All In (The Drift Book 2) Read online

  “Top two?” he asked.

  “Seriously? That’s what you’re thinking about right now?” she retorted, flexing her hand so that her nails bit into his hip again.

  “I can think about more than one thing at once, you know. I’m also thinking about what to have for dinner once I let you out of here.”

  She laughed. “Very romantic.”

  “Well, you can take it as a given that I am always thinking about you.”

  “In that case, yes, definitely the top two. And I was thinking I want breakfast for dinner. Maybe waffles. With blackberry syrup.”

  “Who has blackberry syrup way the hell out here?”

  “Hmph. Good point. I’ll have eggs benedict instead. Everyone has hollandaise sauce. Of course, neither of us is going anywhere until we shower, and to do that, you have to let go of me,” she pointed out.

  “If it weren’t for the fact I’m starving, I’d refuse to let you go. However, I haven’t eaten anything since last night, and I’m betting you haven’t either, so… food wins.”

  “For the first time in my life, I wish I had splurged for a place that had room service. Then we could stay here, eat, and tell T to get his ass back here.”

  “Next time, we pick a place with room service.”

  “Next time, we’ll pick our destination together.” It was strange to talk about their future so easily after the darkness and doubt of the last few days. She could never have imagined things would work out so well. If not for Phyl’s advice, things might have been far different. She was going to buy Phyl dinner when she saw the pilot again, and maybe even give her another hug.

  Jaeger swatted her still tender ass and jumped out of bed. “Race you to the shower. If we’re quick, we might have time to take another shot at the top three before we have to meet Toro.”

  She bounded after him. “Last one in buys the drinks!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Toro rolled his shoulders and tried to stay focused on the fight to come. He ignored the jeers and calls of the crowd surrounding him. They didn’t matter. He had fought here before, a few months ago. The crowd hadn’t been any friendlier back then. They were a rough lot who liked to drink hard and play harder, and some of them had a strong dislike for cyborgs. They saw Toro and his kind as outsiders, freaks who threatened the status quo. It was a foolish fear. Even if the cyborgs had wanted to take their jobs, there weren’t enough of them in existence to claim even a fraction of the work available on the Drift.

  Their bias and hostility had been enough to make he and Jaeger move on, a decision that eventually led them to the Nova Club and Cynder. Toro grinned. Cynder was the reason he was back in the ring tonight. He hadn’t planned on fighting; he only wanted to work off some of the stress of the past day. When he had shown up at a bar called the Pit, the owner had offered him a huge payout to fight. They were down a fighter, and the scrip had been too much for him to resist.

  He had already spent the money on a gift for Cynder. He wanted to give her something special, and the offer to fight gave him the means. Torex was primarily an ore processing station, which meant there was a vast selection of gems and precious metals on hand. He had forgone his workout to prowl the jeweler's sector until he found what he wanted.

  “We’re here. Where are you sitting?” Jaeger’s voice sounded in his head, and Toro cursed. They weren’t supposed to be here until after the fight.

  “You’re early. I haven’t got us a table yet. There was something I needed to do first.”

  “Where are you? This place is a madhouse. Why did you want to meet here anyway? Feeling nostalgic?”

  “I can’t talk right now. Tell Cyn…fraxx. Tell her she can kick my ass later.”

  “What did you do, T?” Jaeger demanded.

  Toro didn’t bother answering. The cheers of the crowd announced the arrival of his opponent and all his attention was on the massive Torski joining him in the sunken fighting area that gave the bar its name.

  No wonder the guy he was replacing opted to be somewhere else tonight. He had fought this species before, but this one was in a league of his own. Torskis were heavy gravity worlders, and most of them were between seven and eight feet tall, tipping the scales at around eight-hundred pounds. This one was closer to eight and a half feet and had to weigh half a ton. Veth. This is going to hurt.

