The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles #1)(73)
Author: Jamie Grey

Major Larson was a traitor. But that meant someone even higher up was behind everything.

How would she ever find out the truth?

Finn yawned and stretched in the chair as he came awake. His gaze fell on her, and his eyes widened. “How are you feeling?”

No sense in telling him how bad it was. The longer she could keep him safe, the better. “Like I got hit by a magnacraft. But it’s getting better.”

He crossed the room and sank down on the edge of the bed. His fingers traced the cut on her cheek, then brushed away a strand of her dark hair. “You had me worried.”

“How long was I out?”

“Just a few hours. We’re on our way back to Aldani’s lab.”

Renna stared up at Finn’s worried expression. How was she ever going to tell him what had happened? She was dying. For all she knew, she only had hours left. An ache filled her chest. There was so much left she wanted to do. To say.

“Viktis said they’d…experimented on you?” he said gently. “Can you talk about it?”

Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them away. Pull it together, Renna. She stared at the wall and quickly told Finn about Navang’s drug, about the hybrids, about everything that had happened at the lab.

“He said he worked for someone at MYTH named Pallas,” she said. “Major Larson was his contact.”

Finn frowned. “That’s not possible. I’ve never heard of anyone called Pallas.”

“But MYTH is like a hydra. There are so many arms you may never know about all of them. And this is the only thing that makes sense. Who else would have the resources or be able to stay hidden so well? Who would know where all the MYTH installations were? Who else would know how to stay one step ahead of us?”

Finn chewed his lip. “Major Larson. I can’t wrap my head around it. I would have bet my life he was trying to help us back on Lenue.”

“He fooled everyone. How else would he still be in that position?” She squeezed his hand. “It also means that someone even more powerful is protecting him. Myka still isn’t safe. We can’t take him back to Aldani.”

Finn shook his head. “He needs help and so do you. Based on what you said, Aldani is the only person who can fix this. He’s got the resources and the experience to keep you both alive and healthy.” He got to his feet. “We’ll be there in another hour. Get some rest. I need to some time to digest all this.”

“There isn’t anything to think about, Finn. We need to take the boy and run. We need to find somewhere safe for him, and then we need to find the person behind all this.” Renna struggled to sit up. The room whirled like a deranged merry-go-round, everything moving up and down. She forced herself to ignore the nausea burning her throat and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, but you have to promise me to watch over the kid.”

Finn glared at her. “Stop talking like that. You’re going to be fine. Aldani will fix you.”

“There’s nothing he can do, Finn. My immune system is gone. The implant is going to integrate with my nervous system. I’ll either survive the process or not. And when Navang’s drugs run out…” Her voice broke off, and she looked away, not wanting Finn to see her watery eyes. Dammit. Just when life had finally started looking up.

“We’ll find a way to fix this. I promise you.” Anger vibrated in every line of Finn’s body. “If you hadn’t destroyed that facility, I would have killed the man myself.”

“Did it blow?”

He nodded. “Just after we landed. Shook the whole ship. I can’t imagine anything’s left but a crater now. Now I’m going to do the same to Larson.”

The image of those hundreds of hybrids would haunt her forever, but right now, Myka was her main concern. “No, you’re not. We have to come up with another plan.” She struggled to her feet, ignoring the feel of the Athena pulsing around her.

Her knees buckled, but Finn caught her.

Pressed against the hard planes of his chest, her eyes locked onto his. “I’m sorry we won’t have time to figure this thing out between us.” She stroked the strong line of his jaw, rough with a day’s worth of stubble. “But it’s been fun.”

“This isn’t over, Renna,” he growled, capturing her mouth with his. Heat blazed through her, pushing away her aching head and the fear crawling along her skin. Maybe right now she could forget. Could lose herself in Finn and the way he made her feel. Her hands tangled in his dark hair as she pulled him closer. She’d crawl inside him if she could, but she settled for his touch, the taste of him, the feel of him against her.

His strong arms held her steady, his hands sliding down to the waistband of her pants, then lower to cup her behind. He pressed her against him, and she moaned. She could feel the heat pooling inside of her. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything. She wanted one last time to feel human. To feel like herself before everything changed.

“Make love to me,” she whispered in his ear.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He kissed her again before pulling away long enough to slip his shirt over his head. His hands slid the back of her bra open, and it fell to the floor. They kissed, each of them fumbling with the zippers and buttons on their pants, and then Finn scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed, lowering his weight down on top of her.

He planted his hands on either side of her and smiled slowly. Her insides clenched at the look in his eyes. Like he’d devour her. Like he’d never let her go.

“What have you done to me?” he asked softly as he lowered his mouth back to hers. He nibbled at it, sucked at her lower lip.

She took a shuddering breath, tried to regain control of herself. “I could ask you the same question. I’ve never begged a man for sex before.”

“I’m glad I’m the first. I hope I’m the last.” His lips traveled lower, tracing the line of her collarbone, the outer curve of her breast. His tongue flicked against her, and she arched, burying her hands in his hair, pulling him closer. She could feel his smile against her skin.

His body fit with hers like they’d been made for each other, and she let him kiss his way down her stomach before reaching for him. Desire curled through her fiercely, pushing away her fear and worry. She slid her hands across his chest, tracing the scar he’d once told her about. She followed the trail of his hair lower, until she could touch him, hard and smooth.