Page 116 of Star Claimed Omega
Her shoulder slammed into the faux-marble column as he leaned in, his breath warm, his words hissed at her.
‘Times up,Red Queen.’
She glared at him, bristling. ‘Who thefokkare you and what do you want?’
‘Name’s Rodeo. Vern sent me.’
Her skin went ice cold.
She stared at him, every instinct screaming danger.
His face was hardened, pockmarked, rough with the grime of a man who knew his way around a knife fight, but not even a flicker of memory stirred.
‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ The man calling himself Rodeo snarled. ‘I was one of yourcapos,Your Scarlet Highness.’
Scarlet Highness.Red Queen.
The title she loathed so much, and the pain it represented, sent shards of agony through her.
How naive of her to think Vern decided to leave her alone.
Her knees nearly gave.
When she found her voice once again, it was tight with frustration.
‘Rodeo,’ she uttered. ‘Vern and my father had me locked in afokkin’ mind control device for years. It rewrote my memories. Whoever I was, whatever I did, wasn’t me. So,nada, I don’t remember you.’
His mouth twitched, not with anger, but with an almost pitying expression.
‘Shame. You were wild when they had you going. Fire in your blood. Like your papa, but darker. Meaner.Fokk, you could bring the whole system to its knees.’
She winced at that and yanked her arm free. ‘What do you want?’
He reached into his coat and pulled out a matte black box, no larger than a small loaf of bread, and pressed it to her chest.
‘Vern said you’d need this.’
Her heart pounded.
She didn’t take it immediately. ‘What is it?’
‘Don’t open it,’ Rodeo said dryly. ‘Might go bang and take out this entire ship along with you.’
Her pulse hammered with panic, but she forced her face into a passive expression as her eyes narrowed. ‘So why the hell are you handing it to me?’
‘Becausehesaid to,’ he replied, shrugging as if that absolved him of responsibility. ‘You take it with you. Keep it close. He’ll be in touch soon with instructions.’
She grabbed the box and shoved it into the bottom of her cleaning bag, fury laced with terror simmering in her gut.
‘You know this is sick. You’re all twisted. Vern’s not going to win.’
Thecapotilted his head, as if examining her with new eyes. ‘Doesn’t matter if he wins. What matters is what you’ll do when he calls. Because he will, and you’ll answer. You always do.’
He thrust another bag at her. ‘This has all the gear you’ll need to fly free, Scarlet Bird,Red Queen, Crimson She-Wolf.’
She took it and stuffed it into her hover kit with a bitter twist of her mouth.
‘See you on the other side,’ Rodeo grinned.
