Fallen Star (19 page)

“Was this ... separation between them necessary?” Tah’s voice was very quiet, but his distress was clear.

Khan sighed. “
‘Syr
Tah, even if they had imprinted, I would have had to separate them.”

“What?” Tah’s question was barely a breath of sound. “What is so terrible about the two of them paired? Is it because she’s an
upuaht
-level Prime
rehkyt?
”

Khan snorted in crystal-clear derision. “No. It’s because this
upuaht
-level Prime
rehkyt
also happens to be the Fallen Star, one of the Moribund Company’s code-crackers. She has a file about as long as this ship.”

“Mother Night ...”

“I was already on my way here to take custody when your call came through about the incident.”

Fallen Star ...

Fallon’s mind struggled up from her warm, comfortable place of nothingness and into the place that pulsed with a hurt that felt like betrayal. She opened her eyes. She was being carried through one of the gray hallways. She swallowed and the purr in her throat disappeared.

Khan stiffened and turned to look at her.

She turned to look at Khan with that hurt pulsing around her heart. “You knew, all along?”

Khan glared briefly at Tah, then looked at her. “Yes.” Tension tightened his mouth. “It changes nothing. You are safe with me.”

She wanted to believe him. Part of her already did. That part was loud and inviting and promised ease. She wanted that ease. She nodded and set her chin on his shoulder then closed her eyes. But another part of her refused to believe.

The purr didn’t come back.

* * * * *

A door buzzed closed.

Fallon’s eyes snapped open. She was lying under a thick black comforter in a pile of black and scarlet pillows. She jerked upright to discover that she was in a huge, circular bowl-like bed draped with sheer gold curtains that hung from a ceiling high over her head. She groaned. She was dead tired and desperate for sleep, but there was no way in fury she could sleep in this. It was too exposed, with too much light, and it was way too low.

She crawled to the edge of the bowl and shoved back the curtains. The damned bed was sunk about knee-deep into the floor! Her lips curled. There was no way she could fall asleep in this. Anything crawling along the floor or spilling across it would end up in the bed with her.

Beyond the edge of the bed, the room was long and fairly broad with gold carpeting. Though only a few of the sconces at the edges of the high ceiling were lit, there was a disturbing amount of light. Tall, smoked mirrors on the dark red walls made the room look even more cavernous and bright. She would not be able to move an inch across that floor without being seen in those mirrors.

A massive set of black trunks sat against the left wall, a low but broad round table with four thick sitting pillows occupied the room’s center, and a pair of huge doors were set into the wall on her right. Small tables with art objects were posted along the walls. She had no clue where the exit was.

There was barely cover at all.

However, the good news was that the room was so exposed she could tell in a glance that no one else was in it.

The bed she occupied appeared to be set in a small alcove and was the darkest part of the room, but it was far too open and exposed for comfort. Worse still, the whole setup led in a clear straight path to the bed. Anyone entering the room would come straight there.

If she was going to get some decent sleep, she needed to find someplace a lot more secure, higher up, and dark. Her gaze drifted to the doors in the wall.

She moved cautiously from the bed, watching for any sign of movement. Her gaze darted to her own reflection moving in all the mirrors. It was unnerving as fury to be so visible.

She tugged open the tall door on the right. It was a wardrobe stuffed full with hanging robes, mostly black and red, and assorted trunks. She looked up. Above the hanging clothes, a broad shelf occupied the top quarter with the far ends concealed by the fact that the doors did not open the entire width of the wardrobe. There was a meter of shelf space concealed at either end even with the doors wide open. Boxes filled the center of the shelf, but the concealed ends appeared to be empty.
Perfect
.

She went back to the bed and collected two black pillows. Holding the pillows with her teeth, she grabbed onto the wardrobe’s inner edge and climbed up. Hanging onto the top edge of the wardrobe with one hand -- thank the Maker for augmentations that allowed her to lift twice her own body-weight -- she pushed all the boxes out of the right corner then pulled herself up and shoved her feet into the empty space. Folding her legs tightly, she wriggled her butt onto the shelf. She turned over onto her knees and leaned out from the shelf to grab the top edge of the open door. She pulled it closed.

