“Stop. Don’t move,” I said. I slid one hand up and wrapped it over his shoulder so he couldn’t push me away. My other hand was at his waist and it took all my willpower not to trace the muscles I could feel under my fingertips. I mentally shook myself and continued, “My legs feel like they’re on fire. Give me a second for the circulation to catch up.”
A gentle touch traced over my bruised cheek. “What happened to your face?” he asked again, his voice quieter but no less fierce.
“They stunned me. I blacked out. So I really don’t know. I probably hit it when I fell.”
His muscles firmed under my hands, and his arm locked around my back, his entire body going tense and still. “You were unconscious?”
“For a little while.” I tried to push back to see his face, but I’d have better luck moving a brick wall.
“Did anything else happen?”
I shrugged. “They took my stuff, so they must’ve searched me.”
“Your things will be returned to you,” Ian said, as much to whoever was on the other end of the room’s surveillance as to me. He gripped my shoulders and stepped away from me. When he was sure I was stable, he let me go.
I didn’t make the mistake of thinking everything was cool between us. Banked anger still burned in his eyes, but he had rightly decided that this was not the place to get into it. I inclined my head in agreement.
Ian stalked from the room without another word, leaving me to trail along behind him like an obedient puppy. I bit my tongue and did just that. I could be reasonable when the situation demanded it.
We walked by two more cells, both empty, before we passed through a heavy door and out into the main area of the mercenaries’ warehouse. The space was lined with gear cabinets. Two large electronic conference tables dominated the center of the room. The tabletop displays were covered in satellite maps, bounty information, and notes. My picture and bounty notice were prominently displayed on the closer of the two tables.
The far table was surrounded by six armed men who were trying hard to pretend they weren’t watching us closely. Rob, the only mercenary whose name I knew, approached Ian.
“Where are Lady von Hasenberg’s things?” Ian demanded, his voice ice cold.
Rob waved and a young boy appeared carrying a small bag and my cloak. “Give them to the lady,” Rob directed.
Ian intercepted the boy, took the bag, and looked inside. The boy held out the cloak. I took it and shrugged it on. Ian handed me the bag with the rest of my stuff.
The bag held everything I’d been carrying, including the correct number of credit chips, but it remained to be seen if they still held their credits. I took out my main com and unlocked it with my identity chip and a quietly whispered phrase. I held the first credit chip up to the com and waited for the chip reader to register it.
Rob started to look nervous. I raised an eyebrow at him when the credit chip had fewer than half of the credits that were on it when I was captured. The other chips were the same, leaving me almost ten thousand credits short. “Did you not believe me?” I asked.
“I hoped you were bluffing,” he said with a sigh. “What does a House daughter care about a few credits?”
“I will have them returned nonetheless. Do you need me to give you the total?”
“You are not what I expected, Lady von Hasenberg,” he said. He produced a credit chip from his pocket and held it out. “I checked the total myself.”
I moved across the room and plucked the chip from his fingers. I didn’t need to look at Ian to know he was scowling at me again, I could practically feel the heat of it. I checked the chip and found the total matched exactly what was missing. “Thank you,” I said.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, now that your House knows you’re safe?” Rob asked with a charming grin. “I could use someone good with numbers. Especially someone as pretty—and rich—as you.”
I’d been deflecting empty compliments since I could walk, but Rob’s pleasant sincerity was a refreshing change of pace.
“Lady von Hasenberg will be returning to the safety of House von Hasenberg,” Ian growled.
I would be returning to the House but not quite yet. Still, I had to fight one