“Who else? Guess Mama N wants to change my diaper and burp me.” As he answered, she could just imagine the smirk on his adorable face. “Still alive, my brother. You?”

“You’re not funny.”

Jayne pressed her lips together at Nero’s furious tone that was so loud, she could hear it plainly over the ship’s engines.

“I’m hilarious,” Hadrian said without pausing. “You just have no appreciation for my humor.”

“Not when I’m getting a notification that you’ve been terminated. How the hell could I find that funny?”

Yeah, she could understand why Nero was a little hot.

“I can see where that might wreck your day. Especially mine if I died.”

“Don’t make me kick your ass, Hady.”

Hadrian grinned at Jayne. “Have to find me first.”

Before Nero responded, he cut the transmission. “And when he does, he’s going to kill me.”

She wiggled her comm. “Mine, too.” She tucked it away, then jerked her chin toward his ship. “So, where are we headed?”

“What was your expression? Hell in a handbasket?”

“Now I understand your urge to head-slap me. Can I get a better response?”

He piped the nav coordinates so that she could see them over his head. “We’re going to the last known location for Mordacity. There, we will interrogate and probably kill her . . . provided Nero doesn’t get there first and beat us to the execution.”

Chapter Five

Jayne looked around the harsh metal space station that was owned by the Septurnum group of the Tavali pirate nation. There were enough ships here that it looked like a League port. Every crew functioned with military precision and her group was being eyed as if they were a lethal STD in a brothel. “What kind of assassin lives in a Tavali station?”

Hadrian laughed. “A smart one.”

She scowled. “How so?”

“League laws don’t apply here. Even though the League refuses to recognize the Tavali as a legitimate empire, they are still a sovereign nation.”

Jayne conceded that point. They were also a massive one that was divided into four separate states with the Septurnums being the group that was held out as a rebel band from the other three Tavali nations. Even among their own, the Tavalis didn’t trust the Septs.

And because the Tavali’s existence wasn’t recognized by the League, they were all considered outlaws. Anyone found with Tavali gear or flags could be imprisoned or executed. The only thing that kept most empires from declaring war on them was that no one knew exactly how many Tavali there actually were.

Or how much fire power their nation had access to. Since they were literally pirates who made their homes on space stations spread out through the Ichidian universe, no one wanted to risk going to war with them.

Only the League was that stupid.

Because the main rule of the Tavali was a simple one . . . they were one united family. If you messed with one of them, they were all honor bound to retaliate.