Chapter 9

Bren had barely started to look over the Warlock's engine when he heard Sophia slide down the side of the ship and race toward him. "Don't touch that!" She snapped, even before she'd rounded the ship to see what he was doing. From the looks of her, she had barely thrown on clean clothes and washed up before she had come rushing to make sure that he hadn't touched her precious ship.

He stepped back and spread his hands out. Even she could see that they were still clean. He hadn't touched a thing.

She had the good sense to at least look discomfited. Bren smiled slightly, though he was still bothered that she had nearly shot his head off.

"Pardon me." Sophia rubbed her hands over her face and yawned, "I didn't mean to insult you. I was simply concerned that you might..." Her eloquence failed her.

"That I might blow up the Warlock? I think you did a good enough job of that." He said, looking her over more closely. She looked as tired as she had when he had left her the day before. How much had she slept? "I see you've got the engine running."

"Yes. It felt ... strange with the engine off." She dug in her pockets, pulled out a fast protein bar and started to eat it. She deftly inserted herself between Bren and the ship and looked over the engine compartment.

"It's running fine." He said, "Was there any damage?"

She chewed and swallowed, then spoke. "Not really. I just had to figure out what the purity of your Claudia supply was and adjust the mixture to the Warlock's specifications."

"You could have stopped long enough to eat. I said fifteen minutes, not fifteen seconds." Bren walked along the Warlock's side, never coming close enough to touch the ship, but not far enough away to make Sophia comfortable. He could tell by the way she sidled along beside him, trying to keep herself between him and the ship without making it obvious what she was doing.

"Well I slept so long, so I didn't want to keep you waiting." She said brightly, and Bren made a sound of disbelief. "What?"

"You claim to have slept all night, yet you got the engine working. What did you do, wake up in the middle of the night with a burning need to do some work?"

"Something like that." Sophia stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest so she could dig her fingertips into the line of stitches along her left forearm. "I never claimed to have slept all night. I just said I slept a long time. And I said sleeping in the Warlock without the engine running felt strange. Was there anything else you wanted to interrogate me on, Captain Bren, or are you going to tell me about my sister?"

She looked surprisingly fragile with the marks of sleeplessness under her eyes and wisps of hair escaping her braid. She stood poised to defend herself from anything he might say, but Bren was starting to realize that she would hound him worse than her father's army ever could. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

When he looked at her again, she was still waiting, still digging at her arm. "You shouldn't do that." He nodded toward her, "It'll only make it worse."

She gave him a disgruntled look, "It itches."

"Suit yourself." Bren felt a little disgruntled, himself. He was more than willing to do or say anything the woman wanted, as long as she let him in the Warlock. It was as though all his resistance had vanished the instant he'd stood in the ship's cabin and looked down at the pilot. He resented how easily both woman and ship had overcome his vow to never look back.

He drew in a slow breath and looked up at the Warlock, focusing his attention on the ship rather than Sophia.

"Your sister was about eighteen when we first met. I was twenty-three. I'd started to make a name for myself, doing minor courier assignments. She was just learning to pilot ships." He smiled a little. She may have just started flying, but it hadn't taken long for her to become one of the best pilots in Anatoray. By the time Bren had met her, Carolina was already in love with flying. She had been a laughing whirlwind, a force of nature that had drawn him in faster than his common sense had pulled him away.

"I don't care about that. I want to know about the last assignment you took." Sophia's impatient voice interrupted his musing. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"You aren't much like your sister."

She glowered back at him, "Are you trying to avoid telling me what happened?"

Bren's eyebrows slanted down, "Are you accusing me of having a part in your sister's death?"

Sophia seemed to realize what she had said. Her mouth thinned, and she took a moment to compose herself. When she spoke again, it was in a tone closer to the one she'd used on him in the negotiation room, formal but empty.