Chapter 1: Melisande

Rough hands curled over my breasts from behind, squeezing the mounds before scorching a trail down the side of my body and resting possessively on my hips. He was here again. My dream champion.

None other would treat me this way. Like I was precious. Like I mattered.

His touch was addictive. Decadent. Though the last two nights had been barely-remembered dreams, I clung to them, as they gave me renewed hope despite my reality.

I pushed those real-life intrusions aside for now. They didn’t belong in this sacred space. Here, now, I focused on pure sensation.

The smooth, cold feel of the wall in front of me. His large body behind me, radiating heat and strength with every caress. His skin was like supple suede stretched over steel.

How he made me feel like a goddess, and I gloried under his attentions. With him, I could forget myself. At least for a little while.

“Where are you, my sweet?” That voice. The hint of command in it made me tremble. He’d asked this question before, but I still didn’t know the answer. I wanted to obey, but I couldn’t. And I couldn’t bring myself to lie.

“I don’t know.”

“Would you tell me if you did?”

“Yes,” I gasped. Slick flowed from between my legs. I squeezed my thighs together, but there was no hiding from him. His dark laughter made my heart race as he dragged his large hands down my body to cup my sex.

He parted my pussy lips and teased along my seam with a feather-light touch. “That’s my good girl. Tell me your name.”

“Melisande,” I hissed, drawing out my name as I fell further into bliss. I wanted to drive my hips forward, increase the pressure of his finger against my clit, but he gripped my hips still. He was in absolute control here.

He carried on his playful, conversational tone as if he wasn’t skillfully destroying my body. “A beautiful name for a beautiful female. You know my name, don’t you, kitten? You screamed it for me when I made you come.” Yes, I knew it. It was branded into my very soul. “Lyova.” I pressed myself against his palm. He responded by holding me still. Oh yes, he was in absolute control.

I swallowed a sob.

I’d been with other men before, but nothing like this. Never responded anywhere close to this. He was attentive and hot, and knew his way around my body.

He pressed his massive length against my back, cupping my sex to keep my writhing body still. His fingers dipped into my wet heat, testing me, stretching me. I let my head fall back so that it rested against his shoulder.

“Brace yourself against the wall, my sweet girl. There you are. Just like that.”

He lined up our bodies and pushed himself inside of me. He met resistance and gently thrust in and out, swirling his finger over my clit. “Take all of me, my beauty,” he urged. “You can do it.” He angled my hips and pulled my thighs apart just a little more. Finally, he bottomed out, his entire length pulsing inside of me.

A primal growl rocked through his chest, vibrations coursing between us. “So tight.” He dragged his length in and out of me, keeping me still so he could control the pace.

It made no matter to me. I ceded myself over to him. Gave him total control in this manner. Trusting him to take care of me.

His rhythm grew wild, hips smacking against me, fingers marking me.  “Lyova! I can’t hold on.”

He nipped at my neck, trailing his teeth over the smooth contours of my shoulders before biting down. “Let go, my beauty. I’ve got you.”

And he did have me. Without breaking his rhythm, he spun me around, so that I wrapped my legs around his hips, the wall at my back. He kept me safe in the cradle of his arms, pinioning my arms above me as he drove into me harder and harder.

I gave in to the most decadent orgasm yet. I screamed for him, chanting his name until I no longer had words, no longer had a voice. He threw his head back and roared, the sound of it echoing into the farthest reaches of my heart and soul.

I willed myself to remember this dream. It would need to keep me company for many months to come. The worship in his golden eyes. The line of his body, the taut muscles, the way he gripped me, but never hurt me with his claws. The way his tail wrapped around my waist. Every part of him possessive of me.

I awakened in my bed, still feeling his delicate touches like kisses whispering against my skin. The dream dissipated like a fog on a dewy day and I found myself gazing up at the illuminating blue lights casting their neon glow. I touched myself, still feeling his caresses on my body. Still yearning for more. I touched my clit, imagining my fingers were his.

And then the light above me blinked, the bulb zeroing in on me.

I quickly pulled my hands away from myself, my libido dying.

I sighed as I slowly rose, pushing back the red tendrils framing my face. Looking at the time on the night stand I saw it was a couple hours before dawn. I still had some time to sleep. I probably should get some more rest.

Instead I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and turned my attention to the windows surrounding me, offering me a glorious view of the metal confines of my prison. Other windows filled with women gazed back at me. Their rooms illuminated in the same bright blue hue. Dark platforms rose and lowered with windows opening and closing. The facility was like one big tomb. A giant skyscraper for females like myself.

