The door burst open and I tightened my grip, but no one entered.
“Get this crazy bitch off of me!” Riccardo demanded.
I jerked his head back and slid the knife deep enough that the tip disappeared into a well of red blood. “You’re only alive because you might be useful. Call off your dogs.”
I watched the door, tensed to dive behind the meager cover Riccardo provided. A familiar profile flashed into view for a second as the person on the other side of the door assessed the situation, then Ian appeared, missing his coat and mask and covered in blood.
Ian’s lip was split, his nose was bleeding, and blood dripped sluggishly off of his left hand. On his torso, red stains stood out vividly against his white shirt. As I watched, the largest one spread. If all of that blood was his, then we were in deep, deep trouble.
“Impossible,” Riccardo breathed. He tried to jerk away, but I tightened my hold and dug the dagger in a little deeper. More blood slid down the front of his neck and he swallowed, then held still.
Relief crashed into me. Ian was injured, but he wasn’t dead.
“Where is Lord Ferdinand?” Ian asked in a deceptively soft voice. He favored his right side, but he still moved with most of his usual predatory grace.
“How did you get past the guards?” Riccardo whimpered.
“I killed them,” Ian said without inflection. “You will be next unless you cooperate.”
As Ian neared, Riccardo leaned back into my legs, trying to escape.
“Let him go,” Ian said.
“I didn’t search him,” I warned.
“He’s not going to try anything because he knows I’ll kill him,” Ian said. His voice was still too flat, much like his expression.
“I don’t think he’s that smart.”
Ian took the decision out of my hands. He transferred his blaster to his left hand and wrapped his right around Riccardo’s neck and pulled him up. He drove him back against the wall, holding him high enough that Riccardo was on tiptoe just to breathe.
“He is definitely not that smart,” Ian growled. He held out the blaster. “Trade me and watch the door.”
I took the blaster and gave him the short knife. “Ferdinand is alive,” I said. “Find out where. You have House permission to do whatever it takes.”
For a brief moment, Ian’s expression morphed into familiar exasperation. It was a welcome change from the blankness he’d been sporting. Of course I knew he didn’t need my permission, but perhaps Riccardo did not.
“We don’t have Ferdinand,” Riccardo whined.
“Then I suppose you are no longer required,” Ian said. His knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on Riccardo’s neck.
“Wait,” Riccardo gasped. “We don’t have him anymore. But I know where he is.” When Ian didn’t loosen his grip, Riccardo continued, “We sold him!”
“You sold my brother?” I questioned, my voice soft with menace. “To whom?”
Riccardo rolled desperate eyes to me. Whatever he saw in my expression made him flinch. “Swear to me that you’ll let me go if I tell you.”
I stared at him, trying to master my rage. “I will let you go if you tell me everything you know. Quickly.” After all, if I’d found him once, I could do it again.
“We were paid an enormous amount of money to snatch Ferdinand from Earth. We were supposed to deliver him to our contact, but they never showed.”
“Leaving you with a huge liability,” Ian said. “Why sell him? Why not kill him?”
“Because we assumed our contact wanted him dead but didn’t want any paper trails leading back to them. And while the Consortium might eventually overlook a kidnapping, murdering an heir is something else altogether. Plus, we don’t work for free and the second half of our payment didn’t go through.”
“Who ordered the grab?”
“I don’t know,” Riccardo whined. “It was all done anonymously.” Ian tightened his grip and Riccardo rushed to add, “We think it was someone high up in the Consortium, but we don’t know.”
“Who has my brother?” I bit out.
Riccardo wavered. “Remember your vow,” he said. He swallowed. “We needed to get rid of him quickly and quietly. To put him somewhere he could be retrieved if needed, but otherwise wouldn’t be found. Ever. And we needed someone who wouldn’t ask too many questions during the transfer. That’s harder than you might think.”
If he was rambling this much, then it must be bad. “Who is it?” I demanded.
He glanced away and whispered, “We sold Ferdinand to MineCorp.”
Fury blazed bright. “You sold my brother, the heir to House von Hasenberg, to a group of slavers?”
“They prefer indentured—” Riccardo stopped speaking with a strangled wheeze, and I didn’t bother to stop Ian. MineCorp mined some of the most dangerous sectors in the universe, largely with a force of slave labor masquerading as “indentured servants.”
Some people, like my brother, were sold to them under false pretenses, but some signed up voluntarily, lured by the company’s slick spiel. When you had less than nothing, the promise of food and shelter was tempting, especially to those who didn’t fully understand the contract. Thus it became a complex legal tangle, one the Consortium had no particular desire to untangle—not when profits were so high.
“Where did they send Ferdinand?” I demanded. “I’m assuming you disabled his identity chip?”
Riccardo gasped something unintelligible.
“Let him breathe,” I told Ian.
Ian loosened his fingers and Riccardo sucked in air. “I don’t know where Ferdinand is. We didn’t want to know. We sold him through a series of intermediaries. His chip was removed and replaced.” When Ian’s fingers tightened again, Riccardo whined, “His new name is Nando Black. That’s all I know, I swear. Now keep your promise.”
Ian shot me a questioning look. Technically, I had already let Riccardo go, so my vow was met. However, I understood the true meaning behind the vow and promises were important to me. Just because a loophole gave me an out didn’t mean it would be honorable to use it.
But honor and desire didn’t always match up. “Don’t kill him,” I forced out with a grimace.
“Letting him live is a mistake,” Ian growled. Riccardo began to struggle as his throat closed off completely. Ian kept him pinned to the wall with effortless strength. It would be so easy to forget the spreading blood on the front of his shirt.
“It is not a mistake because he will not cause us any trouble. If he does, I will personally ensure House von Hasenberg takes a much more active role in eradicating the Silva family one ship at a time.”
Riccardo tried to nod, but I knew it was a lie. He wouldn’t let this insult go. I would have to deal with him sooner or later. But a promise was a promise. I sighed. “Knock him out and we’ll tie him up. Someone is bound to wander up here eventually, unless you killed all of the guards?”
I meant it as a joke, but Ian grimaced and didn’t clarify one way or the other. My eyes widened. Surely not . . .
Riccardo’s struggles slowed and stopped. Ian kept him pinned for another thirty seconds, then lowered him to the ground. “Do you have ties?” he asked, his voice rough.