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The scariest part of that wasn’t the fact that she knew Thia and the others would do it.

It was the fact that she knew how much they’d relish her torture.

CHAPTER 9

Sumi came awake with a start. Lying perfectly still, she squinted against the oppressive darkness, trying to discern what had shocked her from her dreams.

Footsteps. Just outside her tent.

It’s probably one of the kids going to the bathroom. Had to be. Hauk, despite his hulking size, never made so much as a whisper when he moved. He was like a wraith.

Scary, really. No creature that size should be that silent. It was unnatural.

That was her thought until she heard someone grunt. Another person groaned and fell quiet. Three blast shots rang out, each punctuated by a sharp blast of color that was bright even through the fabric walls. Rolling to her feet, she crouched low, and went to the opening so that she could join whatever fight was going on outside.

Her jaw fell slack as she saw Hauk in a similar crouch, only he had a blaster in each hand. Turning in a slow circle, he scanned the area in front of him.

When she moved, he jerked around and brought both weapons to bear on her. She held her hands up to let him know she wasn’t currently a threat. The instant he realized it was her and not another attacker gunning for his back, he relaxed and lowered the blasters.

“Kids!” he called in that deep thunderous tone as he rose to his feet and holstered his weapons. No wonder he softened his voice whenever he spoke to her and Thia. That resonating growl was terrifying. “Get out here. Now!”

Not even Darice balked. He left his tent, rubbing his eyes.

“What happened?” Thia gaped at the ten large bodies strewn around their camp. To Hauk’s credit, he’d dispatched them quickly and in virtual silence. An impressive feat for anyone.

Hauk moved to the body closest to him so that he could search it. “Big fluffy bunnies paid us a late-night visit. And look, kids, they were kind enough to bring us ammunition and weapons. Could they be any more thoughtful?”

Ignoring his sarcasm, Thia aimed her blaster toward Sumi, who held her hands up again as she feared her imminent death.

“Stand down.” Hauk jerked his chin to the body at Thia’s feet. “They’re not League. Look at them. They’re incas.”

Sumi frowned. Incas were independent contract assassins who didn’t follow League protocols. They were killers for hire, regardless of law or procedure. If you paid their exorbitant fee, they would deliver the head of whomever you named.

Thia toed the body by her feet. “Are you sure?”

He gave her an offended glare.

Without another word, Thia examined the body she’d toed in a way that left Sumi astonished. Most girls Thia’s age would be sickened or horrified by the grisly sight, and honestly, she was a little herself. While she wasn’t fond of killing, she really didn’t like handling dead bodies. But Thia acted with the abrupt sternness of a seasoned soldier. “There’s nothing on this one. You got any markings over there, Uncle Hauk?”

“No.” Standing up, he shot the body again.

Sumi arched a brow at his actions.

“For being so damned inconsiderate,” he explained. “And waking me up from a good nap… toe-humping bastard.”

Still ignoring him, Thia sat back. “Are they all human?”

“No.” Darice kicked at the legs of the one closest to him. “This one’s Partini… Partinai… Partiny? Whatever you use for them. They’re a screwed-up race when it comes to singular and plural.” They were also a race known for their brutal fighting skills. It was hard for anyone not born of their breed to hold their own against them, never mind actually kill one.

Highly impressive.

As Darice skimmed the bodies and he noted their number, he duplicated Sumi’s earlier gape. “Gah, Dancer… You took them all out without even breathing hard. How?”

Bracing his forearm on his bent knee, Hauk gave his nephew an irritated smirk. “What do you think I do for a living, boy? Bake fucking cookies?” He holstered his newly found weapons and continued to search bodies.

“I thought you did IT for the aristos. Computers and desk stuff.”

Thia laughed out loud. “You’re so stupid, D. You really think your uncle keeps a body like that from lifting microchips? Yeah… Stay delusional. The planet Oblivion needs more occupants.” She moved to untie the lorina so that it could patrol for others. “I don’t know how they got through my traps and alarms that I set earlier.”

“Don’t think about it, Thee. I promise, they won’t get through me.” Hauk confiscated more of the assassins’ weapons and tucked them into various places in his clothes. He met Sumi’s gaze. “Any of them friends of yours?”

Sumi shook her head. “Never seen them before.” When she reached for a blaster, Thia actually shot at her. The blast barely missed her head, and by the look on Thia’s face, she knew the girl had expertly placed it, but wouldn’t be so considerate next time.

“Uncle Hauk?”

He narrowed his eyes on Sumi as if trying to read her thoughts. “Let her have it. The one at her feet was going for her while she slept. Leads me to believe he wasn’t working with her. Or if he was, they had a falling-out.”

Thia hesitated. “You sure?”

He nodded. “Besides, she’s not much of a killer.”

Sumi resented the teasing humor in his deep voice. “I am a chief field assassin, you know? I’ve never failed a mission or missed a target. I’m damn good at what I do.”

“Ooo,” he said sarcastically as he rose to his feet. “Someone cue my fear pheromones.”

Sumi put her arms on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That he’s less than impressed by your rank,” Thia explained wryly. “By the time my father, his best friend since childhood, was my age, he was top ass.”

Sumi tried not to be impressed, but she couldn’t help it. Very few made the rank of command assassin of the first order, and only one had ever attained it by Thia’s age.

Nemesis was the most brutal of them all.

But then, as she looked over the bodies, Sumi was glad that Hauk wasn’t threatened by her skills. It didn’t work out well for anyone he perceived as a threat.

And she didn’t want to meet the brutal end of the men on the ground around them.

Thia clapped Sumi on the arm. “You got a lot of confirmed kills to go, puddin’.” She winked at her. “Not to mention, Uncle Hauk left The League as a teenager with the rank of special agent.”

Darice made a rude sound of disagreement. “Lorina shit. Dancer was still in training when he washed out.”

Hauk cocked and locked his jaw at his nephew’s snotty dismissal. “For your information, punk, I rose to the rank of captain during training.”

Sumi made an exaggerated gape at him. Yeah, okay, that rankled. Captain was the fourth-highest rank an assassin could aspire to. And it was the one most assassins never rose above before someone violently ended their career and life.

Darice raked his uncle with a scathing glare. “If you were a captain, how did you wash out, huh?”

Hauk didn’t answer as he began carrying bodies off to the side of camp.

“Your mother,” Thia snarled at Darice. “After Hauk had gone through two years of grueling training where she hoped someone would kill him, she ran to his CO and told him that Hauk couldn’t graduate to full assassin because he was pledged to her. The League discharged him immediately.”

Sumi winced at what Thia described. That would do it, since assassins were forbidden to marry. But what a callous thing to do, especially if Dariana had no intention of seeing their marriage met. Why not let him have that much in his life, if it was what he wanted?