Silver Tongued Devils (8 page)

“Inside their facility?”

She nodded. “Once I have their main
system, I can unlock the stasis chain and we can bail.”

“You want to walk into an Imperial
station, take over their security system, enable a pirate ship to
escape and do all this without getting killed or
caught?”

Raesa glanced up and a smile tugged at
her lips. “I didn’t say it was a good plan. You told me you needed
to break free. Getting me inside is the only way it’s going to
happen.”

“Your plan sucks. Come up with a better
one.”

“Bribery isn’t an option, I take
it.”

“No.”

“We need to know why they’re holding
onto us. Ransom?”

Na’varr remained silent and she glanced
his way. He knew something about why they were stuck, but wouldn’t
say it. That just irked the hell out of her.

“If you’ve got a card up your sleeve,
Captain, now is the time to play it.”

“I can claim diplomatic
immunity.”

Raesa clamped her mouth shut on the
immediate question that popped into her mind. Diplomatic immunity
for a pirate? What the hell kind of man was Anderson Na’varr? “If
you declare it, what happens next?”

“I can request an escort to the main
facility.”

She sat back in the chair and racked
her brain for options. Hours of political asylum laws came back to
her sluggish mind. “You have diplomatic immunity under what flag of
protection?”

“Andovian.”

She stared down at the datapad.
Andovian? The same bastards who had taken away her life, killed her
father. Raesa clenched her jaw and tried to sort through the mix of
emotion in her head and heart. Was Na’varr an enemy or a war
survivor? Her gut told her the latter. “You’re in
hiding.”

“Yes. There are many people who’d like
to take me down.”

So he was dangerous to current regime,
just like her father had been. “Do you have a schematic of this
facility? Anyone who can feed me information?”

“None.”

“Great.” She considered their options
and an inkling of a plan formed. “I remember something about body
slaves being able to accompany and Andovian diplomat. Do you have
that document somewhere?”

“I’ll pulse it to you.”

Na’varr picked up her hair and let it
fall gently over her shoulder.

Warmth fluttered in her stomach. “What
are you doing?” She glanced up and saw a strange smile on Na’varr’s
face.

“You have an idea.”

Her face grew hot. Was he praising her?
“That depends on whether Brom can still make someone look like a
hybrid.”

If he was surprised she knew about it,
he hid it well. “He can, but why a hybrid?”

“Haven Crisis is a cesspool of hybrid
trafficking. It’s easy to sneak hybrids on and around their station
since they’re overlooked.”

“You sound like you know this place
pretty well.”

She tilted her head. “I know this for
the same reason I know what Brom can do with a body etching
kit.”

“I need to know the rights of your body
slaves in a diplomatic situation.”

“You’ll have it by the time Brom comes
to you.” He took her hand and guided her out of the armchair. “I
have something for you.”

“What?”

He brushed his thumb over the curve of
her ear and then something cold clamped on the side. Na’varr
stepped away and put a hand over his mouth. “Can you hear
me?”

His voice came straight into her ear.
She reached up to touch it. An ear cuff?

“It looks like jewelry. Don’t get it
wet.”

She nodded and he caressed her lip
before giving her a tender kiss. Raesa expected her body to kick
into overdrive, but her heart rate was the only thing
racing.

Na’varr ended the kiss. “If we’re going
to claim diplomatic immunity, I have preparations to make. Brom
will come to you. Until then, work on that plan.”

“Send me that document.”

“I will.”

He smiled and walked away.

Every time he touched her, something
strange happened in her chest. Raesa shook her head.

***

Brom held a slim bag clenched in his
hand as he strode down the passageway. Na’varr had sent Brom to
Raesa again. Didn’t he know how much it killed Brom to be this
close to her?

We have less than an hour
before they come and take me. Change into the Andovian body slave
gear. Give her this. She’ll have a plan already.
What did Na’varr mean by that? What had happened
between them to make Na’varr so confident in her? Should he be
worried?

He shook off his doubts and reached the
door to her room. Brom knocked lightly on the door.

It opened and Raesa’s worried
expression lightened the moment she saw him. “Brom.” Her shy smile
unraveled the tension coiling in his stomach. Without hesitation
she brushed a kiss on his cheek.

Shock hit him with a sledge hammer
while warmth radiated from her touch. Would he ever get used to her
open affection?

“How long do we have?” She pulled him
in and shut the door.

His gaze narrowed. “Until
what?”

“They’ll come for Na’varr. I heard the
command order.” She gestured toward the wall and he realized the
security panel was open.

Wires were attached in a worrisome
spread. “Were you listening in?”

She grinned. “On Na’varr’s orders,
actually. What do you have there?”

“A gift from the Captain. He said you’d
have a plan. We’re to dress up like body slaves.”

Raesa’s cheeks flushed with pleasure.
“I do have one. Let’s see what he was able to get for
us.”

He handed her the bag.

“Thank you.” She took it and opened it
up. “A body etching kit.” She handed it to Brom. “You’ll need to
check it for everything you need.”

Brom stared at the metal container
without comprehension. “What am I doing?”

“Paint me up. Make me look like
you.”

What is she
thinking?

“I need to get on their station to
break the stasis chain keeping us grounded.” She rifled through the
bag with a single-minded determination that surprised
him.

“How do you plan to do
that?”

“If they follow protocol, Captain
Na’varr has to appear before the registration officer or site
supervisor. We’ll go with him.” She yanked out a pair of trous and
a dark shirt. “As an Andovian diplomat, he gains special
treatment.”

