Lies.
She knew exactly what her feelings were. She cared about him. She wanted the time to get to know him again, to see if anything more could happen between them. She wanted him. But not like this. Not with this alien tech in her brain turning her into a machine. Not with Samil chasing them.
Renna sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Finn placed a hand on her lower back, and she shivered at the warmth of his touch.
“Everything is so strange now.” She was too much of a coward to meet his gaze and studied the white tiles on the floor instead. “I hate feeling so awkward around you.”
Finn stopped in the middle of the passageway and tugged at her hand, turning her to face him. “There’s nothing to feel awkward about.” He smiled down at her, unusually earnest. “I worried about you every minute we were gone.”
Renna forced herself to look up at him, her insides heating at his concerned expression. “Why? I was perfectly safe.” Until she’d walked into Samil’s trap. She’d been too damn cocky for her own good.
“Anything could have happened. MYTH could have locked you away. There was no guarantee they’d believe you.”
Renna’s eyes widened as she remembered. “Finn!” Her hand clutched his. “Dallas is alive. He made it off Hesperia before it was destroyed.”
Finn’s grin split his face. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. I hate that he thinks I’m a traitor, but at least he’s alive.”
Renna shook her head. “He doesn’t. He knows you better than that. I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t know if I could trust him or if he was working with Pallas.”
“Never. And he might be the only one who can help us now.”
Renna chewed her lip. “Maybe we can find a secure channel once we’re at Wall’s. I don’t want to use the MYTH frequencies in case one of Samil’s spies is listening in.”
Finn’s gaze swept the narrow corridor. “But what if there’s already a traitor on board? What if someone on the Eris is working for her?”
“Then I guess we’re already too late.” Dread curled through her, heavy and thick. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Finn. I don’t know which way is up or who to trust. I don’t even know what to do next. I always have a plan.” She hated that her voice cracked on the last word.
Finn pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. She rested her head on his chest and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent.
“It’s going to be all right, love,” he said. “You’re not alone, Renna. We have a team of people behind us. And we’re going to make Samil pay for everything she’s destroyed.”
“But I don’t know where to go next. She could be anywhere.” The thump of Finn’s heart was strong and steady in her ear. His arms tightened around her, and she felt safe for the first time in days.
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he said, his voice vibrating low and sexy. “Samil will find us, long before we’re ready. But that’s okay. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
“We set our own trap?”
She felt him nod. “But before anything else, we have to get your implant stable.” He tilted her chin up so he could look at her. “I need you at your best, Star Thief.”
She chuckled. “I don’t feel much like stealing anything right now.”
“Except my heart,” he deadpanned.
Renna moaned and pushed away from him. “I can’t believe you actually said that.”
“But at least I got you to smile.” He brushed away a strand of hair from her face. “Let’s go get you some food, and then you’re going to rest some more. Aldani will have something for you soon, I’m sure of it.”
Hopefully he was right. She had too much to do to give up now.
NINETEEN
The mess was empty except for the matronly woman stirring something in a pot on the stove, and the little boy who sat at one of the nearby tables chatting with her.
As she entered, the boy looked up, pausing from kicking his feet against the chair legs. A grin split his face and he launched himself at her. “Renna!”
She braced herself for impact as he threw his arms around her, rocking her back on her heels. “Hey there, kid. How’ve you been?” She smiled down at Myka’s dark, curly hair and hugged him back. An unexpected warmth spread through her.
He pulled away, grinning up at her. “Better now that you’re here.”
“Well, of course. I make everything better.” She winked at him and sat down at the table, smiling over at Miss Mary, the cook, before she turned back to Myka. “So tell me all about your adventures since I’ve been gone. Did you keep that pirate Viktis in line?”
He sat down across from her. “He’s not that bad, I guess. And he showed me how to play Costa Five Poker. I won twenty credits from Uncle David.” He preened, and Renna tried not to laugh.
“I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, aren’t I? You may give me a run for my money some day.”
“Nah, I’ll go easy on you. I owe you.” He stuffed a handful of crackers into his mouth, talking around them. “Uncle David said you were sick. They wouldn’t let me see you. What happened?”
Renna glanced at Finn over the boy’s head. How much had they told him? Finn nodded, and she let out a breath. “Well, back at Navang’s, he injected me with that drug to see if my implant would integrate with my nervous system. Looks like it’s trying, but the rest of my body is fighting it. I’ve been pretty tired.”
Myka nodded. “Yeah, I remember feeling like that, too. But it gets better. And then we’ll be the same.” His eyes lit up hopefully. “It’ll be cool to have someone else like me around.”
A pang of sadness shot through Renna. It must be tough for the kid, knowing he was different. But if he could deal with it, so could she. And even better, Myka hadn’t changed too much. Maybe there was hope for her yet, despite the drug cocktail Samil had given her to change the way her implant worked.
She ruffled the kid’s hair. “Right? I mean the rest of these people don’t get how cool it is to be part-machine. I can’t wait until some of those super powers you were talking about kick in. Running extra-fast or being extra-strong could sure come in handy in my line of work.” Hell, she’d just take being able to turn the damn implant on and off when she wanted.