Page 24 of On a Rogue Planet
“I thought it was junk.” The girl fingered the ball and heaved a giant sigh. “And I said I was sorry.”
Mal ensured her smile stayed hidden. “Put it away.”
Lala flopped onto a stool. “Fine. But that was last week. Ages ago.” She slipped the ball away.
Mal turned to Xander. “Just ignore her.”
His face was blank, but the hard edge said he hadn’t forgotten the explosive ball. Why—when everyone else wanted to run screaming at the sight of him—did she find him so…fascinating?
“Are you another Phoenix cousin?” he asked Lala.
“Nope.”
“She’s…Lala.” Mal wasn’t sure how to describe the teenaged bomb expert they’d somehow inherited after Zayn and Ria needed her help on a mission to free Ria from the Assassin’s Guild.
“Lastite Lala,” the girl added cheerfully.
Xander stiffened. “Lastite Lala. Criminal explosives expert named after the volatile explosive lastite. Responsible for several hundred explosions in the surrounding quadrants.”
Lala grinned. “Your records only list several hundred? Damn, I’m not getting all the badass credit I deserve.”
He turned away from Lala, his body stiff. “I need to talk with your cousins.”
With a nod, Mal moved to the comms panel and put a call through to Dathan. It didn’t take the others long to arrive.
Dathan strode in. “Warning for you, CenSec, I’m still pissed you pulled my cousin into your troubles.”
Lala popped a wad of gum into her mouth. “I think we should start with the fact that Mal was just about to suck face with the sexy cyborg.”
When Eos gasped and Dathan and Nik both spun with fury in their eyes, all Mal managed was a wince.
CHAPTER SIX
“What the hell!” Dathan exploded.
“You stay the hell away from her,” Niklas said in a quiet voice.
Xander had believed the astro-archeologist to be a mild-mannered academic. But underlying Niklas Phoenix’s tone was a hard, dangerous edge that said he’d fight to protect those he loved.
Malin drew herself up. “Excuse me, adult here. I can kiss whoever the hell I like.”
Dathan shook his head. “Mal, he’s a machine?—”
Xander watched with interest as her eyes fired and she rounded on Dathan.
“I’m not having this argument again,” she snapped. “Just drop it.”
Dathan released a long breath. “He doesn’t feel anything, Mal. You deserve more than that. I know Granger screwed you around?—”
“Don’t bring him up!”
Granger?Xander fought an internal frown.
As the cousins continued arguing, Xander once again felt unfamiliar emotions battering at him. His entire planet was atstake. He thought of his team who’d tried to rescue the leader of Centax. They hadn’t made it and had been captured.
His probability calculations told him they were most likely dead.
He also thought of his brother. There was a high probability Axton was dead, too.
