“Mogwais weren’t real Earth animals. They were from a movie.” Ash laughed.

I scowled at him. “That’s not true. I read about them in one of my Earth history books. I—”

“Are you sure it was a history book, or maybe it was fiction novel?”

I punched his arm, twisting my knuckles into his bicep. “I can tell the difference. I’ll have you kn—”

“Can you?” he interrupted. “Because Steampunk wasn’t real either.”

My mouth opened and shut several times without a sound. “No,” I finally managed. “I got those clothes from an Earth museum that was closing down. Or at least some of them. The rest I got—”

Ash flipped me over and hovered above me, his grin stretching wide across his face. “You got them all from people who conned you. They could probably smell your desperation a mile away. Steampunk is fiction, just like mogwais. I will say that you look hot in your little leather outfits, though. Does it really matter if they’re a real part of history or not?”

“Yes, it does.” My lower lip protruded out into a pout against my will. “How could I have been so stupid?” My face scrunched up. “Have you been laughing at me this whole time? Because so help me God—”

“It’s not your fault. And they all did originate on Earth. Just not the way you thought.”

I mulled that over for a moment. “I guess.” Whether Steampunk came from Earth fiction or not didn’t really matter. Either way the concept did originate on Earth, so close enough. Plus, I did look damn good in my Steampunk stuff.

“I have so much to teach you.”

I cupped his face in a tender gesture that felt foreign to me. “Please don’t go. I don’t want to lose you.” Where the hell did that come from?

Ash turned his face into my palm and closed his eyes. “What I’m going to do, it’s bigger than me or you. It has to be done.”

“What am I going to do about the UGFS contract? Ambassador Aralias expects results. If I don’t at least deliver the chip … I don’t know what’s going to happen.” If I could produce the chip, then maybe Ash would be forgotten or he could hide. Perhaps I could even fake his death. There were so many things that could be done if he just handed over that chip.

“I can see the wheels turning and I know what you’re thinking. And no, Janey, I won’t give you that chip.”

“Please,” I rasped. Yep, I was full on begging. I didn’t want Ash to die. I didn’t know what I felt for him, but I at least wanted a chance to find out. Him being dead would kind of put an end to that plan. “We can spend lots more time doing this.” I thrust myself up at him. “And just talking, too … just being together. Don’t give me a taste of something that I may want only to yank it away.”

Ash heaved a huge sigh, standing quickly, leaving me to feel bereft without his body heat. “You could live with yourself? You could let things go on the way they are with innocents dying just so you can have a little slice of happiness?”

“I’m selfish. What can I say?” I tried to make it sound light but it didn’t come out that way at all. Not to mention that it was completely true. I’d learned to put myself first over the years because no one else would. I didn’t feel any guilt for being who I was, and who I always would be … a survivor.

Ash drilled me with a hard look. It didn’t matter that he was naked, it still made me regret my words a bit. Not that I felt that way, just that I’d shared what I really thought about the matter. “Is that what you truly want? For me to hand the chip over to you so you can smooth things over with the UGFS, and then what?”

“I don’t know, we can hunt bounties together, but you can fly under the radar kind of like Dar is doing.”

He studied me for another few moments before coming to me in a burst of speed. “We’ll talk more about this after.” My body quivered with fresh excitement. I was really beginning to like his afters—or I guess befores.

 

 

I woke up chilled, no Ash in sight. I rolled over to find an envelope lying beside me. I opened it hastily, and a small metallic object tinkled onto the floor. I picked it up, staring at it in utter shock. It bore the UGFS official seal—it was the chip. Ash had actually left the chip for me. But then why had he left? I pulled out the note that accompanied the small prize.

 

 

Was this some kind of test? Or was Ash actually leaving the choice up to me? The possibility that he would do such a thing never crossed my mind. Sure I’d asked him to, but he’d seemed pretty adamant in his refusal.

I palmed the chip, refusing to let myself think about anything else at the moment. With Ash being gone, I felt fully like myself again. It was weird coming to the realization that I had become almost like two separate people. The one with Ash—and the old me—the one that had existed before Ash. I hadn’t suddenly developed a split personality. Although there was no other way to describe the dichotomy of my actions, and even my personality when he was or wasn’t around.

I pondered love and relationships while I’d been in his arms. I begged him not to go … I was open … vulnerable even. It was all a contradiction to the person I’d come to think of as me. I let Ash past the walls I’d spent years building, and I wasn’t so sure I liked who I was when I was with him. Vulnerable was just that, weak and breakable. If I let him in much more, he would be able to destroy me completely. I could never allow someone to have that kind of power over me ever again. Maddox and my family had taught me that lesson very well.

