transport was stopped, they just looked like tourists or businesspeople going about their day.
Eli held up a finger, telling me to wait, as he sped up the footage. People and transports sped by at an accelerated rate, but the door to the building remained closed.
Until it didn’t.
Eli paused the frame and expanded it, but he needn’t have bothered—I would recognize the son of a bitch on-screen at a thousand meters: Commodore Frank Morten, the asshole in FHP Command who had ordered me to blow up civilians.
None of the Valoffs in the room showed a trace of surprise. Either they didn’t know who Frank Morten was or they’d already known.
I rounded on Torran, unwilling to believe that he’d betray me like this, but unable to deny what was right in front of my face. “Tell me you didn’t know.”
Torran’s jaw clenched, but he remained silent.
“Why, out of all the bounty hunters in the galaxy, did you pick me?” I asked, my voice deadly quiet. I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to be wrong so much.
Torran met my eyes, his expression stark, and shattered all my dreams. “Because you’re the hero of Rodeni.”
The knife slid into my back without so much as a whisper of warning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
At Torran’s words, my team closed ranks around me, weapons drawn. The Valoffs didn’t move. I mentally snorted. Of course they didn’t. They didn’t have to. Torran could incapacitate us all before a single shot was fired.
I straightened my spine. “Is your nephew even missing?”
Torran nodded, his expression turning haggard before the mask smoothed it over once again.
The pieces came together, and I didn’t like the picture they painted. “I suppose that whatever happens in—what is it, ten days, now?—has more to do with me than your nephew, doesn’t it? If Commodore Morten doesn’t bow to the empress’s wishes, then you have me as a backup plan. I’m a valuable hostage.”
Torran’s gaze dropped away from mine.
I shook my head. “Not a hostage, then.” I took a stab in the dark. “The execution of an FHP hero would send quite the message, I bet.”
Torran flinched but denied nothing.
Tears pricked at the backs of my eyes, but I refused to acknowledge them. “Let my team go, right now, and I’ll be your little scapegoat,” I said. “I’ll even keep looking for Cien.”
“Tavi, no,” Eli growled. “If you think we’ll just leave you—”
“You’ll do as I order,” I interrupted, sinking command into my tone.
“I won’t,” Kee said from my right. “Consider this a mutiny if you must, but I’m not abandoning you, no matter what you order.” She looked around at the Valoffs in the room, all of whom towered over her. “And if you all think you’re safe just because you have a telekinetic, then you don’t know us very well.”
Torran held up his hands in a placating gesture. “No one is going to die.”
“So we’re free to go?” I challenged.