  The first punch came before the bell had even sounded to officially starting the match. Toro managed to block it, but the Torski came at him like a runaway comet. All he could do was defend himself from a flurry of wild swings and ham-handed blows coming his way. His opponent had no fighting technique at all. He was pure rage and violence. Toro started hitting back, expecting the big alien to back off or at least raise his guard. The opposite happened. Every blow he landed only seemed to ratchet his opponent up another notch. This wasn’t a typical fight; it was a no-holds-barred brawl. If he was going to win, he was going to have to stop playing by the rules.

  He lashed out with a foot, catching the Torski square in the chest and knocking the brute back a few steps. When he came at Toro again, his movements were jerky and uneven, his gait unsteady. As the big alien bared his fangs and bellowed in frustrated fury, Toro finally clued into what he was dealing with. His opponent was out of his mind on some sort of pharma, mostly likely crimson. Winning this fight wasn’t his biggest worry anymore; walking out of here in one piece was.

  * * * *

  Jaeger heard the roars of the crowd and looked over to the fighting pit with a sinking feeling in his gut. Toro wouldn’t…would he? He spotted his batch brother in the sunken arena and cursed. “Re’veth.” Apparently, he had. What the hell was he thinking?

  “Tell me I’m not seeing this,” Cynder said.

  “I’d love to be able to do that, but I’d be lying.”

  “Did he forget he’s under contract to the Nova?”

  “Actually, he’s not. The thirty-day contract expired, and you two haven’t gotten around to signing the extension It’s been sitting on your desk for a while now, remember?”

  “Right. I’m still going to kick his ass, though. I thought you said he was working out?”

  Jaeger shrugged. “That’s what he told me. I didn’t know about this either. I’m not going to distract him right now, though. That Torski looks…” His words trailed off as he took a better look at the fight unfolding. “Fraxx. Does he look high to you?”

  Cynder narrowed her eyes and focused on the big alien. “He’s…something. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was on red-rage levels of crimson. Does that stuff even work on Torskis?”

  Toro connected with a punch that would have dropped a Nantari rhino, but his opponent shook it off and came back for more. For the first time in his life, Jaeger felt a pang of concern for his brother. This wasn’t a fight Toro could win. Not on his own. “Based on what we’re seeing, I’d say the answer is yes. I’m going in there. There’s no way T is going to be able to subdue him without help.”

  “You’re going to fight?” she asked, eyes wide with surprise.

  “I have to. That’s my brother in there.”

  “I’ll come, too— son of a starbeast! What’s he doing here?” Cyn’s attention wasn’t on the fight anymore. He couldn’t tell who she was reacting to, but her anger was obvious. “I’ve got a hunch I know who the crimson dealer is.”

  “Go. I’ve got T. You call in security, and tell them we’re going to need medical for the Torski, too.”

  She took off through the crowd, and both of them called out to the other at the same time, “Watch your ass!”

  Jaeger didn’t wait to see where Cyn was going. She could take care of herself. Toro was the one who needed his help.

  He forced his way through the crowd, leaving bruised and disgruntled patrons in his wake. He made it to the edge of the pit and took a second to assess the action below. Toro’s lip was split and bleeding, and he was limping slightly, but he was still on his feet.

  “I’m coming in. On your si
x.” He sent the brief message to Toro, then hopped the fence and dropped into the fighting pit a few feet behind T. In the time it took him to make the leap, he shifted gears and became the one thing he swore he would never be again: a soldier. Instincts and abilities he had done his best to forget or deny surged to the forefront of his mind. It was terrifying how easily the change came over him, how fast the man faded into the background, leaving only the killer.

  “Just like old times, huh?” Toro said aloud, circling left while Jaeger started moving to the right.

  “Yeah. Only this time I’m the one saving your ass.”

  Toro scoffed. “You haven’t saved anything, yet. Don’t count your Torskis before they’re out cold.”

  Jaeger snickered.

  “Shut up, that sounded better in my head.”

  “Maybe it should have stayed there,” he replied. It was part of their ritual. They never stopped talking when they were in a fight. The worse the odds, the more they bantered.

