Polaris Read Online Free Page B

storm, exaggerated calm and silence. That was, until she became the storm itself. He loved her both ways.
    Jeth tightened his fingers around hers, careful not to hurt her with his artificial hand. “I’ll be okay,” he said. “I won’t miss.”
    â€œI know.” A nameless emotion crossed her face. Or perhaps it was a memory, the same one that appeared in his mind—of her surrogate father lying dead in a shock of blood. So much destruction from a single bullet, one shot from Jeth’s gun. Wainwright might’ve been right when he said leaving witnesses alive was a mistake, but Jeth didn’t regret it. He didn’t want to add to the blood already on his hands. He wished he could’ve left all of them alive.
    Sierra pulled away from him and then slid her hand behind her back, emerging again with a gun clenched in her fingers. The M.U.L.E. .32 was small enough that the bulge it created in her dress had been hidden by her long blond hair, but it was big enough to take down the Nuvali guard easily.
    â€œOkay,” Jeth said, as he loaded the mag then tucked the .32 into the front of his pants, hidden beneath his flight jacket. “You two stay here until Vince and I have cleared the road.”
    Celeste glowered, that ferocious look back in her eyes. “Next time I get to play Capture the Most Wanted.”
    â€œI certainly hope so,” said Jeth.
    Vince touched Celeste’s arm, his playful manner from a moment ago turning serious. “See you soon.”
    She started to nod, thought better of it, and took hold of his face with both hands, drawing him down for a kiss. Vince recovered quickly from his momentary surprise and began to kiss her back in earnest. Celeste seemed to melt into him, her fingers sliding through the disheveled lengths of his hair, as black as her own.
    Jeth scoffed. “Now? You pick now to finally do this?”
    They broke apart, both a little red in the face, but notfrom embarrassment, he could tell.
    He shot them a halfhearted scowl before exchanging his own good-luck kiss with Sierra.
    He stepped out into the corridor and said through the comm, “We’re heading in.”
    â€œI’ve got eyes on you,” Lizzie replied. “And I’ve almost got Avalon free.”
    Vince joined Jeth in the corridor, and Jeth put his hands behind his back, letting Vince grab hold of his wrists with one hand while the other pressed the barrel of his gun against Jeth’s back.
    â€œYou want me to wait for your signal?” asked Vince.
    Jeth shook his head. “I trust your judgment.” Before joining the Shades, Vince had been an ITA soldier, part of an elite combat unit.
    â€œRight. Let’s go.” Vince nudged him forward hard, getting into character.
    Moments later they came within sight of the Nuvali security guards. To Jeth’s momentary panic they were indeed fixing explosives to Avalon ’s door. He tamped down his alarm and looked away, assessing the rest of the situation.
    Most of the guards stood in a wide semicircle around those laying the explosives, but three of them were a couple of meters down on the other side of the dock, confronting a man whose long brown robe marked him as some kind of priest or holy man. He had the hood pulled over his head, but Jeth could see enough of his face to tell he was old, his cheeks sunken and face skeletal.
    â€œWe told you already,” one of the guards was saying, “if you need to get to your ship you have to go around. We can’t let you through.”
    Whether or not the old man listened, Jeth didn’t see as one of the nearer guards finally noticed their approach.
    â€œStop right there.”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Vince said, pressing Jeth forward. “I’ve got who you’re looking for, but I could use a little help.”
    The guard appeared dubious for a moment, and then excited when his gaze alighted on Jeth’s face.