I heard he managed to completely destroy the DNA, making reconstruction impossible. I’m betting the Collective weren’t too happy about that.”
He’d also bet they’d be sending their own private army after anyone attempting to free the killer. And nobody wanted to be targeted by the Corps, not even Rico.
Tannis strode in before he could ask any more questions. She ignored Skylar and perched on the seat next to Rico. Her eyes shone with excitement—the prospect of money always had that effect on her.
“I think you’re going soft, Rico.”
He grinned. “Honey, if you can find one soft spot on my body right now, you get another chance at that right fang.”
Her eyes drifted over his body, lingering on the bulge in his pants. She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever think of anything else?”
“Sometimes. But not often. So, what do you think?”
Tannis studied Skylar. “Do you believe her?”
“It makes sense. Not many people would go up against the Collective. Hell. Are you sure you want to? It’ll end your chances of getting the treatment if they find out.”
He knew Tannis’ ultimate aim was immortality, though he had serious doubts about how she would fit in with the Collective. No one, outside the Collective, knew how Meridian worked. The treatment appeared to have no outward physical effects other than turning the eyes a deep, inhuman violet, but it altered something fundamental inside the mind, forming a tight bond with the rest of the group. And Tannis was a loner.
She’d actually make a much better vampire than a Collective member. He bit back a grin as he attempted to visualize Tannis as a sex-crazed predator. It would almost be worth the risk of changing her just to see how she’d cope with that. In all the time he’d known her, she’d never taken a lover.
But Rico hadn’t changed anyone in over a thousand years, and he had no intention of doing so now.
“That might be true,” Tannis said. “But I’ll have no chance of getting the treatment if I don’t get the money. So we’ll just have to make sure they don’t find out.”
“The job’s still virtually impossible.”
As far as he was aware, no one had ever escaped the prison on Trakis One. Security was top of the range, as the prison held mostly the Collective’s prisoners, many incarcerated for attempting to break into the Meridian stores. It seemed ironic to Rico that most of them ended up surrounded by the stuff, laboring in the mines on Trakis Seven. Instead of the immortality they sought, they got a reduced lifespan due to overexposure—if they were lucky, they lasted two years. Though maybe lucky wasn’t the right word to use—he’d heard their slow death was far from pleasant.
Tannis interrupted his thoughts. “No job’s impossible. I say we go for it.”
Rico got up and paced the room. The prospect of an impossible job at least sounded a little bit more interesting than the smuggling jobs Tannis normally took on.
Skylar sat in her chair, hands clenched on her lap. “So you’ll do it?” she asked. “You’ll get Jonny back for me?”
Rico came to stand over her. This position gave him the perfect view of her cleavage, and the hunger rose inside him. The darkness had drawn back, the need to feed and kill receded until it was no more than a background buzz, but that didn’t mean he no longer wanted to taste her.
“Under certain conditions.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What conditions?”
“Well, you see, the problem is—money alone doesn’t interest me. So if I do this I want a reward.”
Tannis coughed behind him. He was quite aware how much money interested her. “A reward as well as the money,” he added.
“What do you want?” Skylar’s eyes narrowed.
“You, of course.”
“Me?” It came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Me? I’m not sure I follow. Just how do you want me?
He smiled with a flash of fangs. “Every way there is, darling.”
. . .
Skylar licked her lips and stared into his eyes. She knew what he meant, and instead of the expected fear and revulsion, heat curled in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath. “Isn’t that sort of fatal?”
“Not necessarily.”
Not exactly a comforting answer, but did she have a choice?
“You get little Jonny for me first. Afterward…” she trailed off.
“Afterward,” he agreed, and she relaxed.
A small flicker of apprehension nudged at her mind, but she ignored it. She’d promised herself she’d do whatever was needed to get the job done. Besides,