  A glass of something blue and foamy crashed at his feet, sending shards of glass and liquid flying. “Fraxxing cyborgs are cheating!” Someone shouted.

  The Torski bellowed and charged at Jaeger, who ducked an incoming haymaker and then sidestepped the stampeding alien.

  “I don’t think they’re happy to see you in here with me, Jaeg.” Toro closed in and slammed several rapid-fire punches to the back of the Torski’s head. If they could disorient it, they could subdue him before one of them got seriously hurt.

  “Maybe we should send your big friend up there and see how they feel then?” Jaeger said before performing a leg sweep that almost took the big alien down. Enraged and off-balance, the Torski windmilled his arms in a desperate attempt to stay upright, but Toro landed a powerful kick to the center of his chest, sending the alien crashing to the floor.

  They both pounced on him, working together to subdue the thrashing, enraged alien. By the time Toro managed to get him in a chokehold, both of them were battered, bruised, and under verbal attack from the angry onlookers above. Another glass was thrown, this one narrowly missing Toro’s head before shattering against the wall of the pit.

  “This is getting ugly. Where’s Cyn?” Toro asked when the Torski finally stopped fighting them and lapsed into unconsciousness.

  “Hopefully, she’s calling Corp-Sec and a medical team.”

  “She’s not one to miss out on a good fight; I figured she’d be joining us.”

  Jaeger shook his head. “If I know our girl, she’s kicking someone else’s ass right now. She went after someone she thought was a crimson dealer. At least, I think that’s what she said. Things happened fast once we figured out you were in here with a whacked out opponent. Why the fraxx are you in here, anyway?”

  Toro gave him a bloody grin that started his split lip bleeding again. “Draxx offered me a wad of scrip to fill in for one of his fighters. I bought Cyn a present. Something nice. You know, to celebrate.”

  “Be sure to give it to her fast. Maybe it will save you from her kicking your tail for fighting outside the Nova.”

  The doors to the pit opened, and several Corp-Sec officers came rushing in, followed by a medical team. More security appeared and surrounded the pit. They had things in hand quickly, dispersing the crowd with efficiency while the medical team started working on the three fighters.

  He waved them off. “I’m a cyborg. I’ll heal. Focus on the big guy, I don’t know how much crimson is in his system, but it’s a hell of a lot.”

  Toro got to his feet with a grunt then wandered over to help Jaeger up. “You okay?”

  Jaeger knew he was asking about more than just his fresh collection of cuts and bruises. There had been a time he would have been angry at having to break his vow, but that was another life. One before Cynder. Before he had finally started to forgive himself for his past. Cyn was right. He couldn’t pick and choose which of their actions to forgive. It was an all or nothing deal. “I’m good. You?”

  Toro shrugged. “Nothing that won’t heal in a few hours. I think that big bastard cracked a couple of ribs and tenderized my insides pretty good, but the medi-bots will handle it.” He wrapped Jaeger into a one-armed hug that made both men wince. “I know what it meant for you to get into the pit with me today. Thank you. If you hadn’t…”

  “I will always have your back, T. Always. You and Cyn are all that matters. Besides, it was way past time I turned the tables and saved your ass.”

  “I’m glad both your sexy asses are still in one piece,” Cyn commented from her vantage point above them. She was leaning on the railing, not a hair out of place and looking very pleased with herself.

  “Hey, sugar.”

  She arched a brow at Toro. “Don’t you ‘hey, sugar,' me. You’re late for our dinner date, and your choice of venues leaves a lot to be desired. Not to mention, you look like hell. You’re not really going to take me to dinner looking like that, are you?”

  Jaeger looked up at her and winked. “You got something else in mind, beautiful?”

  “We give our statements, sign our names, and then find a hotel that offers room service. How’s that sound?”

  “It sounds like Toro’s paying for an upgrade on our vacation.”

  T frowned, opened his mouth, then sighed. “Yeah, okay. That’s fair.”

