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She tossed Devlin what was supposed to be a disgusted glare and instead she just looked

at him. She didn’t have the heart to play all mad and pissed off with him right now not when

everything else in her life crumbled around her.

“Samantha Cassidy. You are looking a good deal better than the last time we saw each

other.”

Samantha couldn’t rip her eyes off of Tyler. Why? Why had he done this to her? She’d

suspected he was getting ready to betray all of them. His betrayal with Charlotte wasn’t enough

to make him happy; no he had to go for broke. Rampaging emotions rolled through her. She

didn’t know what to do. How should she react? She suspected that she should keep a cool and

collected head. Giving a reaction would only please The Matriarch. That she knew beyond a

shred of doubt.

“Well, you don’t look any younger, so I guess that’s a good thing. You still look like a

wrinkled old hag who should be sleeping in a space coffin right now.” Samantha leaned forward

on her chair and tried to look as confident as she possibly could. Whatever she did, she couldn’t

show that Tyler’s presence unnerved her.

The Matriarch’s eyes narrowed. She leaned back in her satin throne like chair. “You are

cleverer than I had originally thought. How unexpected.” The Matriarch gave her a false smile.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 141

“No matter, I do not care how smart or stupid you are. You are an obstacle which I have easily

eliminated.”

“Oh, I think you’re mistaken. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll never be able to get rid of

me. Think of me like that annoying itch that never seems to go away.” Samantha grinned.

“I am showing you mercy. You should be grateful for that.”

“Mercy? Is that what they’re calling it nowadays?”

The Matriarch fidgeted in her chair. “I have had enough of listening to you. My

Apprentice wanted you all to be spared....” At this, The Matriarch looked at Tyler.

So that’s what he called himself now that he’d switched sides. She didn’t really know

what Tyler was up to, but she couldn’t believe that he’d betrayed
all
of them. She could

understand he’d betray her, hell, he’d already betrayed his ability to remain faithful to her, but

double-crossing them like this was shooting Dylan right in the heart. Of course, Dylan would

think Tyler had something concocted—a master plan to save Rory, but Samantha didn’t have

that much faith in Tyler, not anymore.

“While I am mostly a woman of my word, I do have the annoying tendency to change my

mind, just like that!” The Matriarch snapped her fingers. “Take one last look at Tyler. This is the

final time you’ll be seeing him. He has returned to the fold. We will not be so quick to release

him from his responsibilities this time around.”

Samantha went cold with dread. Something felt very wrong. The Matriarch had

something cooking and it wouldn’t be a good thing. Samantha fixed her eyes on Tyler. She

looked deeply into his green eyes. They were hardened. She couldn’t see any remaining

semblance of his affection for anyone onboard the
Excalibur
.

Cold ice trickled through her veins. She looked at Devlin. He stared sympathetically

down at her. If she were lost at sea, he would be her lifeboat right now. She could only focus on

the way he looked at her and not the way Tyler looked at her.

Darting a quick gaze at Johanna she was relieved to see that Johanna was pissed off as

well. Her eyes rested on Charlotte last and the look Charlotte had on her face affected her more

than the others. Charlotte looked at Tyler as if she was looking at her long lost love.

Revulsion boiled in her gut. If she weren’t already sitting down she would have been

forced to. So, they really were an item. She thought that maybe Tyler and she were just

scratching an itch with each other. She was wrong. Tyler and Charlotte were madly deeply in

love. Suddenly, she felt like the third wheel.

“Well, I guess I’ll say au revoir to him, then. You win some. You lose some. C’est La

Vie. But I’m not leaving my niece. You can go pound salt on that.”

“Ah, but that’s the whole point of this conversation. Aurora is mine. She will be married

today to a man of great wealth and power. My great-grandson will make her a very happy

woman.”

“You little bitch!” Quinn bounded onto the bridge. “The next time I see you I’m going to

blow you all the way back to hell!”

