A siren sounded followed by an automated voice. “Shuttle readying for launch.”

  “Damn it!” He sprinted toward the shuttle bay. Seconds later he skidded through the door.

  The shuttle sat on the launch pad, her engines spooling up. He ran for the shuttle door and thumped on the heavy-duty glass.

  “Ria.” Thump. Thump. “What the hell are you doing?”

  She appeared on the other side of the glass. “I have to go. Don’t worry about the shuttle. I’ll send a message and tell you where you can pick it up.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about the shuttle. Where are you going?”

  Her face was so solemn it broke his heart. “Away. I’m the Guild’s number one target now. I don’t want any of you hurt.” Her voice hitched. “I don’t want you hurt.”

  “Damn it, Ria.” He slammed a fist against the door. “Don’t go. We can protect you.”

  “Assassins strike before you even realize they’re there.” She shook her head. “If one of them hurt you…I couldn’t live with that.”

  “Let me help you.” He spread his palm out on the glass, wished he could touch her.

  Something flashed over her face. “I wish things… Look, it’s best if I go. You need to think of your brothers and Eos.”

  “Ria.” Helplessness choked him.

  “Can you please take care of Lala? Help her out, wherever she wants to go.”

  “You know I will. But stay, and we can help her together.”

  Ria pressed her hand to the glass, matching her palm to his. “I wish things could have been different.”

  “Ria.” He moved closer now. “You love me. You can’t leave.”

  She blinked, her mouth opened but she couldn’t seem to find any words.

  “You love me,” he continued, “and I love you.”

  She closed her eyes for a second. When they opened, their beautiful green depths were filled with a glaze of tears. “I’ve never loved or been loved before.”

  “Stay and I’ll show you how good it can be.”

  “God, Zayn.” She leaned her forehead to the glass. “I want to. I want to so much.”

  He leaned his own forehead against the door and cursed the glass that separated them.

  “But most of all,” she continued, her voice raw, “I want you safe.” She lifted her head. “If I stay, they’ll come for you. You know it and I know it.”

  “We’ll fight them.”

  “The entire Guild? That’s not possible.”

  “We’ll run. I’m good at fast. We’ll find somewhere to hide.”

  She sighed and a tear slid down her cheek. “You can’t hide from assassins. They’ll hunt us to the edge of the galaxy. Do you really want to live like that? Never see your brothers? It’s just another type of prison, another loss of freedom.”

  He knew she was right, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “Please don’t leave me.”

  Her chest hitched. “Take care of yourself, Zayn. Be happy.”

  She leaned closer and pressed her lips to the glass. He did the same, feeling like his insides were being torn out.

  Then she pulled back and walked away.

  Left with no options, Zayn took a few steps back. Moments later, the shuttle lifted a few centimeters off the floor with a quiet roar.

  The shuttle bay doors retracted, the opening covered by a purple huma-field that kept the atmosphere inside.

  Zayn’s hands curled into fists. He forced himself to watch as the shuttle launched. Through the field, he saw the shuttle lights spear into the black of space.

  She was gone.

  He spun and thrust a fist into the wall. Skin tore and blood bloomed. It didn’t ease the pain tearing through his insides.

  He wasn’t sure if anything would.

  ***

  Ria entered the comm booth on the busy Rendarian street. As the doors slid closed behind her, it cut out the noise of the busy city outside.

  Rendar was a high-tech planet covered completely in megacity. Huge skyscrapers speared high into the hazy sky and neon lights blinked in all colors from every surface. She couldn’t even see the tops of the tallest buildings as they were lost amongst the clouds of pollution and the streams of air transports.

  She turned to the control panel and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirrored surface above the panel. She’d taken a page out of Lala’s book when she’d crafted her disguise. Ria’s hair was a bright, eye-searing pink and cut in a blunt bob that swung around her chin and she’d changed her eye color to a muted silver. She wore black leggings with a pink and black skirt that hit her mid-thigh. A simple black tank on top showed off the temporary tattoos she’d applied to her arms. They circled her arms—a sprinkle of stars, comets and pink-hued nebulae.