“Lights,” I called to the room around me, the soft blue turning into a bright golden glow, displaying the other rooms around me. 

Next to me a woman was changing into a short red dress, possibly preparing for her next client. Another girl was walking out to the platform, dark straps wrapping around her arms and legs to keep her still as it descended into the dark abyss. Everything was sound proof. I once tried talking to the other girls by banging on the windows. They never looked my way. They always seemed focused on their hair, their makeup, their clothes.

They never seemed interested in escaping, that was for sure. 

I used to live on the outer walls of the facility near the peak of the tall skyscraper. My rooms nestled in vast clouds spread out and golden as if I was in the heavens. It was a glorious treat.

“Do well and this could be your home,” Isaul had whispered against my ear. I shivered, rubbing the goosebumps appearing at the sound of his voice. “Fail, and I will send you below the clouds.”

The clouds were the fine line separating the rich from the wealthy. I lived somewhere in the Concord of the Sovereign Worlds, yet Isaul moved me around so frequently I never knew exactly where I was. It didn’t help that each facility was the same. Or even if I had that spectacular view, I would still see the same beautiful clouds and towering skyscrapers.

Below the clouds was the city life, filling with aircrafts flying from platform to platform. It wasn’t beautiful, but at least it got some light. Unlike the streets. The streets were filled with trash. The Varons below living off scraps, feeding off each other, fighting and trying to claw their way out all for nothing.

I was sent there once as punishment for refusing a job. It only took me an hour before I was crying and begging.

“Isaul,” I had cried, trying to follow him down the path he left. “Isaul, I’m sorry.” I remembered the Varons clothed in rags. They were unusually thin, wraith-like. “Isaul!” I remembered how the streets were like mazes. The tall, dark buildings towering over everything and everyone. There weren’t any platforms to take anyone higher than the first two or three levels.

“Don’t you look tasty,” I remembered a starved Varon mutter as he clawed to get to me.

I remembered screaming. I remembered running as fast as I could down that dark alley, tripping over something in the darkness. “Isaul!” I cried as I continued running. “Isaul, please! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

I remembered something grabbing me and I screamed, eyes widening when I saw Isaul’s grey face and golden eyes. “It’s all right, love,” he whispered to me, petting my red hair. “I forgive you.”

I shuddered, willing the memory away, yet I still heard the echoes of Isaul’s voice. “You’re lucky,” he had said. “I rarely forgive. But you’re special to me, Melisande.”

I watched the female in the red dress board the platform, the straps wrapping around her before it slowly descended into the darkness. I wondered what my next job would be. I never wondered when anymore. Isaul never kept me here long. Only for a moment’s peace before he ripped me away again.

I grabbed the black robe hanging near my bedside and shoved my feet into the fluffy slippers before traipsing toward my vanity. The blue light hovering above followed me. It always followed me when I was having my break away from my duties. It watched my every move, whether waking or sleeping. As if it were Isaul himself hovering above me, gazing down at me. 

I sat on a cushioned chair in front of my vanity. The lights surrounding the mirror beamed on with my presence. Green eyes sunken in with dark circles gazed back at me. 

Ugh. 

I looked like absolute shit. 

I could sleep a decade and I probably would still look like complete shit. I pinched my cheeks, hoping to give it some color, yet that only seemed to make me look worse.

Makeup then. Makeup always made everything better.

 I took the brush and ran it through my hair. The action triggered a memory of Isaul sniffing it, bringing the strands to his lips before kissing them. “Your hair is magnificent,” I remembered him whispering as he watched me in the mirror.

I shuddered and ripped the brush through my fiery strands, hating every bit of it. I just had to be born with red hair. But it wasn’t just that. My hair had a natural ombre to it, where it lightened at the bottom. My friends were always jealous, wishing they could have the same without paying for it. 

The guys I dated thought I did it on purpose, sometimes commenting on how they liked their women more natural. Insert eye roll here. Every man always said that, yet always commented, “You look so tired,” when I didn’t wear makeup.

I ripped the brush through my locks again, my scalp burning from the ferocity. It was my exotic looks that got me into this mess in the first place. If I could, I would shave my head, but then Isaul would just toss me into the streets.

And that was really the last place I wanted to be.

“Melisande,” I heard my name over comms.

I sighed and set down the brush. 

What now?

 “Yes,” I called dutifully, resting my hands in my lap. 

“Isaul is sending transport. You have an hour.”

