No More Heroes: In the Wake of the Templars Book Three Read Online Free PDF Page A

she could destroy it.
    So, she decided, she’d call what she felt gratitude. For the first time in her life, someone had gone out of his way to make her happy. Even if it never happened again, it was enough to know that it could.
    Haoun pulled her closer, burying his snout in the nape of her neck. “Don’t leave,” he muttered. “Back to sleep.”
    “Okay.” Raena rolled over to rest her cheek against the scales of his chest, breathing him in.
    *   *   *
    On Kolar, the gang of human kids walked into the meeting with a swagger. An Outrider android sat in the middle of an abandoned warehouse at a folding table. It was the only thing in the room cleared of dust.
    “Thank you for meeting us,” Decker said.
    “Always a pleasure to help young idealists,” the pusher said. “I’m assuming you saw my ad on Mellix’s newscast.”
    “That’s why we’re here,” Decker said. “Can the Messiah drug really do what Mellix promised?”
    “Can and already has. But the government of this planet is Shtrell, not human,” Outrider pointed out. “That doesn’t make it impossible to take them down, but it will complicate things.”
    “We’re not interested in attacking the government,” Decker snarled. “We want to take down the Doranje Corporation.”
    “I am glad to help you out,” Outrider promised. “Did you bring the parts I told you you’d need?”
    One of the girls stepped forward to open a case of miscellaneous copper pipes, gaskets, and tubing.
    “Perfect,” Outrider said. “We have only to discuss payment and you can begin.”
    *   *   *
    When Raena opened her eyes, Haoun was watching her. “Hungry?” he asked hopefully.
    Raena nodded. Generally, she ate to thrive—as Ariel’s dad had drilled into her, back when she served as their slave. Food was a necessary evil. This morning she actually felt ravenous. “Have you got a destination in mind?”
    “There’s a commuter market,” Haoun said. “We can pick up something as we walk.”
    Haoun stepped into his tunic as Raena slithered into her catsuit. In moments, they were out the door. Only after it closed behind her was Raena tempted to have taken a souvenir, something to symbolize how happy she’d been in the night.
    “Have you been here before?” Raena asked. “On Lautan?”
    “I stopped off here on my way to Kai, when I was looking for work.”
    “Where did you come here from?” Raena asked.
    He looked at her as if weighing whether to answer.
    “Didn’t mean to pry,” she said quickly. “I just feel like everyone knows everything about my life, but I don’t know any of you very well. I’ve been too wrapped up in my own drama.”
    “Well, your drama has been pretty epic in scale,” he teased. “Mine is much more quotidian.”
    Raena wondered what he’d really said that his translator would put it that way. “I’m ready for things to be much less epic,” she said.
    Before they’d walked far, they found the commuter market he’d promised. Raena followed her nose past the pastries and noodle bowls to a spit skewering blackened meat. “Sorry,” she said to Haoun, “but that is the best thing I’ve ever smelled.”
    “Do you know what it is?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “I suppose not.” He waved the stall owner over and ordered two.
    “Let me pay this time,” Raena said. “You got the room last night.”
    *   *   *
    They ended up with two large sandwiches of chipped meat wrapped in some savory flatbread. Raena’s hands looked too small to get around hers, but her eyes lit up with anticipation.
    They found a tree whose shade seemed inviting. Raena began at the top of her sandwich and worked her way down, turning it every so often to keep the filling from falling out.
    Haoun found everything she did entertaining. Unlike the other human girls he’d been with, Raena was the first who seemed truly unselfconscious. Everything she did—eating, drinking, cavorting with him—she did wholeheartedly.
    A smile