Athena’s Ashes (Star Thief Chronicles #2)(39)
Author: Jamie Grey

And some way to erase the images of the warehouse from her mind.

Samil had done some horrific things, but this attack had changed everything. She’d made Renna look like a traitor and tortured an innocent man.

Each scene in the warehouse had been specifically created to taunt Renna. The men hanging from the rafters mimicked a job gone wrong back on Baeno, where her team had been beheaded and hung when they’d been caught. Wall’s positioning had been the exact same as Myka’s. And the hand in the safe… She bit back a shudder. The Seralline Star Sapphire job on Treze.

Samil wanted Renna to suffer. To let her know that she knew more about Renna’s past than anyone. Every nerve ending in her body twitched. What else did she know about Renna’s life? Who else was in danger?

Finn pulled the speeder to a stop in front of the Eris’s hangar. He cut the power, but didn’t move to get out of the car. Instead, he shifted so he could look at her.

Renna’s stomach lurched. She’d never seen that expression on his face before.

“Renna, I need to ask this. What happened back at MYTH? What were you doing in that room?”

“You still don’t trust me?” She couldn’t hide the disbelief in her voice. Hadn’t they just had this conversation? Hurt made her lungs ache, but she forced herself to look him in the eye.

“I do trust you. That’s why I need to hear it from you.” He smiled. “MYTH is going to throw everything it has at you if Samil leaks this. I want to be able to protect you.”

Her tension eased a bit. “I don’t need your protection. I can take care of myself.”

“We all know that, Ren, but we’re a team.” Finn squeezed her hand. “Let us help.”

From the back seat, Viktis nodded in agreement. “Never thought I’d say it, but pretty boy is right.”

Renna took a deep breath. “Fine. Dallas got me into the archive. I told him I needed to look for information that would help me track the Athena down. I accessed all the personnel files for everyone on board, but before that, I did a sweep of the system for information on Pallas. Exactly what we discussed before I left you guys.”

“I remember,” Finn said. “But how did she get footage of you planting a bomb?”

“I told you. I dropped my OSD, but somehow Samil edited the footage to make it look like I was planting something. The bitch has more resources than the devil.”

“What game is she playing?” Viktis asked with a frown. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who does anything without a reason.”

Finn tapped his fingers on the steering controls. “I have no idea, but whatever it is I don’t like it.” He pushed open the speeder door. “Let’s get back to the ship and meet up with the Athena at the rendezvous point. We have a lot to discuss.”

The trio boarded the Eris, and Commander Jayla met them at the CIC. She took one look at their faces and turned toward the comm room. “Inside. Now.”

Lieutenant Blake followed, closing the door behind them. “What the hell happened? You look like someone murdered your best friend.”

Renna let out a gasp, and Viktis’s hands curled into fists.

Blake’s eyes widened as he took a step back. “What the hell did you find?”

Finn raked a hand through his hair and sat down heavily. “Samil got there first. Wall’s dead. The drug is gone. She’s playing a game with us, but I can’t figure out what she’s after.” He glanced at Jayla. “We need to regroup with Aldani and see what else we can do. Renna needs that drug.”

Renna put out a hand to stop him. “Renna is fine. What we need to do is stop Samil before she goes any further. She’s enjoying herself too much with this. She thinks she’s smarter than all of us, and until we prove otherwise, her taunts will only get worse.” And she couldn’t live with herself if someone she cared about was the next target.

Finn slammed a hand down on the table. “I don’t care what she wants. She’s dead.”

“Captain, take a deep breath,” Jayla said, frowning at him.

“Sorry, ma’am.” Finn dropped his hands back into his lap, looking chastised, and Renna bit back a smile despite herself. Always nice to see someone else could get Finn to toe the line.

“I agree that the first step is meeting up with the Athena,” Jayla said. “We need to get Dr. Aldani working on a cure for Renna. Then we need to tell MYTH HQ what’s going on. If Dr. Samil wants to destroy us, I’d say she’s already got a good start. They need to start working on a plan to stop her. We can’t do this ourselves.”

Blake nodded. “Let someone higher up figure this one out. This isn’t on you, Finn. Or Renna.”

“What if Samil is still gunning for Myka?” she asked. “What if Dallas orders you to return to HQ? The kid’ll be in danger.”

Viktis paced between the table and the wall. “There’s no reason for them to know we have Myka or Aldani. Leave them at the safe house. They’ll be hidden there, and Aldani can continue to work. I’ll have supplies sent to him.”

“I think that’s the best bet.” Finn nodded. “I don’t want to disobey a direct order from the major if I don’t have to.”

Blake grinned at him. “Little too late for that, isn’t it, buddy?”

Finn narrowed his eyes. “Still think you’re a comedian, don’t you, Alistair?”

Blake smirked at him, and Renna cleared her throat. “I’m still not sure about this. We know Samil has spies inside MYTH. What if Dallas is one of them?”

“I can safely say that he’s one of the good guys,” Commander Jayla said. “But I understand your caution. Lieutenant, take Viktis to the comm room and set up a secure channel for him to use to connect with Dr. Aldani. We’ll set course for the rendezvous point immediately.”

Blake saluted and followed Viktis from the room, leaving Renna, Finn, and Jayla behind.

“You’re excused, Renna. I’m going to want to debrief the captain on his mission,” Jayla said. “I’m still his superior officer after all.”

Renna scowled at both of them. Why did the commander want her gone? Until this point they’d all worked together. “I’d prefer to stay if you don’t mind.”

Jayla shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’ll be discussing classified information. But I’ll have him back to you in no time.” She smiled, giving Renna no choice but to get to her feet.