Queen of Swords (4 page)

Chapter Four

After a quick stop in her cabin to stow her stuff, Ophelia did a walkthrough of the ship.

The four rooms were cramped, but the bunks had decent mattresses and were covered in thick blankets to ward off the deep space chill smaller ships tended to have problems with. The same trend ran through the whole place, an odd mix of old and new in every room. She found the common room with no trouble—not like anyone could get lost the single time the hallway branched—and studied the worn table and shiny new InstaChef. Hells, even she couldn’t afford that model for her ship. Someone had money—big money—even if they weren’t willing to use it on more than the necessities.

Retracing her steps, she followed the sound of voices. The man—damn it, she still didn’t know his name—stood glowering down at a child-sized creature with too-large orange eyes and wrinkled nut-brown skin. Ophelia choked. He was an Evarven, a species notorious for its secrecy and hatred of humans. What was he doing on a mostly human world, let alone on a ship run by a human?

The Evarven caught sight of her and grinned. “Oy, man, look at her. No wonder you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”

Anger coiled its way through her stomach and up her throat, choking off the words she wanted to say. He’d told people about being with her? If the crew knew, then there was a decent chance the prince would know as well. She wasn’t ashamed of her choices, but telling people to pop off and mind their own business got old fast.

The man reached over, almost casually, and smacked the back of the Evarven’s head. “Do we have to talk about your mouth again, Gee?”

The Evarven didn’t look the least bit sorry. “Nah, Cap’n. I’ll do one last check before we space.” He ambled out of the hub as if he hadn’t a care in the world, leaving her alone with the object of her rage. In an effort to rein in her temper, Ophelia looked around. The deck itself wasn’t fancy by any means, just a hub with five seats on each wall and a deflector that protected the crew during jumps. On the other side of the room was a door leading to the cockpit. It took her all of five seconds to see everything there was to see. Then there was only
him
, pulling at her attention like some sort of freaky magnet.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Took you long enough to find your way in here.”

So that was how it would be? Fine. She could play his game better than he could. It wasn’t like she remembered much of last night, after all. Ophelia arched a single eyebrow. “Yeah, well, I was getting a look around. Nice ship. A bit on the small side, but I suppose that’s a personal issue of yours. Being on the small side.”

He grinned and damn if it didn’t push him from being striking right over into heart-stopping. Who knew she’d find a sense of humor so sexy? Asshole. It would have been easier to ignore him if he were pretty. She didn’t know what to do with that rugged face and those too-pale eyes. “Get strapped in. We space in ten.”

She wasn’t going to ask. Damn it, she wouldn’t do it. But her mouth opened of its own accord. “Hey.”

“Yes?” There was a wealth of satisfaction in the single word.

“What’s your name?”

Something wounded flashed over his face, gone too quickly for her to make sense of it. She must have read it wrong because when he answered her, there wasn’t any emotion to be found. “Boone.”

Then he was gone, disappearing into the cockpit.

Boone
. Her lips formed the word, but no sound came out. A scene flashed in her mind, Ophelia’s fingers gripping wide shoulders, her nails digging into skin broken with the unnatural smoothness of those damn scars.

Oh hells. She really had screamed his name.

Ophelia dropped into a jump seat and strapped in, her hands going through the motions while her mind was a million light-years away. Her memory should have come back by now, should have filled in the blanks. She’d been on a bender last night like she hadn’t been in years—running from memories too painful to bear could do that to a girl—but her lack of memory and shitty-ass mood wouldn’t have been an issue if she hadn’t fallen into bed with
this
man.

One might say Boone was her punishment for the tragedy on
The
Dutchman
. Lady knew she deserved whatever damage he could do, and so much more. Ophelia closed her eyes, grief settling over her body, coating her muscles. She tried to scrub the feeling away, but it was there to stay, burrowing under her skin.

The Evarven dropped into the next seat over. She tried not to stare, but who knew when she’d see one of his people again? She wanted to remember every detail so she could tell Mama and Papa about it.

