Stardust Runner 1 by Dante King & Ryan Vermont

Author:Dante King & Ryan Vermont [King, Dante]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2022-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

A trail of wet footprints led from the bathroom to the sofa, where Fiona and I lay tangled together, a damp towel crumpled underneath us.

“Poor apartment,” Fiona said. “It probably doesn’t see a lot of action, having no one here half the time.”

“Are you kidding?” I ran a finger along her spine, making her shudder and draw in closer to me. “I bet half the customers Nelavar lends this place to use it to get laid. Just think how impressive it looks when you bring your date back to a place like this. And then you get to be all ‘Oh this? I just borrowed it. You should see my real apartment.’”

Fiona laughed. “I’ve seen your real apartment. I doubt you’ll ever get laid again.”

“Well, that’s a shame. I know a few women who’ll be bitterly disappointed.”

“A few, huh?” She shot me a sly smile. “And how many of them would help you face down a notorious mob boss?”

At that, my stomach tightened. I’d drawn Fiona into this business almost by accident. Despite my attempt to get her out, she’d come back to save me at my apartment. I’d had to take her with me to see Krahmin, as the deal I’d been angling for had been for her. But from that point on, she’d been with me because she was already there. I was dragging her along behind me like the dust sparkling in a comet’s trail, and though she shone bright as a diamond and struck as deadly as that comet would, I still didn’t want her caught up in my shit.

“I’ve been thinking.” I reluctantly untangled myself from her arms and sat up, my back sticking against the leather of the sofa. “Now that I’m clear of the immediate problem, there’s no need for you to stick around.”

“What?” Fiona sat up too. She stared at me, eyes narrowed.

“You were going straight, remember?” I said. “How does that fit with acting as sidekick to a gangster?”

“Everybody gets into fights sometimes,” she said. “Sometimes to protect yourself, sometimes to protect your friends. That’s just the price of living on Myan.”

“You don’t even want to live on Myan. You’ve been saving up to leave.”

“And until I’m gone, I have to live by the rules of this place.”

“But I don’t, and now I can’t. Just by disobeying Krahmin, I’m challenging the peace that holds the gangs of Myan together. My violence isn’t just to protect myself, or anyone else, for that matter. I’m going to be going on the offensive, taking the fight to the other side. There’s going to be all kinds of hell to pay before this is over. You shouldn’t be sucked into that.”

“You really think I’d leave you out in the void?”

I sighed. “No, I don’t. And that’s the problem. You’re too damned good for me, Fiona.”

“Enough with that bullshit,” she said as she sat in my lap. “I’ve decided, I’m sticking with you. And if that means I never get off this rock, then so be it.

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