Page 55 of Phoenix's Last Heist
“I went to Xylothia to find the Solar Mother idol,” Lyra begins, shifting uncomfortably. “Brill sent me after it. I alsomayhave found another interested party on Epsilon-6.”
“Stars, Lyra…” Evie groans.
My grip on my glass tightens with a surge of frustration and anger, but I keep silent—curious to see what Lyra tells her so-called friend. Her voice is steady, but I can see the pulse fluttering at her throat, the faint tremor in her hand when she reaches for the decanter. She hates being seen as vulnerable—hates needing to defend herself at all.
Part of me wants to step in, to make it easier for her—to tell Evie she’s braver anyone I’ve ever met, that she’s got more scars than she lets anyone see. But I stay quiet. She doesn’t need me to speak for her.
Darting another nervous glance at me, she continues.
“Orion found me in the temple and knocked me out. He was ready to turn me over to the Feds, but Kraxis caught up with us on Xylothia. We struck a deal and managed to escape with the idol intact,” she says, surprising me with the truth.
“What kind of a deal?” Evie says, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. To my delight, Lyra blushes and clears her throat.
Maybe it didn’t meannothingafter all.Maybe I just wish I could tell her that what happened between us doesn’t have to mean regret.
“He promises not to turn me over to the Feds for looting, and I promise to give him the names—and proof—of two big mucky-muck buyers who’ve been running the black market on Xylothian artifacts. Anyway, we were on our way back from Mallorus when Kraxis caught up with us, my ship was damaged, and we were in a desperate situation. But then I found out my good old friend Evie was nearby, kicking ass and taking names as the site manager on this here salvage rig,” Lyra says.
It’s a pathetic attempt to gloss over the stickier parts of her story, and from the look in Evie’s eyes, she’s not falling for it.
“What a kind, generous, forgiving person that site manager is,” Evie drawls. Lyra chuckles and reaches for the decanter once more, but Evie pulls it away. “Are you out of your stars-damned mind?!” she yells.
“Not yet, but if I keep drinking that plumrot, I will be soon,” Lyra returns. “What’s got your jumpsuit in knots?”
“I don’t even know where to begin with you,” Evie says, throwing her hands up in the air. “I know you’re trying to find your way out of that shitbag Brill’s clutches, but this isnotthe way, Pinky Pie. It’s one thing to steal from bad guys and dig up treasure from long lost civilizations, but looting temples on desperate planets is…low. And you dragged an innocent bystander into the mix! Did you even consider that this could go badly and your hot forest daddy might not make it out alive?”
“Hot forest daddy?” I question.
Both women ignore me.
“Or that you’d be putting him on a lot of bad lists of someverybad dudes? You might not be bothered looking over your shoulder forever, but did you askhim? Did you tell him what was at stake?” Evie continues.
Lyra looks like she’s been slapped. She gapes at Evie, blinking, but doesn’t seem to have a retort. As frustrated as I am with her—with how things stand between us, my heart twists.
“She hardly dragged me into this,” I say, coming to Lyra’s defense. “In fact, the deal was my idea. Lyra wanted to leave after we gave Kraxis the slip on Xylothia—without the idol—but I wouldn’t let her go.”
Her head jerks slightly at that, just enough that I know she’s listening. I want her to understand it wasn’t pity or obligation that kept me there. It was respect. Maybe something worse.
The truth is, she’s not reckless—she’s desperate. Every risk she takes is another step away from the man who owns her, the life she’s trying to outrun. And stars help me, I’ll follow her through every hell in the quadrant if it means she gets out.
Evie looks at her with disappointment, but all I see is someone who’s still fighting, still trying. And maybe that’s why I can’t stop wanting her.
Evie raises a brow. “No offense, Ranger Asterth, but bundling up lost hikers and smugglers on some glorified nature reserve is a far cry from the types that Lyra deals with. She’s made her choices—I just hate to see someone else get hurt because of them.”
“With all due respect, Ms. Redfern, you have no idea what Lyra and I have been through. She’s saved my life more than once and she’s been true to her word since we started this?—”
“I don’t need you to speak for me, Orion,” Lyra snaps. She slams her glass down on Evie’s desk, making both of us jump. “And as for you—you don’t get to lecture me aboutanything. I get that things between us haven’t been great over the last few years, but you have no right to pass judgment after hearing the five minute short version of the shit I’ve been dealing with. You want an apology for Jorax? Fine! I’m sorry! You want me to find a better line of work? Well, get in line, sister! You want me to sever my ties with the piece of shit holding my contract ransom? Me-fucking-too! You want me to serve time for being a no-good, busted-ass reprobate who fucks her way through every orbit because it’s a distraction from the hell that waits back on Ooneryx? Congratulations! You’re hardly the first. In fact, why don’t you and Ranger Righteous call the Feds together? Or go ahead and call Fobos—he’s not too far away. Then maybe you can split whatever bounty’s on my head.”
With that, she storms from the office. I immediately stand to go after her, but Evie puts her hand on my arm.
“I’d give her some space, if I were you,” she says, returning to the window behind her desk and gazing out into space.
Frustration and anger twist my insides and I glare at Evie. Not because she’s wrong, but because Lyra’s gone, and the silence she leaves behind feels unbearable. I can still feel the echo of her fury, her shame, the way her voice broke right before she walked out.
She thinks she’s poison, or damned. She believes that anyone who gets close to her ends up burned. And maybe she’s right, but I can’t seem to stay away. Every time she runs, I want to follow. Every time she lashes out, I just want to pull her closer and tell her she doesn’t have to fight the whole damn universe alone. But that’s not what she needs right now. What she needs is someone who believes she’s worth more than the wreckage she leaves behind. I just wish she’d let me be that someone.
“What was that all about?” I ask, my tone accusatory. “I thought you were friends.”
Evie huffs a laugh.
