Page 35 of Smuggler's Beauty

“Not good enough,” Aiden said. A flash of something like pride, or maybe satisfaction, crossed Corvinia’s face, but it was gone again in an instant.

Never play cards with this woman.

“It’s not ideal, but alive is generally considered better than dead,” Corvinia said.

“They want to keep her as a fucking battery! She’s not a magical juice box they can suck on whenever they need a boost.” Aiden wanted to hit something. He almost went and punched the wall, but he didn’t want to leave a hole in Evelyn’s plaster.

“And when my plan works, they’ll never have the opportunity to use her or anyone like her ever again.”

“You seem confident,” Tariel said. “Is that born of precognition or bravado?”

“What do you think?” Corvinia asked. Tariel rolled his eyes.

“Let’s hear it then,” Veronique said. Aiden had almost forgotten about her down on the floor. She reached across the space and commandeered the mug from Corvinia, taking a swig out of it before handing it to Aiden. “Sip. You look like steam’s about to come out of your ears.”

“It’s pretty simple, really. I want to use videos of Evelyn to spark revolutionary outrage. A combination of security footage,archived shots of the planet, and taped speech. When the people on the ground are sufficiently riled and causing enough of a diversion for the guards Bauder has positioned on planet, the soldiers I have stationed in Emil’s Tanalian bases take control. We subdue the soldiers he’s counting on for reinforcements and send Tanalian loyalists in their place. Then we just slide her into the Senate, she asserts control of the government, and we have our planet back.”

“Oh, super simple.” Aiden sneered. “How does she assert control, Vinnie? Ask politely?”

“She has to confirm her lineage with a simple blood test in the Senate chambers and publicly declare her lack of confidence in Hubert’s ability to rule. It’s only been done once before, and the tech is woefully outdated, but it’s all quite quick. Emergency measures are meant to be swift,” she said.

“Are the people willing to fight?” Tariel asked.

“My folks on the ground say that the time is right. This isn’t the Tanalia their grandparents tell them about at night. They want the planet they were supposed to inherit.”

“And Emil is supposed to, what, not send out more reinforcements from Bauder as soon as he realizes what’s happening?” Aiden asked.

“He’s installed a very sophisticated shield around the planet — all his planetary assets, colonies. I’ve secured a worm to inject into the system to keep his ships from crossing the borders he’s so helpfully erected for us.”

“I see about a dozen holes in this plan,” Nannette said.

“Broad strokes.”

“You’re being awfully forthright,” Lillian said. “Don’t loose lips sink ships?”

“She wants us to help,” Aiden said, eyes narrowed. He saw all Vinnie’s pieces moving across his mental chessboard. Even if they didn’t have every detail of her plan, she had neatlystacked the deck in favor of Tanalian freedom. Cause planetary chaos, light a dozen fires at once, and slide in the new monarch while the military was too busy trying to save its own ass. The only piece she hadn’t secured was Evelyn. “Veronique to coach Evelyn through the videos. Lillian to hack them into the system. The rest of us to transport her back and keep her under the radar until the time is right. Kill some time picking up some weapons, supplies. Correct?”

Another reason not to hire Anika Kahn’s crew. They don’t have our skillset.

He almost laughed trying to imagine Ivan trying to direct Evelyn through a propaganda ad.

Corvinia nodded. “There were many reasons your crew was the logical one to go with. My man just confirmed my intuition.”

“Never been approached to work a political coup before,” Veselko said. “Could be interesting.”

“We’re gonna have to marinate on this, Vinnie,” Lillian said, rising from the loveseat. “This is a big fucking ask.”

“I’ll make it worth your while. You know I’m good for it. A century of compound interest has given me quite the war chest.”

“Speaking of expenses.” Elenor rose from the loveseat and reached into her blazer pocket, pulling out a stack of receipts bound together with a thick rubber band. She set the papers on the coffee table. “Had to get your girl some clothes and such.”

Corvinia nodded at the receipts. “Another reason I’m glad to have hired you for this job. The Witch’s crew would have just chucked her in a cell for a week.”

“Evelyn’s a nice girl. We’re very fond of her. She deserves better than to be a pawn or a prize,” Elenor said.

“I agree.”

Aiden watched as the rest of the crew took Elenor’s declaration to be their exit line. They stood and walked to thedoor. He stayed perched on the arm of the sofa, staring out the sliding glass door at Evelyn.