“See something you like, girl?” Gee leered.

Some things crossed all species lines, and male stupidity was one of them. Ophelia took her time looking him over before meeting his too-large orange eyes. “No. And if you touch me without my permission, I’ll cut off your soft bits.”

“Got a mouth on you, woman.” He cackled. “And I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-meter pole. My Marcy would do more than cut off my soft bits, as you say.”

“I like your Marcy already.” She sounded nearly as feral as she felt. Damn. Ophelia looked away, trying to get a handle on her anger. But it was so much easier to be angry these days.

Desperate for something else to focus on, she looked at the three men who filed into the hub. Triplets, identical but for their hair, which was a sliding scale of brown.

Gee interpreted her look. “Those are Hadriel, Shadrach, and Caeden.”

Ophelia eyed the men, meeting each of their gazes in turn. The one with the lightest hair gave her a saucy wink, which made her wonder if Boone had been spreading tales to more than just Gee. But the middleman only gave her a blank look and the third one blushed, his gaze jumping to everything in the hub except Ophelia. Huh.

“They’re mute, so I wouldn’t try chatting them up.” He chuckled, then leaned over and peered at her, his eyes flaring in recognition. “Diviner, eh? I thought your lot was extinct.”

They nearly were, thanks to Sanctify. When those butchers took over the Diviners’ home planet, they’d committed mass genocide, forcing the survivors to flee to all corners of the universe to avoid their path of destruction. Since then, it had been Sanctify’s personal mission to see every last one of her species
purified
.

She gritted her teeth, reining in the harsh words waiting to spring from her lips. “Not my mother.”

“So you know your cards, do you?” Gee grinned as if he hadn’t been insulting her minutes ago. “You want to do a reading for me?”

“No, but I will.” Ophelia glared, wondering if the Lady would hold it against her if she killed this annoying little shit. The Evarven knew damn well what her answer would be. Diviners couldn’t refuse a request for a reading—it violated everything they believed in and the Lady had a tendency to make offenders pay harshly. As if she didn’t know that already.

Boone’s voice echoed through the room, slightly distorted from the intercom system. It was probably a connection issue—something she could fix easily if she were so inclined. She wasn’t. “If you’re done braiding each other’s hair, we’re spacing now.”

Gee snorted and pushed the intercom button next to his seat. “You’re just jealous the lady likes me better.”

“Hardly. She likes me just fine.” The carnal knowledge in his tone made Ophelia want to hurt him. Fatally.

Gee raised bushy eyebrows. “I don’t know Cap’n. She just told me how unsatisfying you were. Said she wanted a real man to show her how it was done. I’d volunteer but my Marcy would murder me right good.”

Ophelia dug her nails into her palms, drawing blood. She really, really wanted to break something, preferably Gee’s face, but showing her anger would just encourage the little bastard. And, hells, she’d probably be amused if the situation were different. Maybe.

For his part, Boone didn’t sound amused in the least. “Hold tight and shut up.”

The ship hit the edge of the atmosphere, shuddering violently. Piece of crap. Ophelia gripped the edges of her seat and closed her eyes, humming under her breath. The dropping feeling was over almost as soon as it began, leaving her feeling shaky and relieved when they hit straight space. Too bad the jump through the warp point still lay ahead of them. Jumping was the worst part of every run, so bad that most days she wished she could pop a downer and miss it completely. But that hadn’t been an option even when surrounded by a crew she trusted—and it certainly wasn’t now.

“Two days to warp, so make yourselves comfortable.”

She glared at the door to the cockpit and unstrapped herself.
I know it’s two days to warp point, asshole. I’ve been on more runs out of Keiluna than you ever will
.

Gee hopped down from his seat and gave an oddly formal bow. “Since we have time to spare…”

“I’ll do your reading,” Ophelia snapped. She exhaled, letting her agitation go. They were going to be on a small ship for nearly a week, perhaps a bit longer—she couldn’t afford to be a prissy bitch. “Let me get my cards.”