Charlotte reached out for Quinn before he could go any further. Samantha tossed him a

quick irritated look. Couldn’t he see that she was in the middle of something? Honestly.

“What? And you didn’t have the consideration to send us an invitation? How rude.” She

shook her head and made a clucking sound with her tongue. “Well, I don’t really require an

invitation, being a wedding crasher actually sounds really good to me.”

The Matriarch smiled. “You won’t be crashing the ceremony. I’d say you’ll have your

hands full in oh…about five minutes.”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 142

Samantha didn’t know what The Matriarch meant but knowing her type it was probably

just a bunch of hot air.

“Samantha, you are tiring me. I am getting quite bored with this tedious line of

conversation. Do try to have a miserable day, won’t you? I’ll see you when hell freezes over.

Tyler, you may say goodbye to the life that used to be yours.”

Tyler stepped forward. “Goodbye, Sam. Consider our divorce papers served. Don’t try

to follow us, you won’t be able to.”

Samantha raised her eyebrow. Tyler was doing a magnificent job of acting like an

asshole. But then, he’d been in the company of some of the best. She wanted to know how he

could re-infiltrate the Triad so easily but that was just semantics right now.

“Fine with me. Now I’ll finally be able to get it on with Devlin.”

A muscle twitched in Tyler’s cheek. Fireworks exploded in his hardened green eyes. He

hated Devlin more than he loved her that was for sure.

Yep, she’d definitely hit a nerve. Well, if he thought he could play hardball in their little

game of make believe than she’d throw him a curveball. Surprisingly enough, Tyler maintained

his composure. She smiled.

“Oh, dear. Tyler, don’t work yourself up too much over losing Samantha to another man.

She’s just a little whore anyway.” The Matriarch smiled, and then cut the transmission.

“I didn’t know you cared.” Devlin gave her a sarcastic grin. “My quarters on the
Snow

Queen
, or should we retire to yours? I’m always up for a good shag.”

“Dev…piss off.” Samantha gave him the finger.

“I take that as a no go, then?” Devlin laughed but there was a sobriety to his laugh that

made her look at him again. She also knew Devlin would never give up until he had her and

right now, she didn’t think she had the will to keep fighting him on it when she desired him the

same way he desired her. She looked away from him. Something was making her feel heady.

She shook her head trying to force the strange sensations away.

“Samantha?”

“Yeah, Charlotte.” Samantha pressed her fingers to her temple. She felt a migraine

coming on. As soon as they left hyperspace, which would be in about two minutes, she was

going to kill The Matriarch.

“Winter has got problems, and we’re going to share those problems in oh, about three

minutes.” Charlotte moved toward Samantha. “Johanna, tell Dylan to secure his position.”

“Why?” Johanna looked jittery.

“Well, we’ve got company.”

“What do you mean? Charlotte, speak in our language!” Johanna snorted.

Devlin looked wary, and worried. “Winter’s in trouble? How? We have to help her!”

“In due time.” Charlotte almost looked serene. “Right now, we have to deal with the

intruders on our ship.”

“Intruders? What are you talking about?” Samantha demanded.

“When our shields were lowered for that split second last night, The Triad transported an

ambush team onto the
Excalibur
and onto the
Snow Queen
. They’ve gained some headway on

Winter’s ship, but we should be able to take them here. We’re evenly matched.”

“Evenly matched?” Samantha sighed.

“Yes. Each ambush team is equipped with a fighting telepath.”

“Shit.” Samantha groaned. “Why the hell did I get up this morning?”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 143

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Where are they?” Samantha turned to Charlotte.

“They’re in the abandoned dining lounge,” Charlotte whispered.

Samantha bit her lip. The
Excalibur
had once been a luxury cruise space ship but now

most of it had been closed off or turned into more sensible rooms.

