The Huntress (9 page)

“Already done. Thanks, Boss.”

“ETA?”

“About thirty hours.”

“I’ll see you then, Hunter.”

Mea turned off the screen and slowly rose to her feet, feeling as though the artificial gravity of the ship had doubled. Making her way down the corridor, she entered the infirmary again. Warren signaled her to be quiet from his seat next to Ema’s table, and she could see that Regan was sleeping soundly. The overhead lights were off, and Ema had toned down her own golden glow for the sleeping child. Stone lay on another table with goggles off and one arm flung over his eyes. He looked asleep, but she saw him tense subtly when she entered the room.

“How is she?” Mea whispered, moving to Warren’s side.

Regan looked like an angel, thin face serene and gold tipped lashes resting against her smooth skin. Mea’s stomach twisted when she thought of how much this girl had been through in just the past few days, the danger she’d endured on Mea’s own ship.

“Much better. How’s Mike?”

“Pissed. He’ll want your report.”

He looked up at her, eyes solemn. “You want me to fudge anything?”

“No, Warren. Just tell the truth.” She rubbed a thumb over the worry wrinkle in his forehead. “You know they’d get it from you anyway.”

Nodding, he took her hand and kissed it absently. They watched the girl sleep for a few moments in companionable silence.

Then Mea sighed and said, “Well, I’m going to bed. Don’t wake me for anything but imminent destruction.”

“Got it.”

Giving his hand a squeeze, she turned toward the door. Stone was up on one elbow, watching her with a narrow gaze. Even as tired as she was, the dark velvet of his eyes sent a shiver down her spine and the muscles of her abdomen tightened.

She gave him a slow wink as she walked by. “Ship’s all yours, tiger.”

Moving down the corridor, she entered her room, stripped quickly, and fell onto the bed, asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

Chapter 8

Regan looked up from her meal with a bright smile as Mea entered the mess. Warren and Stone had been with her from the moment she’d opened her eyes on Ema’s table, but Warren was preoccupied and Stone hadn’t said much beyond “Hey, kid, how d’you feel?” since she’d opened her eyes. She hadn’t been bored exactly, but she was glad to see Mea.

The woman answered her smile with one of her own. “Morning, crew.” She looked more relaxed than Regan had ever seen her, dressed in a T-shirt with loose slacks, dark hair tumbling in damp waves around her shoulders, green eyes sparkling merrily.

Without pause, she walked past Stone, running a finger along the back of his neck as she did so. The big man jerked as though prodded, fork clattering onto his plate, and Regan smothered a giggle with one hand. She didn’t pretend to understand adults, but she wasn’t totally stupid about them either. She knew that there was something between Stone and Mea and she was behind it all the way. Maybe, just maybe, if they got together, they might want to keep her, too.

Regan felt Mea’s cool fingers on the nape of her neck and tipped back her head to look up at the woman.

“How’s your neck feel, sugar?”

“Good.”

“Ema gave you a clean bill of health?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Wonderful.” She gave Regan a peck on the forehead before turning away to the dispenser.

Regan couldn’t keep a goofy smile off her face, even when Stone looked at her with eyebrows raised.
What I wouldn’t give,
she thought in the secret parts of her heart,
to call these two my parents.

Mea sat down next to her with a steaming cup filled with a pungent liquid. After a sip and a sigh of gratification, the woman turned her twinkling gaze on Stone, a smile playing with the corners of her mouth. “And you, Bay? How did you sleep?”

Regan liked the shortened version of his new name but didn’t think he did. It was hard to tell, though, since he was wearing his goggles in the brightness of the mess hall and kept his face expressionless. He was silent for a long moment before picking up his fork. “Fine,” was all he said.

Regan couldn’t remember seeing him asleep.

“Are you sure? You seem quieter than normal.”

“How can you tell?” Regan muttered under her breath, but he heard anyway and paused to stare at her. She ducked her head and scooped food from her plate, chewing industriously and trying to ignore Mea’s chortle.

“Warren?”

The android seemed really engrossed in a digital pad in front of him, not even glancing up at Mea. She nudged his arm.

“Hmm?”

“Are we still on course?”