So she knew Na’varr was Andovian? How
much had the captain told her?

Brom watched her shimmy out of the
tunic. His mind stuck to her words but his gaze traveled an
appreciative caress over her curves. He cleared his throat. “What
does that have to do with making you look like a
hybrid?”

“By law, all Andovian diplomats of the
royal family are authorized two body slave escorts.” She slipped
the shirt on and began buttoning it up. “The escorts can carry no
weapons, only comfort items for the diplomat.” The dark material
shone brilliantly against her pale skin, enhancing both.

Raesa tugged on the trous. They were
too long and a bit too loose around her waist, but he liked the way
they hugged her ass and thighs.

“How do you know about this stuff?”
Brom shrugged on a shirt. He caught her warm gaze and grinned at
her appreciative smile.

Her emotions were like an open book.
That’s why this idea of hers was worrying him.

“I spent many years studying from
whomever would teach me. My father taught me protocol and
self-defense. I picked up languages with ease from whomever he
could wrangle to spend time with me.” Sadness seemed to well up in
her eyes and he fought the urge to comfort her.

If he took her in his arms, he’d never
let go, and that was dangerous. “Is that where you gained your
hacking skills?”

“Among other things, yes. I had an
affinity for machines from an early age. When I dove into
programming, it was just another language.”

If her speculation on the body slaves
were right, they would be able to get on the ship. So that was why
she wanted the hybrid etching on her skin.

“What are we going to do about your
Isis collar?”

She shrugged. “I haven’t made it that
far, yet.”

Raesa took a slim silver case out of
her black bag and opened it. She held up a gorgeous, carved
stiletto. It shone matte black in the light. No shine. Where did
she get that?

“A very beautiful woman showed a set of
these to me once.” She pulled out another one. “She said beauty
must be deadly in the world we live in. They are designed to be
worn as hair ornaments. Weapons hiding in plain sight.”

“You want to become a pretty
plaything.” A hybrid body slave would be easier to overlook than a
human one. With her delicate face and build, she’d be considered
harmless by most men. Brom knew, however, just how deadly she could
be. His jaw still ached to think about it.

He opened the cosmetic etching kit and
stared into her eyes. “What makes you think I can make you look
like a hybrid?”

Raesa licked her lips and took in a
slow breath. “My father told me a story once. It was about a mining
colony on an unregistered asteroid.”

Brom’s chest tightened. The unwelcome
twist in his gut unnerved him.

“He said a man successfully smuggled
forty-eight hybrid children out of captivity there.”

Memories of that hellish existence
rushed into his mind. The children were broken, used, and then left
for dead when the ore dried up. Brom cleared his throat and
injected the first color into the etcher. “He probably sold them
into slavery.”

“That’s the strange part. None of the
children showed up in registration.”

Brom stared at Raesa. How did she know
any of this? He was careful to cover his tracks. “Get to the
point.”

“The children were split up and sent
through different outposts. Ten of them came through mine.” She
wrapped her hair in a fascinating knot. The first stiletto slid
through her tresses, somehow holding it place. “The kids told me
something very interesting. It seems a majority of them weren’t
hybrids, but you painted them that way. Why?”

He sat on the edge of the bed and added
a carmine dye capsule to etcher. “What happened to the kids?” He’d
never asked, never wanted to know. If they met again, he’d bring
them back into danger.

“They were all placed with good
families.”

“Naive.”

“No. Who do you think created their
identities and found them new homes?” She sat beside him. Her
stunning blue eyes captivated him. They were rare in this universe
and perfect for his little hellcat hacker.

“A hybrid is less than human to the
Andovian Republic and their Imperial allies. No one cares about a
bunch of hybrid brats. It was easier to slip them through the
system that way.” He held out his hand. “It appears you know me a
lot better than I’d anticipated.”

“I’ve been following you and Captain
Na’varr for a long time.”

Why?
He wanted to ask but knew he wouldn’t. “Tell me your
plan.”

She slid her fingers against his. “It
seems like you and I did this once before.” Her expressions were
fascinating. The joy in her eyes matched the smile on her face.
“You held out your hand like this in the cargo bay, too. Thank you
for trusting me.”

Warmth spread from her touch. To trust
her would be the most dangerous thing of all.

***

Raesa’s skin tightened and ached where
his etcher did its magic. It was a temporary pigment adjustment.
Three weeks and it would be back to normal. No matter how many
times she’d talked to those kids, it had never occurred to her to
ask how uncomfortable it made them.

With guilt she realized her
irritation was selfish.
Of course, they
were used to hell. What was this to them?
She pinched the bridge of her nose while he injected a new
cartridge.

“I’ll keep it to your face, neck and
shoulders. There’s no point in going any lower.” Brom seemed
uncomfortable, almost angry.

“You don’t like the plan.”

“I don’t like putting you in harm’s
way.”

“Do you have any other record-breaking
hackers on your ship? If so, I’d be happy to step aside,” she
snapped at him and hated it, but he’d been poking at her plan for
the past forty minutes.

“It’s not about your skill level,
Raesa. Do you know what happens to hybrid women in captivity?” His
jaw clenched.

Raesa’s anger deflated in an instant.
“Yeah. I know.” Their brutal deaths were burned into her retinas
along with the broken female children who’d been brutalized on the
mining colony. “Don’t think being fully human makes us immune to
it, Brom.”