Page 65 of Through Uncharted Space

“What the hell is she doing?” Justyn said.

Ry raised a brow. “Don’t tell me she’s into torture?”

“You don’t sound very upset about possible torture,” Dare said.

“That asshole kidnapped our brother, so yeah, not much sympathy.”

Dare shook his head. “Give her a minute.” He’d made the mistake of not trusting her earlier, he wouldn’t do it again.

She leaned in from behind Ralu, her mouth near the man’s ear. She brought the laser cutter up close to his cheek. The glow illuminated both their faces.

The man jerked his head away from the laser, but Dakota followed.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” She waved the laser around. “All that heat.”

She moved the glowing blade all around his face, just centimeters from his skin. Down along his arms, never touching him.

“She’s drying him out.” Dare took a step closer to the glass. “He’s part aquatic. He’ll have a higher water content, and need to keep his skin hydrated.”

Ry nodded. “Yeah, I found some fancy-looking shower and tub on his shuttle. It’s clear he needs to wet down regularly.”

“Start talking,” Dakota said. “And the laser will go away.”

She kept moving that laser around, the man shifting uncomfortably on his seat.

“I want the name of your planet, and where it is.”

Ralu pressed his lips together.

She flicked the cutter off and stepped back. She grabbed one of the bottles of water on the desk, uncapped it, and lifted it up. She chugged the contents down.

The man’s gaze glued to her throat. He watched her drink like a man dying of thirst.

She set the bottle down and came back toward him. “Those men out there have scruples—” she nodded toward the two-way mirror “—I don’t.” She lifted the laser cutter again.

She really believed that. Dare felt a muscle in his jaw flex. He’d made her believe that. He hadn’t stepped carefully enough with Dakota. He knew that under her tough shell, under her strength and grit, she had a soft center. A center he wanted.

She ran the laser back down along the man’s arm. “It’s hot, isn’t it?”

“Can I have some water?” Ralu’s voice was strained.

“For every answer you give me, I’ll let you have one sip of water.”

The struggle was clear on the young man’s face. She moved the laser cutter past him again and Dare could see that the skin on his face looked tight and dry.

“The Southwind crashed on my planet hundreds of years ago. The Atocha Treasure was a marvel, so the legends say. But after many years it was lost and absorbed into myth. They say the orb shows exactly where the treasure is located on my planet.”

She poured some of the water into a glass and then walked to him. She lifted the cup and helped him drink it. He gulped it like a desert survivor.

“Keep going.” She lifted the bottle and poured more water into the glass.

The man licked his lips. “My planet is called Maro.”

“And the survivors of the Southwind?”

“Were welcomed. Absorbed by the local inhabitants. The history of the Atocha Treasure became embedded in my culture.”

She helped him take another sip, and this time, she dripped water down his dry arms. The man groaned.