Nell Thorn (6 page)

Rowe stared down at her. Time seemed to stop as they looked at each other. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then, “Enough! Let’s finish it there, Rowe!” The voice seemed to carry to the very corners of the room.

Danyeo hauled Rowe off her. “We’re a bit more civilised these days, Rowe. Try to remember that.” He helped Nell to her feet. “Rowe has made his point; he has finally made it impossible for the Council to ignore his presence here.”

“Thank you,” Nell acknowledged.

“You may not be thanking me if the Council members find in Rowe’s favour,” he said abruptly, his expression tense.

“That’s not going to happen,” Rowe snapped. “My enemies have had more than enough time to buy or blackmail every last one of you into silence. They won’t find in my favour.”

“They will if you are telling the truth and it is backed up by Commander Thorn’s version of events.” Danyeo gave a wry smile, “Something of a masterstroke, Rowe, hauling Commander Thorn back here to give evidence on your behalf.”

“Then I haven’t a problem.”

“It looks like
you
haven’t. But Commander Thorn may have. I hear rumours that your ‘rivals’ have called for a
mindelve
to be performed on Nell to substantiate your allegations against them.” Danyeo’s voice dropped to a harsh whisper as he spoke to them, his eyes darting about the room as if he was checking who might be close by.

“A what?” Nell had never heard of that term before. Neither man replied, but they exchanged a look that Nell was not about to let go unchallenged. “Gentlemen, would you mind telling me what a
mindelve
is?” Nell asked sweetly.

“It’s to frighten us off,” Rowe said finally, a note of triumph clear in his voice. “They’re running scared. This way they can look willing, yet the likelihood is that I will back down. How long would a ruler of the far Eastern Complex last if word got out that he turned the last remaining golden child of the Thorn family into a walking vegetable in order to regain control of the Sector?”

“Hold on,” Nell seized Rowe’s elbow. “Explain to me now what this
mindelve
thing is… Is it some kind of hypnosis, a drug?”

“No, it’s nothing so elegant, I’m afraid, Nell.” Danyeo answered her, “It’s a mind-delve, literally. It’s a hard copy dump of the brain’s pathways down into a multidimensional carbon complex copy that can then be used to read all memory and experience of the subject.”

“But it’s still a copy.” Nell shrugged.

“The methods used to take the copy are so destructive it can destroy the very mappings it reads.”

“Can? There is a chance that it does not?”

“I’ve never known it not to.”

“Okay.” Nell could feel the muscles in her face slacken as the reality of what she was faced with sank in. “But the damage isn’t permanent, right? It can be treated.”

“Wrong.” Rowe rubbed a hand over his face and massaged his forehead with the side of his index finger as he often did, Nell had noticed, when he was on edge. “You are proof that I was sold to slavers, who that slaver was, the state I was in when you found me. You will also show pretty convincingly that the Galaxy Elite Fleet probably had absolutely nothing to do with my initial disappearance.”

“Indeed, the Rim had made some far-reaching allegations regarding GEF involvement in your abrupt departure, based on some misinformation, it would seem,” Danyeo told them.

Nell rounded on Rowe, furious.

“So I’m the last person they want to see here. And ideal insurance for you, Rowe—wow, just how much trouble am I in, you fucker?”

He lied to me! Sure, he needs me? Desperately? Hah!

“Language, Nell,” Rowe replied. Nell dealt him a withering look.

Suddenly, all the odd looks at this strange place made sense. The threatening, surly, watchful glances meant far more than Nell was comfortable with. She was a threat, and a big one, to the benefits someone had been prepared to dispose of Rowe to access. And a lot of people seemed to know that. Nell felt cold and, looking down, realised she was still clad only in her sheer underwear. She rubbed her bare arms briskly in an effort to warm herself before folding her arms firmly across her breasts.

“Will the
mindelve
work on a dead person?”

“For the procedure to work properly, the subject has to be alive.”

That was certainly not what Nell wanted to hear.

“So it’s even more in their interests to simply kill me? Destroy Rowe’s evidence?”

“They wouldn’t dare. And there is still a chance that, in fact, the Fleet
was
involved and you know something about all this that you have not told me. It’s probably better for them not to kill you yet. Keep you alive for the procedure, at least.”