  Zayn probably wouldn’t even recognize her. She rubbed at her ridges, covered by derma patches to hide them. The disguise wouldn’t fool the Assassin’s Guild for long and she knew she needed to change her looks every few days to stay ahead of them.

  She tapped the control panel and crafted a short, simple message to Zayn.

  Shuttle on Rendar. Hangar #4509, Gormand Spaceport.

  Her fingers hovered over the screen, and a lump the size of a starship lodged in her throat. God, she missed him. There were so many other things she wanted to say.

  Instead she just sent the message.

  By the time he got here, she’d be long gone. She was booked on a transport shuttle leaving for the galaxy’s edge in an hour. Maybe from there she’d hook up with a deep-space convoy headed outside the galaxy into uncharted territory or find some seedy edge bar to get drunk in.

  She turned, ready to leave, when her senses flared to life.

  Someone was watching her.

  Ria stared at the steady stream of people on the sidewalk outside. Nothing jumped out. She grabbed her makeup applicator from the tiny backpack on her back. She dialed in for a pink lipstick and applied it, but her focus was on the street.

  There. The assassin lurked in the shadows across the busy street. Still, but poised for action.

  Ria shoved the applicator back in her bag, then pushed through the doors. She moved quickly, trying to put as many people as she could between herself and her hunter. At the next corner, she glanced over her shoulder.

  The assassin was in a full sprint, heading straight at her.

  Ria ran.

  She slammed through the crowd and raced out onto the street. Transports screeched but Ria dodged and made it safely across. She turned a corner and kept running.

  Another glance back. She’d put some distance between them, but he was still coming.

  Ria dodged into a busy bar. It was packed with people drinking.

  “Hey Pinkie, let me buy you a drink.”

  She ducked under the arm of the inebriated man in the elegant suit and pushed through the revelers. A crash of glass had her spinning. The assassin was headed toward her, shouldering people out of his way. Several people had lost their delicate fluted glasses filled with brightly colored drinks, and splinters of glass scattered across the floor.

  “Hey! Stop.” Three dark-suited security guards were shouting and heading in their direction.

  Damn it. Ria kept moving. She spied an elevator at the back of the room. Quickly, she slipped inside and jabbed the button for the top floor.

  When she lifted her head, she saw the assassin running toward her, full-tilt.

  “Come on, come on.” She jabbed the button again.

  The doors started closing. The assassin reached out.

  And the doors hissed shut before he got there.

  Ria sagged against the wall. Too close. The assassin looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. There were far too many in the Guild for them all to know each other. What she could see was that he had that focused intensity of the die-hard assassins who lived to kill.

  This was her life now. Running. Hiding. Changing disguises. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Then she thought of Zayn. The taste of him, the feel of his strong arms around her. Her heart ached.

  The elevator slowed and when the doors opened, she straightened. Time to think about survival, not the things she could never have.

  She stepped out into a giant glass-encased room. Although it wasn’t the tallest building in the district, it still showed death-defying views of the neon city below. She headed toward the large balcony. Outside, a brisk wind ruffled her hair.

  The ding of the elevator had her turning. The assassin exited. As he strode toward her, he pulled a sword from the scabbard on his back. Now she recognized him. One of Master Ronin’s apprentices.

  Ria looked over the railing. It was seventy stories down to the hectic street below. She looked back at the assassin.

  He followed her onto the balcony. “You are a traitor to the Guild.”

  “The Guild betrayed us all. Didn’t you hear about the regeneration lab? How you, how we all, were created?”

  The assassin’s clean-cut face remained unchanged. He sliced his blade through the air. “You’re also the murderer of my master.”

  Okay, she probably wasn’t going to get through to this one. Ria wrapped her fingers around the balcony railing.

