In the Devil's Nebula (Phoenix Adventures #2) (12 page)

In sleep, her face was more relaxed. Even
injured, covered in blood, she was beautiful. Not like Eos with her
dark gorgeousness, but something fresh, healthy and real. Looking
at her now, he couldn’t see Vik in her anymore. He dragged in a
deep breath, finally acknowledging what he’d known for a while. She
was like Vik in some ways, but so different in others. She was more
flexible, more understanding than Vik had ever been.

Now looking at the woman beside him, Zayn
only saw Ria.

As the sun sank farther away, a night sky
scattered with stars appeared. One huge rising moon balanced on the
horizon, and visible not far behind it, the top of a second,
smaller one. He kept his bound hands resting on Ria’s and willed
her to wake, all the while watching their captors. The Baker
brothers clearly knew how to survive in this planet’s harsh
climate. God only knew what they had planned for him and Ria. They
needed to escape. He looked back to the unconscious woman beside
him. There was no way they were going to do that until Ria woke
up.

Full darkness descended, broken only by the
moonslight and the temperature dropped rapidly. The men’s fire
popped and crackled, but Zayn was too far away to feel any warmth
from it.

Suddenly one of the men came out of the
shadows, silhouetted by the flames. He dumped two tin bowls filled
with a gray gruel down on the ground. Some sort of animal skin
landed beside Zayn’s bowl, topped at one end with a plas cap.

“Hare stew and water. Eat up. You’ll need
your strength.” Clint gave a harsh laugh.

“Where are you taking us?” Zayn figured if
they wanted him and Ria dead, they’d be rotting in the desert by
now.

“We’re going to sell you both to Tumbleweed
Bob.”

That didn’t sound good. “Who’s Tumbleweed
Bob?”

“Owns a gold mine up in the hills. Always
looking for workers he doesn’t have to pay.” Clint laughed again.
The sound rubbed across Zayn’s nerves like barbed wire. “But he
also likes to blow things up, especially his test subjects.”

Zayn’s gut tightened.

Not long after Clint left, Ria stirred.

“Ria? Baby? You okay?” Zayn leaned over
her.

Her lashes fluttered and she turned her head
toward the sound of his voice. Reaching out, he awkwardly brushed
some strands of hair off her face. He felt the puff of her breath
on his palm.

Her eyes opened. The green remained
unfocused for only a second before he saw her work through the
circumstances. “Zayn?”

“Yeah. We’re okay. For now.”

She sat up, raising her bound hands to her
head. “Where are we?”

“Somewhere in the desert. On our way up to
the mountains. Apparently Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb are going to
sell us to some mine owner who likes to blow people up.”

“Nice.” Ria lowered her wrists, studying the
ropes. “Guess we’ll have to make an escape before that
happens.”

“Sounds like a great idea.” He scanned the
black of the desert around them. “And then what?”

“We’ll have to take a horse and some water.
Lay low until sunrise then find our way back to Bedlam.”

He tugged on the ropes. “And these?”

She lifted her hands and he watched as the
ropes fell away.

His jaw dropped. “How the hell did you do
that?”

She crouched beside him and with a knife she
took from her boot, cut his bindings. “Assassin, remember? We’re
taught all kinds of handy things.”

Zayn glanced over at the fire. “We need to
wait for them to fall asleep.”

“Yeah.”

“And we should eat some of this gourmet
cuisine and drink whatever is in the skin.”

She glanced at the offerings and grimaced.
“I’ve had worse.”

They ate and slowly the cold of the desert
night had them shifting closer together, shoulder-to-shoulder. He
felt the shivers she tried to hide and wrapped an arm around her.
She held herself upright for a moment before relaxing into him.

Together they tied the ropes loosely around
their wrists and watched the shadows of the men as they prepared to
rest for the night. Sure enough, Clint came over one last time to
check on them, leaving after spitting a wad of…something disgusting
on the ground.

After Clint and Ray were horizontal on their
sleeping gear, Zayn and Ria waited longer to ensure they were truly
asleep. A long, eerie howl echoed through the night.

Zayn wasn’t sure what animal was serenading
the night and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to find out.

