Page 32 of Shielded in the Shadows

“I’ve already pledged my life to you and demonstrated how seriously I take that vow,” he added, “so I won’t rehash those arguments. Instead, I’d like to make a proposal.”

I frowned. “What’s your proposal?”

He drained the last of his broth and set his bowl aside. “I would like to request that you allow me to stay with you at least long enough to deal with this bounty matter.”

I picked up my mug of coffee. Jarrix glowered at my half-eaten bowl of food as if it had personally insulted his honor and that of his ancestors.

I tucked one leg under myself and half-turned in my chair. “I’d ask why you want to stick around, but the answer is fairly obvious.”

“Not for just the obvious reason that your safety and well-being are now my top priority.” He sipped his tea and eyed me. “After what happened at Ghira, I’m now a target too. My former captain and crewmates will be hunting me. Word will have already spread that I acted as your ally and we were seen boarding your vessel together. I’ll probably find my face and the name Tal Noku next to Keela on the bounty posting, if it’s not there already. Which means we both have a strong reason to resolve this situation quickly.”

Everything he said was true. My trainers at the arena would have said that was all the more reason to leave him at the next station and let the bounty hunters and mercs follow his trail hoping to find me while I went in the opposite direction in search of my sister. And they would have been right.

As if he suspected the direction of my thoughts, Jarrix eyed me over the rim of his mug. “I think it’s in our best interest to pool our resources, make the most of each other’s strengths by combining our skills and training, and get ourselves off the target list.” His eyes glowed softly, which was altogether too mesmerizing for my taste. “I’m an asset to you. I’m a weapon and a shield. Use me.”

Despite all my misgivings—of which there were many—it was a compelling argument. Which was probably why he’d made it.

During my years in the arena and the more than a decade since leaving Ganai, I was nothing if not aware of the importance of using every weapon and form of defense at my disposal, from hidden plasma guns to my lash and even the occasional table or chair. And on one memorable occasion, an enormous, very ill-tempered, radioactive rat.

Having seen Jarrix in action and knowing his credentials as a trained Alliance Intelligence operative, I had no doubt he was worth every kilo of his considerable weight as a weapon against whoever had put this bounty on my head.

But what was equally true was that by agreeing to let him stay while we dealt with the bounty situation, I was giving him time and opportunity to insinuate himself into my life, hoping I’d cave and let him stay for good.

He’d challenged me earlier to deny that I instinctively trusted him. I’d dodged the question, but the truth of the matter was in my gut I did trust him. I had from the moment he’d taken those plasma rifle shots for me. If I hadn’t, I would have shot him outside my ship’s port and left him bleeding out on the dock while I made my getaway. Whether or not he realized it, I hadn’t been injured too badly to have done it.

The fact of the matter was, I had a true mate offering me trust, protection, and utter devotion, and I had no idea what to do about it.

I’d never trusted anyone in my life except for my sister, and we’d been torn apart when we were small children. I didn’t want to deal with bounty hunters or whoever had sent them after me. I wanted to go to Iosa, find Calla, and try to salvage something out of the wreckage of my life. I wanted to tell her I was sorry I hadn’t found a way to protect her from our mother’s greed and indifference and keep us out of the clutches of the arena trainers.

But what was becoming more clear by the moment was that I couldn’t go anywhere near those coordinates N’vera had given me with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and privateers on my tail. I couldn’t make Calla and her mate targets too. I’d already failed her more than any sister ever should—more than I could ever hope to make amends for.

That meant I had to find a way to get this bounty off my head. Off our heads. And fast, before Calla and her mate moved on from those coordinates and I lost track of her forever. My chest constricted at the thought.

But I’d be damned if I’d let Jarrix see me as weak or weepy, so I forced myself to take a deep breath and scowl.

“Fine,” I said. “You can stay until the bounty is off our heads. After that, we’ll see.”

CHAPTER 9

JARRIX

It was impossible not to notice that Keela looked even lovelier at the controls of her ship with the soft lights and colors of the vessel’s interior and the starlight streaking past setting her skin and hair aglow.

It was equally impossible not to see and feel the depth of the pain she fought so hard to hide, especially when it played out across her features in unguarded moments.

What was she remembering when she flinched and squeezed her mug of tea so tightly that her knuckles turned white? I wanted to find the source of her pain and kill it and present her with its pieces so she could crush them under her boots.

But then just as quickly as her guard had dropped, her expression shuttered. She was as cool and distant now as she’d been in the maintenance shaft at Ghira Station when I’d asked for a minute’s truce and she’d offered me a scant thirty seconds and met me with her dagger at my throat.

The memory of her ferocity in that moment made my cocks stir and throb with need.

To hide my reaction, I settled back into the copilot’s seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. In contrast to Keela’s chair, which had clearly adapted to her body and was well-worn, the cover and cushioning of mine was stiff and unyielding. Had anyone ever sat in it before me?

“So,” she said flatly, as if those moments of emotional turbulence had never happened. “The bounty is a problem, obviously.”

“A significant one,” I agreed. “The obvious question is who put the bounty on you and where do we find them?”

Her mouth compressed into a tight line. For a moment, I thought she was reluctant to give me a name. When she finally spoke, the answer was worse than I’d expected. “I don’t know,” she said.