I nodded and shifted out of my robe, dropping it in a pile on the floor soon followed by my pajamas. The light hovered around me, it’s blinking bulb looking up and down my naked body, approaching my breasts, circling around to get an angle of my ass.

I rolled my eyes. It was obviously either Isaul hoping to get some videos for future clients, or a paying asshole jacking off on the other end. Most likely it was both.

Why were aliens such disgusting horny fucks?

Or rather, why were males such disgusting horny fucks?

Maybe I was being too judgmental. Maybe they thought I was here, because I enjoyed this kind of work. Some females did, and all the power to them, but I–I was beamed here after filling out a dating app.

A fucking dating app.

I already suspected I was being an idiot when one asshole led me to the next. All I wanted was love. Nothing much. Didn’t we all want love in the end? So why was dating so hard? 

I never understood why men dumped me so quickly and easily after sex. Didn’t they like me? Sure, I wasn’t the most beautiful girl ever, but I was in shape. I had a cute face. I could be funny, witty, and charming with a hint of playfulness.

That’s what men wanted right?

But year after year I found myself alone, and feeling just a little desperate.

Just a little.

My friends recommended a few dating apps, telling me it helped them meet what’s-his-face who proposed last week, or that the men on the apps were actually interested in settling down.

Pfft.

Yeah, right, was my initial thought. I’m sure men on these apps were just trying to get laid like they were in the club.

Or anywhere for that matter.

And besides, I always thought I would meet my soulmate in person. I once imagined myself bumping into him at some social event. He would lock eyes with me, smile, and tell me some silly pick up line. I would giggle and we would spend the whole evening talking and that would be it. We would fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after.

Instead, after a few glasses of wine and feeling particularly lonely one night, I finished filling out an application form for some weird looking dating app and suddenly I was beamed to Isaul. 

The end. 

Game over.

And I lived happily never after.

I pulled up the black straps of my maxi dress. It had slits going all the way up on either side, yet covered my front and ass. It was sexy and comfortable. It was also Isaul’s favorite.

I quickly dabbed on some make-up accenting my eyes in brown eyeshadow and giving myself sultry red lips. I pinned up my hair, allowing a few tendrils to fall down and frame my face.

The platform appeared and the window opened. I stuffed my feet into some highly uncomfortable stilettos before running out to meet my transport. Knowing me, I probably forgot something, but being late wasn’t an option.

Isaul hated it when I was late.

And since my little mishap on the streets, I made sure I would never make Isaul angry ever again.

I was his broken-in perfect little money horse and what I hated most was that he knew that. He knew I would never go against him ever again.

I couldn’t. 

The straps circled around my legs and arms, holding me still as it left my room and lowered into the darkness of the facility below. I ignored the lurching in my stomach and closed my eyes, the wind within the skyscraper whipping at my face. 

This part sucked. It was like I was on a rollercoaster ride without a bar to hold on to. I wished I could scream.

I frequently wished I could scream.

I opened one eye and sighed in relief when I saw Isaul’s grey form awaiting below. He smirked as he watched me. His golden eyes scrutinising my attire. He was dressed in a black cloak, the hood up, covering his balding head. White hairs poked out from beneath the hood. 

Isaul stood surrounded by his guards, who ogled me discreetly as the platform lowered. I must be going somewhere extravagant, I thought as I saw the lightwing aircraft behind them and the gold and red attire his guards adorned. 

The platform locked in place, my straps circling back into their slots. I lowered my hands to my side and slightly bowed my head. “Master Isaul,” I whispered. 

“Melisande,” he stepped toward me, towering above me. I flinched when his fingers gripped my hair, thinking for a moment he would yank me by my strands. Instead he kissed the locks before stroking the side of his cheek with them. “Beautiful as always.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want him to find me beautiful. I didn’t want him touching me. Everything he did, I hated, and I wished there was more I could do to show my hate for him.

But he was stronger. There was no way I could fight him.

In the end, it was just better to say nothing. 

“You were glorious,” he said, continuing to stroke my cheek as he circled me. His finger ran down the length of my exposed back. “I knew you were the one for the job. Lord Ladonian paid a lot of money.” He chuckled.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

Lord Ladonian.

He was a high ranking Varon in the Sovereign Worlds, who loved to wear white. White everything. White shoes. White suits. White hats. When we met, he was in an all-white suit and a white cravat which he spilled red wine all over when I slid my hand down his pants.

He was also a very big man with nearly nothing swinging between his legs.

And man, did that idiot like to talk. On and on and on and on. He could make a conversation out of thin air. Isaul knew it, too, which is why he set up the job. 

