The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles 1)

Finn cupped her face with one hand, then traced gently down her jaw. When he stroked her collarbone with his fingers, a shot of pure lust spiked through her, and she stifled a moan. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his fingers everywhere, but there were too many clothes between them, too much space.

His own desire pressed against her core through her clothes. Any rational thought she might have had flew from her mind, leaving her with only one mantra: Must. Remove. Clothes.

Her hands found the waistband of his trousers, and she slowly unbuttoned them, sliding her fingers lower into the soft hair there. He moaned softly.

And then the sound of the keypad beeping echoed through the room.

TWENTY

On pure instinct, Renna shot to her feet and threw herself against the wall near the door. She sucked in a shuddering breath. Her whole body still hummed and buzzed with desire, but she forced herself past it. Using that pent-up energy now was the only way they were getting out of here.

“Okay, you two, boss wants you taken to the lab right now.” One of the mercs stepped into the room. “Come with—”

Renna kicked out, catching him in the groin. He crumpled to the ground with a gasping scream, clutching his balls.

The second merc darted into the room with gun drawn, and Renna lashed out again, this time with the side of her hand. A wet, crunching sound came from his throat as her hand connected. He clutched his broken windpipe and gasped for air, his gun clattering to the floor as he collapsed, writhing in pain.

“By the gods.” Finn struggled to his feet and grabbed the gun. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

“Good call.” Renna stooped to rifle through both men’s pockets. She found a keycard and datapad on the man who’d never have sex again. He writhed and moaned on the floor, but didn’t try to stop her.

The other man wasn’t going to make it. She frowned down at his gurgling, gasping form. She hadn’t meant to kill him. But if that’s what it took…

When he was silent, she patted through his pockets. Empty. “We need to find the destabilizer and my tools and then get the hell out of here.” She moved back to the living guard and nudged him with her foot.

“Where did you take my things?”

He shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

She arched an eyebrow. “Do you want to end up like your friend?”

“They’ll kill me,” he gasped.

“So will I.”

“D-d-down the hall. To the left. Last door on the right.”

She took the gun from Finn and nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.” She turned and pistol-whipped him in the temple with the butt of the gun. The merc sprawled unconscious on the floor, a trickle of blood seeping from his scalp.

“Was that necessary?” Finn asked, limping toward the door.

“Did you want him sounding the alarm?” She pressed the gun into his hand and helped him into the hallway, then used the keypad to lock the cell door. “Hopefully this buys us some time.”

“Lead the way,” Finn said.

They reached the end of the corridor and the door the merc had pointed out. She eased Finn against the wall, and he curled into himself, holding his side.

Renna frowned at the metal door. She’d been more distracted by Finn than she’d thought. Why hadn’t she asked if there were guards inside?

“Be careful,” he whispered.

Her eyebrows rose, but she quickly schooled her features. “Always am.” She slid the merc’s keycard through the reader and took a deep breath. Time to earn her salary.

She kicked open the door, then spun into the room, gun at the ready. She slumped, relaxing her stance when she saw that it was empty, except for a bank of holoscreens which were obviously tied to the security system.

And the small safe in the corner.

She’d bet her last credit that’s where her things were. “It’s clear. Come on.” She helped Finn into the hard seat at the desk.

He grimaced as he lowered himself into the chair but waved her away. “Get your things. We need to get out of here before they find we’ve escaped.”

“Work on seeing if you can call up the Athena.” Renna crouched in front of the safe and cracked her knuckles. It had been a long time since she’d done this manually, but a thief never forgot her skills. At least, a good thief didn’t.

She rested the pads of her fingers lightly against the face of the safe. It wasn’t a Saltani safe, thank the gods. Even she couldn’t break into one of those without tools. This was an old-school laser lock, with tumblers and pins. She closed her eyes.

It only took her one try.

The safe whooshed open with a blast of air when the seals unlocked. She let out a breath as she spotted the familiar black bag and destabilizer inside. “Got it.” She also shoved a small metal box into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. If the mercs had put it here, it had to be important.

Finn shrugged. “I should stop being surprised. You were good back then. You’re even better now.”

She smiled at him, pleased by the genuine compliment she heard in his words. “I really am.”

“Looks like whoever built the facility spared no expense on this surveillance system.” Finn pointed to the screen of the large warehouse where they’d entered. “There are cameras in every room.”

On the other screens were images of the smaller room where they’d found the robots. A third room on the ground level—which they’d missed—was filled with smaller cargo containers.

Renna tapped on the console to change the camera view. “Dammit.” There was a brand on one of the containers. One that made her stomach clench. “That’s clay.” But were they shipping it out or bringing it in?

“What do they need clay for?” Finn asked. His voice sounded far away, and she glanced down at him in concern.

“Hey, you all right?”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Sure he would. If Finn went any paler, he’d be dead. Renna turned back to study the monitors. There had to be a way out of here that didn’t involve fighting. The destabilizer was spent; it needed a full twenty-four hours to recharge. It was going to be up to her to find them an exit.

She scanned the room where the mercs had caught them. Most of them still seemed to be there, with their strange implants and even scarier leader. The last two monitors held very different views. One seemed to be watching an empty wall, but she spotted the keypad at the edge of the screen and her heart thumped. It had to be the way out. But where was that room?