sighed. Dex searched the room for something he could use as a weapon. He knew she could turn on Soyina in a flash, and they couldn’t afford that today.
To his surprise, Andi reached up and slid her hood back from her face, revealing herself to the other woman.
“Ahh,” Soyina said. She swung her feet off the table, then leaned forward to stop with her nose a mere inch from Andi’s face.
Soyina had a passion for darkness, and Androma Racella’s soul was the darkest of them all.
“Beautiful,” Soyina whispered, her breath blowing the hair back from Andi’s face. She ran a sharp fingernail down Andi’s metal cheek implant, the migratory tattoos swimming down her arm as if afraid.
Dex had to hand it to Andi. She didn’t flinch beneath Soyina’s stare. He allowed himself a moment to admire her finely sculpted face before looking away. She was beautiful, but he wasn’t allowed to think of her that way anymore. Not after what he’d done.
“I can almost taste the death on you,” Soyina breathed. “How many lives have you stolen, Bloody Baroness?”
Andi whirled on Dex. “You told her who I was?”
He shrugged, giving her the carefree look he knew she hated with every inch of her soul. “What can I say? Soyina’s a big fan.”
“Have you ever tortured anyone, Baroness?” Soyina asked, pulling Andi’s attention back to her. “I can only imagine the things you could do with that darkness you harbor. The Xen Pterran queen would be wise to hire you on as a colleague of mine. Or a mercenary, perhaps.”
“A colleague?” Andi raised a brow at Dex as she scooted back in her chair, clearly done with Soyina’s closeness.
Dex took a sip of his drink and nodded. “Soyina practices the art of torture,” he explained, smiling as Andi’s eyes widened a bit at his explanation. “She works on Lunamere as one of Queen Nor’s more forward ways of getting information out of the prisoners.”
“A nasty job, most would think,” Soyina said. She ran her fingers down her dark curls. “But it’s not without its certain charms.” She giggled, then folded her hands on the rickety table in front of her. Her tattoos swirled like a nebula across them, then trickled back toward her elbows. “Daggers and sparks of fire. Channels of electricity. The screams of the women are good and well, but the men...oh, they do so love to plead with me.”
Dex sighed as she continued.
“Of course, it’s not all bad,” Soyina said, twisting a braid around her fingertip. “When they die, I don’t always leave them dead.”
Andi raised a pale brow, and Soyina smiled that same gorgeously chilling smile that had drawn Dex to her in the first place. He wondered what she looked like to those on the fringes of death, as they spouted information about whatever they knew of the Unified Systems. It was rumored that, though there was a peace treaty in place, Queen Nor still seethed with the desire for revenge and sought a way to destroy the other systems. They’d never be able to come back from the destruction The Cataclysm had caused for them, though. The damage was too much, the lives lost, too many.
“I’m also a Revivalist,” Soyina said, drawing Dex’s attention back again. “With every death comes the chance for a second life. The opportunity for more information. I bring them back, as long as I’m within the three-minute window, of course.”
“With what?” Andi asked. “How can you bring a dead man back to life?”
Soyina chuckled arrogantly, clearly relishing Andi’s ignorance. “With science, dear girl!”
This was the downside to working with someone like Soyina. She loved to talk and brag and talk some more. Dex’s head was beginning to spin, wondering how he’d ever taken an interest in a woman who was so clearly off her axis.
He glanced sideways at Andi.
Two women, then.
“The map, Soyina,” Dex reminded her. “You have it with you?”
She blinked, a crooked smile on her lips as she seemed to come back to the present. “Before we dive into the matter at hand, I hope you remembered the payment I requested?”
Dex took another healthy gulp of his drink, relaxing as the fire swam into his bones. “Half of your payment has already been anonymously wired to your account. Untraceable. When the mission is complete, you’ll get the other portion. You’re sure you can’t go with us?”
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