It was simple enough. Meet with Lord Ladonian at some high-class brothel in the clouds. Liquor him up. Make him feel manly and wanted.

Fuck him.

Yet, the thing with me, that no one but Isaul and his goons knew, was I had surveillance tech injected into my body. Surveillance tech Isaul injected into my body in order to spy on clients and get as much information out of them as possible.

For blackmail.

Sure, Isaul made plenty of money as a pimp, but where he truly made his millions was from blackmail. He had dirt on many higher-ups in the Sovereign Worlds.

And Lord Ladonian, had some pretty terrible dirt.

“I sent the funds to your account.”

I closed my eyes, knowing what would happen next. I hated seeing the numbers, seeing how far away I was from my goal.

Isaul knew it too. He enjoyed taunting me like this.

“Alas, you still are far away from paying out your bonds.”

I opened my eyes and saw the numbers. 13,500/5,133,900 it read; displaying the 13,500 in yellow and the 5,133,900 in red. 

My debt. 

The only way I could be free from Isaul was to work and pay him back for my rooms at the facility, my beautiful clothes, my make-up, my food. Everything.

If I was crazy enough I would laugh.

“I do have another job for you,” said Isaul, circling around to face me.

My eyes met his for a moment, watching him raise an eyebrow at my hostility before I quickly lowered my gaze down to the platform. Isaul held out a chip in front of my view, displaying the picture of the angriest looking Varon I had ever seen. 

The alien was tall and bulky. He had pink scars across his grey face and short cropped orange hair. Yellow eyes stared back at me on the screen. He sneered at the camera as if this was taken right before he broke the photographer’s neck.

Ugh.

Why did I always get the crazy ones?

“You could refuse,” said Isaul. He sighed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “However, I don’t think I can afford your place here if that is the case. Or your clothes for that matter. I would have to let you go, Melisande. You understand?”

An image of me running through the streets below the clouds flashed and I shuddered, remembering the Varon reaching out for me. 

“Don’t you look tasty.”

I took the chip from Isaul’s hand, reading the name next to the picture. 

Chorwan Vortu. 

Please don’t be an asshole. 

Isaul snapped his fingers and the guards proceeded to the aircraft. I followed behind him, pocketing the chip.

“When do we begin?”

Isaul wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me toward him. His lips lightly touched my ear. “Tonight.”

I swung my Reaper-class prowler in a low-flying arc before settling down among the wreckage of a junkyard. It would be safer here with the scrap metal waste than parked in the shiny streets with the other tourists.

At least this way, no one would be tempted to steal a light-wing craft that looked to be a derelict. I turned on the cloaking tech for good measure. No need to tempt fate, given the shithole I needed to check out for the next few days.

Erebus.

Known for all manner of debauchery that anyone would be willing to pay for, it also served as the home base for the Spades gang.

Starships zipped above the buildings; their screeching could be heard over the repetitive boom of the electronic music wafting from the surrounding bars. The scents of pollution and grime assaulted my nose. Robotic screens hovered over the main thoroughfare, flickering advertisements for scantily clad females promising happily-ever-afters for the right price.

Rusted androids limped brokenly, cleaning the busted pipes, wires, and bolts piled high in the streets.

I turned my gaze up to the holographic force field surrounding Erebus and protecting the outpost from space. It was the only thing I truly enjoyed in this rundown place. The holographic plates portrayed clouds and a full moon, occasionally flickering, yet still reminding me of a night sky I had gazed upon when I was a kit.

Two small starships swerved around each other, one crashing into the street several feet away. Alien juveniles took turns kicking a wrecked android, before running toward the small ship. It didn’t take long for more opportunists to come out of the shadows and see if they could run off with anything of worth.

My lip curled in disgust and I swallowed my base instincts with a growl. This was neither the time nor the place to intervene. The entire outpost was full of parasitic scum, and leaving a trail of bodies would not help me while I was on this cloaked op.

I leaned against the wall of a building I could only presume was a bar. It was the only area not illuminated in neon and I allowed the darkness to mask my features.

A Ceresian female, her shimmering blue scales illuminated in the neon lights, leaned against an entrance to a building flashing neon yellow. Her scales covered her ample breasts, which were barely concealed by the simple pink bralette she wore. She raised her hands over her head as if she were dancing to the music. Her hands travelled down the length of her body, tugging at her matching pink thong.

