Forged (Star Breed #10) - Elin Wyn Page 0,54

there might be something more in the universe for me. But not anymore.”

Luca reached for my hand, squeezed my fingers tightly. “Are you sure you want to know the rest right now?” he said. “The only thing is, the way Uncle has been acting, I’m not sure if there’ll be a later.”

I nodded sharply. “Tell me. I can’t afford not to know the truth.”

“Then I need you to think back to the day we found father’s body. What do you remember of the room when we came in?”

I closed my eyes and found that the burning pain that ripped apart my chest every time I let myself remember anything of that night had dulled.

Maybe there was only so much grief I could handle before it all blended and tangled together.

“Father was in his study,” I said, closing my eyes to remember more clearly. “All his terminals had been pulled from the net, backups and comms destroyed. He’d blasted through them, and the smell of burned metal and wires filled the air. We never decided if he was angry at what happened with that woman or despairing.” My throat threatened to close, but I swallowed, and cleared it.

This wasn’t the time to look away.

“It didn’t matter what he’d felt, really. The end was the same.”

“What about the blaster,” Luca prompted. “What do you remember about the blaster he used?”

“It was so strange,” I said. “I hadn’t even realized we had one in the house. They always scared me.”

“Ever since we were tiny and snuck out to watch scary vids on an unlocked tablet,” Luca said. “You never really got over it.”

“I don’t think I’m likely to now,” I said.

“But what did the blaster look like?” he insisted.

I hadn’t looked at it closely, hadn’t wanted to see the small bit of evil that had taken my father from me.

But I’d seen it, of course, lying on the desk next to Father’s outstretched hand.

“It was silver and black,” I answered, “smaller than I’d ever expected. Curved at the edges instead of blocky. It might almost have been pretty if it hadn’t been so horrible.”

“That’s right,” he said. “That’s exactly what it looked like. Now, think about where else you’ve seen a blaster like that.”

“Where else?” I asked, my mind scrambling to comply, but then a sharp rapping sounded at the door.

Lucas rose smoothly, put his teacup back in the recycler, and crossed back over to me.

“Just think about it.” One of his rare smiles crossed his face. “And I promise I’ll do my best to get you out of here.”

He opened the door to reveal the mercenary Hakon had faced off with, before…

Luca nodded his head politely. “Jenke. If you’ll excuse me,” he said, and slipped out into the corridor.

The mercenary watched him leave with narrowed eyes, then came into the room.

Tossing aside the pillow, I ran to him. “You know,” I faltered, and restarted, “knew Hakon, didn’t you?” I said, then I took a good look at his face, the sharp features, the slightly pointed ears.

And the truth struck me.

“You didn’t just know Hakon,” I said softly. “You’re one of his brothers, aren’t you?”

His eyebrows raised slightly. “We were grown in neighboring tanks, if that’s what you’re talking about. But it doesn’t mean anything.”

“But that can’t be true,” I said, thinking about myself and Luca. “Ran killed your brother. How can you keep working for him?”

Jenke’s lips twisted. “He shot somebody I used to know, that’s all.” He turned away to wander through the room, his sharp eyes covering everything.

“What are you doing? What are you looking for?”

“Making sure you don’t have a way to escape,” he said. “I’ve been put in charge of your confinement until your uncle decides what to do with you.”

“Then you can get me out of here,” I gasped. “Or at least get Ambassador Thalcorr back to his ship. He doesn’t have anything to do with this. We don’t even know why Desyk reached out to the Empire, sent them here to this station. It’s nothing to do with ExaTek or Uncle Ran.”

Jenke snorted. “I’m not getting anybody out of anything.” He sighed, leaning against the wall. “Look, you seem like a nice enough lady. But here’s the truth. I’m paid to do a job.” He pointed at me. “I’m paid to make sure you stay put. So you’re gonna stay put.”

“But what happened to Hakon. He was your brother,” I pressed. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Not anymore.” Some emotion I couldn’t place flashed across his