  “Come on up here. I’ve convinced Corp-Sec to let us have a drink while we give our statements.” She blew them a kiss and vanished from the railing.

  Damn, he loved that woman.

  “She’s something else, isn’t she?” Toro asked.

  “She really is. This present you got her. What is it?” he asked.

  “Diamonds.”

  “Son of a bitch. So, it’s going to be like that, is it?”

  Toro chuckled and patted his pocket. “Next time, we’ll buy her something together. Like, maybe…a ring?”

  A ring. The ultimate claim a man could make on a woman. A promise of forever wrought in precious metals and gems. “It will have to be something special.”

  “We’ll find something one of a kind. Just like her.”

  * * * *

  Cynder was more than ready for their security interviews, with all their stupid, repetitive questions, to come to an end. Her drink was gone, and her attempt to order another one while still being questioned had raised the eyebrows of the two Corp-Sec officers speaking to her. They were young, and it was evident by their body language and questioning that they didn’t have any love for cyborgs. It had been a long, frustrating hour for all of them. When she got back home, she was going to have a word with Mack and Dash about the way she had been treated. The dealer, Vesker, was a lowlife waste of good oxygen, but he was human, and apparently that made all the difference to these two.

  “We’re nearly done here, only one more thing I want to go over again. I need you to explain exactly why you believed Vesker Tarn was dealing unregistered pharma, specifically the pharmaceutical known as crimson.”

  This was the fifth time the rookie officer had asked her to justify why she’d gone after Vesker, and she was tired of explaining herself. She decided it was time to cut the bullshit. “Give me your data tablet.” She held out her hand to the young man who gawked at her.

  “What? No.”

  “I’m tired of answering the same questions over and over. You clearly don’t know what cyborg recall is, so I’ve decided it’s faster to show you than to sit here for another hour. Give me your tablet, please. Then we can all get the fraxx out of here.”

  “I’m trying to be thorough. You could be up on charges of assault, you know. The man you went after has a broken wrist and several bruised ribs from when you were trying to subdue him.”

  She snorted with disdain. “I told him if I ever saw him dealing unregistered pharma again, I’d toss him out the nearest airlock. All things considered, he’s lucky all he has is a busted wrist. Give me the tablet, and I’ll show you what I saw.”

  He handed her the data tablet. “How are you going
to show me what you saw?”

  “You have a lot to learn about cyborgs.” She took the tablet and placed her hand over the input terminal. Data transfer wasn’t something they liked doing. Connecting to a computer was not a comfortable sensation, and it gave the humans yet another reason to think of them as machines instead of living beings.

  It took mere seconds to copy the pertinent data and move it onto the tablet. “There you go, a visual record of everything I saw Vesker doing tonight, including the part where he tried to knock me unconscious with a baton. I bet he didn’t mention that while he was screaming that I attacked him for no reason.”

  The officer took the tablet back, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line as he activated the file she had loaded onto the tablet. “You can do that? Just, give me your memories?”

  “Yeah, we can all do that. Don’t they teach you anything before they issue you the uniform? If you’re done here, do you think you could let our girlfriend go? She’s given you everything you need,” Toro said from somewhere behind her. His voice, while pleasant, had a cool undertone that made it clear he wasn’t really asking their permission.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you could do that? Did you know they could do that?” the officer asked his partner, who shook his head.

  “Like I said, you have a lot to learn about cyborgs. Lesson number one, if you treat us like human beings and not freaks, we’re much more cooperative.” She tapped her ear. “We have excellent hearing, too. I heard what you said when you got sent over here to interview me.”

  The officer had the decency to look chagrined. “I’ll remember that in future. All of it.” He watched the images play for a few more seconds, freezing it when he spotted Vesker holding a handful of distinctive red ampules he was handing off to customers. “You’re free to go. If we have any further questions—“

  Jaeger cut him off. “If you have more questions, you can ask them tomorrow. Better yet, send them to the head of the crimson Task Force on Astek station. We’ll give our answers to them.”