“Of course.” Gee led the way to where the hallway branched. For half a second Ophelia thought he meant to follow her, but he headed in the other direction. “I’ll be in the common room.”

Where else would he be on this tiny ship? She hurried to her room and dug through her belongings until she came up with the box. As soon as the cards were in her hands, the last of her tension drained away. Calm surrounded her until Ophelia felt as if nothing could touch her.

Nothing but the Lady.

She almost floated down the hallway, taking in the common room in a glance. The furniture was a better quality than she had initially thought—it was probably purchased within the last five years from somewhere spendy—and everything was clean. The InstaChef still took up the far wall, and one of the triplets—the shy one—stood before it. On the other side of the room was a long table, its lone occupant staring at her expectantly.

Ophelia sank into the seat across from him. “Past, present, or future.”

Gee eyed her but didn’t make any smart-ass comments. Thank the Lady because, calm or not, she would have decked him. The Evarven stroked his chin. “I know I may live to regret this, but the siren song of the future is too much for an old man like me.”

Sometimes knowing the future was a terrible thing—something Ophelia knew all too well. She shuffled the cards three times and set the deck in front of him. “Cut the cards.”

He nodded, orange eyes serious, and did as she told him. She laid three cards facedown and set the deck aside. Ophelia flipped the first card, a sliver of cold shooting through her. Eight of Wands. “Changes coming. You will receive unexpected news.”

The second card released some of the pressure binding her chest. The Empress was a good one to have in relation to the first card. Gee was an ass, but that didn’t mean she wanted bad things to happen to him. “You family will prosper, both financially and emotionally.”

Gee made a choked sound and Ophelia glanced up to find his eyes brimming with unshed tears. She smiled a little bit, trying to reassure him, but it only seemed to make things worse.

“Do you want me to stop?”

He shook his head and she flipped the last card. The Sun. Connected with the Empress, it could mean only one thing. “There will be a child.”

Gee took her hand in two of his, nearly jerking her over the table in his enthusiasm. “Thank you, lady, oh thank you.” He stood and strode from the room, tears falling unheeded down his face.

More shaken than she wanted to admit—emotional readings were more Mama’s forte than hers—Ophelia took her time gathering up her fallen cards. Feeling someone’s focus on her, she looked up to find Boone leaning against the doorway. “What have you done to my engineer?”

She stood. Talking to him while he towered over her felt too subservient for her tastes. “Nothing he didn’t ask for.” When Boone merely stared, ice warmer than his expression, she held up her bag. “I gave him a reading.”

“Hocus pocus and tricks.”

She bristled. “No, it’s not. But I wouldn’t expect a back-planet mercenary like you to understand that.” Damn, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. It seemed to be a running trend when she was around Boone.

“And if I asked you for a reading? Would you tell me I had love and a family in my future, that I would live a long life and die in my sleep?” He pushed off the wall and moved toward her, crowding her space. Out of the corner of her eye, Ophelia watched the triplet take one look at them and hightail it out of the room. Coward.

She turned her attention back to Boone, curiosity temporarily derailing her anger. “I would tell you the truth. The cards never lie.” If only she’d realized that two weeks ago, Akito and Kana would be alive and
The Dutchman
would still be in their possession.

“Bullshit.”

Ophelia stood her ground as he closed the last of the distance between them, until she had to crane her neck to see his face. “It’s not bullshit.” Her curiosity sprouted teeth and clawed its way up her throat, spilling out her mouth. “Have you had your future read, Boone?”

When he went pale beneath his stubbled cheeks, she leaned forward, her chest brushing his. Lady, but he was warm. “If it was by a Diviner, whatever you were told was true. We don’t lie. We can’t without the risk of losing the Lady’s favor.” And the loss often resulted in a brutal and untimely death.