She looked at her crew one by one, including the two from the Stench. Her gaze landed and stayed on Gabe last. It lingered, and my gut tightened with a sharp twist.
Tess finally turned and crouched by Bonk, giving him several long pats. Gently, she tucked Jax’s old sweater more firmly around the tabby and then straightened, glancing again at her watch. She set an alarm before looking back up. “Those of us taking Shade’s cruiser need to meet there in about twenty-five minutes. Coms go on the second we’re all off the ground and stay on. Under no circumstances do we turn them off. These are cheap, old-school generation-12 coms, so our radius is limi—”
“Hey, don’t knock my coms,” Frank interrupted. “I nearly had to trade Caeryssa for those.” He winked at his crewmate.
Tess cracked a smile. “Our radius is limited with these awesome coms, but the good news is that they’re discreet and small, and they can’t be used to locate the positions of other people on the channel, like you can with gen-15 coms and beyond. The bad news is, we can’t use them to electronically locate you, either. If something goes wrong and we’re still nearby, though, we can hear what’s happening and adjust. Hopefully figure things out from there.”
Everyone nodded. It was as solid a backup plan as we were getting for this mission. My life had gone from clear, detailed, and strategic to what felt like a free-for-all with pitfalls all over the place. The lack of up-to-date gadgets and a satisfactory security net chafed. I would bring better equipment into the mix as soon as we could dock on a decent rock and shopping came up on the everchanging to-do list. As for the lack of a security net—I’d better get used to it.
Tess finally looked at me. “Shade… Can we talk?”
Fuck. Three little words really could stop a heart.
I nodded. What else could I do? Beg her to look at me like she had last night? Or even just moments before Gabe showed up?
Given the choice, I’d shove him off the ship and lock the doors before we all took off. Leave him on this dirt-patch Mooncamp and pretend I’d never seen the emotion and familiarity fusing Tess to him in that long, tight hug.
He’d kissed her. Tess hadn’t kissed him back, but would she have, if I hadn’t pulled them apart?
I followed her off the bridge, only a trickle of air finding a pathway into my lungs. I wouldn’t be able to breathe again until Tess understood that I’d fight for her with everything I had in me—and then some.
She made her way to her room—our room?—waited for me to follow her inside, and then shut the door on the rest of the universe.
Blood slammed through my veins. I turned to her, reluctant and stiff. In front of me, she shifted from foot to foot, making me even more nervous. My heart crawled toward my mouth, choking me. Was this what dread tasted like? A hot burn and a tight knot that wouldn’t stop wrenching in my throat?
“So…” She bit down on her lower lip, letting her gaze slide away from me. “Locks.”
I stared at her, my pulse rampaging. This was about locks?
Holy Sky Mother, I hoped so.
“Is this when you tell me about your lock magic?” My voice came out much harsher than usual. I’d been so ready to put my fist through a wall that I hadn’t been prepared to talk.
“Yeah, the…‘lock magic.’” Tess looked even more uncomfortable at my gruff tone.
I cleared my throat, more than ready to go with this line of conversation. It sure as hell beat her saying she was leaving me for Gabe. “Does Frank know whatever it is? His crew?”
She shrugged, her uneasy body language starting to worry me for new reasons now. What could make Tess this hesitant? This freaked out?
“They’ve seen it from afar and asked questions. I’ve never explained. Just brushed it off as big skills and lots of luck.” Her nervous laugh was so unlike her that I scowled.
She bit her lip again, grinding down with her incisor until the flesh turned white. I couldn’t even begin to understand what was going on here—and wrong—so I waited.
“Only Jax knows the truth,” she finally said. “We’re usually a team on these kinds of heists. And soon you—if you’re interested.”
If I’m interested? Just like that, I was back to wanting to put my fist through a wall. “Of course I’m interested.” I forced an even tone, making sure I didn’t accidentally growl at her again.
Tess swallowed. “Yeah, but it’s…” She paled.
Holy shit. How much bigger a secret could she have than being Quintessa Novalight? A type A1 blood source? The origin of the Overseer’s super soldiers and the lost heir to the whole fucking galactic empire?
Not that she wanted it. No, Tess wanted to run an orphanage. And I wanted to do that with her.
“It’s all right, baby.” I reached for her, brushing my hands down her arms. The high-tech material of her stolen uniform felt strange, lightweight, and too smooth under my palms. I hated seeing Tess in military clothing. It was anathema to everything she loved. “You can tell me anything.”
She winced, her nose scrunching up. Her indecision hit me like a punch to the gut. Did she think I would judge her? That didn’t feel like trust.
Breaking my loose hold on her arms, Tess turned away, grabbed an elastic from her nightstand, and wrangled her hair into a ponytail. I could’ve sworn her hands shook as she snapped the hair band into place.
“Tell me or don’t.” Sincerity erased the last traces of roughness from my voice. “Whatever you want. Share the secret or just say Abracadabra and pop the locks. We’ll be in. I don’t need to know how, and you don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Her hands twitched at her sides. Her fingers curled in. “You’re not curious?”
“I’m curious.” Who wouldn’t be at this point? “But I won’t push.”
“I just feel like you should know. Especially since we’re”—she swept a vague hand between us—“close.”
Close? It was all I could do not to flinch. I didn’t want close. I wanted fucking combined.
But the time to talk about that never seemed right. Tess was still uncomfortable with my past and the fortune bounty-hunting had made me. Sometimes her barriers went up, and I knew my second chance hadn’t come with complete forgiveness and trust. I still needed to earn those. Now, Gabe had materialized from out of nowhere, exploding into the present from a past everyone thought was dead. We had to take off for the Ewelock heist in mere minutes. We barely had time for this important talk, let alone another one.
“It’s an AI. Inside me,” she blurted out.
I couldn’t help the slow blink that followed her unexpected admission. Magic might’ve been easier to believe somehow. “It’s galactic law that no human can be enhanced by artificial intelligence. It has been for almost three hundred years now.”