Free Insatiable by Lauren Dane Page A

you.”
    Andrei nodded once and pulled her back into a more secure location.
    “Why? Is there a problem I can help with?” She kept her voice down.
    “There are troops between us and the portal. I have to take care of that.”
    Her eyes widened. “But . . .”
    “This isn’t going to be easy. If you want to live and get the fuck off Caelinus, you need to let me do my job. They will, without a second thought. They’re not going to let you pass; you have to know that. They’ll kill us and send you back. And then what? If you want that, tell me now before I risk my life or my partner’s life.”
    Hanging her head, she sighed heavily. Part of him felt bad for what she’d be seeing between that moment and the time she got off the transport in Ravena, but it was his job to make sure the latter happened. And his job wasn’t pretty.
    “They’re my people. I’m supposed to protect them.”
    “No they aren’t. They’re your father’s people. Those men are Skorpios. Do you understand the distinction here?” He took her upper arm, not to harm but to bring the point home. “Giving up now solves nothing. Making hard choices is the mark of a true leader. Be one now. You can’t help them here.”
    “All right.”
    Trusting Andrei to keep her safe, he moved quickly and quietly to the knot of soldiers. There were only three, and if he could have managed a good diversion, he would have rather than kill. Not because he cared about them particularly. They had their job and he had his. But it made far less of a mess. Bodies were a pain in his ass to deal with.
    These were Skorpios, Fardelle’s shock troops, and they weren’t likely to fall for that anyway.
    He planned how to take them all out as quickly as possible as he crept toward them. Once he began to work, he went into his head deeply. Part of him detached, entirely focused on the details of the job. It was like he watched a vid as he managed to take one out with a knife, hitting the other in the temple and grabbing his knife to finish the job and hit the third.
    With a signal to Andrei to get moving, he turned back to his work. Using the powder that would burn the bodies to little more than ash, he had cleaned up enough to cover their tracks by the time the other two arrived.
    She tried not to make a big deal out of looking around, but he could tell she did it nonetheless. She was freaked out, out of her element and, he had to admit, stronger than he’d thought she’d be.
    “Let’s move.”
    Though she was pale, she nodded and kept the pace.
    They had three standard hours until the first sun began to rise. This was not a time to walk. He was grateful she’d been telling the truth about being physically active daily, because she kept up as they continued their quick pace. He’d have carried her if necessary, of course, but it would have taken more out of him, and he was pretty sure he’d need every bit of strength and guile to get the hells out of the Imperium alive.
    Andrei took up the rear, watching their backs, while Daniel continued to run all the options through his head. It was so automatic, his mind wandered back to her again.
    Daniel knew she was on the verge of losing it. He’d probably never forget the devastation on her face when he’d told her to not leave the note back in the passageway. A note to her mother, he’d guess. Most likely it was becoming real for her. The cost of this decision. She was bound to grieve the loss of her mother. Even if she wasn’t dead, it wasn’t as if they could see each other again any time soon.
    And the soldiers. That lay heavy on her, he knew. It should, of course, but he’d been at this a lot longer than she. Her path had been far different than his.
    The woman had given up everything to get her daughter and the information out. He would not fail Esta Fardelle or Carina. Or, more important, the Federation.
    He’d already discovered Carina Fardelle was a lot more than he’d first imagined, but he wasn’t sure