Wanderlust Read Free Page A

laid eyes on him. March still looks mean as a black-tailed rattler, but as always, I focus on his dark, gold-flecked eyes fringed in those ridiculously luxurious lashes.

    It’s just as well he has such a hard-hewn face. With those eyes, he’d just be too pretty if he were anywhere close to handsome. Besides, I look like a war refugee these days, scrawny, scarred, and bald as an egg, so I can’t have some beautiful man outshining me.

    “Do I want to . . . ?” I arch a brow at him, as if I don’t know perfectly well what he’s going to suggest.

    He grins. “Go to Wickville and listen to some folkazz.”

    Okay, he got me. He’s the mind reader, not me, which is just as well. I’d be dangerous if I could do what March does. Hell, I’m dangerous anyway.

    I shake my head. “Not really. Not in the mood.”

    We start walking again, meandering along the corridor to the lift. “You want to bounce a message to Lachion? Double-check what Tarn told us?”

    I nod. “We should try to find an independent relay computer, too. I don’t trust station terminals.”

    March doesn’t argue as we step into the tube. A whooshing sound sends us to our floor, and as we get out, he asks, “You sure this isn’t more paranoia, Jax?”

    He has a point. My instincts are a mess. I’m prone to flipping out for no reason after the Psychs finished tinkering with my brain.

    “I don’t know. But people who want something from you never tell the whole truth, so I need to check his story. See what Keri says. I don’t want to have traded one corrupt master for another.”

    “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

    I stop outside my quarters. “Are you saying all this was for nothing? The Conglomerate will eventually be as thoroughly raddled with dirty politics, kickbacks, suppression of information, and borderline tyranny as the Corp?”

    He hesitates as if weighing his words. “It’s change. Who knows exactly what’s in store? Right now everything’s in a state of upheaval. Historians will draw the conclusions, not me.”

    “Heh. With my luck, I’ll be known as the one who ended an era of peace and prosperity, huh?”

    “Maybe, but you’ll be dead, and you won’t care. Now go bundle up, and I’ll do the same. Meet you back here?”

    I remember we’re in Ankaraj, which means snow, and the wind tears through you like a steel hook. “Nah, just wait for me downstairs.”

    One of these days, I’m going to get ready faster than he does. But not today. By the time I find an overcoat and layer my clothing to withstand the winter chill, I find him lounging in the foyer.

    He takes in the navy s-wool coat with hood and muffler paired with clunky brown boots. To think I used to be considered one of the best-dressed women in the tier worlds— in fact, I made the list twice. I sigh a little. On the plus side, I gained ten kilos in clothing, and the way I look now, that’s a good thing.

    “Cute,” he pronounces.

    I wish he’d shot me. “Bastard.”

    First order of business is to find a non-Corp, non-Conglomerate terminal where we can bounce a message to Keri. That will cost money, so we’ll need to hit a bank first. Maybe March can cover it, but I need to be independent. The idea of being dependent on anyone, for anything, makes me feel odd and queasy.

    That means checking on the status of my personal accounts, which Simon, the estranged husband who tried to have me killed, better not have fucked with. I also need to have a new pay-card issued. Mary only knows the turmoil of the currency situation. Maybe Corp credits have been devalued entirely. Shit, I hope not.

    Drawing my hood up around my ears, I head for the door. Stop short.

    The woman drawing back a gorgeous, filmy thermal scarf looks eerily familiar. She shakes a few flakes of snow from her ink-dark hair, managing to look graceful and elegant while she does so. Her perfectly painted mouth rounds into an “O” when she registers me.

    “Sirantha?” she