Read Online Gabriel's Ghost by Megan Sybil Baker - Free Book Online Page B

would give his life to stop? Evidently Captain Milo believed so. And it was enough for Drogue, a gentle monk. And for Ren, who was everything I’d been taught Stolorths couldn’t be, to take a similar risk. If caught, Drogue would most likely face Moabar, as I had. But Ren could well be turned over to his own people. His death, the Empire could honestly say, wouldn’t be on their soul’s slate.
    Megan Sybil Baker - 36
    Sully was, purportedly, already dead. The Empire was large. Add to that the few outlying systems that lived peacefully nearby and there were hundreds of worlds on which Sully could’ve taken a new identity. A new life.
    Yet, after a two-year absence, he was back, moving again through dark and dangerous shadows. I couldn’t understand why. But then Sully had always been an enigma to me. An intriguing enigma.
    I almost voiced that, almost put my question into words. But his hand had slipped down my forearm and now encircled my wrist. My pulse fluttered under his fingers. His dark gaze held my own, then flicked down to my mouth. I felt a very real heat start in the pit of my stomach, flare up through my chest, singe my cheeks.
    Chasidah . I heard my name whispered so softly that for a moment I thought I’d heard it in my mind. But it was Sully’s voice I’d heard and it was Sully’s face now so very close to mine.
    I don’t know what frightened me more. The very real hunger I saw in his eyes when his gaze flicked back up. Or the fact that the hunger wasn’t only his.
    I bolted up from the bench. You’re losing your mind. It’s the stress. Lack of sleep. And an overabundance of one extremely enigmatic, very sexy, sensual male.
    Why are all the handsome ones always such bastards?
    I buried my unbidden emotions. Mentally ran down the list of names I called myself whenever I found myself doing something stupid. I forced myself to refocus on the real problem: the M.O.C., the stripers, the reappearance of the jukors.
    “Time’s not on our side right now, Sullivan.” I adopted my official Fleet-issue-the-captain-is-speaking-now tone. “Station can wait, put us all in a lock-down, peel back ID by ID. This is what they do every time it’s even hinted the Farosians are involved. I know the routine.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
    His only response was a slightly surprised expression. Did he think I didn’t understand the problems we faced?
    “Staying together,” I told him, “is the biggest risk. You, me, Ren, Drogue. You might as well hand them your whole operation in a duro-hard.”
    I hoped his silence meant he was considering my words. But there was that slight puzzlement in his expression. Something in his heated gaze again sent a little flare up inside me. Finally, he shook his head.
    “I’m not sending you back down.”
    “Why not?”
    “I have my reasons.”
    “Which are?”
    He studied me for a long moment. “Valid ones.”
    I wanted to call him an idiot. I wanted him angry, not offering me this odd mixture of patience and something I couldn’t define. I wanted him to see what I saw, the lives he risked, including his own. I didn’t want his to be one of them. I wasn’t worth it.
    I was on Moabar for a valid reason. Whether or not I remembered, whether or not I believed the Empire’s evidence against me, fourteen people were dead because of a decision I’d made while in command.
    And now Nathaniel Milo. Make that fifteen. I didn’t want to count the Takan guard. He’d attacked me first.
    “Reach Newlin. Or anyone. Send me back while you still can.”
    Megan Sybil Baker - 37
    His chin lifted. “I never pegged you for a coward.”
    “I’m not,” I snapped. “I’m an Imperial Fleet officer, trained to assess and make decisions, based on facts. There’s no shame in pulling back, regrouping.”
    He rose. “Martyr doesn’t suit you, either, my angel.”
    His flippant use of the affectionate term grated at me. “Damn you, Gabriel Sullivan, listen to me!”
    He grabbed my