“That’s just great. We need to get Veronica on the line. She should know that we’re about

to have a royal smack down of monumental proportions. I thought I told Lucy to keep her guard

up at all times. I can’t stand it when the
Excalibur
gets invaded. I did that dance six months ago with Space Pirates, look where that got me.” She glared at Devlin.

“My son ran to your rescue. You should count your lucky stars.”

“Lucky stars, my ass!” She was feeling incredibly bitchy concerning what was about to

go down and taking her anger out on Devlin seemed to be a fantastic idea. Maybe she would

push him so far away from her he would never try to cuddle up to her again.

“We’ll be dropping out of hyperspace in three minutes.” Johanna looked over at

Samantha. “What’s the plan of action?”

“You drop out of hyperspace and keep the shields up. We’ll go and deal with The

Matriarch once we purge the
Excalibur
of its current infestation.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Johanna smiled.

“Quinn,” Samantha said turning to Quinn. “You stay here and watch Johanna’s back.

Charlotte, Devlin and I will go and chase the infidels off the
Excalibur
then, we’ll go and give

Winter a hand.”

“I like that idea,” Devlin said, walking over to the weapons locker. She followed him

with a wary gaze. Why did he think he had the right to help himself to their weapons? Ah, well,

Devlin didn’t have much of a choice. They’d need him fully armed and ready for the mission

they were about to undertake.

“Get ready to do some major ass kicking you two,” Samantha said, nodding at Devlin and

Charlotte.

Quinn cleared his throat. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Samantha looked over at Charlotte. “Under normal circumstances I’d say we

don’t need it, but I think we just might today.” Samantha had to save the day. Rory needed her.

“Let’s get a move on, you two.”

“Always ready to lend such a lovely woman a hand.” Devlin dipped into a gallant bow.

“I wasn’t serious before when I told Tyler I’d get it on with you.”

“More is the pity,” Devlin’s eyes twinkled. “Much as you like to think I’m a stuck up

prick, I still know how to recognize a sarcastic jibe especially when there is no credence to it,” he

murmured striking her speechless, again.

Charlotte pursed her lips when she glanced between Samantha and Devlin. “Samantha,

you look too much like me today. You should stop copying me!” she murmured, her eyes

flaring.

“I can’t copy you, Charlotte, nature already did that for us.” She stuck her tongue out at

Charlotte.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 144

“You don’t look at all like Charlotte, Samantha. I would never mistake you for her.”

“For the thousandth time, Dev. Charlotte and I are identical twins.”

“Well, maybe on the outside, but you aren’t identical on the inside.” Devlin gave her a

grin and then pushed out to stand in front of her.

Veronica’s frantic voice carried out over the communication system. “I just woke up

from my nap, walked out into the hallway, and nearly got bloody shanghaied. What the hell is

going on?”

“We have uninvited guests, Veronica. Are you safe, now?”

“I’m back in my quarters, thanks. I nearly got a foot in the face though. Those hand and

feet strikes can make a woman bloody nauseous. They’re definitely well versed in the martial

arts. Be careful, or you’re going to get one major ass whopping.”

“I got it, Veronica.” Samantha frowned. “Do you want us to come and help you?” She

doubted that Veronica would take her up on the offer. But it was worth the effort. Veronica was

still recovering from the effects of the poison. The woman wasn’t the napping kind and yet,

she’d just admitted to catching a few extra winks.

“Nah. I’ve got it covered. I’m just getting myself armed and ready, then I’m going to go

and play some good old-fashioned kick ball with the intruders asses. I’ll be seeing you guys

soon. We’ll probably meet up in the middle of our ship cleaning.”

“That we will.” Samantha smiled. “Keep your com link open, Veronica. We all need to

stay in touch.”

“Right. See you in a few.” Veronica fell silent.

Samantha looked over at Charlotte and Devlin.

“Are you ready?”

“Yep. Let the rumbling begin.” Charlotte gave her a wacky grin.

“Sometimes we’re just too much alike.” Samantha reached for her Bo Staff. “I guess