Shade lifted one hand and rubbed the back of his neck, just like Jax did when he was torn about something. “I can get you a door at half price,” he eventually said.
My heart wound up like a crazy clock in my chest. “Really? That’s amazing!” I could make that work. I hated to do it, but I could sell the precious books I had in my possession instead of giving them to the Intergalactic Library like I’d planned. If I found the right buyer for the books, and if the door was really half-price, we could be up and flying out of here in a week. And I’d still have the food for the Outer Zone colonies. When it came down to it, I’d rather keep the provisions than the books. It wasn’t even a choice.
Shade looked away from my big, fat, grateful smile as though it offended him or something. I felt it die on my lips.
A little stung but still appreciative of the generous offer on the door, I moved to the edge of our docking platform and looked out over Albion City. A sprawling latticework of tall buildings spread endlessly before me, all soaring metal, polished stone, and bright, shiny glass.
The morning sun reflected off the millions of windows, almost blinding me. I wondered about all the people behind those windows, about their daily lives. So different from mine. And probably from each other’s as well.
The Sector 2 city looked settled, maybe even like a nice place to live, if you could deal with the regular Dark Watch patrols. Then again, those were everywhere, from the mansion-lined avenues of Sector 12 to the crumbling slums of the far reaches of the galaxy. I only knew of one place where the Dark Watch couldn’t come knocking—and that was because they didn’t know it was there.
A ship could slip completely out of sight in the Fold, and if we’d had enough power left yesterday, I would have tried to find it instead of diving headfirst into the Black Widow. In retrospect, I should have gone there first and avoided the whole chase, but I’d always managed to outrun the Dark Watch before, and I’d had no idea how important the lab was, or how vigorously the military would come after it.
It didn’t help that the Fold was a bitch to find, even for those who knew how to look. I never would have known about the rebel hideaway if Jax and Fiona hadn’t trusted me with the secret first. No one found the Fold unless they were brought there. And enemies that somehow made it in on rebel ships… They didn’t come out again.
The pocket between the stars knew how to protect itself, and for some, it turned into a one-way trip. Others were born, lived, and died there, their existences revolving around a single cause. The Fold was home to them, the only safe one around, but it was just an occasional stopover for Nightchasers like us, rebels running people and supplies around the Dark.
Thinking in terms of a safe place to dock made me want to do a quick flyby of Starway 8, but unless I had something vital to contribute to the huge galactic orphanage, I would never risk drawing the military there. Kids liked to run their mouths, and that never ended well. And Mareeka was too much of a rebel at heart to ever let the children under her care get pushed around by the Overseer’s goons. Publicly, she dotted her i’s and crossed her t’s, and the Dark Watch patrols mostly left her alone.
And it was a damn good thing. If my father knew even half of what went on in that place—the chaos and joy and illicit learning of the old texts—he’d probably blow the whole orphanage up, kids and all.
Looking down from our Squirrel Tree perch, I sniffed the quickly warming air, which was already thickening with the brighter light of the climbing sun and with the droning sounds of the city waking up around us. It was going to turn into another hot day on Albion 5, but at least it didn’t smell half bad here.
I lifted both arms above my head and stretched, trying to work out the muscle kinks sleeping on my hard, thin mattress had left. When I turned back around, Shade’s eyes darted quickly away, as if he’d been watching me.
Heat stole through me. I wished I could figure him out.
Jax’s head poked out from the open doorway. “Coffee’s ready, Tess.” He scowled at me. “Please come away from the edge.”
I immediately moved closer to the ship. I knew how it freaked Jax out when I spacewalked or went anywhere near someplace where there was even a remote possibility of my falling off or slipping away or simply…being lost.
“You must be the muscle Tess was talking about,” Shade said.
Jaxon turned his head. “You must be the guy with the parts.”
The Shade from yesterday would have at least smirked at the guy with the parts. Today, all he did was hold out his hand to Jax, and the two men shook.
“Do you want to come in for some breakfast?” I asked Shade.
“No, thanks. I’m going to take stock of the damage again,” he answered. “Start making a plan.”
It should have sounded good to me that he was serious and getting straight to work. Instead, an odd feeling of disappointment seized the place that should have been for relief.
Nodding, I said, “Just call out if you change your mind.”
“I already ate,” Shade answered.
Well. That was final.
And I shouldn’t have cared. I was out of here in a week.
I reached up, and Jaxon gripped my wrists and easily lifted me back onto the ship. If Shade had needed a demonstration of Jax’s strength, he’d gotten one. Not many people could haul a nearly six-foot woman straight up.
Together, Jax and I headed for the smell of strong coffee. Jax made the best cups.
We met Fiona in the entranceway to the kitchen. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and she looked fresher than I’d felt in days. It had been her turn today. Miko was next. I’d get a shower again after that.
Maybe Shade knew where to buy half-priced water and discounted recycling tanks. In the meantime, luckily for all of us and our noses, extra-strength deodorant was cheap.
“Who’s the tall set of muscles poking around our ship?” Fiona asked me with a bit of a grin.
“Shade Ganavan.”
Her eyebrows slowly went up. “Got anything more to say about that?”
I fought my own grin and started with the most obvious. “Easily six foot two, two hundred pounds, dark-brown hair, light-brown eyes, flirty in the afternoon, grumpy in the morning.”
Fiona laughed. “Maybe he needs some coffee.”
Maybe. Or some rest. The guy looked like he hadn’t slept a wink. He definitely hadn’t changed his clothes or shaved.
Something uncomfortable slid sideways through my chest. Had he flirted with me and then gone off and been with some other woman all night?
I forced the slight pang to keep going and slide right on out. None of my business.
Miko had eggs, bacon, and potatoes on the table for her and Shiori already. Jax was pouring the coffee for everyone, so I got his, Fiona’s, and my plates while Fiona peeled our daily orange and doled out the parts.
Oranges were often hard to split evenly into five, and if there was an extra wedge, Fiona always made sure that Shiori got it. Grandmother was the only one who couldn’t see that she was getting more than the rest of us, and no one ever told her.
“So how much are the repairs going to cost us?” Jax asked.
I told them, and everyone stopped eating. They’d go back to their meals eventually, but for the moment, they were absorbing the fact that our safe was about to get cleaned out.
“Are you sure this guy’s prices are reasonable?” Miko asked. “Maybe you should shop around before you let him get started.”
The idea of making multiple inquiries left me uneasy. The less any of us talked to other people or walked around Albion City—or anywhere, for that matter—the better. I was already going to have to go down to street level again to try to sell those books. I just hoped there were some people on Albion 5 who still liked reading old tomes. Even though the official ban had finally been lifted on many of the surviving texts, most people were still too nervous to pick up anything without the galactic seal of approval on it. Approved books were all propaganda-filled, glory-to-the-Overseer, brainwashing hogwash, but at least they didn’t get you harassed.
“It’s a little steep,” I answered about Shade’s pricing. “But I don’t think I’ll find much better anywhere else on this rock.”