“Usually I’m more happy to be proven right.”

Xander’s gruff voice knocked aside the panic that had circled me since the agents grabbed me, even as he lifted me to my feet.

He pulled me towards him, but I placed a hand on his chest. I needed space, needed to breathe. But for just a minute I needed his warm strength as well.

The heat of his eyes scorched me as he waited until my legs were steady.

“Did they hurt you?” he growled.

I shook my head. “I don’t even know why they took me.. It’s not like I’ve ever…” I trailed off.

He cocked an eyebrow and waited.

Cheeks unaccountably hot, I continued. “It’s possible I’ve taken some jobs that have required information SysSec thought was safely stored away. Possible.”

Annoyed with myself, I bit my lip. I was proud of what I did, the skills I’d acquired through the years. Why the hell was I dancing around the subject now?

Because you don’t know how he’ll think about it, a small disloyal voice in the back of my head answered.

That question was answered soon enough by his grin.

“From what I saw you do on the Star, I would’ve expected you to have taken all the command codes for the Imperial Navy.”

Oh. He’d seen me work before. His easy acceptance made the discomfort of another lost memory softer.

“But I’m guessing you didn’t,” he paused. “Did you?”

I rolled my eyes and followed him back through the corridors. “Not recently, no.”

“Then it’s a trifle strange that Imperial System Security would send agents all the way out to our little neck of the galaxy to pick up a single hacker.”

“Get me to their comms, and I’ll find out.”

Xander slid open a door to reveal a small, slightly cramped bridge. “As you wish.”

When the ship was new, the bridge still wouldn’t have been pretty. No sleek gleaming lines here, just a pair of boxy, functional consoles angled away from each other, and uncomfortable looking chairs.

I moved towards the one on my right. It was possible that each had a specific function and would be locked out of other controls, but for now I needed to see what I was working with.

Or working around.

A pair of pale legs, black hairs covering goose-pimpled skin in sparse tufts, stuck out from behind the console.

I leaned over the edge to find the male of the team who had arrested me tied and trussed and now lying limp on the decking.

Silent, I looked behind the other console to find his partner.

My throat dried. “Are they dead?” I managed.

Xander’s face was blank. “Not yet. Was waiting to decide until after I found you. Besides, wouldn’t have spent the time securing them if I didn’t need to.”

That was sweet, in a terrifying way. Probably better not to think about it. I forced myself to focus on the console before me, sliding into the chair, hands running across the keyboard.

“Where were they taking me, anyway?” Comms I could manage. Star maps and ships navigation? A little out of my field.

“Haven’t looked,” came the terse reply. “Saw we had hours left in warp, decided we could figure it out later.”

“What?” I spun around in the chair to face him. “Didn’t you want to know where we were heading?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Enough time to lay in a new course once we know what’s going on.”

“Doesn’t matter, he says,” I muttered, turning back to the controls. “Plenty of time. He wasn’t the one tossed in a closet.”

Ignoring the snicker behind me, I took a deep breath, then another, cleared my mind, and got ready to do some magic.

“SysSec doesn’t change their operating commands often,” I said. “I should have answers for us soon enough.”

“If not, I can still just ask our guests.”

Xander kept a hand on the back of my chair, somehow managing to still loom over the agent, the air of the small room suddenly crackling with anger.

I looked up and reached behind me to brush his arm. “Let me see what I can do first, all right?” The muscle jumping at his jawline twitched, slowed. “But if you need to ’ask’ somebody questions, start with her. At least the old guy didn’t let me trip out in the loading dock.”

“I saw.”

“Wait, what?” Ice water hit my spine. “If you were watching, why did you let them take me?”

“How else was I going to get an Imperial ship for you to play with?” A flicker of a smile crossed his full lips. “Besides, I know you’re tough.” He scratched at the back of his neck. “And I was right behind you.”

Whatever. Right now wasn’t the time to try to understand the workings of his mind.

Maybe never. Never sounded like a good time. Let’s work with that.

But first…

“Here we are. Looks like a file from Orem was flagged when it hit SysSec comms, then forwarded to this ship with another message.”

“Can you play it?”

I puffed my lips. “Why do you even ask me these things?”

With a final keystroke a grainy video, probably from an old public booth, slowly resolved on the screen.

Limp, greasy hair framed a man’s thin face, and a jolt of recognition hit me. “Seriously, him?”

Xander’s eyes narrowed. “He looks familiar.”

“You nearly killed him yesterday.” I glanced up at him. “Tell me that narrows it down. In the game room of the bar?”

“Oh, him.”

Not entirely convinced, I started the vid. The same voice that had interrupted my evening piped tinnily through the speakers.

“This isn’t a rumor, this is good stuff. There’s these guys out here, they’re crazy, and taking over the station. Nobody knows what’s what anymore.”

“Because the previous regime was so orderly,” I muttered.

“An informant,” Xander commented. “We knew there had to be some. Nice for him to identify himself.”

“One attacked me, I coulda died. I paid the bartender to pull a shot from the security cams. This is worth twice the regular. No, three times.”

The screen flickered, and the image resolved.

Badly lit, and at an awkward angle, it took me a moment to realize what I saw.

Xander, his broad chest filling over half the shot, towering over me at Veno’s, my game forgotten behind us.

Even in the dim light his golden eyes were clear, focused on nothing but me. The picture must have been taken after he dropped the jerk who’d interrupted my game. The spy, I mentally corrected myself.

But for all of Xander’s size and strength, nothing in the image made me feel afraid, threatened. Just protected. Safe.

And that wasn’t getting us anywhere, I chided myself, shaking away the extraneous thoughts.

“Let’s see what SysSec had to say about it.” I pulled up the following message.

No video this time, just an older man’s voice, terse, dry. I didn’t recognize it, but from the sudden tension in Xander’s voice, he did.

“You’re the closest ones to that edge of territory. Go pick them up. Be careful. You know what happened before. If you get the girl, the beast will follow.”

“Beast!” I spat out. “What the hell is he talking about beast and…” I whirled in my chair, fury subsiding at Xander’s thoughtful face.

“He’s seen us, not me, not in person, but he watched Valrea and Geir get together.” His eyes narrowed. “He tried to get Mack to kill his mate. He watched what happened on the Star.”

I knew the names from Nadira. I hadn’t met any of the others or their mates yet, but knowing how protective Ronan was, I couldn’t imagine his brothers being any different. “That’s nonsense.”

“Yes, but, it’s a clever way to try to trap us. I’d follow you-” he caught himself. “We’d follow our friends anywhere, if they were in danger.”

“But who is he?”

“Stanton. I’m sure of it. I’ve listened to hours of audio from the Compound, trying to get a lead on his next steps.”

The name didn’t mean anything to me, but a shout echoed through the bridge before I could ask for a further explanation.

“Get away from him, girl. He’s dangerous!”