“Time to make a move, flyboy.” Ria pushed to
her feet, a slim shadow in the darkness.

Zayn stood and all the aches and pains
spilled in. He refused to let the groan past his lips.

But Ria was eyeing him. “What hurts?”

“Ribs.”

She stepped up close to him, her fingers
pressing into his side. Damn, but the scent of sweat an blood
shouldn’t tempt him like this.

“Might have a couple of breaks.” She kept
probing, her brow furrowed. “But I think you’re just bruised. Can
you handle riding a horse?”

Zayn couldn’t quite get his brain to work.
He imagined those quick, clever fingers on other parts of him. “Uh,
sure.”

“Good. I’ll get the horse, you wait
here.”

Moments later she returned with a brown mare
plodding behind her.

“Just one?” he asked.

“Just one and they might not bother
following us. Two, we can guarantee they’ll track us down.” She
secured the animal-skin waterbag to the saddle of the horse. “I’ll
get on first.”

She swung up, finding her seat.

Zayn couldn’t manage to mount with any sort
of grace, not with his ribs screaming bloody murder. He settled in
behind her.

“By the way, I found a present for you.” She
twisted and offered him her palm.

He couldn’t see much, but pressed his hand
to hers. He felt the small pills. “Tell me these are pain blockers
and I’ll not only marry you, but bear your children.”

A soft laugh. “I’d like to see that. Yep,
pain blockers. I found them in Clint’s pockets.”

Zayn froze. “You rifled through their
pockets?”

“Assassin, remember? Good at sneaking.”

Zayn dry-swallowed the fast-acting pills. He
felt their instant effects moments later. The pain was gone and
energy zinged through his veins. “You are a goddess.” Without
thinking, he leaned down, tipped her chin back and kissed her.

She went still beneath his lips. Then she
returned the kiss for the barest second before they pulled apart.
There, cloaked by the darkness, they stared at each other.

Shit
. Zayn felt so drawn to this
woman and he was certain now it had nothing to do with his past or
his memories of another woman.

Ria cleared her throat. “We need to get
going.”

With a nod, Zayn urged the horse into action
and let the desert darkness swallow them.

Ria sat on the horse surrounded by darkness
and the heated warmth of Zayn Phoenix.

With the natural sway of his body to direct
her, she didn’t have the same jolting seat she’d suffered from
during her earlier riding attempts. This time they moved in a
natural rhythm with the horse.

But it was the hard, masculine body behind
her that stole all her attention.

As they moved, her bottom brushed against
his hard body. His strong arms surrounded her, one of his hot palms
resting on her belly, the other holding the reins. His warm breath
puffed against her hair, giving her crazy thoughts of tipping her
head back and kissing him. The way he’d kissed her before.

She released a breath. Now really wasn’t the
time to be fantasizing about Zayn. They had a mission and right
now, it wasn’t going well. Who knew where Lastite Lala had run off
to? There was every chance the Baker brothers would come after
them. Oh, and they were lost in the desert on a harsh, frontier
planet.

Ria stared up into the night sky. The stars
were so bright here. Like a spill of lights on a megacity world.
She’d always loved stargazing, imagining zipping through the
vastness of space, where anything was possible.

She frowned at the thought. That wasn’t
right. She’d rarely had the chance to study the stars. The red glow
of the Devil’s Nebula blocked out almost everything in the night
sky. And she’d been too busy with her grueling training to worry
about vastness and possibilities. Shaking off the strange thoughts,
she focused ahead, trying to see through the dark. They were
climbing up a hill, on a narrow track, with scraggly trees
appearing here and there from out of the darkness.

She wasn’t sure where they were headed, but
the horse seemed to know where it was going. As long as the thing
didn’t lead them back to Ray and Clint, she was happy. “Any idea
where we’re going?”

“I thought the hills would be cooler in the
day time. And we’ll have a better view from up there once the sun
rises.” Zayn shifted, his body pressing firmly against hers.

Ria swallowed the growing lump in her
throat. “Right. Sounds good.”

“Keep an eye out for somewhere decent for us
to rest. We both need to get some sleep.”

