according to plan,” he said. “Now I know more about my opponent. I’ve also established his weak spots. Daron Navos is as big a noble fool as ever—and he’s attracted to my stepdaughter.”
“You can control her?” Rra asked.
Cyan smiled unpleasantly. “Malleable as Pangaean clay.”
“That’s good,” the businessman sneered. “Because Commander Navos is clearly not.”
“I can handle him,” Cyan said, his dark blue eyes burning. “The boy was just an experiment, to test the currents. I have a much more powerful tool waiting in the wings for the actual event.”
“How much of your share are you paying this one?” Rra asked.
Cyan began to laugh at his naïveté. “Not a single credit! Why should I when I can have the help for free?”
“Just see to it that it works. I don’t reward failure.”
Their holo-vid image winked out. Cyan rose from his chair with a quick, jerky movement. His hands clenched in impotent rage.
That patronizing bastard .
When this was over and his money safely stowed in an outer-galaxy account, he just might pay Rra a visit—and make him sorry he was ever born. Perhaps arrange a little accident. He would enjoy watching the skinny vegan writhe with the agony of a few broken bones, perhaps some internal injuries. He’d done it before.
“Your visitor is gone?” asked a voice. Cyan turned to see a woman standing in the open door to the balcony. In her slim column of white lii silk, a silken stole wound gracefully about her head and shoulders, she was regal as a lily.
“My dear,” he said, his heartbeat quickening as it always did when he saw her. She was so lovely, so…essentially unobtainable. Even when she allowed him to make love to her, he had the sense that he didn’t really hold her.
This excited him, as did the notion that perhaps his newest scheme would impress her enough to warm those perfect pale cheeks, those cool blue eyes.
“Yes, the fool only wanted to witness our little experiment,” he said.
She turned and he followed her out onto the balcony that overlooked the university fountains.
“Did it go as you’d planned?” she asked.
He leaned on the railing beside her, looking down into the cascading layers of water sparkling in the lights.
“It went just as I planned. She responded to the boy’s distress, as I knew she would. Navos now knows she wields an inordinate amount of power for a female.”
“And did they work together, to stop the boy?” His mistress’s voice was soft, musical as always, but her slender hand gripped the railing tightly.
“Yes. It was quite fascinating, really. They—”
“I don’t wish to hear the details.” Her voice sliced through his words. “Do you think he’s attracted to her?”
Cyan smiled to himself. “They’re no doubt engaged in sexual congress right now. Combining powers can have that effect, and she’s already infatuated with him. She had his holo-vid on her bureau, as if he was that Chaz Jaguari creature all the girls sigh over.”
Her hands tightened even more on the railing and his eyes narrowed. It was as he’d suspected. She had more than profit behind her desire to bring down Navos and his ship.
“You used and discarded him when he was young and naïve,” he said casually. “Perhaps he will do the same with her.”
“Don’t try to be ingenuous,” she said coldly. “It doesn’t suit you. I used him, but I was not…quite through with him yet.”
“Ah, he was supposed to remain with you.” Amusement tickled the back of his throat and he swallowed a laugh which he knew she wouldn’t appreciate. “As your consort.”
“Yes, but now I have you, haven’t I?” she murmured. She turned to him, one elegant hand lifting to touch his face. “And you won’t fail me…will you, Loftan?”
He straightened. Such lovely eyes, with so much danger lurking in their icy depths. “No. I won’t.”
Her lips curved up. “You want to destroy your stepdaughter as much as I want to
“You can control her?” Rra asked.
Cyan smiled unpleasantly. “Malleable as Pangaean clay.”
“That’s good,” the businessman sneered. “Because Commander Navos is clearly not.”
“I can handle him,” Cyan said, his dark blue eyes burning. “The boy was just an experiment, to test the currents. I have a much more powerful tool waiting in the wings for the actual event.”
“How much of your share are you paying this one?” Rra asked.
Cyan began to laugh at his naïveté. “Not a single credit! Why should I when I can have the help for free?”
“Just see to it that it works. I don’t reward failure.”
Their holo-vid image winked out. Cyan rose from his chair with a quick, jerky movement. His hands clenched in impotent rage.
That patronizing bastard .
When this was over and his money safely stowed in an outer-galaxy account, he just might pay Rra a visit—and make him sorry he was ever born. Perhaps arrange a little accident. He would enjoy watching the skinny vegan writhe with the agony of a few broken bones, perhaps some internal injuries. He’d done it before.
“Your visitor is gone?” asked a voice. Cyan turned to see a woman standing in the open door to the balcony. In her slim column of white lii silk, a silken stole wound gracefully about her head and shoulders, she was regal as a lily.
“My dear,” he said, his heartbeat quickening as it always did when he saw her. She was so lovely, so…essentially unobtainable. Even when she allowed him to make love to her, he had the sense that he didn’t really hold her.
This excited him, as did the notion that perhaps his newest scheme would impress her enough to warm those perfect pale cheeks, those cool blue eyes.
“Yes, the fool only wanted to witness our little experiment,” he said.
She turned and he followed her out onto the balcony that overlooked the university fountains.
“Did it go as you’d planned?” she asked.
He leaned on the railing beside her, looking down into the cascading layers of water sparkling in the lights.
“It went just as I planned. She responded to the boy’s distress, as I knew she would. Navos now knows she wields an inordinate amount of power for a female.”
“And did they work together, to stop the boy?” His mistress’s voice was soft, musical as always, but her slender hand gripped the railing tightly.
“Yes. It was quite fascinating, really. They—”
“I don’t wish to hear the details.” Her voice sliced through his words. “Do you think he’s attracted to her?”
Cyan smiled to himself. “They’re no doubt engaged in sexual congress right now. Combining powers can have that effect, and she’s already infatuated with him. She had his holo-vid on her bureau, as if he was that Chaz Jaguari creature all the girls sigh over.”
Her hands tightened even more on the railing and his eyes narrowed. It was as he’d suspected. She had more than profit behind her desire to bring down Navos and his ship.
“You used and discarded him when he was young and naïve,” he said casually. “Perhaps he will do the same with her.”
“Don’t try to be ingenuous,” she said coldly. “It doesn’t suit you. I used him, but I was not…quite through with him yet.”
“Ah, he was supposed to remain with you.” Amusement tickled the back of his throat and he swallowed a laugh which he knew she wouldn’t appreciate. “As your consort.”
“Yes, but now I have you, haven’t I?” she murmured. She turned to him, one elegant hand lifting to touch his face. “And you won’t fail me…will you, Loftan?”
He straightened. Such lovely eyes, with so much danger lurking in their icy depths. “No. I won’t.”
Her lips curved up. “You want to destroy your stepdaughter as much as I want to
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