Page 112 of Throwing Fire

“If you’ll come with us,” Exeter says. “Dav will take point. Clark’ll bring up the rear.” He nods to the two other mercs, who move into position. Pros.

I hold my hand out for Kez. Draw her against my side. She gives me a weary smile. Acker steps up to flank her. With Kez between us, the merc Dav leading the way, Exeter and Payton behind us and the last merc bringing up the rear, we’re as solid as we can be on foot.

The mercs’ ship is only a few streets away, parked very illegally on top of a sturdy warehouse. Their ship’s a speedy little Red Shift, all engines and barely any cargo space, but we don’t have much gear so that suits me fine. It’ll get us to Jielt fast, assuming we can get off the Clouds.

The Red Shift’s a two-seater. Exeter’s two underlings head up into the cockpit, leaving Exeter in the passenger hold with us. He helps us stow the little gear we’ve brought. Payton has a standard-issue Tyng Xec case. Kez and I have one of her nylar bags and Acker’s got a man-purse that I’d give him grief about if he hadn’t had to kill his girl a few hours ago. I stow the katanas but keep my kukris in their sheaths. There are no flight cradles on the Red Shift. She’s purely sub-orbital. We settle into the passenger seats and strap in. Beside me, Kez sighs as she sinks into the thick cushion.

Exeter sits facing us, in a seat he pulls out of the wall. Doesn’t look nearly as comfortable as what we’re sitting in, but he can watch us and I sense that’s the important thing.

“You got clearance outta the Clouds?” I ask him.

“We did half-an-hour ago,” he says.

We’ll know in a few minutes if we still do.

“Time to the Jielt DeSal plant?” I ask.

“Thirty-seven minutes at cruising speed. I can shave a few minutes off that if you want, but anything faster will attract attention.”

Better to go in quiet. “Nope, that’s good.” I turn my head to look at Kez. “Enough time for a nap, kitten.”

She gives me a tired smile. I tap my left shoulder with my strapped hand; she shuffles over in her seat until she can rest her head there. I slide my arm around her and settle her against my side.

With my kitten safe, I look at Acker. No expression shows on his furry face, but I can feel the universe of hurt behind that blank façade. I shrug my free shoulder. “Got a spare if you wanna get your head down.”

Acker snorts. “No, thanks.”

“C’mon, have a cuddle. No one’ll think any less of you.”

Acker leans in and sniffs at me. “I couldn’t possibly sleep sitting next to you. You stink. Where have you been, a sewer?”

I chuckle. “That’s man-stink.”

“That’s stink-stink,” Acker rejoins.

On my left side, Kez chuckles sleepily.

“Why don’t you stink?” I ask him. He crawled through the same sewer I did.

“I bathe.”

“I bathed. In your stinky shower. Fuck, your guest services need an upgrade. That’s the first thing on your to-do list when you get back.”

Acker blows out a breath through his nose, ruffling his whiskers. “Sadly, that is very far down my to-do list.”

I bump him with my elbow, since I was trying to lighten his mood and he’s turning it around on me. “She’s gonna be okay. So’re you.”

Acker tips his head back against the padding. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right, my friend?”

“Long as we kill it first,” I say. Let it sink in for a moment before I add, “May not feel like it right now, but you did the right thing.”

“It does not feel like it right now,” Acker says, closing his eyes.

“It will.” Feels like pretty cold comfort as I say it. But keeping Kez safe warms even the iciest reaches of my heart. I hope Acker feels the same way about protecting the woman he calls his Queen.

I close my eyes and try to nap, but the throbbing of my hand prevents me from dropping off. When I give up and open my eyes, I find Payton sitting across from me, next to Exeter, working on a palmtop.

Quietly, so I don’t wake Kez, who is snoring softly against my shoulder, I say to Payton. “How are you on desal ops?”