“On course?” He sent her a quick frown. “To home base? Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”

Mea turned her attention back to Stone, propping her chin on one hand and eyeing him with a wicked glint. “I admire your restraint. I did say the ship was yours.”

“Trust me, I thought about it,” he muttered in his deep voice but didn’t look at her.

“I do trust you,” she said softly. “Too bad you don’t feel the same about me.”

He raised his head and they gazed at each other in silence. Regan glanced from one to the other, feeling like a spectator at the Games. It seemed like the air had gotten thick enough to touch, but she held herself still, too fascinated to interrupt.

“Not eating breakfast?” Warren asked without looking up from his pad. Regan wondered if he’d just said that to distract the other two and frowned at him.

Mea sighed, turning her head slowly toward the android as if reluctant to look away from Stone. “You know I don’t eat before my workout.” She stretched a bit. “Speaking of …” Downing the liquid in the cup, she rose to her feet and looked down at Regan. “When you’re finished eating and get bored with these two, come find me in the training room.”

“Okay.”

Placing her cup in the sterilizer, Mea strode toward the exit but hesitated behind Stone. He stiffened when she leaned close and murmured something in his ear. Regan could see a wicked grin on Mea’s lips as she left, but her curiosity tripled when she saw a flush climb Stone’s neck. Warren snorted and she glanced over to see surprise
fading from his face, his lips turning up in a smirk. She guessed the android’s hearing was much better than hers.

“Let me tell you something, Stone. In all the years I’ve known that woman, no man has been able to resist her once she sets her sights on him. You’re holding up real well, but let’s face it; she’s got you on the run. Why don’t you just cave and save yourself the torture?”

Regan almost laughed in shocked surprise but held her breath to keep it in. Sometimes adults forgot you were there if you were quiet enough, and she wouldn’t have
missed this little adult drama for all the worlds.

Muscles bunched in Stone’s jaw before he spoke through clenched teeth, “Advice from an android?”

Warren laughed low in the back of his throat. “You think I resisted any better, just because I’m an android?”

“What?”
Stone’s hands fisted and Regan’s jaw dropped open.

Warren looked at Stone’s fists and raised his eyebrows. “What’s this? Jealous? I thought you didn’t want her.” He chuckled as Stone stood abruptly and stalked out of the room. Shaking his head, he looked over at Regan. “Stubborn.”

“You and Mea—really? I mean, you two…?”

“Yeah, but it was a long time ago. Didn’t last long.” He sent a thoughtful frown towards the closed door. “I don’t know what his problem is with her. Maybe he does men.”

“Warren!” Regan couldn’t keep the squeak of shock out of her voice.

“What?”

“I’m eleven!”

“Oh, yeah.” He grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Grown-ups!” she muttered, shaking her head in exasperation. Standing, she cleaned off the table and left Warren deep in his digital pad again. Finding the training room was harder than she’d thought it would be. She wandered down through the engineering section and found it by accident, in the forward part of the belly of the ship. It was larger than she’d expected.

Mea was seated on a mat, stretching. She’d exchanged slacks for shorts, long legs bare. “Hey, kidlet. Glad you found me.”

“Wow, this place is amazing!”

Equipment ranged all along one side of the room, weapons and instruments hung on the walls. The wall opposite the exercise equipment was fully mirrored. In one corner, strange cords hung down from the ceiling.

When Regan glanced from them to Mea in silent question, the woman explained, “That’s the VR setup. We run simulations on it. Different hunts.”

“Really? Can I try it?”

Mea snorted. “Not a chance in hell.”

Regan giggled and plopped down next to her. “Can you at least show me how to kick somebody’s butt?”

“Kick butt? Well, I can’t show you anything too strenuous. Your neck is still healing.” She eyed Regan thoughtfully. “I can start you with the basics, the first and most important lesson a hunter learns in physical training, though it’s boring as hell.”

“What is it?”

“Breathing.”

Regan looked at her dubiously, and Mea grinned before stretching forward, resting forehead on knees. “Breathing?”

“Um-hmm. You can’t be gasping like a landed fish during a fight, or running out of breath while chasing down a target. If you can control your breathing, you can pace yourself and not wear out as quickly.”

Regan considered this, tugging on one earlobe. What she really wanted to learn was how to punch and kick, but if this was how a hunter started… “Okay. What do I do?”

