Ambasadora (Book 1 of Ambasadora) Read Online Free PDF Page A

enough to make the insult sound strong. “I just hope he dies
from it.”
    “He might.” Rainer left
the room.
    Maybe Simon figured the male
contractor could seduce information from her that Faya couldn’t procure through
behavior modification. Only, Rainer had never tried to seduce Sara. In fact, he
always turned down her physical advances.
    How could she blame him? She’d
bashed every mirror in this suite just so she wouldn’t catch a glimpse of
herself. With a sick little look, she spotted a brand new shiny mirror above
the sink. Simon always made sure to replace them just before she returned from
another torture session.
    Rainer stood over the tub with a
crystal shaker and poured a silvery powder into the water. Sara held her breath
in anticipation of the burn from the metallic antiseptic, but its pinch was
subtle compared to the chlorate. When Rainer turned off the water, the silence
was stark and unnerving.
    “I believe you don’t know
anything more,” he said.
    His words almost stopped her
heart.
    “Otherwise, why put yourself
through all this? To cover for a man who left you to die? A man who led you to
believe he’d have a child with you.” Rainer swirled the powdery solution
around her legs.
    The burn in Sara’s heart matched
the sensation on her sliced skin. She couldn’t even think of Chen without
wanting to wrap her hands around his throat and crush the life from him. The
sudden surge of emotion brought with it a panic, and panic often brought on—
    She looked to Rainer, then past
him into the bedroom. It was there.
    Her body shook as she stared at a
hovering orb of light, no larger than a pebble. The expanding sphere drifted
toward them. Rainer scanned the room, even drawing one of his cenders.
    He couldn’t see it.
    On some level she understood it
was just another deranged image in her mind, but that didn’t make her reaction
any less real.
    The fragger energy orb augmented,
its speed increasing, until it hurled its room-sized mass directly at her. She
threw her hands in front of her face, afraid its energy would char her body as
it had those contractors on Palomin’s rim.
    “Sara.” Rainer’s voice
sounded distant, like he still fought to be heard over running water.
“Sara, there’s nothing there.”
    He pulled her dripping arms from
her face and tilted her head up. “Look at me. Sara, look at me.”
    Ashamed of her scarred visage,
she twisted out of his grasp. Scraping at her legs drew fresh blood and calming
pain.
    Rainer grabbed her hand to stop
her. “What did you see?”
    She shook her head and closed her
eyes.
    “Tell me what you saw.”
    “A fragger orb.” The
absurdity of it disgusted her.
    “Do you still see it?”
    “No,” she said, then
defiantly, “Do you?”
    Rainer ignored the question and
took a fresh towel from the cabinet. With careful hands, he helped her out of
the tub. Her legs still screamed with pain, but she could at least stand if she
leaned up against him. That physical contact felt better than the stims, than the
pain. He wrapped her legs in silky gauze then guided her around the broken
glass and into the bedroom. She rested her head on his shoulder.
    He held her with one arm while he
turned down the bed with the other. When he laid her down, she held onto his forearm
and rubbed her thumb over the fine dark hairs.
    “Can’t you stay with me a
little longer? Just hold my hand, until I fall asleep?” She craved
affection, gentleness, someone to hold her and say it would be okay.
    Rainer stared at her, his
expression unreadable. “This is business, Sara. The healthier you are, the
stronger you’ll be to defy Faya.”
    “I’m not defying her.”
The thought was more absurd than a fragger orb detonating inside the room.
“I don’t know anything, including why Faya’s failure is so important to
you.”
    “That’s business, too.
Mine.”
    “Would it be different if I
didn’t look like this?” She placed a shaking hand on his, trying to hold
onto