Nell was not so sure. The man with the blue eyes had not given her the knife to prolong her life, of that she was sure.

“You know the Rim could teach the Galaxy Elite Fleet a few lessons on inhumane practice,” she said.

“Where do you think the
mindelve
technology originally came from?” Danyeo asked her coolly.

Chapter Nine

The Council were suddenly very keen to talk to Nell.

“She doesn’t go anywhere.” Rowe kept a firm grip on her arm as Danyeo went to move Nell away with him.

Rowe and Danyeo stared at each other for a long moment before Danyeo released his hold and bowed slightly. “As you are obviously only prepared to be interviewed together, I would advise you to be very careful. However, I would still like to have a quick word with Nell at some point.” He paused, looking uncomfortable, before adding awkwardly, “In private.”

Rowe seemed to wait a few beats before reluctantly nodding his assent, his hold on her arm still secure. This man was obviously too important to Rowe’s ambitions regarding the Council to offend. Danyeo bowed slightly and walked off.

“Rowe?”

A beautiful man stood before them, his arms folded across his chest. His azure blue eyes shone from a breathtaking face. With his short golden locks, he had an almost celestial look about him, belied by the cynical twist to his firm lips.

“What are you doing here?” Rowe stared at the newcomer belligerently, but Nell could feel the tension in his body through his hold on her arm.

Another one built for looks over function
, Nell decided as the man turned to look fully at Rowe. A muscle ticked in his firm jaw.

“Looking for you.”

“Well, you’ve found me.” Rowe’s face was like granite. “So, now what?”

The man gave an exasperated shrug, and turned to Nell.

“You fight well—it was a good display,” he said to Nell.

“Thanks,” Nell replied dryly, “considering I lost.”

“Did you? There isn’t a soft cock to be found in the place, thanks to you.” Nell, shocked at his words, stared at him. “And I think you know it. Any one of those horny bastards would willingly give you passage back to the edge of Fleet space. And no doubt beyond that if you asked very nicely. That is a job well done, Commander. When are you leaving?”

“She’s not going anywhere, Angel.” Rowe’s tone was cool, almost icy. “What do you want?”

This is Angel?
Nell hoped her shock didn’t show on her face.
Angel is a man?

“Nothing that important. You know how it is.” Angel looked Nell up and down, then moved his luminous gaze to Rowe. “Nothing important to do; nowhere worth going to do it.”

“That’s not my life anymore. And it hasn’t been for what seems a long time.” Rowe said quietly. “Go away, Angel.”

The man laughed, but it was a hollow sound. He turned and walked away.

“With any luck, that’s the last we’ll see of him.” Rowe said.

“You think?” Nell asked him. She was not so sure.

Angel was the man with the startling blue eyes, the same one who had handed her the knife earlier.

Life on the Rim was anything but simple.

* * * *

“Where is she?” Danyeo wasted no time once he had her on her own.

“Why do you want to know?” Nell’s gaze roamed the room, looking for Rowe. He had been a little too quick to abandon her to Dominic Danyeo’s company.

“Why do you think?” he replied curtly. “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“I think maybe you do.” Nell grabbed a glass of some kind of beverage from a passing tray and knocked it back almost in one. Fighting was thirsty work, as was the verbal fencing match she seemed to have been drawn into. “But, I warn you now, I am not about to tell you much, if anything.”

“Is Kate alive?”

Nell stared at him, genuinely shocked. “Why would she not be?”

“There have been rumours…”

“What rumours?”

“That Kate never even made it back to Fleet-controlled space…”

“She did,” Nell assured him confidently, “and she’s alive. However, her career as a Fleet Officer is ruined, thanks to you, and she has been forced into hiding.” She also knew where, but she was not about to tell Danyeo that. She only had his word that he was not a threat to Kate himself.

Nell then watched as one of the most powerful men in the known galaxies covered his eyes for a moment before saying quietly, “Thank you for letting me know that.”

Nell regarded Dominic Danyeo silently before looking away once more. At that point, Nell spotted Rowe, partially hidden by one of the ridiculous pillars they had in the glass hall.