Darkness enveloped her. She wriggled back into the corner, tugging one of the boxes along the shelf with her. She set the box at her head to block her from view should someone open the door. Curled tight in the small space with her head nestled on one pillow and the other jammed against her back for comfort and warmth, Fallon sighed in complete ease. The shelf space was actually roomier than her bed at home. She snuggled into the pillows and promptly went to sleep.

Chapter Seventeen

The
Moon Blade --
Skeldhi Mehdjay Battle-Cruiser

Outer Rim of Imperial Space

Local Space

Somebody chuckled.

Somebody else cursed. It sounded like Khan. “I know she’s in here ... somewhere.” It
was
Khan, and he was seriously annoyed.

Fallon curled tighter into her dark corner, clutching the pillow under her head. If he was pissed, she was better off where she was.

“I’m sure she is, but I told you she wouldn’t stay in the bed.” Sobehk’s voice was calm and very smug.

Fallon dug her fingers into the pillow.
Sobehk
 ... She did
not
want to face him. She was not ready to say good-bye.

“Why in Chaos not? She was dead asleep when I set her in it.”

“Because she’s feral.” Sobehk sighed heavily. “Khan, she’s been living in the bowels of a vermin-infested station run by cutthroats. She would sleep more comfortably in a blast hole high up in a wall before she would fall asleep in that bed. In fact, I found her more than once sleeping quite comfortably curled up in a disused drainpipe.”

“I find it hard to believe that a talent like the Fallen Star would sleep in a drainpipe! She had to be earning her weight in Imperial credits.”

“She probably did, and I’m pretty damned sure it’s all
in
her body. Did you get a look at the report on her augmentations? It’s all state-of-the-art, elenium and titanium alloy. Her internal comp is worth a small craft all by itself, but it’s obvious from her behavior that she didn’t live in the station’s top-side. She probably had a snug hole somewhere in the deeps that she had to climb to reach.”

Fallon frowned. That was a pretty damned close description of her cubby.

Sobehk chuckled. “My guess is that she’s tucked into the smallest, darkest, highest place in here.”

“Such as?”

“Try there.”

The wardrobe’s doors were pulled open.

Fallon froze.

The clothes below her were shifted about. “She’s not in here.” Khan’s voice showed clear annoyance.

“Try looking up, not down.” Sobehk sounded like he was barely holding back outright laughter.

“She couldn’t possibly fit!”

“Oh, yes, she could. I watched her slide into a sewer pipe a child would have difficulty getting into.”

The boxes shifted at the back of her head.

Fallon curled tighter into the corner, but she was already wedged in as tight as she could go.

“What in bleeding Chaos ...?”

The pillow was snatched from behind her, and someone grabbed the collar of her robes.
Oh, shit!
Fallon scrabbled for handholds as she was hauled headfirst from the shelf and into the light. The pillows spilled to the floor as she fell into Khan’s arms.

Khan set her on her feet, one hand knotted in the back of her robes, and glared down at her. “What in the name of Chaos were you doing in there?”

Fallon rubbed at her eyes. “I
was
sleeping.” She folded her arms and looked away from his angry copper gaze. “
‘Syr
.”

He slammed the wardrobe door closed with his free hand. “I have a perfectly good bed.”

Fallon rolled her eyes. “It’s in the floor, and perfectly visible! Anybody walking in here will go straight to it!”

Sobehk snorted then sighed. “Khan, I doubt she’s ever slept in a real bed.”

Fallon closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see him. And no, she hadn’t slept in an actual
bed
before. Too many things could find you there.

“Well, she’s going to sleep in one now.” Khan shook her by the collar of the robe. “No more sleeping in the closet!”

Fallon gritted her teeth.
Fat chance.

“You’re going to have to tie her in the bed if you expect her to stay there.” Sobehk definitely sounded amused.

Fallon opened her eyes and peeked at the mirrors. Sobehk was a tall, broad, pale shimmer in the smoky glass. Long cream and gold robes draped him to the floor, and he appeared to be leaning on the curved handle of some sort of pale staff. His hair fell down his back in a loose fall of frost white. Her heart lurched.

