Read Online Asarlai Wars 1: Warrior Wench by Marie Andreas - Free Book Online Page A

seem pretty damn secure, we won’t have room to carry enough cargo to pay for living expenses.” She bounced to her feet and stalked the room. “Which is another thing. Damn it, they took my ship! And now I have to deal with this thing.” She pounded an offending bulkhead. “Do you realize what those other companies are going to say when we get to Lantaria?” She didn’t know where all of that came from but it felt good to say it out loud. With a sigh she resumed her seat. “So what did you want to talk about?”
    “A few things.” He looped one long arm around his knee and rocked back. “That being one of them.” He held up his other hand. “No, I didn’t scan you. You’re projecting so loud any esper within eighty miles felt you on Tarantus IV.” His eyes darkened. “It’s more than being mocked for the name of this ship. Although you’re trying not to show it, that poisoning scared you. But you have to get your emotions under control before we set camp for this battle. There will be espers there.”
    Vas stewed as he spoke. She never lost control. He couldn’t feel anything. “I know they are sanctioning espers. I’m the one who made the contract for this fight. What is your point?”
    “If I can feel your unease, other espers can too.”
    “If there happens to be any others out there as strong as you. Which I seriously doubt.” Trusting telepaths didn’t come easily for her. Her home planet practically worshipped them, and that had almost ended very badly for her as a child. But she trusted Deven as much as any. He might be telling her the truth about projecting. She’d felt out of sorts since she hit the space station yesterday.
    And that was before she knew how exciting her life had become.
    “That’s the problem. A level-one esper would read you from a mile away on the planet. Hell, you probably ruined every espers’ game in that casino planet-side.” He leaned forward. “It’s more than the ship, or the attempt on your life. You’ve had people trying to kill you as long as I’ve known you. Whatever is causing the problem, we need to shut it down before we get to Lantaria.”
    She stared out the porthole. The answers certainly weren’t in the docking bay before her. If they were anywhere they lurked in her own head. Deven might be able to help her, but she had lifelong rules about telepaths. They were an asset on her crew, great as friends, but she would never let one in her head, her bed, or her heart.
    “For the record, most people only try to kill me in battle. Never with centuries-old poisons from the Westergail Wars. I think I have a right to be unnerved about that. As for whatever I’m projecting?” She shrugged; she couldn’t deal with this now. “I have no idea. I am pissed about my ship. However, I also want to know who ordered it to be taken apart. There’s no way even an idiot like Skrankle could have confused the two ships, and this one isn’t anywhere close to a decommissioning. He honestly didn’t think I’d be returning.”
    Deven nodded. “What happened to you on your trip? Skrankle is a moron, but he’s also a coward. It’s not good that he felt safe enough dismembering our ship.”
    “My ship,” she said, but only half-heartedly. Semantics aside, the Victorious Dead belonged to the entire crew and meant a lot to them. “Nothing I can think of.” She couldn’t think of much that happened during her trip that could be deemed threatening. Nothing beyond bad pick-up lines in a few bars anyway, and a few nights with that trader. A recon to go see about a planet for sale. It ended up being longer than she’d intended, nothing to be concerned about.
    Except that something in her didn’t want to talk about it to anyone. She shook off the undefined feeling of unease that rose whenever she thought about talking about her trip.
    “Look, since we’re not going to find out what’s causing this great psychic leak anytime soon, and since you think it’s