Athena’s Ashes (Star Thief Chronicles #2)(11)
Author: Jamie Grey

“And you have no problem using an innocent little boy to create a super-soldier? No wonder Finn and Aldani went on the run. They’d want nothing to do with this.”

Larson growled and took a threatening step closer, his cold eyes flashing. “You don’t understand, girl. There are some things even more important than protecting the innocent. Do you know how many species out there are waiting for the Coalition to slip up? To take over our territories? If that happens, life as we know it will be destroyed. We need to become better than anyone else.”

A wave of something sharp hit her in the face. It smelled almost antiseptic, and she wrinkled her nose. What had he been doing in the med-bay?

“If that’s what you truly believe, then maybe I don’t want to be a part of MYTH after all,” Renna said through gritted teeth. Her hands itched to punch the smug look off his face, but she held back. “Or do your superiors know you’ve been bending their rules to fit your own purpose?”

Larson’s lips parted for a fraction before he slammed down his icy expression. “I don’t know what you think you know, but I’ve been a part of MYTH since it was founded. I know the real organization and what they stand for.” He lowered his voice. “I’m going to say this one more time, Renna. Your job here is to find the Athena and bring that boy back. Or I’ll make sure becoming a hybrid is the least of your worries.”

Major Larson was nothing more than a bully and a thug, and she knew how to handle those. Renna smirked at him first—for someone like him, there was nothing worse than being laughed at. “Thanks for confirming my suspicions, Major. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a mission to start.”

She mockingly saluted him, then spun on her heel and headed toward the Eris. She could hear him grinding his teeth as she walked away. The f**ker was going to pay—for betraying MYTH, for experimenting on Myka, and for insulting her.

“Everything all right?” Dallas asked as she joined him at the Eris’s hatch. He watched the major’s retreating form. “What did Larson want?”

“He wanted to make sure I understood how serious this mission was. How important Myka is.”

“Myka?” Dallas shook his head. “Of course we want to make sure the boy’s all right, but bringing Finn in is our goal right now. Where you find one, you’ll find the other.”

“That’s what I thought, too.” Renna shrugged. “Perhaps he heard different orders. MYTH is pretty decentralized after all.”

He cleared his throat. “Not that decentralized. I’ll follow up with Larson later and get this confusion settled. The man’s always taken too much upon himself. Are you ready to go?”

Renna nodded. “Can’t wait.”

Dallas’s face softened, and he held out a hand. “Good hunting.”

She shook it. “Thanks for everything, sir. You won’t regret it.”

She felt his gaze follow her as she boarded the ship. The urge to tell him the truth was stronger than ever, but she couldn’t risk it. She had a traitor to track down before any of them would be safe.

SEVEN

If Renna had thought the inside of the Athena was gorgeous, the Eris put her to shame. The sleek chrome walls, the smooth leather chairs in front of each console, the navigation map taking up one entire wall of the command center. It was as high-tech as it got. And when Commander Jayla gave the order to take off, Renna barely felt the ship move as they shot through the atmosphere and out into space.

Lieutenant Blake leaned back in his chair on the bridge, grinning at the rapturous expression on Renna’s face. “She’s a beauty, eh? I won the lottery when I was picked as Jayla’s XO.”

“I’d say.” She lovingly ran a hand along the control panel. “You’ve been assigned to her long?”

She already knew from her earlier implant scan that he’d worked under Jayla for almost a year, but establishing relationships with the crew was going to be important. And she knew better than anyone that one of the easiest ways to build a relationship with a man was to get him talking about himself. They could never resist.

“Finn and I served under Jayla on the Athena for two years. When they gave her this new ship a year ago, Finn got a promotion to captain and his own command. I got picked as XO for the Eris.”

“That’s tough. Did you want your own ship?” She studied him under the guise of paying attention. He was as handsome as Finn, but with spiky blond hair and warm brown eyes instead of Finn’s dark hair and blue eyes. But there was something similar about both of them. Maybe it was their military bearing or the upright moral fiber MYTH beat into them. But where Finn had a core of steel, Blake seemed younger somehow. More innocent.

The lieutenant shook his head. “Hell no. What person in his right mind wants that kind of responsibility? I’m perfectly happy serving under a very able commander and not being on the hook if something goes wrong.” He pointed to himself. “Having your own command is stressful and I’d hate to damage this handsome face with too many wrinkles. Old age isn’t a good look for me.”

Renna laughed—for the first time in days, it felt like. “Good point. Wrinkles would definitely take away some of that boyish charm.”

“I knew I liked you,” he said, beaming. His glance slid toward the commander. “Jayla’s going to have my head if I don’t get back to work. And she is one woman you do not want to piss off. I think she has bigger balls than I do.”

“You going to let me find out?” Renna asked with a seductive smile. She didn’t mean a word of it, but flirting was another sure way to hook a man and she’d slipped into her old, practiced personality with ease. She’d perfected Renna-the-flirt years ago after she’d seen how well it had worked in getting her out of tight situations.

Blake flushed a deep red and stammered, “Uh…no…yes… I don’t know…”

She bit back another laugh. Well that was unexpected. The guy could dish it out, but he couldn’t take it. “Relax, handsome. I promise I won’t bite.”

Blake cleared his throat. “Er, I really need to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.” He almost scurried back to his console.

Commander Jayla crossed the bridge to stand near Renna. “Are you upsetting my XO?”

“I didn’t mean to.”

Jayla shook her head, her gaze following the man as he took his station. “Alistair’s a good kid. One of the best, actually. But he’s a lot…nicer…than you’d expect a military man to be. Go easy on him.”