The Ceresian reached out to a potential customer, stroking his shoulders while rubbing her breasts against his arm. She pouted when he shook his head at her, pushing her away as if she were a diseased creature. For a moment she watched him leave before her serpentine gaze flicked my way. She looked me over, crossing her arms and parting her legs. She flicked her long tongue across her lips. Her serpentine eyes blinked sideways, and she turned, smacking her well-formed ass.

I chuckled at her subtle invitation.

Funny how a few months ago, I’d have taken her up on it, hunting her down after a reaping mission. A hot, willing body to warm my den for a night. But ever since my reaper commander, Cade, had met his fated mate in Solana, I felt restless for more. It gave me hope that maybe one day, I would find my own fate-mate.

Hope was a dangerous thing in the Savage Lands.

Two Redbacks exited a blue neon pub, swinging at each other with their eight arms. The taller of the two pounced, its fangs ripping into the shorter one’s neck, whose wild screams were lost amid the city’s noise.

Several customers spilled out in their wake, goading on the fight. They were a motley group of various races cheering and placing bets.

“Get him!”

“Bite him!”

“Hit him harder!”

I watched each of them, looking for the marking, anything that indicated they were branded with a Spade tattoo. It was turning out to be surprisingly difficult. Though everyone on Erebus seemed to work for the syndicate, not many were actually part of the gang. I needed a true member, one high enough in rank to sport a tattoo. Only one like that would know drop sites and other trade locations.

The fight reached a fevered pitch. The taller Redback clamped his jaw down on the shorter one’s forearm, and with a quick jerk of his head, ripped it completely off his opponent’s body. It landed in front of a large, beefy man who had chosen to leave the pub at this inopportune time. The man scowled, the red thorns all over his face emphasizing his annoyance as he clutched a black bag closer to his body.

Curious, I scanned his face and brought up any information I could on my retinal display. He was a Kazzor, no known affiliations or any other biological information. For all intents and purposes, Mr. Thorny Face was pure as a virgin.

Yeah, and I was a kit born yesterday.

The brawl ended as the taller Redback straddled his opponent and sank his teeth in his victim’s neck. With a sickening crunch, the shorter Redback went limp and the onlookers cheered in horrifying joy, moving back toward the pub.

The Kazzor made way for the party. He kicked the detached arm toward the dead Redback as he strode past. His yellow gaze darted about before he turned on his heel, revealing the black spade tattoo on the back of his neck.

I smiled in the shadows. Target found. I kicked away from the wall, tugging my hood over my head before I was bathed in garish neon lights.

I trailed behind the Kazzor, watching how he kept the bag close to his body. It could be anything, really. His laundry. A collection of severed heads. Library books for a needy orphanage.

But my gut told me that it was what I’d been assigned to find—evidence of black-market tech from the Kridrins.

Also known as the fuckers who trafficked in slaves. Legion command wanted more intel on them. They didn’t exist in any database, which meant they were good at hiding their tracks.

Didn’t matter how good they were, though. We would find them. Rodinians found everything, no matter how well-hidden. It would only be a matter of time.

A drunken group stumbled out of a bar, laughing and jostling each other before ramming into me. Quickly, I hid myself in an alley. I didn’t need to get involved in what looked to be another bar brawl.

I glanced around, my tail twitching when I couldn’t find the Kazzor’s red horned head. “Dammit,” I muttered. I couldn’t lose this bastard now.

I dodged the fighting gang members, who were busy rolling around on the ground, finding the Kazzor looking around and sniffing the air. Why was he sniffing? Could he smell me following him? His yellow eyes looked in my general direction and I lunged, hiding my large form behind a stall steaming with meat sautéing in a skillet.

“Squiddle?” the stall owner asked, a grey Morsei with six tentacles for hands. He grabbed one stick, the meat still squirming on it, and offered it to me.

I shook my head and tried to keep myself from making a face. Damned Erebus. Volatile creatures and disgusting cuisine. “No, thanks,” I muttered.

I glanced back at my target, who was flirting with another Ceresian female, this one dressed in a shimmering gold thong and bikini combo. She tilted her head to the side, smiling while she stroked his arm with one tentacle.

The Kazzor leaned in, whispering something in her ear, and I watched her face go from seductive to horrified.

She smacked him and turned on her heel, slamming the door in his face.

“Not the ladies’ man, I take it,” I mumbled to myself, sliding into a dimly lit alley and watching him turn down another street.

I jumped on a dumpster, kicking from wall to wall until I landed on a rooftop. He was a slippery fellow, weaving in and out, his hands moving into passing pockets and snatching credits. I followed him, watching from above, jumping from one rooftop to the next. He occasionally stopped to feel around in the bag.

