In Dying Starlight (Books 1-6 Box Set) by McCosh Emily

Author:McCosh, Emily
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oceans in the Sky Press
Published: 2023-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

I swear, if one more unprovoked human points a gun at me. . .

Slowly, I raise my hands, hoping she isn’t trigger-happy. Opening my mouth, I try to think of something disarming, but no sound comes out. I need to work on being comforting.

Her eyes give a narrow little squint of a twitch, taking in my appearance up close, but her expression is otherwise even.

She gestures with the pistol, calm, and says, “Back inside, now.”

It isn’t worth breaking into a fight with the rest of the patrons likely to come looking. A cyborg punching an innocent woman in the face will probably get me arrested even if she has a bounty on her head. Besides, something about the way she holds that gun makes me believe she won’t have a problem shooting me in the face.

I step back into the stall, keeping eye contact. It’s easier now she’s threatening me. More a language I can understand.

“You have a bounty on your head, you know?” I ask as she locks the stall, her heels clicking on the marble. “I’m not here to kidnap you, just to talk. It’s a very unusual bounty.”

She makes a waving motion with her hand, diamonds or something shimmering on her nails, catching the blue-purple light, relaxing her grip on the gun but not lowering. Very comfortable with it. At least she knows enough to keep her finger off the trigger.

A sweet, herbal scent clings to her skin. Same smell from the crashed ship in the jungle.

“I know my parents have that bounty. I’m wanted alive, you can’t kill me.” She sounds bored with the whole ordeal. Surely I’m not the only bounty hunter crawling these parts. And we’re pretty noticeable on a planet this exotic. Why did she single me out?

“I don’t want to kill you—”

“You’re unregistered, aren’t you?”

My jaw clicks shut. Bat stirs. I hope she doesn’t see the pack shift. Her voice is clear and crisp, with an accent I’ve heard but don’t recognize. Neyla Ve, I suppose. Her head only comes to my chest, even with heels. Her glittery, blue dress is playing havoc on my eyes. Reflecting all the light. With her pleasant, even features and high cheekbones, I’m sure she’s attractive, but appears relatively normal among the oddities wandering Amethyst. I’ve been looking at strangely augmented people for too many hours in a row. The most standout thing about her physical form is the purple eyes and matching, glittery makeup highlighting subtle parts of her face.

It’s such a blunt question, all I can say is, “Ummm. . .”

“Unregistered,” she repeats slowly, like I’m a child. “You’re not registered to Amerov, are you?”

I narrow my eyes, finally over the surprise and diving headlong into irritation. Do I even look intimidating? I must, with my appearance, the hat not as covering as the hood. Zane and Lalia and their lack of fear are having a bad effect on me.

“No.”

She lowers her gun. Is she out of her mind? “Great. I need your help.”

She’s out of her mind.

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