Over the next few minutes, Mea demonstrated breathing and relaxation techniques, and then watched Regan repeat them. Then she got up and moved toward the equipment, speaking over her shoulder. “Now, remember to relax. If you tense up and stiffen that neck of yours, Ema’s going to take it out on my hide. And breathe from the diaphragm. If you get bored, just let me know.”

So Regan practiced breathing. At first, she concentrated on the technique of it, but then her muscles relaxed and her mind began to drift pleasantly. She was unaware of the passage of time until something tickled at the edge of her consciousness, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Stone stood next to her, arms folded, gazing into the room. Regan turned her head to see what held his attention. Mea was in the center of the room fighting with two strange people. Regan jerked in alarm, wondering where the two strangers had come from, but then she saw one flicker and realized that she was looking at holograms.

She scrambled to her feet. “Wow. Holograms.” Stone glanced down at her with eyebrows raised and she grinned sheepishly. “I was practicing breathing. I didn’t see her.”

“Breathing?”

“I wanted to kick butt. She showed me how to breathe instead.”

“Kick butt, huh?” His lips twitched. “What’d you wanna know?”

“Well…” Regan gestured at the combatants. “All that!”

They watched the fighters for a minute. To Regan it looked like a dance—a very fast one. Mea flexed, twisted, spun, and struck with such blinding speed, Regan could barely follow it all.

“Hmm. Maybe you’d better stick to breathing.”

She looked up at him in wonder. Had he just made a joke? “Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

He gave her the eyebrows again. Regan giggled behind her hands.

“End program,” Mea said in a slightly breathless but clear voice. The holograms disappeared and she wiped one hand across her forehead, taking deep breaths and pacing in circles. Her bright green eyes flicked their way, a twinkle in their depths. “Care to try, handsome? I could always use a real sparring partner.”

He didn’t answer, but any humor Regan had sensed in him disappeared, and she felt a stab of disappointment. She didn’t understand him. Mea had given him a whole new life and he acted like he hated her. Maybe he hated them both. That thought had her sinking down onto the mat and biting her lip to keep tears away.

“No? Suit yourself.” The woman continued pacing, but the lines of her face hardened. “We need to go over your story. My boss, Michael Conley, is going to be digging into this pretty hard, and we all need to be on the same page as far as who you two are and how you ended up on my ship. I recommend sticking as close to the truth as possible. So for you, squirt—” Mea walked over and dropped with casual grace next to her. “I think you should tell the story about the ship just exactly as you told me. Maybe
leave out the part where he’s your father.” She nudged the girl with a teasing grin, and Regan dropped her head in embarrassment.

“My father and mother died when I was two. I’m sorry I lied to you about Stone being my dad.”

Mea snorted. “You’re an atrocious liar and you need more practice. We’ll work on that later. As for the end of your story, you could tell them you don’t know why Terrik took you with him. You could guess that perhaps he thought you’d come in handy—for example, selling your ass for transport.”

Regan looked up at her in horror, but the woman was glaring at Stone. How could she bring that up again? Tears stung her eyes as she ducked her head, stomach clenching with despair. He hadn’t wanted her then. What made her think either one of these two would want her now?

A big warm hand cupped the back of her neck, and Regan darted a look to see Stone crouching next to her.

“Hey. I didn’t mean what I said back there.”

“You didn’t?” Regan winced at the quaver in her voice and swiped at the tears on her face.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want you hunted. Didn’t want you hurt.”

“You were trying to protect me?”

“That’s right.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, smiling shyly at him.

A hint of a smile danced around his mouth before he stood back up, running a hand across her head once before moving away. The knot in Regan’s stomach eased as hope snuck back in. She turned her smile on Mea who responded with a wink, leaf-green eyes gentle.

“Better?” the woman asked softly, and Regan nodded. “Okay, then, back to business. So—”

“So I find out Terrik wants to sell me and I run away from him. Then I meet Stone. He tries to help me get off the moon before Terrik finds me again.”

“Not bad. Definitely workable. We meet, I offer to transport you… We need details.” Mea glanced over her shoulder to where Stone stood inspecting the weapons on the wall. “Would you stop coveting my toys and come over here? We need to get this done before Warren finds us.”