I take Kali’s elbow to lead her in, and all eyes turn to us.
The patrons are mostly locals, from their appearances and dress, but I spot a group of wealthy-looking Permunians drinking at a table—probably merchants negotiating a deal for the Stellenium they mine for the Corporation. Their yellow eyes follow us as we pass.
“They’re all staring,” Kali whispers.
“I doubt they get many nuns in here.”
“I’m not a nun—and neither is Rain. No one is a nun!” She sounds exasperated. “And what is this music? I’ve never heard anything like it.”
“You need to go slumming more often. And what happened to keeping your mouth shut?”
“Stop saying things that make me open it.” But she shuts up; I’ll give her that.
I rest my free hand on my pistol and ignore the looks. At that moment, a young woman in a tight dress that hugs her very abundant curves enters from the door at the back. She sees me straightaway, and a smile flashes across her face as she bounds over.
It takes me a second to recognize her as the person Max had a thing with the last time we were here. Well, one of the people. He likes a lot of variety. And she’s also the daughter of the owner of this not-so-fine establishment. Because Max really is a big enough cliché that he actually tapped a barmaid. I just manage to get her name before she reaches us.
“Ian, where have you been?” Ella asks warmly. Probably more warmly than I deserve, considering how things ended with the two of them. “We’ve missed you.”
I shrug that off—she probably says it to everyone. “Around.”
“Max not with you?” She looks disappointed.
“Not this time.”
“And who’s this?” She glances at Kali, her expression curious.
“Just a job.” I feel Kali stiffen beside me and hope she remembers our discussion about staying quiet. “Some nun the Sisterhood wants transported off-planet.” I lean closer, lowering my voice. “Between you and me, I think they’re glad to be rid of her for a while. She’s a little difficult, if you get my meaning.” I can almost feel Kali bristling. Whoever thought winding up a princess would be so much fun? I should be keeping score—see how many times I can piss her off in an hour or less.
“But she doesn’t talk?”
“Mute. Or maybe they cut out her tongue ’cause she never stopped demanding things. Who knows?” Kali full-on twitches beside me at that one, so I figure that means I get an extra point.
“Those Sisterhood people are a weird lot.”
“You have no idea. Hey, is your da around? I have some business he might be interested in.”
“He’s in the back. Just go on through.”
I take Kali’s arm again and urge her in the direction I want her to go. I’d prefer her not to meet Dylan McBride at all, but I’m not leaving her out here alone, which means she’s coming with me.
I push open the wooden door—must be nice to have enough trees lying around to have wood doors inside; fucking Askkandia—and usher her into the little room. There’s a desk and a chair and not much space for anything else. A man is seated in the chair, booted feet up on the table, eyes closed. Dylan is a native Askkandian, with green eyes, copper skin, and a penchant for gossip that means he knows everything going on in this port town.
“You’re back,” he says, opening one eye. “Decided to work for me after all, have you?”
“Nope. You know I don’t work for anyone but myself.”
“I know you should.”
He takes his boots off the table and straightens, then glances at Kali but doesn’t ask any questions—that’s not the way Dylan works. “So, what are you doing here? I would have thought things would be too hot for you in these parts after that last stunt you pulled.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices. Look, Dylan, I need cash, and I need it fast.”
“And what have you got for me?” He lifts a brow. “I’m fond of you, lad, but I’m no charity.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the drawstring bag with the jeweled buttons. I tip them onto the table and watch as his eyes light up. He stirs the little pile with a finger, then picks one up and studies it. Pulling a magnifying glass from the desk drawer, he examines it more closely, then looks me in the eye.
“Where exactly did you get these?” he asks.
I fake a laugh. “You know I’m not going to tell you that.”
He purses his lips as he looks back and forth between Kali and me. “You might want to take a look at this.” He pulls a piece of paper—paper flyers? Again, fucking Askkandia—from his desk and hands it to me. I glance down, then turn slightly so Kali can’t see.
It’s a detailed picture of her in the purple dress with all the sparkly little buttons in plain sight. Reward for any information regarding the whereabouts of Princess Kalinda. Missing from the ISS Caelestis. There’s some other stuff, but I don’t read it, just screw the paper up and toss it in the bin with a quick glance at Kali. Her face is completely covered, so I have no clue what she’s thinking, but her arms are crossed beneath the robe and her foot is tapping in a way I’m pretty sure doesn’t bode well for either of us.
“Nothing to do with me,” I tell Dylan with a smile. “Now, are you interested or not? Because I have other people I can go to.”
“Maybe I’m interested.” He gives me a sly look. “Those are gonna be hot for a long while—too hot to sell, especially on Askkandia. Depends on the asking price. It’ll need to be worth the heat.”
I give him the number that Beckett said they were worth, and he laughs. Glad I’m making someone’s day. He counters with a number twenty times smaller. I work my way up, and we finish exactly where Beckett said we would. She might be a little strange, but she definitely knows her stuff.
The planetas change hands, and I watch as Dylan picks up one of the jewels and kisses it before slipping it back in the bag along with the others. Then he once again looks back and forth between Kali and me.
“I’d get off-planet as fast as you can. This place will be crawling with the Imperial forces any moment now.”
Good advice, made doubly good by the fact that I don’t trust him not to turn me in. Sure, we’re friends of a sort. But that was a damn big reward on that flyer he showed me, and Dylan loves nothing as much as he loves money. Not even his daughter.
I give a nod and hustle Kali out of the room. I can feel a lot of eyes on us as we pass the bar. I can also feel the cash burning in my pocket. As soon as we’re out on the street, she turns to me. “What was that piece of paper?”
“Nothing.”
“Why would he show you a paper with nothing on it? It was about me, wasn’t it?”
I snort. “Don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine.”
“That’s not a no. And what did he mean about the Imperial forces?”
“Nothing to do with us.”
I glance around. On the corner of the street is a food vendor selling the local spicy buns. I buy a couple and hold one in front of her face. Maybe if her mouth is full she’ll stop asking so many questions.