Page 21 of Vex
Tallyer had been declared dead in a gang war three years ago. She'd made sure it was true, had paid good money for confirmation from sources who didn't make mistakes about that kind of thing. Seeing him here, alive and apparently employed by the Mountain, meant either her sources had been wrong or he had very powerful friends.
Tallyer used to run the roughest crew in the lower city. And to say she was on his bad side was a bit of an understatement.
Aetis ate people alive. You had to do what you had to do to survive.
And Luisa had certainly survived.
She'd crossed lines she'd sworn she'd never cross. But when the choice was between eating and starving, between having a roof over her head and sleeping in the toxic rain of the undercity, the moral calculations became very simple. Tallyer's crew had controlled the best data streams, the richest targets, the safest territories. Working for him had meant protection and steady credits.
Until it hadn't.
Until she'd gotten too good, too independent, and made the mistake of cutting him out of a score that should have set her up for life. The beating that followed had put her in a medical center for two weeks and left scars she still carried.
Had Tallyer seen her?
She needed to tell Vex.
The thought formed automatically, the instinct of a partner who trusted her backup. But the moment it crystallized, everything within her recoiled.
What was she supposed to say? Hey, partner, you know how you need to implicitly trust me to recover this highly valuable data for our employer? Yeah, well, I used to be really good at stealing it.
No.
The confession would end everything. Vex would look at her with those cold dragon eyes and see exactly what she really was: a thief playing at being legitimate.
She chanced another look around the room, but Tallyer was gone.
He'd vanished as completely as if he'd never been there, melting back into the crowd with the skill that had kept him alive in the undercity for so many years.
Maybe he hadn't seen her. She didn't look at all like the data-rat she used to be. A few enhancements here, a different haircut there, and no way in all the hells would the old Luisa have been caught on some rich man's arm in this dress.
If the old Luisa had gotten anywhere close to the jewels around her neck, she would have snatched them and run as far as she could.
"You let her out of bed," Maera said as she finally approached the table.
Luisa jerked back to the present, forcing her expression into the insipid smile that was becoming second nature. She tittered. "You're so bad!"
Vex gave her a look that was so cold it burned. "She knows her place."
She clutched his arm and leaned closer. "Right by you, baby."
A mix of cheers and groans went up as the dealer turned over the final card and pushed a large stack of chips towards Vex.
Another win for Vex.
So why did it feel like she'd just staked all her chips on a losing hand?
11
The charade was falling apart.
Vex watched Luisa fidget with her drink across the low table, the space between them feeling like a chasm. They were supposed to be inseparable lovers, but right now they looked like strangers forced to share a drink. She kept glancing around the room instead of gazing adoringly at him, and he'd caught himself checking his communicator twice in the last five minutes.
This game was supposed to be his specialty.
Instead, every time he looked at her, all he could think about was the way she'd melted against him in that hallway. The memory of her taste, the soft sound she'd made when he'd pressed her against the wall, the way her body had fit perfectly against his.
His dragon stirred restlessly beneath his human facade, a low burn of want that made it impossible to think clearly. The control that had defined his entire life was cracking, piece by piece, every time she looked at him.