She only realized then that she was feeling
a little tired. She’d been trained to block out her body’s
responses. Zayn shifted again and she closed her eyes. She wasn’t
having much luck blocking out her desire for this man.

Then she felt the hardness pressed into the
small of her back.

“Sorry.” His tone was rueful. “Automatic
response to being pressed up against a woman like this, and the
damn rocking of the horse.”

Right
. Nothing to do with her
personally. “It’s fine.”

“Might be for you,” he muttered.

His hand moved a little on her belly,
slipping one inch lower. She didn’t think he was paying any
attention, but his touch was burning through her clothes right to
her skin. So, so tantalizing, just mere centimeters away from where
she was growing hot and damp.

“Talk to me.” His voice sounded a little
hoarse. “Distract me.”

“Talk about what?” Her voice didn’t sound
much better than his.

“Anything. Tell me about growing up.”

“A boring story.” Ria drew in a breath. She
didn’t often dwell on the past. “The Guild starts our training
young. As soon as we can sit up, they start subliminal training.
Different fighting techniques, strategy. Once we can walk, they
begin the physical training.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. They abuse
babies?”

She heard the horror. She knew it was hard
for others to understand. She shrugged, her gaze on the stars
overhead. “We have a warm bed, clothes, food. Regular medical
checkups and an education.”

“So you can become their slaves. Their
personal property.”

“Maybe.” She’d never thought about it like
that until recently. Until she’d started to dream of something
different, something more. “When we turn five, they start the
assassin training. They start making us kill.”

“Jesus.” Zayn muttered a few curses. “What
about love? Did someone hug you, kiss you goodnight?”

She had no memories of anything like that.
Just hazy images she knew where her own secret longings. Her
silence was obviously answer enough.

He cursed again and hugged her from behind.
“Everyone needs that.”

“You had that?”

The breath he released ruffled her hair.
“For a while. When I was little, well, my parents were happy then.
We grew up on Zerzuza.”

“So you’re used to the desert?” Zerzuza was
a desert planet filled with ancient ruins. No wonder they’d become
treasure hunters.

“Yeah. But it isn’t the harsh, rocky place
Diablo is. It’s all giant sand dunes, palm-fringed oases and an
inland sea that glimmers like a jewel. My brothers and I grew up
sledding down the dunes, exploring the old ruins that are scattered
over the planet. Skinny dipping in the sea.”

Her chest tightened. She could imagine Zayn
as a boy, racing after his older brothers. “Sounds idyllic.”

He was silent for a moment. “Then my mom
left and everything changed.”

“Why’d she leave?”

“Decided a washed-up treasure hunter didn’t
make a good husband and three rowdy boys were too much hard
work.”

She had no idea what it was like to have a
mother or to lose her, but Ria knew from his tone that it hurt.
“I’m sorry, Zayn.”

“I had Nik and Dathan.”

“And your father?”

A stony silence. Then Zayn spoke. “Dad
turned…bitter. Started to drink.” She felt Zayn shake his head.
“Shit, you don’t want to hear this.”

She swiveled as far as she could. His face
was all shadows and she felt the tension in his muscles. She
gripped one hard forearm, felt his muscles flex. “I do. Tell
me.”

“He started knocking us around. Dathan worst
of all. Dad made us work in his junk-yard, but he was never happy.”
A whispered curse. “God, some nights we’d have to scour the streets
to find what gutter he’d passed out in and drag him home. It was
about that time I dreamed of getting away. I used to race my
beat-up, old desert speeder as fast as I could. I wanted to fly off
at interstellar speed and never come back.”

Ria’s chest tightened. She pictured a small
boy with big blue eyes full of suffering. “And a career was
born?”

“A passion was born. I had a driving need to
fly. I wanted to explore every inch of the galaxy and do it as fast
as I could. Nik left for the Galactic Institute of Historical
Preservation, and the day I turned fifteen, I was accepted into the
Strike Wing Academy.”

One brother lost himself in books, the other
in speed. But she heard the sorrow in Zayn’s voice. “It didn’t make
you happy?”

“Oh, it made me deliriously happy. And for a
while, I forgot that we’d left Dathan all alone to deal with our
father.”

“Looks to me like Dathan’s done just fine
for himself.”