The Envoy Read Free Page A

supplied, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.
    She snorted a little. ‘Ha. More like family.’
    Reetor slowly calmed his breath the way his Magister had taught him, slowing down his physiology so he could operate strategically, rather than from the fear that threatened to cloud his judgement and dull his senses. ‘Holidays must be a real blast,’ he said, shifting very slightly to try to catch a glimpse of her reflection in the perspete of his control panel.
    â€˜I was raised there,’ she went on, her free hand touching his hair this time, before moving down to rest on the back of his neck. Her hand was very warm, and there was something ludicrously comforting about her touch. ‘But not by them. On a slave farm.’
    Goosepimples broke out on Reetor’s flesh. He had heard of it, but the stories had never been confirmed. The Gargarions had taken some of the children when they had invaded the Earth, and sold them to those races that harvested intelligence for various purposes. ‘Did they let you out for good behaviour?’
    She laughed, a deep, pleasing sound, waving the deadly blade near his cheek. ‘The intelligence didn’t tell me you liked to make jokes,’ she said, sounding far away.
    I feel about as funny as an ice vampire massacre right now , Reetor thought.
    â€˜What did it tell you?’ Keep the bitch talking.
    She made a noise as if she was considering his question. ‘Deserter. Big. Bright guy. Rich kill. Richer for a return.’
    Aha. ‘You’re a bounty hunter?’
    She was quiet for a moment. ‘I’m whatever I need to be.’
    Reetor took three long breaths, waiting for her cue. He had no options. He could not move, not with that blade at his brain. His only option was to wait and ready himself, assuming, hoping he would have a moment. If she had been going to kill him she would have done it already. Clean, efficient. He heard the hardness in her voice. He remembered what she’d said. Richer for a return.
    â€˜So how are we going to do this?’ He tried to sound casual. It was hard, with a petrification blade at your skull.
    â€˜It’s tricky,’ she mused, going back to patting his hair.
    He caught the briefest glimpse of her reflection in the perspete as she shifted positions. Tall, long hair. Unusual. It had been a long, long time since he had seen a woman with long hair.
    â€˜They want you alive, of course.’ She sighed. ‘But to bind you I need to move you. And that, of course, is when you’ll make your move. And I know you will, because anyone would try, of course, when the alternative is the Enforcers. Via the Temerites.’ She sighed again, and sounded very young as she did. ‘I’m the first to admit my family aren’t very nice.’
    He tried to guess her age from her way of speaking and the quality of her voice, but it was hard. She spoke English as though she had learned it from a tome.
    â€˜It’s a conundrum,’ he agreed. There was something about her that told him there was no point making bullshit assurances. But there was also a confidence to her; he wondered if he could leverage it. ‘I guess it comes down to whether you back yourself?’
    â€˜Back myself?’ He almost smiled as he heard the puzzlement in that proper voice. But it was hard, with the blade still sizzling near the delicate skin above his ear.
    â€˜I mean, who do you think would win in a contest? You or me?’
    â€˜Ah,’ she said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. ‘Exactly.’ She paused. ‘Well, I’d “back” me, of course, but then these things are, by their very nature, unpredictable. It would be safer to kill you here in your seat.’
    â€˜But less lucrative,’ he quickly reminded her.
    â€˜There is that,’ she agreed. He heard her drag in a breath, and as she did she seemed to resolve something. ‘Okay, Reetor. This is how