Free Beyond the Shadows by Jess Granger Page B

at his crown, leaving the rest to curl against his neck and ears.
    Yara focused back on the viewscreen. She shouldn’t be looking at him.
    Tuz jumped in her lap and sniffed the pot of soup, then placed his front paws on the console so he could stare out at the stars. She stroked her hand down his gray and black coat. This nightmare was almost over.
    “I can find passage on another ship once we reach Gansai,” she stated.
    “That’s not a good idea,” Cyrus countered with a hard edge in his voice.
    “I don’t have time to wait for your repairs.” This trip had taken far too long already. She’d had enough.
    “The repairs won’t take long. Gansai is dangerous.” He punched a quick set of commands into the console then turned to look at her. He crossed his arms and her attention lingered on the knives in the sheaths of his bracers.
    “I made a deal, I intend to honor it,” he argued.
    “Honor.” She didn’t bother to hide her sarcasm. “You’re a smuggler.”
    “Don’t you trust me?”
    “No.” It seemed like a cruel thing to say to a man who had just fought beside her. Then again, if they hadn’t been limping along in transwave for days on end, they probably wouldn’t have been attacked by Spiders in the first place.
    “There can be honor among thieves,” he mused. “You’re free to make your choices, but I’d be very careful whom you trust.”
    “I can take care of myself.”
    Cyrus looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. Instead he focused on the screen again as the planet slowly grew.
    “Let me talk to my mechanic. I’ll find out how long the repairs are going to take. If it is too much of a delay, I’ll arrange for someone to take you the rest of the way.”
    “Fine.”
    Cyn pinged Xan’s ship, relieved to find it somewhere on planet, though the versatile L6 Accipiter must have perched somewhere outside the city. He didn’t see Xan’s ship codes in the docking logs. He had to think quickly. If he couldn’t convince her to stay with him on his ship, he’d need to find someone else who could keep her contained but still sending messages back to Azra so Palar wouldn’t strike. Why did starting a war have to be so damn difficult?
    Xan could keep Yara detained, but Cyn didn’t like to rely on him for things concerning the revolution. Xan was his best friend and brother in all ways but blood. They’d fought and bled together. He’d saved Xan’s life, but as a Hannolen, Xan wasn’t particularly interested in the affairs of Azra.
    Cyn didn’t like this. He didn’t like it at all.
    He needed to keep his grip on Yara. She’d agreed to give him a few hours. He’d have to work quickly on Gansai. His best bet was to get Maxen on the job. The rat owed him a favor, and there was no one faster. The man was part machine.
    The dark blue planet swelled, filling the viewscreen as Cyn adjusted the ship’s trajectory to swing around to the largest land mass on the watery world.
    On the edge of one of the continents, the clear ring of an asteroid impact remained on the scarred planet.
    At one point it had been filled with civilization. Now the people were extinct, the remnants of one of their great cities turned into a hodgepodge collection of the culture and technology of too many planets to count. It was a vibrant port for pirates and privateers.
    The Union left it to its own devices, knowing that sometimes the pirate fleets came in handy.
    “Have you ever been to Gansai?” Cyn asked.
    “No,” Yara confessed as the ship sank lower, skirting just above the edge of the atmosphere.
    “It’s probably better if you don’t leave the ship.” He wondered what she would think of the arcades and the men who frequented them.
    “I’m a big girl, I can handle it,” she insisted.
    Sometimes she could be so damn stubborn.
    “Can you?” he challenged. “You don’t even know what you’re facing. Overconfidence can kill you.”
    “I’m not your concern. The only thing you should be