He presses that knife so hard against my thigh I can’t believe it doesn’t sink into my flesh.
Darr leans in closer:
“Think that heist with the Aurelians was our last one?” He laughs bitterly. “Nah, babe. We’re just getting fucking started! Next, you’re going to steal from the King’s palace.”
My eyes widen in horror. Darr just grins.
“That’s right, bitch – and then we’re getting you some nice reconstructive surgery, and we’re going interplanetary.”
He pauses, letting his words sink in. I wish Darr was delusional, but I know he’s not. He’s a mastermind. He’s got dozens of thieves working for him already, and though he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, he runs a tight-knit operation so he can safely fence his stolen goods. He never gets greedy. He takes, and then he disappears.
If he thinks we can steal from the King himself, I believe him. After all, those Aurelians had amassed a fortune to rival that of the King himself. If I have an explosive implant in my neck, there’s no way I can refuse Darr’s demands. These aren’t just delusions of grandeur. They are gambles with my life on the line.
I gulp, and look him in his eyes, pleading with the man who’s the closest thing I’ve had to a father at any point in my miserable life.
“Okay. Darr.” I nod. “Look. I fucked up…. I fucked up, okay?”
Darr shakes his head, slowly. He almost sounds sympathetic when me growls:
“No… I fucked up. I wasn’t quick enough to stop you. You’re swift, you know that? I had a man tailing you, and he lost sight of you going into Sector-fucking-2. You didn’t even know he was behind you the whole time, though, did you?”
I shake my head. “No.”
Darr smiles. His brown, mismatched teeth gleam in the sunlight. He reaches over and takes a big gulp of the coffee in front of him – one he must have bought earlier to make it look like this terrace table was simply a place for him and I to sit beneath the shade of an umbrella.
He sips the coffee – but the knife against my thigh never wavers.
“That’s why you’re the best, Mia. You’re a shadow. You’re a ghost. We’re going to do great things together.” He narrows his eyes. “But I have a question. Why did you come back? You were so fucking close – even I wouldn’t have followed you to Oasis.”
I wince. I know he’ll see through a lie.
“The Aurelians.”
Darr’s eyes widen.
“They treated me like no one has ever…”
“They treated you like they treat every beautiful slut they haven’t fucked yet, Mia,” Darr snorts. “Don’t kid yourself, you silly mare. I put you in that home knowing you’d see through their advances, and knowing you’d refuse…”
He snorts.
“But even if you hadn’t, your virginity was a small price to pay – the cost of the job, right?” He shakes his head. “Do you know what percent of the job your cut was?”
“Ten?”
“Less than one percent.”
Holy shit!
“But don’t worry, baby,” Darr’s grin is less than reassuring. “You’re going to be upgraded to a partner’s share from now on. I’m tired of doing small jobs. I’ve got real estate, Mia. I’ve been buying up the slums. We’re going to start an Empire together, you and me.”
I shake my head. “Darr, I don’t… I don’t want this.”
“You don’t have a choice! Now, get up. There are three other men in the crowd, so don’t think you’re getting away this time.”
Even if I make a break for it, I know Darr is faster in the short run. If I try and make a break for it, he’ll sprint like a rugby player, and either tackle me to the ground – if I’m lucky – or he might not stop himself from planting that knife deep into the back of my neck if I’m not. He’s got a temper on him like a bull, and sometimes his rage overcomes his normal cunning.
I stand. Darr moves the knife from my thigh for a second…
This could be my chance.
…and then I feel the knife pressing against my back, right over my right kidney. One thrust, and I’ll be bleeding like a skewered womp rat.
Reluctantly, I walk forward, away from the crowds of the marketplace. We turn the corner…
“Stop.”
The words instantly bring us to a halt. My heart surges as I recognize the voice – such a low, deep rumble that I almost feel it rather than hear it.
It’s Gallus.
“Don’t move.”
He says the words achingly slowly, with dry confidence. I look up to see him standing there, around the corner, towering like a statue. His Orb-Sword is drawn – the blade of that otherworldly weapon, a signature of the Aurelian Empire, shimmering and shuddering in the light. Unlike a steel blade, the Orb-Sword doesn’t reflect the light. Instead, it seems to draw it all in – as though it’s a black hole with a relentless appetite. The blue-black blade hums, as if hungry for blood – and the look in Gallus’s slate-grey eyes suggests he’s more than willing to feed that hunger.
“Shift an inch and you’re dead.” That’s Varian’s voice, coming from behind us. He steps from the shadows – moving as deftly as a cat. Cyrus suddenly stands to our right, his own Orb-Sword low and shuddering with otherworldly energy.
Darr freezes behind me, and I can sense the sudden jolt of terror coming from the big man. I’ve never seen Darr afraid of anything…
…until now.
Suddenly, the knife is yanked from my back and pressed hard against my throat.
“Don’t you come any closer, you grey-skinned bastards! Don’t you move a fucking inch, or I’ll slit her fucking throat.” He steps slightly to his right. “And don’t think I can’t see you behind me, cunt. I can fucking see you both!”
Darr doesn’t look back towards Cyrus or Varian, but he doesn’t need to – they stand exactly where he said they would.
But those two are the least of my captor’s
