Beyond the Shadows Read Online Free PDF

bot continued to cling to its pillow and stared back. Yara didn’t have time to police the staring contest. She wanted to get to the bottom of what Smith was hiding. Besides, Tuz always won.
    She followed Cyrus into the cargo bay. He had removed a floor panel and was working on the conduits beneath.
    “What do you have hidden in here?” she asked, mostly to get his attention. She didn’t like the way he dismissed her so casually.
    “A cache of illegal weapons for a bunch of revolutionaries. I got a good price for them.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
    Now he was just taunting her.
    “What kind of trader are you?” It was a straightforward question, and she expected an answer.
    He looked up at her, his long fingers stilling on the conduit. “The kind that likes to make a profit.”
    “At whose expense?” she responded.
    “Is that another accusation?” He yanked hard on a wire, pulling it from its socket. “I don’t appreciate being labeled.”
    “You trying to tell me you haven’t already labeled me?” She was used to men from male-dominant cultures and the names they called her behind her back.
    “You mean like rankock-licking scum?” Cyrus arched one brow. “Any other colorful names running through your head?” he jabbed.
    “Maybe.” She reached down and handed him his box of tools. This wasn’t getting her anywhere, and it wouldn’t make the ship go any faster or give her any peace during the journey. Perhaps she needed a different strategy when dealing with the Earthlen. “Are we going to spend the next few days verbally sparring, or should we call a truce?”
    “Giving in?” He smirked.
    “Never.” She lifted her chin. “Just saving myself a headache. Your company was infinitely more bearable when you weren’t speaking.”
    Cyrus laughed. “I’ll call a truce, but only if we’re taking bets on how long it’s going to last.” He returned his attention to the conduit. “If you’re hungry, there are dry stores in the locker next to the galley. Make yourself at home. You should think about getting some sleep. It’s going to be a long trip.”
    Yara retreated into the quarters and remade the bunk she’d messed up in her attempts to catch her cat. Tuz refused to move from the bunk in spite of her prodding, so she relented and smoothed the blanket on top of him. Even covered, the cat didn’t move, continuing the stare-down through the blanket.
    Cyrus gave the lump under the covers a sidelong glance as he returned to the living quarters.
    “Need some help?” he asked as he collected his tools and rubbed one of the strange black leather bracers covering his forearms.
    “No.” She sat on the bunk by the galley once more, and let her hand slide over the blanket. It seemed their little sparring match was done. So be it.
    He had told her to make herself at home. He had no idea that that simple statement meant nothing to her.
    Home, such a simple thing, and yet she never felt like she had a place that deserved that label. She ran her hand over the blanket again, then glanced at the bot and its hand-embroidered pillow.
    A distant memory floated into her mind. She had a pillow once. It had a woven cover made from ciera blossom silks.
    While artisans created intricate woven designs with ciera silk, this one was chunky, rough. It was a child’s practice at an adult art. Her friend Ceeli had given it to her, and it was beautiful.
    The fact that she could remember what it looked like so clearly surprised her. She hadn’t kept it very long. Her father found it and took it from her, then scolded her for befriending an inferior and forbade her from speaking with Ceeli again.
    Yara lay down with her head on Cyrus’s pillow. It felt soft and comforting, but she couldn’t bring herself to take her boots off and get under the blanket.
    She didn’t know if she ever could.
    Cyrus returned to the control center. He sat in his captain’s chair and started scrolling through information on the