Dealers' Choice - Susan Hayes Page 0,44

time, I’m ready to do something, and you’re not. We have to be on the same page, Wolf. We can’t screw this up. Not again. If we lose her, we’re going to fall back into the darkness and she’s the only one who can pull us out again.”

Ward ran a hand through his hair and glared at him. “You done now? Did you really think I don’t know all that already?”

“No. I mean. I knew. But this is…”

Ward grunted in agreement. “It’s Xori. But charging to her rescue isn’t going to work until we know who took her. And can we please stop this emotional crap, because I am not used to being the logical one and I don’t fraxxing like it.”

He snorted with something that wasn’t quite laughter. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to add to your burdens.”

Ward didn’t laugh. He dropped a hand onto his shoulder and stared at him. “You burden me all you want. I owe you that. I’m the one who didn’t see what Ariel was and cost us our freedom. And I’m the one that walked away and left you to bleed out and die.”

And there it was. The thing they never talked about. Not once. Vic hadn’t even been sure Ward remembered that moment. Neither of them had perfect recall. There were stretches of time that were either hazy or completely wiped from not just his biological memory, but his databanks. “You remember?”

Ward nodded. “Every second. The way she drew the blaster. The awareness that she was going to shoot you. All of it. I didn’t react because I was still too far under her control to understand that she was about to kill my brother. I had all the facts, but none of the feelings. Do you recall what that was like?”

He did. “Yeah. It sucked. But not as much as when we started getting our memories back and realized there was more to life than we had. The flashes of our old lives, feeling real emotions, caring about other people, just to have her take it away again.”

“And the next time I was aware of anything, my first thought was that I’d let you die.” Ward’s voice cracked on the last word.

“You didn’t, though. I’m still here.” The last of his anger and fear died away, and he slapped his hand over Ward’s. “We’re both still here, but Xori’s not. We need to find her. So, if you don’t think Tesk has her – who the fraxx does?”

Ward exhaled sharply and some of the darkness left his expression. “Someone who can hack the IAF’s system and screw with their security feeds without being detected.”

“Which isn’t likely to be the Pheran. Plus, Corp-Sec was already watching Tesk. It couldn’t be him. Veth, I was so angry I’d totally forgotten about that.” Now that he was calmer, he could see holes in his logic. He couldn’t let that happen again. He was the leader, dammit. He had to get his head in the game before they lost everything.

Vic shook himself, trying to cast off the last of his mind-clouding frustration. “If not Tesk, then who?”

“I don’t know.” Ward stepped back, his hands falling to his sides, his jaw set in a hard line. “But we have to figure it out, fast.”

“We’re going to need help.”

“Yeah. I think we are.” Ward’s lips twitched up into a ghost of a smile. “Our batch-brothers are never going to let us live this down, are they?”

“Probably not. But if it means getting Xori back, I’m good with that.” Hell, he’d sell what was left of his soul to make sure she was safe and back where she belonged – with them.

“So am I.”

Vic activated an internal channel that he monitored, but rarely used. It linked him to every cyborg in the Nova Club’s unofficial family. “Guys, this is Victor. Dr. Virness…” He paused. “Xori’s missing. Someone took her, and we could use some help to get her back. If you want to be part of this, meet us in the room we use for staff meetings in ten minutes.”

Ward started laying out his weapons on the bed, organizing them for later.

Vic took off most of his and did the same.

“Do you think they’ll come?” Ward asked.

Vic shrugged. “Our family will. We won’t know who that is until we see who shows up.”

Ward looked around him in shock. They were all here. The staff room hadn’t been large enough to hold them all, so they’d moved the meeting down the