Khan swiped a hand across his jaw. “Mother Night, I cannot believe that one of the brightest minds in civilized space prefers the upper shelf of the closet to a bed!”

Fallon’s brows rose. “You’re supposed to be
civilized?
”

Both men stiffened.

Fallon clapped both hands over her mouth. Great Maker, where was her sense?

“Compared to you?” Khan’s eyes narrowed, his lip curled. “
I
don’t sleep in the
closet!
” A growl rumbled.

Sobehk smiled. “You’re growling.”

Khan snarled at Sobehk. “I
know
I’m growling!”

Sobehk shook his head and chuckled. “Khan, she’s feral. I doubt she even knows how to eat at a table.” He looked over at Fallon. “Do you?”

Fallon’s mouth fell open. “I’ve eaten at a table before.” Well, at the counter of the diner, occasionally, when she wasn’t in hiding during assignments.

Khan released a long breath. “How am I supposed to take her before the
Mehdjay
council if she doesn’t know even the basics of polite behavior?”

Sobehk rolled his eyes. “I believe I already mentioned that she needed a lot of training?” He folded his arms and smiled. “I wasn’t talking about
upuaht
skills. She knows how to fight. It’s everything else that needs work.”

“I don’t have time for this!” Khan bared his long teeth. “I have duties!”

“I guess you should have thought of that before you took custody of a feral
rehkyt
.” Sobehk grinned maliciously. “I feel so bad for you.”

“Do you?” Khan turned to Sobehk. “Then you can help. I’ll have the staff move you in with me.”

Sobehk stilled. “What?”

“I can’t have her disappearing into drain holes or conduits when my back is turned. You’re merely a passenger, so you can help civilize her while I’m on duty.”

Fallon jerked. Khan was having
Sobehk
watch her?

Sobehk moved closer. “Khan, are you out of your mind?” He stood a full head taller than the lord-officer and was nearly twice as broad, but he moved stiffly, supported by the thick staff clutched in his hand. He looked better, but he was obviously not well. “You can’t expect me to stay here and not want to ...” He bared his teeth. “That’s cruel, even for you!”

Khan smiled and set one hand on his hip. “I didn’t say you couldn’t have her.”

Sobehk’s eyes opened wide and he looked at Fallon. “Are you serious?”

Fallon stared at him, fully aware that her heart was beating in her mouth, afraid to think, and even more afraid to feel.

Khan turned to smile at Fallon. “Isabeau knows who she belongs to.”

Fallon cringed and stared at the floor. And she thought Sobehk was a sadistic bastard?

Khan lifted his chin. “Since you’ll be sleeping in my bed, you can help keep her ‘tied’ in it.” He raised an insinuating brow. “Among other activities.”

Sobehk folded his arms and smiled. “Missed me?”

Khan pursed his lips. “Perhaps a little.”

“I see.” Sobehk grinned and shook his head. His mouth tightened. “I’ll need a leash and a training whip.”

Fallon turned to gape at Sobehk.
A leash and a whip?

“You can use mine.” Khan grinned and reached into his robes and pulled out a length of black chain with a leather loop at one end. “Start with voice training.”

Fallon blinked. “What’s wrong with my voice?”

Sobehk snorted as he took the leash from Khan. “The fact that you are using it for something other than answering direct questions.” He took a step closer and set his hand on Fallon’s shoulder. “I’ll see she gets the basics.”

Fallon couldn’t help the warmth that coiled around her heart with his touch.

Sobehk snapped the leash onto the chain around Fallon’s neck.

Fallon flinched, her gaze drawn to the black chain from her throat to Sobehk’s hand. On second thought, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Khan might know what was in her head and what she was capable of doing, but Sobehk understood her habits. Regardless of the fact that he had taken three days to catch her, he had somehow managed to stay on her ass all three days.

Khan shoved back his robe sleeve and raised his brow at Sobehk. “Think she’ll be ready to eat at the table by dinner?” Coiled around his wrist was a length of braided leather that ended in a supple handle. He loosened the leather from his wrist, revealing a slender whip about a meter long.

“This stray?” Sobehk rolled his eyes. “She’ll probably be more comfortable with a bowl on the floor.”