He smiled now as he drank Soyina in.
She sat lazily across from him, her legs casually propped up against the table. Bloodstains—of that Dex was sure—marred her worn boots, equally as menacing as the smile on her rouged lips. Her hair was braided back from her face to reveal her lovely eyes. One brown, like Dex’s, the other a pale, ghostly white to match the lost souls of the prisoners she’d brutally tortured and killed on Lunamere. Writhing migratory tattoos swam across her skin, the patterns twisting and turning as they chose new locations on her body at random.
“You’re a brave woman, agreeing to meet me like this, Soyina,” Dex said now. “The last time I saw you...”
Laughter bubbled from her painted lips. “All fun and games, Dex.” She stared him down for a moment with those unsettling eyes. Then she downed her drink and turned to look at Andi. “You, little miss starlight,” she said, eyeing the tips of Andi’s white and purple braids, hanging from beneath her hood. “You, I have heard stories about. Let me get a look at that pretty little face.”
Andi didn’t move, a silent statue in the darkness.
“You’re better off trying to get in the good graces of the queen of Xen Ptera,” Dex said.
Godstars, what was he doing here, with two of the most fearsome women he’d ever been with? They were so similar it sent a shock running through him. One wrong move, and it was possible they could become...
He shuddered to think it.
...friends.
He could only imagine the hellstorm they’d rain down on him then.
A squeaky yellow droid rolled over and refilled Soyina’s mug, then turned to fill Andi’s.
She lifted a hand to stop it, the silent movement enough to send the droid rolling away into the crowd.
“My brainless colleague and I are not here for idle chitchat,” Andi said, hood still covering her face in shadows. “I believe Dextro here filled you in on the problem at hand?”
Soyina nodded. “He did.”
“And do you have what we require? Dex says you’re in the mood to cause a little trouble.”
Soyina giggled in a way that reminded Dex of the little gunner on Andi’s crew. To his surprise, he’d begun to like having her around. But he’d always had a soft spot for kids with attitudes.
“Show me your face, girl,” Soyina said, “and I’ll be your faithful servant.”
Andi sighed. Dex searched the room for something he could use as a weapon. He knew she could turn on Soyina in a flash, and they couldn’t afford that today.
To his surprise, Andi reached up and slid her hood back from her face, revealing herself to the other woman.
“Ahh,” Soyina said. She swung her feet off the table, then leaned forward to stop with her nose a mere inch from Andi’s face.
Soyina had a passion for darkness, and Androma Racella’s soul was the darkest of them all.
“Beautiful,” Soyina whispered, her breath blowing the hair back from Andi’s face. She ran a sharp fingernail down Andi’s metal cheek implant, the migratory tattoos swimming down her arm as if afraid.
Dex had to hand it to Andi. She didn’t flinch beneath Soyina’s stare. He allowed himself a moment to admire her finely sculpted face before looking away. She was beautiful, but he wasn’t allowed to think of her that way anymore. Not after what he’d done.
“I can almost taste the death on you,” Soyina breathed. “How many lives have you stolen, Bloody Baroness?”
Andi whirled on Dex. “You told her who I was?”
He shrugged, giving her the carefree look he knew she hated with every inch of her soul. “What can I say? Soyina’s a big fan.”
“Have you ever tortured anyone, Baroness?” Soyina asked, pulling Andi’s attention back to her. “I can only imagine the things you could do with that darkness you harbor. The Xen Pterran queen would be wise to hire you on as a colleague of mine. Or a mercenary, perhaps.”
“A colleague?” Andi raised a brow at Dex as she scooted back in her chair, clearly done with Soyina’s closeness.
Dex took a sip of his drink and nodded. “Soyina practices the art of torture,” he explained, smiling as Andi’s eyes widened a bit at his explanation. “She works on Lunamere as one of Queen Nor’s more forward ways of getting information out of the prisoners.”
“A nasty job, most would think,” Soyina said. She ran her fingers down her dark curls. “But it’s not without its certain charms.” She giggled, then folded her hands on the rickety table in front of her. Her tattoos swirled like a nebula across them, then trickled back toward her elbows. “Daggers and sparks of fire. Channels of electricity. The screams of the women are good and well, but the men...oh, they do so love to plead with me.”
Dex sighed as she continued.
“Of course, it’s not all bad,” Soyina said, twisting a braid around her fingertip. “When they die, I don’t always leave them dead.”
Andi raised a pale brow, and Soyina smiled that same gorgeously chilling smile that had drawn Dex to her in the first place. He wondered what she looked like to those on the fringes of death, as they spouted information about whatever they knew of the Unified Systems. It was rumored that, though there was a peace treaty in place, Queen Nor still seethed with the desire for revenge and sought a way to destroy the other systems. They’d never be able to come back from the destruction The Cataclysm had caused for them, though. The damage was too much, the lives lost, too many.
“I’m also a Revivalist,” Soyina said, drawing Dex’s attention back again. “With every death comes the chance for a second life. The opportunity for more information. I bring them back, as long as I’m within the three-minute window, of course.”
“With what?” Andi asked. “How can you bring a dead man back to life?”
Soyina chuckled arrogantly, clearly relishing Andi’s ignorance. “With science, dear girl!”
This was the downside to working with someone like Soyina. She loved to talk and brag and talk some more. Dex’s head was beginning to spin, wondering how he’d ever taken an interest in a woman who was so clearly off her axis.
He glanced sideways at Andi.
Two women, then.
“The map, Soyina,” Dex reminded her. “You have it with you?”
She blinked, a crooked smile on her lips as she seemed to come back to the present. “Before we dive into the matter at hand, I hope you remembered the payment I requested?”
Dex took another healthy gulp of his drink, relaxing as the fire swam into his bones. “Half of your payment has already been anonymously wired to your account. Untraceable. When the mission is complete, you’ll get the other portion. You’re sure you can’t go with us?”
Soyina lifted her wrist and rolled her eyes. “The great queen tracks her prison workers. I’m afraid I’d ruin your mission if I were to join you. Although, imagine all the time we’d be able to share together, if I went. Which reminds me, Dextro, of the other portion of my payment.”