Chapter Twelve

Rykus stepped into the House, touched his hand to his forehead then to his heart, and said, “Fortune on your path, Patriarch.”

Bian’s gaze snapped to him. He erased the rage from his face, said, “And to you, Seeker,” then turned back to Ash and snarled, “Get out!”

“Just me?” She sashayed farther into the foyer, her gaze sweeping across the artwork hanging on the walls, then up to the high ceiling. “Or all of us? Patriarch.”

That pause before “patriarch” was familiar. It disrupted the air with the same intentional affront as when she mocked Rykus with a sir.

“You.” Bian’s face shaded red. “You were dead and unmissed.”

“Unmissed? How very religious of you.”

Rykus watched her stroll to a framed image of a blue-oceaned planet painted onto a dark background. A molecular cloud of pinks and purples swept across the canvas. Little clusters of stars and swirling gases created footstep-like formations that traveled the celestial object. It was a painting of what all Seekers sought: the God-touched planet that would bring peace and prosperity to the KU.

“This is new.” Ash jabbed her finger into the planet.

“You are not granted sanctuary.”

“Bian.”

Two of the Devout entered from a hallway.

“We cannot turn them away,” the older, gray-haired man said. The younger man said nothing, but his jaw went slack. He scanned Ash head to toe, then he took a half step forward before he stopped and steadied his features.

“We can turn her away,” Bian said. “She’s not a Seeker, and if Scius learns she’s here, he’ll demolish this building and everyone in it.”

Ash looked over her shoulder. “He better not learn I’m here then. Hey, Emmit.”

She gave the younger man a too-friendly smile.

“She was inside when she requested sanctuary?” the older man asked.

“By a whole half foot.” She ambled back to the center of the foyer and stopped directly in front of Bian. “A Devout Seeker would welcome me to his House. He would preach and proselytize and pressure me to join the search for the God-touched planet.”

“Bian.” Mira stepped forward. “I’m sorry. We didn’t want to come here, but we need help. Just a day to sleep and recover. We jumped the causeway and—”

“You did what?”

Mira grimaced. “It wasn’t by choice. Scius razed my clinic. He sent people to kill me when I tried to pick up my shipment from the spaceport. Ash saved my life.”

“And Ash is the reason her clinic lasted as long as it did,” Chace put in. “She paid for its protection.”

“If that’s the case, why was it burned down?” Bian demanded, the fury in his eyes rivaling the hate in his voice.

“A hiccup in funds,” Ash answered.

Bian’s jaw clenched. “Mira can stay. No one else.”

“Dad,” the younger Seeker, Emmit, said. “Look at them.”

Bian’s mouth turned down. They weren’t dripping puddles on the floor, but they were damp and battered and exhausted. Ash had always been good at disguising her injuries behind smiles and distracting-as-hell body language, but Rykus knew the little hitches to look for, the shallow breaths, the way she stood too still when she wasn’t actively trying to distract someone. She needed rest more than all of them.

With a jaunty little dip in the movement, Ash took a step toward Bian.

Rykus knew what would come next. Ash would deliver a carefully worded sentence intended to snap Bian’s patience. She’d accompany it with an exacerbating smile and cavalier tilt to her head.

“Ash,” Rykus warned.

She remained in front of Bian, still poised to take down the authority figure.

“Patriarch.” Rykus changed tactics and eased in front of Ash. “We won’t stay long. We need food and rest, and we need to get to the capsule before it leaves the system.”

“It leaves in an hour.”

Rykus bit back a curse. “Then we’ll be on the next one.”

Bian’s jaw clenched and unclenched over and over again. Ash must have given the man hell for him to react like that. Patriarchs were calm and consoling by nature. They wanted to help everyone they came in contact with. Bian had probably tried to help Ash, but Ash being Ash, she had used his altruism to find weaknesses in his composure.

“You’ll leave and not return?” Bian asked.

“Yes.”

Chace’s head swung his way. Rykus didn’t look at the man. He knew what he’d see, a protest and a challenge.

“You may remain out of the way“—he looked at Ash—“until three days pass or the next capsule arrives. Whichever comes first. If Scius’s people come looking for you, you will leave. If there is theft or damage or debauchery of any kind, you leave.”

Ash did the head tilt. “What, precisely, do you mean by debauchery?”

“Ash,” Rykus said, exasperation seeping into his voice.

“I just want to make sure the rules are clear.”

He followed up his warning with a glare that would make an errant asteroid rethink its path.

She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll be perfect. Promise.”

She’d be hard to keep in line.

Either Bian believed her—doubtful—or the man knew he couldn’t win. He was the patriarch of the House. If he was going to enforce the rules, he had to follow them. He had no choice but to grant them sanctuary.

“Handle this,” Bian said to the other two Seekers, then he left.

“Emmit.” The older man turned to the younger one. “Show them to the guest dorms. I’ll have Logan tell the kitchen we have company and gather clean clothing.”

He touched his forehead and heart, then made his exit.

