Page 89 of Smuggler's Beauty

Mathias nudged her.

She looked up at him from the floor with a scowl. “Gonna clue me in? I’ve felt you trying to bore into my skull for the last ten minutes.”

“Generally I don’t like to give spoilers, but in the essence of expediency, I’ll make an exception,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Sure was a nice display of flora in that lobby.”

She stared at him. “What fucking good is that going to do?”

“Cairn seems to want shields back pretty badly.” The ship rocked as Cairn maneuvered them out of the way of the next blow.

When she realized what he was suggesting, she gaped at him. “He loves those plants,” Evelyn protested.

“Cher, I assure you, he loves being alive more,” Veronique said. “He’ll get over it. I’ll fuck him into a state of forgiveness.”

“This is insane,” she said, but she scrambled up from the floor and ran into the lobby.

The beautiful, lush plant life filling the atrium pulsed with a sprawling net of chaotic energy that momentarily stopped her in her tracks.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

She approached the central display and brushed a finger down a leaf. The glossy green frond was so smooth under her skin. Evelyn pressed her palm to the plant and closed her eyes.

She pulled, but the strands of power thrashed against her, unwilling to leave their place in the universe. Energy this alive didn’t want to vacate the place it was rooted.

The alarms blared loudly in her ears. They didn’t have time for this. Evelyn crushed the sympathy she had for Cairn’s beautiful botanical display and forced her power to dominate the energy in the room.

One after another, the plants in the atrium shriveled and died, the network of plant life succumbing as a unit, their lush green leaves turning to crisp brown husks in seconds.

Evelyn opened her eyes and gasped with the stolen energy thrumming in her body. In her hurry, she hadn’t stored the energy in any containment. Every beat of her heart came faster than the last as her pulse raced. She ran back to the bridge faster than she’d known she was capable of.

I’ll buy Cairn a fucking nursery when this is over.

Evelyn nearly ran into Aiden as she skidded to a stop. He grasped her arms and steadied her. His clenched jaw was the only clue she could see to his mental state.

No wonder he’s the one they sent into the medivessel.

“Where do you charge things here? I need an outlet,” Evelyn said. She could feel herself trembling in his grip. His eyes widened as he took in her state, and he instantly guided her to a side console and flipped up a panel. The emergency charging apparatus was behind a clear pane that slid out of the way with a swipe of his hands.

Evelyn shoved the fingers of her left hand into the charging port as far as they would go, the prongs of the port ripping her cuticles. She closed her eyes and dropped into her visualization, blocking out the chaos of the bridge around her.

I really hope I don’t electrocute myself. That would be a really stupid way to die.

Her mental space was filled with swirling, seething strands of energy. She could barely see the mauve of her squishy chair, the tank of Amplification energy. Seeing the tank sparked another idea.

One dangerous idea at a time, Evelyn.

Focusing on the task at hand, she shoved a strand of power into the charging port. It resisted, swirling around the edges of the port, unwilling to leave its friends in her mind palace.

She soothed the strand, assured it that it wouldn’t be lonely for long. The energy relented, flowing into the port. She sent another through. Then another. She felt sweat dripping down her face, her cardigan suddenly oppressively hot.

“Shields are recharging, dollface. It’s working,” Aiden whispered in her ear. Evelyn felt his arms wrap around her waist, the gentle weight of his head on top of her own. She nodded and kept shoving power into the system. Strand after strand of energy were fed into the port, each one struggling against her guidance, each one finally relenting after she assured it that it wouldn’t be alone in the ship’s stores.

By the time her mental space was clear again, she could barely stand. She leaned against Aiden’s reassuring frame as she examined the tank of Amplification energy.

Couldn’t hurt to try. Much.

She opened her eyes and twisted in Aiden’s arms. “I have an idea. It’s sort of crazy.”

He grinned. “Crazy ideas are sort of our thing, dollface.”