Page 122 of Smuggler's Beauty

“What was in that gas?” Aiden asked the room at large.

“Nothing toxic, kiddo. We’re fine. Well. Annoyed, but fine.” Elenor rolled onto her side and gave him a visual assessment. “You hit your head pretty bad on the way down.”

“Always trust the gut. And carry antacids. Cover all the bases,” Veselko said between crunches.

Nannette paused in her pacing. Aiden strained his ears as she flapped her hand at them to shut up. Elenor tapped the bottom of the bunk, and Veselko’s workout stopped rustling the fabric.He flipped himself around so that he was entirely supported by the bed and stilled. There were footsteps echoing in the corridor.

“Sir! The prisoners have been contained as instructed,” said the guard. Young, if Aiden was gauging the voice correctly. Child soldiers felt a bridge too far for Bellica, but the guard on the other side of the door couldn’t have been an adult for long.

Sounds like his voice still cracks when he’s stressed.

“Excellent, Anders. Top work. Hmm. Anders, you seem to have a spot of something on your uniform.” Aiden frowned. The man speaking sounded familiar. “Can’t have that, can we? I have just the thing right here.”

The worry Aiden had for Evelyn turned to anger as he realized who was on the other side of the door.

“Son of a bitch,” Nannette whispered.

My sentiments exactly.

A flash of light broke through the cracks in the door. Aiden heard a jittering noise, then flailing limbs and clattering weaponry. Keys jangled as they hit the ground, and again when they were picked up and inserted into the door of the cell.

The door swung open, and Mathias stood before them in a Bauder officer’s uniform. He kicked the guard’s weapon away from his twitching body and reached down to tie his wrists together behind his back.

Nannette had resumed her pacing. On her approach back to the door, she reared back and punched Mathias in the nose right as he entered the cell. It made an unsettling crunch as the cartilage succumbed to the impact of her fist. Blood poured out of his sinuses. He swore and patted his pockets in search of a handkerchief.

Aiden was sorry he only had one nose to break.

“Nice way to greet your liberator,” Mathias muttered. He lifted the cloth to his nose and prodded it gently before lettingout a hiss. “You broke my fucking nose. That’s way hotter than it should be. Fuck. Ow.”

“Didn’t see that one coming?” Veselko said, swinging himself off the top bunk. “Having an off day?”

“Everyone’s a comedian,” Mathias said, examining the handkerchief.

“Does it count as liberation when you’ve set us up to be in the damn cells in the first place?” Aiden asked.

“Or a philosopher.”

Elenor swung herself off the bottom bunk and settled herself back into her jacket. She offered Aiden a hand up off his cot. He took it, and she gave it a reassuring squeeze. He was impressed by how much she could convey in a simple touch. “It’s all going to be okay,” for example, and also “What a fucking idiot.” He squeezed her hand back, hoping he conveyed “Absolutely, everything will be fine” and “I know, right? What a putz.”

Veselko hopped off the top bunk and scooped up Nannette’s jacket, holding it out for her to shrug into and mouthing “nice aim.” She bowed before working her arms into the sleeves and pulling the cravat from the pocket.

“Hey, asshole, you seem to have left vital fucking information out of our briefing,” Veselko said. “Also, you may want to set that before it heals crooked. It sucks when they have to break it again to fix it.”

“He’s right, you know. On both counts. Come here,” Elenor said. She reached up for Mathias’ face. He leaned down toward her. She examined his nose gingerly, and he hissed again at her touch. “You need ice soon. And a splint.”

He nodded. “I don’t suppose you’d accept that I was just following orders?”

“That excuse hasn’t flown on our planet for over a hundred years,” Aiden said. “Also, what sort of psychopath instructs their ringers to go in blind?”

“Vinnie,” Nannette and Veselko said at the same time Mathias said “Corvinia.”

“Cold bitch,” Elenor said. “That’s her niece she abandoned. Well, as good as. What the hell was she thinking?”

Mathias looked at Aiden. Blood was still trickling down his face into his mouth. He mopped it up and shoved the handkerchief into his pocket. Nannette shoved her cravat at him. A remarkable show of grace considering she was the reason he was bleeding in the first place.

“Think about how you’re feeling right now. Is there anything you wouldn’t do to get to her? Any line you wouldn’t cross?”

What an absurd question to ask. He could only assume the man had never been in love. Aiden would gladly have torn apart space and time to get to Evelyn if he could.