Setting the chip down on the ground, I grabbed some clothes out of my closet. As soon as I was dressed, I stashed the chip in a pocket and scurried out of my quarters. My muscles were like jelly and my head was still a bit fuzzy, as if I’d gotten tipsy on Ash, but I had to talk to Zula and Tamzea ASAP. They were probably climbing the walls waiting to hear what happened. They’d been suspiciously absent while Ash was around. They’d obviously been giving me privacy.

Panting, I burst into the med wing, which was where I knew I would find Tamzea. I was lucky enough to find Zula there as well. My eyes narrowed, taking in the scene while I caught my breath. The two of them seemed mighty cozy, sitting cross-legged opposite each other on a bed. They were playing cards and drinking glasses full of a liquid that looked suspiciously like firejuice.

What the hell? “What are you two doing? Don’t you have a ship to run or something?”

“Oooor something,” Zula sing-songed. “Masha and Dar have everything covered. They are quite the proficient ship running pair.”

I swung my gaze to Tamzea, who was grinning at me lopsidedly, as if half of her face was drunker than the other. “We were wondering how long you’d be,“ she raised her hands up to make air quotes, “entertaining Ash.” Giggling, she fell over.

“How much have the two of you had to drink? And I thought Galvrarons didn’t stoop to drinking libations such as firejuice.” I sneered. Zula was always fast to look down her nose at my firejuice preference and here she was. Hypocrite much?

Zula waved me off. “We were bored and Tamzea talked me into it.”

I gazed at the two of them in horror. I’d come to them for advice of the utmost importance, not to mention that it was time sensitive, and they’d gone and gotten completely sloshed. Just perfect. “I got the chip. In case either one of you lushes were interested.”

Tamzea rolled onto her stomach in a fit of giggles. “I can’t believe you actually fucked it out of Ash. I thought he would be able to withstand your wiles.”

“Nope.” Zula smiled larger than I’d ever seen her do. It actually kind of creeped me out. “No man seems to be able to resist our Jane. That’s her super secret bounty hunting power. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.”

“You know what,” I stomped over and snatched both of their glasses, “that’s enough out of you both.”

I knew Zula didn’t believe those rumors and was just trying to give me a hard time, but I was in no mood. I needed her and Tamzea, and they were acting like complete idiots. When both of them seemed unfazed by my displeased attitude, I decided to leave them to their own devices while they sobered up.

I swiped the almost empty bottle of firejuice on my way to the control room. It looked like I’d have to make the call myself. I put the bottle to my lips, tipping it on end. Shit. They could have left me a bit more for liquid courage.

With shaky hands I typed in the numbers to start the transmission to contact Ambassador Aralias’ ship. Only a few moments passed before a connection was made and the ambassador’s cold, yet handsome, face appeared larger than life. I straightened myself up, wishing I would’ve thought about what I was wearing. I probably looked like I’d just been on a sex bender. I wasn’t really sure whether or not that was a good or a bad thing.

“You have news?”

I nodded almost too demonstratively. “I have the chip.”

“And Ash?”

I bit my lower lip, averting my gaze. “He got away … again.”

“And how did that happen?” His voice was sharp.

“Ummm … Well …” Thinking on the fly, I realized the best thing to tell him was a version as close to the truth as possible. That way there’d be less chance of a slip up on my part. Also, it would explain my appearance. The best lies were usually saturated in truth. “I seduced him so that he would let his guard down. I managed to get the chip, but he wised up before I could use the blade on him.”

“You seduced him?”

I met his hard gaze. “Yes.”

A slow smile crept across his face. “I’m sending you the rendezvous coordinates. We expect to see you there within the hour.” The screen went blank. And how the hell did he know where exactly we were anyways? Who am I kidding? He’d known when we’d been in Gartian territory. He was obviously keeping tabs on our whereabouts.

“What happened?” Tamzea and Zula asked in perfect unison as they burst into the room. I was glad they hadn’t shown up until after the call to the ambassador had ended.

“We have to meet up to hand the chip over.” I patted my pocket, where I’d stashed it. I was hoping with the UGFS getting the chip back that they’d forget about Ash. I internally sighed. I’d lost that level of naivety a long time ago. All I could realistically hope for was that I wouldn’t be the one they wanted to track him down again. Yeah … I’m seriously delusional if I believe that one either.

“Can you manage to punch in the new coordinates or do I need to do it myself?”

“I can do it,” Zula scoffed as if she wasn’t drunk off her ass. She can probably do most jobs better than anyone while drunk. That thought seriously rankled.

So … with a heavy heart and a churning gut, I headed back to my quarters to prepare myself for my meeting with destiny. It sounded corny as hell to even think that, but somehow it rang true despite everything.