Page 51 of When the Universe Sings

“Don’t play dumb, youryk?—”

But whatever insult he’d been about to say was cut off with a gurgle as a humming quara blade sliced across his throat.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-FIVE

The male fell in a heap,blaster misfiring and piercing the pedestal right beside me, shattering it into pieces.

I barely noticed, however. Not when Asher prowled from the dark and sheathed his blade within the holster strapped across his chest. His hair was mussed, cheeks a darker shade of blue, and his silver gaze burned a hole through me as he removed his blood-covered gloves.

“Thank fuck,” Lucien cursed as he leaned forward and braced his hands on his knees. “That was close.”

I looked between them in astonishment until Asher turned toward one of the cameras and nodded before stepping over the body.

“I, um, I wasn’t—” My toe tapped the glass box behind me. “It’s not…”

Asher nodded. “Lucien knows.”

The male in question straightened, smoothing the front of his silk shirt. “Listra sent it off planet at the beginning of the gala. If only Blom had kept his fucking mouth shut in that ventilation shaft.”

I stared at him, mouth popping open. All the smooth edges of Lucien disappeared in an instant, even his voice deepened. He crouched in front of the box, lifting it to inspect the holographic label before cursing.

“Is that your crew?” I asked.

He looked up at me, shaking a curl from his eye. “No, thank the Maker. My climber would have never been so thoughtless.”

“Neither would mine.” The warmth in Asher’s tone made me turn toward him, heat creeping up my cheeks. He reached for me. “It’s time to go. Luc, how long will Listra be down?”

Lucien sucked on his teeth for a moment. “Maybe another fifteen minutes or so.”

I frowned. There’d been so little time between when I left them and Listra passing out. “How did you get a tranquilizer in him?”

He winked, a hand sliding down the placket of his trousers to grip his cock. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

A growl slipped through the room and we both looked at Asher, who kept his hand outstretched for mine. “We need to go. Rys can only loop the cameras for so long. Rhiaon is coming now to dispose of the body.”

I didn’t take his hand, but I did move toward him, noting the blood speckling his cheeks. A buzzing flared in my chest as his scent surrounded me and he gestured me forward. I stepped over the body, careful to avoid my skirt trailing in the blood splatters. Usually quara blades were neat, but I supposed slicing a male’s throat open would have been messy regardless.

“I’ll stay with Phyenix to make it look like I passed out too.” Lucien settled next to the unconscious male in the hall.

Asher nodded once before pushing me ahead with a hand on my lower back, warm through the fabric of my dress. It was silent for a moment as we turned one corner, then another.

“How did Lucien find out?”

He blew out a breath and stopped walking, pressing me into an alcove right before the hall opened up into a much busier corridor. “Yesterday before Lesephous’ party, Rys was able to track the comms to two of Lucien’s crew: Senator Jucinda, who he was with on the transport this morning, and another male we don’t know. When you fell asleep, I went to find Lucien, knowing that Phyenix would more than likely take an interest in you.” Amuscle jumped in his jaw and his eyes slid to the side, as if he suddenly found the wall very interesting. “I offered him a deal in exchange for staying close and making sure things didn’t get out of hand.”

Something like betrayal itched at the back of my head, even though I knew it was pointless to feel such things. I’d known Asher would go behind my back and yet here I was, hands fisting in the fabric of my skirt to stop them from trembling. But it wasn’t hate bubbling beneath my skin and somehow that was even worse. That Asher had offered Luciena deal—whatever that meant—for my protection.

It all made sense: why Lucien had appeared the moment Phyenix came closer, why he’d maneuvered the male to take his attention. Shame burned through my cheeks. “You thought I couldn’t do it.”

“No, June, no?—”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “You thought I couldn’t complete my part of the job so you made sure to hire someone who could.”

A stricken look broke apart his features and Asher shook his head. “I knew you would do whatever you could to complete the job—even if it meant sacrificing something of yourself. I…” He blew out a breath. “I couldn’t let you do that.”

My hollow laugh filled the space between us while the heat of shame slid from my cheeks to my eyes. I shook my head to hide their glassiness and took a step back, but his hand flashed out, palm wrapping around my wrist. Buzzing rippled up my arm, heat flared within my veins. My next breath was more of a pant and the world grew warmer, inexplicably so. His fingers tensed around my arm, silver blown away by dark pupils.