Marie Harte - The Perfect Creation

Canunn smiled, simply ignoring the possibility that they wouldn’t find Erin and the others in time. Ryen and Anin would come when Erin called. And really, their progress wasn’t as important as Erin’s anyway. Now to find their golden girl and bring her back where she belonged—in the arms of her Creator. And if Canunn were really lucky, Synster might find himself blamed for Erin’s disappearance once word reached Mathin of what had happened. In fact, Canunn would make sure Mathin heard all about it, and all about Canunn’s tireless efforts to bring her back. If all went according to plan, Synster might not live past the next few weeks, dying alongside the crew of Mara’s Light . Because like Canunn, Mathim was not known for tolerating mistakes.

“Enjoy yourself, Synster, because before long, you’ll be handling Erin no more.”

Catam rejoined the Raggas waiting outside the club for him.

“They take the bait?” Nu Fas asked.

“We in?” his brother, Set, added.

“Yeah. They want her back, badly. And we’re only supposed to bring her back to those two idiots, so either Blue Rim isn’t in on what these scientists are doing, or they are and want it kept quiet.” He strode with them back to the ship, where his captain waited with her husband.

Once inside the ship, the crew took off in no time. Catam shook his head. “Thanks for doing this, Mara. But don’t worry, Sernal’s going to pay us big time for our help.” His captain snorted. “He’d better. I turned down thirty thousand beks for this.” Catam grinned and handed her the cred chip. “Then you should be thanking me for getting us a fifty thousand advance.”

The others shared their thanks, and he filled them in on the details.

“So what exactly did Sernal say this woman did? Why are two scientists involved instead of Eyran local government?” Mara asked. “We’re doing this as a favour to the peacemakers, you know.”

“Yeah,” her husband Lurin agreed, a grin on his face. “So they’ll forget about that last job we pulled.”

Catam snorted. “Well, it wasn’t my idea to bring the entire clan down. Thank the rock heads.” He angled his thumb at Nu and Set. “I was all for taking our bounty in alive. Those two destroyed him and everyone around him.”

Nu shrugged. “Not my fault, Set—”

“Catam,” Mara interjected loudly, “please answer the question. We’ll play the blame game later. Now what exactly did Sernal tell you about this besides that he needs our help?”

“Well, it wasn’t Sernal I talked to. It was Gar.” Everyone groaned.

“What?”

“Catam, your brother is five times worse than Sernal. Sernal’s a pain in the ass, but he’s an official pain in the ass. Most of what Gar does is illegal, no matter how he spins it. And he doesn’t care who he pisses off to get what he wants. Hell, if Sernal knew even half of what Gar was doing, he’d probably lock him up, peacemaker or not.” Mara shook her head.

“Yeah, but this is on the level, I swear. Gar’s actually helping Rafe out of a tight situation on an official case.”

“Another Mardu involved?” Lurin sighed. “There are only four of you, right?”

“Don’t forget Isa and the girls on Mardu,” Su offered. “But if she’s not talking to him, does that count?”

“Thanks,” Catam answered dryly, not needing any reminders about his pissed off mate right now. “Look, somehow the operation Gar was involved in, to track down some shady happenings around Eyra, snagged Rafe in the middle. Sernal’s not answering his com unit, and Rafe’s got his hands full tracking this fugitive that Blue Rim wants so badly. Gar seems to think she might know something about the prison ships that keep disappearing near the outer rim.”

“So why don’t the peacemakers handle it?” Nu wanted to know. “Seems like they’re always dragging us into their messes. And I don’t know that I want Mara’s Light associated so closely with the law. Right, Cap?” He looked to Mara.

She nodded. “Right. But though it pains me to say it, the Mardu brothers are an exception. And frankly, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Gar, and especially Sernal, owing us. What I want to know is what you aren’t telling us, Catam.” Damn. The woman could spot a lie a mile off. “Not telling you?”

“Stop stalling,” Lurin said. “Gar wouldn’t involve us in this if there wasn’t more to the story.”

When Catam said nothing, Mara glared and the Fas brothers stood with threatening expressions.

“By Flor’s dagger. All right. But we have to keep this quiet.” They waited. “Gar has reason to believe the fugitive might be a…” He cleared his throat, knowing this information wouldn’t exactly endear him to the crew. “A Creation.” Everyone stared at him in amazement.

“Are you serious?” Set asked. “The last Creation the System tracked down had three hundred heads stashed in his ship, with arms and legs decorating his galley.”

“It wasn’t three hundred,” Catam protested. “An exaggeration, surely.”

“Yeah, it was more like two-fifty,” Nu muttered.

“Don’t tell me a Ragga’s scared of an artificial humanoid?” Catam teased, but no one smiled.

“You’re damned straight,” Nu answered. “We’re strong, but Creations aren’t natural.

They live for one purpose. To kill. Remember that war a thousand years ago? Death and carnage ring a bell?”

“Yeah, well, in any event, Gar’s not sure. Rafe’s apparently spent time with the female, and he thinks she’s normal, mostly.”

“This just gets better and better,” Mara said sourly.

“Come on Mara. I already know where she was last seen just two days ago. It won’t take long to find her.”

“But that’ll delay picking up Isa and the girls.” Catam contained a grimace. Isa would kill him for this, but he had no choice. A little more time with Mother shouldn’t stress his mate too much… He forced a smile. “Just more time for my family to grow closer.” Dear Flor, don’t let Isa kill Mother.

“I can’t wait to hear this vid call.” Lurin said with a grin.

“For that alone the job’s worth it.” Mara shared her mate’s amusement and joked with the Fas brothers while Catam set course for Mardu.

Hell, Isa and the others could be as annoyed as they wanted. He’d make sure to keep them out of danger, if he had to take down this ‘Creation’ by himself. Because he couldn’t refuse Gar anything. Not when his brother had barely talked to him in two long years. That Gar had called him meant the world to Catam, and hope that Gar might finally be open to bridging the gap between them made helping a promise Catam intended to keep.

Hell, maybe the female wasn’t a Creation. Maybe Sernal was just on an undercover mission and not in serious trouble somewhere out of reach. And maybe this extended visit between Isa and his mother wouldn’t result in yet another argument about Catam leaving the bounty hunting business.

“Catam, first watch. And it’s a long one,” Mara ordered as the rest of them settled in.

Nu and Set chuckled, Lurin shot him a look of sympathy, and Catam sighed. It really wasn’t his day.

Rafe swore to himself as he caught the faint impression of a boot print in the soft dirt.

The sparse moonlight gave his quarry that much more cover, and damn her, but Erin knew how to avoid capture like nobody’s business. For two days he’d been tracking her through the Eron Forest and into the Fields of Flor. At this rate she’d enter the jungle by dawn, considering she hadn’t yet stopped for a break, an impossible feat for anyone not Xema, or apparently, not a Creation.