Page 25 of Survivor
“Okay, that’s enough,” Xavier said to Vex. “You’ve had your hugs.”
Vex reluctantly released me, his eyes on the cybornex.
Xavier hugged me hard and quick, then studied my face. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Did their people come to the ship?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Once the enforcers hit the dump, we headed home, and just as well we did.” He glanced back at the lift, and my gaze slid to Lore.
Lore was pale and looked like he was about to fall over any minute. Shit. I moved quickly to slip under his arm, taking his weight and leading him to the seats.
“Sit.” I lowered him onto the bench. “I’ll get you some water.”
Lore grabbed my hand. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
I smiled down at him, then leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Me too.”
Braker entered the room. “Touching.” His tone was dry. “Considering you had originally planned to ship her to Athion to play lab rat.”
It was Xavier that answered. “I guess you’re the boss?”
Braker poured himself a drink. “I run things, yes.”
“Look,” Xavier said. “When it comes to Rogue, we had a job to do, but we decided not to do it.”
“No one hurts Rogue,” Vex said. “No one hurts her and lives.”
Braker studied Vex with open curiosity. “A Trad protecting a human female. That’s a first.”
“We fought on Vesper V together.” I handed Lore a glass of water and faced Braker. “Vex saved my life several times.”
Vex wrapped an arm around my waist again, and I placed a hand on his pectoral to let him know I was good, that it was okay, but his amethyst gaze was hard and unforgiving as it remained on Braker.
Vex’s eyes narrowed. “If someone attacks me or mine, I retaliate. Hard. The only reason you’re still standing is because your intention was to protect Rogue.”
Braker smiled. “Good to know. But I see now, she has all the protection she needs. Sit. Eat. I have a business proposition for you. One that could prove lucrative for us all.”
Xavier and Lore exchanged wary glances, but it was Tide who responded, stepping back into his leader role.
“Fine. We’ll eat, we’ll listen, but if we decide your proposition isn’t for us, then we walk. Deal?”
We had no leverage here. Not really. If Braker wanted to kill us, to make us disappear, he could. We were at the center of his web, and like he’d said, he owned this port. But he’d loved a human, and he’d tried to save me. There was honor in this man.
I couldn’t believe he’d force our hand.
Braker pouted, as if mulling this over. “If you decline my offer, you can leave.”
His smile was confident. He knew we had nowhere to go, and so did Tide, but that didn’t stop my Athion from making the deal.
We took seats, us facing them at the long table.
“Well, isn’t this cozy,” Xavier said.
He seemed relaxed, but I knew him well enough to note the tension in his shoulders. He was ready to rumble if need be.
Braker poured some pink juice into a long glass and passed it to me. “Try it. I believe it tastes of peaches. You have them on Earth.”
I took the glass and sipped. Flavor exploded on my tongue. Yes. Peaches.
