'You know you wouldn't, Urquat.'
'I curse your ships. You have far too many of them. I'll still buy as many as you'll sell.'
'No deal. Build your own.'
'Well, in that case, kindly clean up this mess and get off my station. I've done my part, and I didn't like it. Now you do yours and make sure his death can't be blamed on me.'
The Shrike said, 'His body will be found on Trystate, with witnesses to swear that he was killed in a drunken brawl. His crew stole his ship, and will never be heard from again.'
'You'll kill them all?'
'No, I have a buyer looking for a dozen Mar'Ashan males, one who doesn't listen to their stories.'
Urquat turned all four eyes on Rayne, who leant against the glass, wondering if she was going to be able to prevent herself from vomiting.
'I'll buy the girl, if you're still interested in selling her.'
'I have other plans for her.'
Urquat lowered the crystal cone, turned and slithered off. Tarke approached the glass cube and touched a pane, which swung outwards. He held out a hand, but she shied away from it, stepping around him as if he had developed a bad smell. He ignored her rejection and gripped her arm, guiding her over to the Mar'Ashan's body. An energy shell engulfed all three of them before she could protest, and dispersed to reveal the interior of the shuttle bay. Tarke led her away as several of his men moved towards the corpse. Clearly they had their orders, and his part in the process was over, so nothing remained but to relax.
Rayne yanked her arm free as they entered the cream and blue suite in which they had travelled from Gergonia. Shivering, she rubbed her arms to try to stop the unwelcome trembling that had invaded her. She had just seen a man, albeit an alien and a slaver, murdered in cold blood, and his murderer stood behind her. The horror of the situation chilled her, and her churning stomach would not settle down. She jumped when a gloved hand touched her arm, swinging around to find Tarke offering her a glass of something pale pink and fizzy. He pressed it into her shaking hands, and she was unable to resist when he pushed her into a chair and sat beside her. The strong alcohol burnt her throat, and she coughed, her shivers increasing. She was horribly aware of him beside her, this man she had thought gentle, who was in fact a monster.
The Shrike stood up, removed his coat and settled it around her shoulders, enveloping her in the lingering warmth and a slight masculine scent. She shuddered, longing to throw it off, and clutched the glass, staring into its pink depths. The silence grew tense, and when he sank back down with a sigh, it seemed loud.
'You're angry with me now, is that it? Not scared, surely?'
'Why not?' she bit out through tight lips. 'Don't you have to get rid of the witness too?'
'No. Tell anyone you want that I killed Jamdar. No one will believe you, because his body will be found on a distant planet, with a dozen eye witnesses to swear that he was killed in a drunken brawl. Didn't you hear me tell Urquat?'
She nodded, scowling at her drink. 'I should be angry, I suppose, if I'm as safe as you say. I'm more disgusted and shocked, I guess.'
'What, you didn't expect that from me? I suppose I should be flattered, but actually I'm disappointed by your lack of judgement.'
'That makes two of us. I'm disappointed by your lack of moral character.'
'Ah. Now we come to the crux of the matter.' He rose and went to pour himself another drink. 'You had started to imagine I'm some sort of outlaw prince, a sort of Robin Hood, to refer to your Earth legends, which I've been studying, by the way.'
Rayne looked up at him, startled. Without the coat, he was more slender than she had thought, and her eyes flicked over him. The coat lent him bulk and breadth he did not possess, although he still cut a powerful figure. She revised her previous opinion. He was not as broad or muscular as Rawn, but possessed a more graceful build. She lowered her eyes, realising that she was staring, and sensed his amusement at her scrutiny. He wandered back and settled beside her again.
'In case you're wondering, your expressions are as easy to read as a space line screen.' His soft voice mocked her, increasing her ire.
'You're certainly no Robin Hood,' she gritted. 'Just a damned slaver and a murderer.'
'And a thief, don't forget.'
'What are you going to do with me now?'
He shrugged. 'You've served your purpose, so now I'll really sell you, I suppose. I'll tell Tallyn where to find you, to get him off my trail, as I had planned.'
'You bastard.'
'You should be grateful. You get to go home.'
'Only because Tallyn's looking for me. He's the one who deserves my gratitude.'
He cocked his head, the mask glittering. 'True. Good old Tallyn, guardian of the Golden Child, defender of the weak and enemy of the wicked. He might not be so zealous when you've served your purpose.'
'I still have my brother.' She remembered her abduction with a grimace. 'If he's still alive.'
He sipped his drink, and she jumped up, shrugging off the coat. 'Why did you kill him?'
'Jamdar? He was a rival slaver, and a slimy bastard. Slavers kill each other all the time. It's how we stay in business. Kill or be killed, and grab as much of what the other guy's got as you can.'
Rayne put down her drink, her stomach still in a tight, queasy knot. A strong sense of betrayal filled her, and she did not understand why she was so upset. With herself and him, not because she had misjudged him, but because he had deceived her, and she had not realised it. Mindra had said that she was able to sense people's moods and emotions as well as when they were lying, yet she had been convinced that he had been himself before, and now she knew it had been an act. His gentleness and wry generosity had been the facade she had dreaded, and her pain at his deception ran so deep it sickened her. A touch on her arm made her start, and she swung around to find him standing beside her again.
'You look ill. Perhaps you should lie down.'
Rayne glared at the mask, longing to rip it off and look into his eyes, to see the truth in them, where he could not hide it. How could a cold-blooded killer be kind and considerate, his soft voice filled with concern? She moved out of his reach.
'I'd like to be left alone, if you don't mind. In fact, I'd rather not see you again.'
He sighed, putting his drink down. 'All right.'
Rayne listened to his footsteps leave the room, and the swish of the door closing behind him, then sank down on the chair, covered her face, and wept.
Chapter Thirteen
Tallyn glared at his second-in-command with glinting black eyes as he stood over Marcon's console. 'It's moved? Now it's moved? We're a few light minutes from one of the Shrike's fortified bases, and now you tell me the signal's moved?'
'Yes, sir,' Marcon said, unfazed by his commander's ire.
Tallyn swung away with a curse. 'Then change our heading! Follow it. Where's it going now, anyway?'
'It's coming from the territory of a nearby slaver, a Rentarian called Urquat. The signal's only a few light hours old.'
'Good. At least that's good news. Maybe it's better this way, Urquat is a small slaver, he won't be a problem. Now that we know exactly where she is, how long until we get there?'
'An hour, maybe a few minutes more.'
'Make it a few minutes less.' Tallyn frowned at the main screen, which was blank. 'I want boarding crews ready in fully armoured space suits. We have to be ready for anything. And keep us linked, I want to use the Net to transfer the men, take them by surprise.'
Rawn looked up. 'Shouldn't we demand that she be returned first? She might be hurt in the fighting, or they might use her as a hostage. We could use the threat of Vengeance to force him to hand her over.'