Emmit’s demeanor changed the second the other Seekers were gone. He took three quick steps toward Ash, looped one hand around her waist, the other behind her neck, and he pulled her into a rough, deep kiss.

Emmit’s hand dropped to Ash’s ass. Rykus’s gaze followed it. He didn’t know why. He should be focused on the man’s mouth—specifically, on bashing his teeth to the back of his skull—but that hand ran down the curve of Ash’s ass and pulled her hips into his.

About the time Rykus decided it would be okay to break the man’s fingers, Ash peeled the hand away and pushed Emmit back.

Not like Rykus would have pushed him back. Not even close.

“Presumptuous, Emmit,” Ash said.

The man fucking beamed. “I knew you weren’t dead.”

She gave him a smile that bordered too close to flirtatious. “It’s good to see you too.”

“Where have you been?”

“Out and about. You still repairing flyers?”

“I’ve got some things you might want to take a look at.” He grinned.

“Rooms,” Rykus bit out.

Emmit seemed to notice him for the first time. “Right. You need rest. Come on.”

He led the way to a flight of stairs.

Ash paused at the bottom step and waved Chace and Mira on. She kept her eyes on them but said to Rykus, “Don’t get cranky.”

“Anyone else going to kiss you?” The question came out harsher than he intended. It wasn’t Ash’s fault. She’d cut it off.

“It’s a possibility,” she said and climbed the first step.

He grabbed her arm. She looked down at it, then at him.

He didn’t know what he was going to say. That he would throttle the next person who touched her? That she needed to make it clear she was unavailable? That he was going to have an uncivil conversation with Emmit and Chace and anyone else who acted like they owned a piece of her?

Everything he wanted to say sounded petty and possessive, so he released her arm with a quiet, “I don’t like it.”

Some of the tension left her body. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need an apology. I need…” He faded off, frustrated.

“I know,” she said again, this time with a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.

Yes. That was what he needed. He needed her in his arms. He needed her safe and happy and curled against him in the night. He needed her off this planet and free from the responsibilities she tried so hard to carry on her own.

She hitched in a breath. Her eyes heated before she turned and hurried up the stairs.

She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Emmit had stolen a kiss. Not quite fair that he couldn’t. Because Ash didn’t want him to be targeted by old enemies.

He climbed the stairs. He respected Ash’s wishes—he’d keep his distance—but the second she changed her mind, he would have her beneath him.

Overused muscles protested the climb to the fourth floor. Emmit waited beside an open door.

“You and Chace will take this room,” he said to Rykus.

“And Ash and Mira?”

“Farther down the hall.” He motioned for the women to follow.

Rykus refrained from asking where he slept—probably it was on a different floor reserved for Seekers—but he waited in the hall until Emmit opened another door.

He waited until he closed it too. Emmit noticed, and his smile slipped. Maybe the guy would think twice before he touched Ash again.

When Emmit walked away, Rykus entered his and Chace’s room. Two bunk beds covered in charity-blue blankets lined the back and left walls. A door opened to a small bathroom on the right. Chace was in there, one hand braced on the counter while he leaned over the sink and washed some of the dirt and seawater from his face.

Rykus eyed the closest bed. He should sleep, but he didn’t want to, not without Ash next to him.

“You made a mistake following her out here.”

Rykus looked back toward the restroom. “Excuse me?”

Chace tossed a hand towel over his shoulder. “She’s using you.”

“Oh.” He filled the single syllable with an overabundance of I-don’t-care.

“Ash doesn’t do emotions,” Chace said. “Not genuine ones at least. She’s letting you think you have a chance. She needs something from you. When she gets it, you’ll be sidelined.”

“I know where I stand with Ash.”

“You’re infatuated.” He said the last word with disdain. “I understand. Ash is fucking amazing in bed, but you’re nothing but a passing interest. When she’s tired of you, someone else will step up to play.”

Rykus took a step toward the dreg but forced his hands to remain loose at his sides. “You’re worried I’ll take her away. That’s a good instinct.”

Chace’s eyes turned colder. “Ash won’t let you drag her off-planet. She doesn’t take commands from anyone.”

“She’s a soldier.”

“She’s AWOL.”

“She’s on leave.” He took another step forward. “And I have the authority to revoke it when I see fit.”

Chace smirked. “You’ve just given me a reason to kill you.”

“I’ve given you a reason to try.”

Chace’s hand flexed.

Rykus wasn’t one to pick fights, but he wanted Chace to throw a punch. He wanted to get this conflict behind them.

Chace chuckled. “You want a face-to-face, fair fight. That’s not how we fix problems here. It’s not how Ash fixes problems. Assholes and off-worlders tend to wake up with knives in their backs. Piece of advice: you might think about finding somewhere else to sleep.”

Well, look at that. Chace wasn’t an idiot. The man knew he couldn’t win against him. He’d also just issued a threat Rykus was fairly sure he’d try to see through. It would be a risk sharing a room with the guy.

Good thing he didn’t have to.

“You know what?” Rykus smiled, showing teeth. “I think I will sleep somewhere else.”