Sophia

SOPHIA

The yelling and him punching the wall weren't what hurt me.

I witnessed temper tantrums from grown men my whole life; that wasn't anything new. It also wasn't the fear of being in front of an angry assassin. What upset me was that it was Makar who lost his cool.

Any man at the club wouldn't have mattered, but him? He was the one person I had grown to trust and care for on Thodos III.

He was always cool and collected.

And… I had to admit, he was right.

It was a terrible plan. I was just desperate to help him, anyway I could.

But I never should have thought of it, never should have brought it up.

He must think I'm such an idiot.

My chest ached, wanting to go after him, but I'd already done one foolish thing tonight.

Running around without any protection, searching the neighborhood for him was too much, even for me. I learned my lesson.

The hours stretched on. Any sound I heard outside the door made me freeze, wondering if he was coming back. I kept hoping he would, but he didn't.

Idly, I scrolled through my percomm, looking at the pictures we took last week. Mostly just goofing around in the compound, this floor of the Fallen Star where Makar and the other syndicate members had their quarters.

In the kitchen with a dollop of frosting on his nose. Another with the two of us laughing madly over a souffle that had turned into a pancake.

The two of us together, grinning. There were a lot of those.

Apparently, there was a lot going on right now, so other than the brief run in with Alkard, I'd only met Havek and Razov so far.

I hadn't minded. After all the bustle of living with a bunch of other dancers from Modzrabe, it was nice to have the quiet after our shifts at the restaurant.

Besides, with Makar around, I didn't want anyone else.

But now the compound felt empty.

Suddenly, my percomm buzzed.

I've been called back in for a late night request at the kitchen. Can you come in? ~M

My heart leapt in my chest. Okay, maybe it wasn't the most romantic text in the world, but it sounded like things were back to normal with us.

Of course! Be right there. I texted back, fingers flying.

Quickly, I put on my work-appropriate clothing. Tailored pants and a button down shirt, and the comfortable shoes that were ugly, but after a shift in the kitchen, I didn't care about their looks.

Be careful. Take a flitter. ~M

Damn straight.

I paused, waiting for the lift. I had my own code to leave now.

This was starting to feel like my place. Makar felt like my future.

I'd be as careful as a nesting pantasti over her eggs to protect that future.

Stepping into the flitter downstairs, I let my mind wander to what the late night request could be.

This wasn't the first late night request that came in. The upper class here on the station seemed to think it was a marker of their wealth that they could order a restaurant to open in the middle of the night to satisfy their cravings.

I rolled my eyes at myself. They weren't exactly wrong. It was just annoying that so many people tried to get by on so little, and here we were.

The restaurant was dark when the flitter landed, only a single Talimarian outside to let me in.

"I guess Maddox is already in the back, right?" I asked as I walked through the open door, pulling my hair back into a high ponytail.

He didn't answer, but I felt his eyes on me as I passed, and for no good reason, I shuddered.

"Oh, Sophia." From out of the shadows of the hallway, Goran appeared.

Shit.

"Before you go to the kitchen, could you come into my office for a moment? I have more details on that special request."

I swallowed hard. I'd barely seen Goran since the day we interviewed, but he still made me nervous.

Sure, part of that was that Makar was planning on killing him, and by extension I assumed that Goran would kill us the moment our cover was blown.

Another part of it was the wide smile that seemed so out of place in the pale, gaunt face.

And a really large part was the sharp teeth that filled that smile.

"Sure thing!" I chirped, wrapping my role as a helpful, innocent assistant pastry chef tightly around me, the best and only armor I had.

He led the way back to his office, waving away the guard at the door. "No need for that, is there?"

"Not unless they're worried I'm going to steal the recipe for the new guara fruit emulsions." My cheeks hurt from forcing a smile.

Please, please let this be quick.

Goran walked to a cabinet set into the wall, his back to the desk. I tried desperately not to look at the large comm unit set in the middle of the surface.

That was what we needed to get into.

Here I was, right next to the thing, and I didn't have the bug or worm or whatever it was Makar needed to plant.

After all of Makar's planning to get in here, who would have thought Goran would invite me right into his lair?

"I'm so sorry for the delay," Goran said, and I quickly pushed my thoughts back into line. Helpful little assistant chef. That was me, that was all.

"The client requested a particular decoration, and I knew I had one here."

Goran turned back to me, a small lethal looking blaster in his hand.

"Yes. This will do."

I scrambled away from him, then froze as he aimed it at me, the unsettling smile not fading in the slightest.

"I think you should stay very, very still, Miss Sophia."

"What's going on?" I managed to sputter before he glided around the desk to grab my arm, his long thin fingers squeezing so tightly, I couldn't help but scream.

"I knew who you and Makar were the day you walked into my kitchen, stupid human." He chuckled again and stood me up, forcing me over to his office chair and sitting me in it.

The blaster was kept at my throat while he slipped a loop over my wrists, binding them fast before me. "Thank you so much for making this easy."

"Making what easy?" I snapped.

"The trap for Makar," he responded, that horrible smile still on his face. "With you as the bait."