Whatever he carried, it was important.

Cade’s voice spoke through my comms as I jumped onto another rooftop. “Reaper One to reaper squad. Call in.”

“Dorn.”

“Lyova.”

“Talus,” I replied, keeping my voice low. I crouched and leaned over the edge of the rooftop as I watched my target enter into a large square with a broken fountain.

There weren’t as many neon lights in this area, but there was one club with a large female holographic display lit up in neon pink. She was squatting over the entrance with her hands touching her breasts.

“Tal, have you found anything on Erebus?”

I growled low in my throat. “Too fucking much. Long story short, the Spades are terrible with women.”

I heard Lyova’s chuckle over the line. “As bad as you?”

“I’m lovely with the ladies,” I said, jumping from the rooftop and landing fluidly on my feet in the streets. I circled the club, keeping my form in the darkness despite the flashing neon pink lights. There must be another exit, I thought, finding a back alley.

I sighed, my tail twitching as I approached the back door of the club. “You just couldn’t make this easy for me now, could you,” I muttered, rubbing my chin as I wondered if I could watch both exits from the rooftop.

Most likely not. The back exit was directly behind the front. “That motherfucker.”

“I take it you’re not referring to one of us?” Dorn said in his sardonic way.

“Obviously,” I growled, tiptoeing to the front entrance while keeping my body pressed to the wall. “I’m hoping this one, whenever he comes out of this dump of a place, will lead me to the other Spades.” I had already spent longer than I wanted to on Erebus and now I had to wait for this disgusting piece of shit to finish wetting his dick. “What about you? Found anything useful?”

“None. All is quiet,” said Dorn.

“Like your love life?” Lyova teased.

“Lyova.” Cade interrupted the potential snarling masterfully. “How is the Luna outpost?”

The other reaper sighed over comms. I understood the frustration. “Boring. Seems Tal is the only one getting some action.”

“As per usual. This setup is kind of surprising,” I said, crouching low and watching males going in and out of the club.

“What do you mean?” Cade asked.

“Everyone here seems to be part of the Spades syndicate—The brothels, bars, clubs, anything that turns a profit at least.”

Lyova snorted. “Well, what did you expect from an outpost in the Savage Lands? Not exactly known for their charitable works.”

“Yeah, but not everyone is branded a Spade, though their business is complies with them.” I shrugged, though they couldn’t see the gesture. “I suppose I expected more brainless thugs and less a formal multi-level-marketing structure. Most of them look like they’re trying to sell you a slice of real estate.”

“Good to know. Anything else?”

I sighed. “There have been several fights and thefts, but I haven’t picked up any chatter that could be code for human trafficking, slaving, or a big trade.” I leaned my head against the wall and grabbed my tail to keep it from twitching. “This outpost is a shithole full of parasites, but nothing out of the ordinary for these folks. Are you sure something is going on here?”

“Intel informed me the Spades have been trading with the Kridrins and that Erebus has been the hottest spot.”

“I’m wondering if they finally caught on that the Legion have been homing in on them,” I said, watching a group of men swagger out of the club. “You know, since someone tore through that nexus outpost a few months ago, leaving a litter of bodies behind.”

Cade barked out a laugh. “Hey, now. You know I don’t like to litter. Besides, the Eridani alphas assured me they blasted that outpost to ash.” His lethal tone made me glad he had my back.

“Yeah, proves my point. Legion command deploys a canon when a hammer would do. Overkill. Not surprised that the bad guys are motivated to change tactics and stay low key.”

“We’ve got tricks of our own,” Dorn said. “You installed the updates to your suit?”

I tapped my gauntlet, initiating the upgrades as he spoke. “You know it. Might have added my own modifications.”

Dorn’s dark laugh rumbled beneath his words. “I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”

“We’ll find them soon enough,” Cade said. “We’ll regroup on Erebus. It’s the most likely. I’d bet my tail on it. Dorn? Lyova?”

“Thank fuck!” Lyova exclaimed. “I’ll burn atmo to get there. It’ll take a few hours.”

“Same,” Dorn agreed.

“Watch your back, Talus.”

“Over and out,” I said, turning off comms. Knowing that my team would have my back soon, there was no need for me to wait.

The Legion hadn’t asserted their presence in this part of the galaxy, at least not yet. But I still didn’t want to risk being recognized for a reaper. Besides, I worked better in shadows.

Disguise in place, I vaulted down from my perch.

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