“But why? It’s not like I’ve ever had much if any contact with them. I wouldn’t know Nero if I passed him on the street. And I can’t imagine any of them deliberately going near the League given what happened to their homeworld. As far as I know, any surviving Scaleras scattered to the wind and have kept all their collective heads low so as not to lose them.”

“Then focus on Pride. Does she have any League contacts?”

“I’ll find out.”

“Let me know if I can help.”

“Thanks, Sav.”

“Thank me by surviving. Don’t lose your head over this.”

“Will do, Commander.”

Snorting, Sav cut the transmission.

Jinx sat in his ship, thinking about everything he’d learned.

Mordacity Pride.

There was next to no information in their system about her. Which meant it was an alias. Had to be.

Even though they were damn near impossible to pull off with the League, there were a handful of people, such as Syn, who had managed to create new identities in their databases and get away with it.

Who had helped Mordacity?

And why? What was she hiding? That was the real question.

Chapter Six

“I don’t like this.” Jayne paced the room in front of Hadrian.

“Totally off topic, but I envy you for being able to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Walk and not bump into anything.”

Laughing, she shook her head. It was true. He was so large that he took up most of the couch and had chosen to sit so that he wouldn’t accidentally bump into anything.

“You are cute, though.”

“Cute?” He arched a brow at her. “Not adorably sexy?”

“Is that what you want?”

He rubbed at his forehead. “What I want is to be with Hauk and Mordacity. I hate being trapped in here.”

“I didn’t realize I was that obnoxious.”

He shook his head. “It’s not you. You have to remember that I’ve been in hiding my entire life.” Hadrian gestured at the room. “This . . . makes me crazy. All I want is my freedom. To be like someone normal who can walk around without looking over my shoulder all the time.”

“I get it. I hate being an assassin. More than you can imagine. This was not what I saw for my life.”

“Yeah. I wanted to own my own store. I always thought how much fun it would be to welcome customers and interact with them without fear.”

Jayne sat down on the coffee table in front of him. “I wanted to be a teacher.”

“Really?”

She nodded slowly. “I wanted to be surrounded by kids.”

He actually gaped at her.

“Don’t act so surprised. Why are you surprised?”

“Just . . .” He indicated her with both his hands. “You’re amazing at what you do. I can’t see you not kicking ass and taking names.”

With a heavy sigh, she rested her elbows on her thighs and leaned down. “Again, not what I wanted to be. Just once, I’d like to wear heels. To dress without worrying if my concealed weapons are showing.” Jayne scowled as he started smiling. “You find that funny?”