What she saw stunned her.

Angel and Rowe locked in a passionate embrace, kissing as if their lives depended on it.

Nell could not look away, aware only of the sound of blood rushing in her ears and Danyeo’s distant voice still talking.

“We mean to get Kate back.”

Nell’s thoughts were still preoccupied with Rowe and it took her a few moments to absorb what Danyeo had actually said. She took a deep breath and returned her attention to the man next to her.

“Is that wise?” Nell looked at him properly for the first time. A tall, handsome creature with penetrating green eyes and a determined chin.

“You stand here prepared to give evidence on Rowe’s behalf to an antagonistic Council in the middle of Rim space, running the risk of being reduced to little more than a mindless fuck-toy, and you speak to me of wisdom, Nell Thorn?”

Nell felt herself shift slightly, cursing as a flush crept over her neck and cheeks.

“I’m here to pay a debt of honour. Rowe saved my life.”

Danyeo gave a brief laugh, “That’s it. Doing the right thing. It’s never easy trying to do the right thing, Nell.”

Nell thought of how tired and miserable Kate had looked when they’d last met. But then also of how much at peace she seemed to have been with herself, her decisions and the consequences. “If I don’t walk away from this, can I trust the two of you to do the right thing, Danyeo?” she asked him.

Danyeo looked at her and said simply, “Yes, Nell, you can. And, for the record, Ren and I intend to do the right thing by Kate, whatever anybody else thinks or does.”

Nell could not suppress a small smile.

“Really? Let’s see—Thorn family, Danyeo family, Stannick family, Elite Fleet and Rim Collectives. That’s a big list of people who may have an opinion about what you want.”

“I never said it would be easy.”

Rowe collected her after a few minutes, making small talk with Danyeo, but, even as she had stood talking to the Rim Lord, her thoughts kept returning to, and rerunning, what she had seen Rowe doing by that pillar. He had obviously thought he was hidden from view, or maybe, more particularly,
her
view. As they walked back to Rowe’s ship, Nell wondered how she should deal with this latest twist in her efforts to get back to home space in one piece.

* * * *

“So, Rowe.” Nell broke into a jog to keep up with him as they boarded the ship. “You’ve got what you wanted?”

“Have I?” His voice was remote, cold and distant.

They had finally entered her cabin, and Nell turned to face him.

“You’ve got your audience with the Council,” she pointed out to him.

“It’s just the beginning.” Rowe’s expression was bleak. “There is a lot more still to do.”

“Oh?” Nell waited for him to elaborate, but nothing more was forthcoming.

Nell eased her neck from side to side in an effort to release the tension there. Had Rowe pretended an attraction to her to secure her cooperation? Had that attraction been a lie from the start? Had it simply been a way of ensuring she would be prepared to return to Rim space to give evidence on his behalf to the council?

 She had a suspicion that she had been played by an expert.

It was lucky, then, that her cooperation was based on not wanting to be beholden to him, rather than a base attraction.

Would he confess to what she had just witnessed in the hall?

“I’m aching,” she complained, then winced at the words. The unconvincing line sounded like it had come straight out of a porn-vid classic.

“From fighting me?” He seemed unconvinced, reaching for her shoulder “Is there anything that needs attention?”

“Yes, there is.” She slowly undid the catches on her boots and toed them from her feet. “I’m aching in some pretty hard to scratch places…”

As she rubbed her nipples through the thin top, the words did not seem so stupid anymore. A burning need flared deep and low in her abdomen.

“Nell—”

“What? I’m still feeling the after-effects of our…fight.” She rubbed her hands over and around her breasts once more, revelling in how full and tender they felt. The sensation of her fingers running over her skin sparked an involuntary tightening of the nerves in her clit to add to the desire starting to fire her blood. “Aren’t you going to scratch my itch, Rowe?”

An honourable man would stop her now, would tell her that his interest lay elsewhere.

She daringly pulled her vest down so that her breasts almost popped out of the top, her nipples puckering in the cool of the cabin air. “If you don’t, someone else will. So your friend Angel says…”

“Fuck Angel,” Rowe snapped, his grey eyes dilated to the point of almost being black.