  When the assassin lifted his sword, she jumped onto the railing and crouched like a gargoyle. When he swiped the deadly blade at her, she leaped out into space.

  The wind rushed past her as she fell. She touched the button on the strap of her backpack. Small, aerodynamic wings exploded from the pack. Her descent slowed, but was still terrifyingly fast. She used the wings to guide her plunge, eyeing a patch of concrete that would make the best landing spot.

  The ground rushed up at her much faster than she would have liked. Her feet hit and she somersaulted. The impact jarred through her and pain burst in her shoulder. But she rolled back onto her feet and pressed the button to retract the flight wings.

  She didn’t know if her hunter could see her, but she tossed a jaunty salute upward and then blended into the crowd.

  After three blocks, she ducked into a side alley. She needed to get to the space port and catch her ship out of here. The more distance she put between her and Zayn, the safer he and his family would be. The more distance between her and the Guild, the safer she would be.

  A movement in the shadows had her slowing. Two dark robed figures pulled out of the darkness.

  Great. She yanked her blades from under her skirt. These two didn’t waste time with words. The taller one came at her holding blades of his own.

  Steel met steel. Ria pivoted, ducked and swung upward. Her blade sank through fabric and into the flesh at his side. With a hiss, he spun, swiping out with his own knife.

  Ria felt the kiss of the metal on her bare arm. She ignored the pain, readying herself. The assassin moved in again. She jumped upward, planted a foot in his belly and used it to launch herself up. She brought her second blade down, straight into the back of his neck.

  He fell to his knees, a gurgle escaping his throat. Ria leaped off him and landed in a crouch.

  Before she could draw a breath, a thin, silver garrote wire flashed in front of her.

  The second assassin yanked back. Ria managed to get two fingers between the wire and her skin, saving herself from a quick beheading.

  “I will kill you,” the woman whispered. “Just let go. End your miserable existence.”

  Ria’s existence was pretty miserable right now. But she wasn’t giving up. The Guild had already taken her life not once, but twice. She sure as hell wasn’t making it a third time.

  But as the female assassin yanked back harder, one of Ria’s fingers slipped off the wire. The metal dug into her last finger and part of her neck. Blood started a steady flow down her skin.

  She couldn’t hold the woman off much longer.

  With her free hand, Ria tried to reach back and grab the assassin. But she was well-trained and kept out of reach.

  The blood made Ria’s fingers slippery. In those moments, she thought again of Zayn. His lean, handsome face and his voice as he told her he loved her.

  Ria’s hand slipped. She cried out as the wire met the flesh of her neck.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ria waited for the pain.

  But it was the assassin who cried out and then her weight was gone.

  Ria slumped forward, the wire falling to the ground. She pressed a hand to the bleeding wound on her neck and spun on one knee.

  Before she could blink, strong hands were hauling her upright. “Ria? Are you okay?”

  Zayn’s face was the best thing she’d seen all day. She managed a nod. She looked past him and saw Dathan and Niklas binding the wrists of the unconscious assassin.

  Zayn’s fingers brushed over her hand at her neck. “Let me see.”

  She let her hand drop and he touched her neck with a gentle stroke.

  “Isn’t bad, but you’re damned lucky. She was about to take your head off.” He yanked Ria forward and into his arms.

  She thought about fighting him, but she didn’t. She wanted him to hold her. She wrapped her arms around him.

  “God, if we’d been a minute later…” his voice trailed off.

  Ria rubbed her cheek against his shirt. “How did you find me? I barely sent you the message about the shuttle.”

  He laughed. “You think we’re stupid enough not to have a tracker on our shuttle?”

  She raised her head. “I checked it, I didn’t find anything.”

  “A sweet little invisible tracker that Malin cooked up. It’s undetectable.” He fingered her pink hair. “Not sure this is your style.”

