She was desperate for answers.
Damn him.
Once they cleared orbit and were in space, he flipped a switch in front of her.
“Now you can speak and they can’t hear us.”
Well, that explained his silence.
Sort of.
“Why am I being transferred?”
“Because I assumed you didn’t want to serve the rest of your sentence in that hell hole.”
“Pardon?”
He didn’t say a word as he programmed in the coordinates for her sister’s home planet.
Stunned, Jayne stared in total disbelief. “You’re taking me to the Trigange Outpost?”
“Unless there’s someplace else you’d rather go.”
Jayne tried to turn around and see him, but there wasn’t enough room to even look over her shoulder. “You’re letting me go?”
“The proper term is I just broke you out of maximum security. So, you might want to stay low for a long, long time. Change your name . . . definitely find a new career.”
“I don’t understand.”
Jinx let out a bitter laugh. Neither did he.
Not really. This was all kinds of suicidal. But what the fuck?
He was already dead.
“I’m paying forward a favor.”
“Eve?” she asked.
“Yeah.” And what pained him most was how much Jayne favored her sister. The only real difference was that her skin was lighter. Her eyes darker.
But there was no mistaking their relationship. Eve must have been an almost dead ringer for her at that age.
How he wished he could have met Eve then. Before life had turned her into the same brutal killer that he was.
Not wanting to think about that, he leaned back and closed his eyes. In his mind, he conjured the look on Eve’s face when she saw her sister again.
That would be a thing of true beauty.
And it was an image he planned to take to his grave.
“You’re really going to release me?”
“I am.”
Jayne let out a happy sigh. “I’m sorry about your nose. I hope you don’t hold it against me.”
“It’s fine. I barely feel it.”
Then, to his utter astonishment, she curled up in his lap and fell asleep.
Stunned by her unexpected actions, he scowled. No one had ever trusted him like this since his sister had been ripped out of his arms. The girl was all kinds of stupid.
And yet, he had no intention of harming her. She’d probably been on high-alert since the moment of her arrest and this the first time she could let down her guard.
After all, had he meant to harm her, there was nothing she could do to stop him.
But did you have to break my nose?
Then again, he’d done a lot worse for a lot less.
Not wanting to think about that, he didn’t speak while he made his way as fast as possible to her sister’s outpost.
Eve had just finished dressing when she heard a knock on her door.
Suspicious, she grabbed her blaster and made her way to it so that she could check her video feed.
For a full minute, she couldn’t breathe or believe her eyes.
“Evie?”
Her heart racing in excitement, she opened the door to find her little sister in the hallway, dressed in baggy clothes that barely fit her.
“Jayne?”
She fell into her arms with a sob.
Terrified, she yanked Jayne inside and locked her door. “Baby, what happened?”
Jayne pulled herself together with a ragged sigh. “Your friend from The League, he broke me out.”
“My . . .” Eve’s voice trailed off as she realized that she only knew one person in The League. “Jinx?”
“He said his name was Fury.”
Confused, she stared at her sister. “Tall. White blond hair?”
“Yeah. Scary as shit.”
That was Jinx.
“I don’t understand . . .”
Jayne smiled through her teary eyes. “I don’t either. He told me to stay hidden and be careful.” Wrinkling her nose, she pulled at her loose top. “I’m not sure whose clothes he gave me, but I don’t care. It’s so good to have something other than that godawful uniform that I won’t question it.”
No, but Eve would.
Returning her sister’s smile, Eve rubbed her hair. “Why don’t you get a shower and borrow whatever you want out of my closet?”
“That sounds incredible. Thank you!”
Eve waited for Jayne to leave the room before she took out her link and called Jedi.
“Yeah, boss?”
“I have a favor.”
“Every time you say those words I swear my balls crawl back up into my stomach.”
Eve snorted at him. “Your friend, Syn . . .”
“What about him?”
“Can you send me his digits.”
“Why?” Jed was forever suspicious. A bad Tavali trait he couldn’t ever seem to shake.
“I have someone I want him to track down for me.”
“Ah . . . sending them now.”
“Thank you, Jed.”
“Any time.”
Eve hung up and then hesitated. Syn was a renowned filch and techspert. To this day, she wasn’t sure how Jed had made friends with such a sketchy character. Honestly, she didn’t want to know.
Because of Syn’s reputation, she’d always kept a wide berth from him.
But for this . . .
It required someone blessed with his skills.
With a deep breath to steady her nerves, she called his frequency.
It took almost a minute for him to answer. “C.I. Syn.”
“Hi . . . my name is Eve Erixour.”
“Eve of Destruction?”
She arched a brow at his deep tone, surprised that he knew her nickname. “You’ve heard of me?”
“Few haven’t. What can I do for you?”
“I have someone I need traced.”
“Jedi could do that for you.”
“Not this target. It’s above his skill set.”
“Okay. Who are talking about?”
Eve hesitated, knowing this would piss Jinx off to no end. But she had to find him and thank him. “He’s a League assassin.”
Total silence answered her.
“Hello?”
“I’m here. Just had to pick my jaw up from the floor. Did you say assassin?”
“Yeah. Can you do it?”
“Pretty sure. But can I ask why?”
She snorted at his question. “I’d rather not say.”
“All right. Give me what you have and I’ll see what I can do.”
Jinx paused as he entered the courtyard for his barracks and found his way blocked by another assassin.
One in a maroon uniform.
Clenching his teeth, he had to force himself not to knock the little bastard’s teeth out. He might outrank the kid, but the kid had political pull he definitely lacked.
When Jinx tried to step around him, he moved and blocked his path again.
“Seriously, Quiakides? We’re playing this?”
Nykyrian nodded. “I need to speak with you, privately.”
Every instinct he had went on high alert. “We’re not friends.”
They weren’t even friendly.