  A part of Ria was glad he was there. But another part of her wasn’t, because he’d just put himself, and his brothers, in the line of fire of the Guild.

  Zayn gripped her shoulders. “You’re coming with us.”

  “No.” She struggled to pull away from him. She nodded at the assassin on the ground. “This is only the beginning, Zayn.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Stubborn male. “They’ll keep coming. It’s going to get worse. I’m catching a shuttle for the edge.” Damn, she would have missed her ride by now. But there’d be other transports.

  “No.” Zayn stepped closer and before she knew what he had planned, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up over his shoulder.

  Shock held her immobile. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Just be quiet. You’re coming with us. End of argument.”

  They moved out of the alley. Ria lifted her head and saw Dathan grinning at her.

  He winked. “Never thought I’d see my baby bro so gaga over a woman.”

  Ria scowled at him, then thumped Zayn on the back. “I can hurt you, even like this.”

  “Do your worst.” He slapped a hand over her bottom, making her jump. Then the movement turned into a caress, making her squirm.

  “The transport station’s right here.” Nik’s voice interrupted. “Transport’s pulling up.”

  Ria watched upside down as they boarded a public transport. It was miraculously empty. Once the doors closed with a chime, the transport pulled away, headed upward.

  Zayn set her down. Instantly, she slammed a fist into his gut. He bent over with a grunt. Then he reached out and grabbed her, his mouth finding hers with unerring accuracy.

  She was helpless to resist him. Her anger melted away and she leaned into the kiss.

  He pulled back, his cheek pressed to hers. “I love you, Ria.”

  God, he didn’t fight fair. Her hands twisted in his shirt.

  The sound of a throat clearing had them separating. Nik was looking at the ceiling and Dathan was smiling.

  A sudden lurch had them all stumbling. Zayn grabbed her and together they clung to the upright grip poles. The transport moved into a steep climb.

  “What the hell?” Zayn said.

  Niklas was frowning and looking out the window. “Transport’s been hijacked. We’re heading off course. And up. Way up.”

  “Shit.” Dathan pressed a hand against the window. “I smell assassin.”

  “You should never have come after me.” Ria pressed her lips together.

  Zayn yanked her closer. “One thing you need to learn about the Phoenix brothers, is once we see something we want, we go after it until we get it.”

  She stiffened. “I’m not some treasure for you to hunt.”

  He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “No, you’re the woman I’m in love with.”

  She sagged. How was she supposed to fight against that?

  Dathan was still staring out the window. “We’re headed for the top of the tallest building.”

  Ria looked out and sure enough all she saw below was smog-filled air. One tower speared upward and the transport was nearing the landing pad on the roof.

  The transport lumbered to a halt and the doors opened. All of them traded looks before they stepped off onto the landing pad.

  A man in a black robe stood waiting for them. He lifted his head and Ria’s heart sank.

  “Xi,” she said.

  The assassin gave her a regal nod. “Ria.”

  His coal-black hair was tied at the back of his head and his eyes were the color of deep space. She knew just how deadly he was. He’d been the closest thing to a friend she’d had in the Guild.

  “They sent you to kill me.”

  “Yes.”

  Her chest felt tight. “Let Zayn and his brothers go. They have nothing to do with this.”

  Xi’s dark eyes remained emotionless. “You aren’t in a position to bargain.”

  Zayn pushed forward. “We aren’t going anywhere. You try and kill her, you’re taking all of us on. Four against one. Not such an easy target.”

  The smallest flicker of a smile on Xi’s harsh face. “Loyalty is an admirable trait.”

  Behind him the shadows moved and more robed assassins stepped forward.

  Ria closed her eyes. They would all die here. The thought of Zayn dying, because of her…she could barely breathe. She grabbed Zayn’s hand. “I love you. I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess.”

  “Your loyalty is admirable as well, Ria.” Xi took a step forward. “Not only to Phoenix but to all assassins.”

  She frowned. What the hell was he talking about?