Origin by Dani Worth Read Free Book Online Page A

you guys are having.” He worked the simulator, grabbed his plate and shoved Anders over in the booth so he could join us. He eyed the cheese plate, looked at Anders. “Didn’t know you liked that.”
    “I got them for Siri. She was curious.”
    “What sort of things did you eat on the ship, Siri?”
    I was still chewing my last bite of taco, so I hurried to finish and swallow. “I got to taste things every now and then, but most of the slaves ate the same thing. A vitamin and protein paste.”
    Clay dropped his hands into his lap. “You’ve been existing on paste for fourteen years?”
    I nodded, picked up another taco. “This is better.”
    He closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead. “This is going to make what I’m about to share harder.” He sighed and faced Anders. “Lashin got away.”
    The food turned to a lump in my throat and I choked.
    “Shit!” Clay came around the booth to sit next to me and thump my back.
    I managed to swallow the food but when I grabbed the tube of Anders’s favorite drink and took a big swallow, I choked again. My eyes watered and it was all I could do not to spit out the vile fluid. I forced myself to suck it down but grimaced at the tube.
    Frowning, Anders took a sip of his own and made a face. “Sugar must be gone.” He shuddered and set the tube back. “Sorry. It’s supposed to be sweet and sour, not just sour.”
    “I don’t think there’s anything that could improve that.” I snapped my mouth shut, heat crawling up my neck.
    Clay patted my back again. “I agree. Give me a beer any old day.”
    I didn’t know what a beer was, but I knew I’d never be drinking that lemon thing again. “I don’t understand how he got away.”
    “I don’t either. The enforcers there were the best in the business. I trusted the man in charge, and because we’re friends, I was able to stay docked on that space station without having to hide.”
    “Hide?”
    His mouth stretched into that wide, sexy and arrogant grin he’d flashed me the first time I’d seen him. Again, my stomach fluttered and I bit my lower lip, wondering why he didn’t scare me, why I actually liked his body sitting so close up against mine.
    “Why would you have to hide?” I asked again after he only stared at my mouth.
    He shook his head and Anders’s low laugh made me turn to him. He picked up his last taco, winked at me. “Answer the pretty Gwinarian, Captain.”
    “We’ve got a price on our heads and can’t usually dock the Ultio anywhere we want. Certainly not out in the open like we did there. We usually have to find the blind spots.”
    “Travel a lot farther on land,” Anders muttered.
    Clay glared at him.
    “The pirate thing is your gig, babe.”
    “Don’t call me that.”
    Anders set down his food and reached out to hold his palm under the hand sanitizer, which was built into the wall by the booth. “You liked it once.”
    “I thought I liked it once.”
    The tension building at our table hit me two ways. The heat scorched my skin, but it also raised the hair on the back of my neck. I was enjoying this meal with them, didn’t want it to be ruined—though it had been with the knowledge of my owner’s escape. He was still out there, and knowing him, he’d find a way to locate me. He hated to lose any prize.
    Clay suddenly scowled and ran his hand through his hair, leaving it to stand out in black spikes. “I didn’t come in here to argue the past, Anders. We have bigger things to worry about. Not only did he get away, but the files we got from Siri had all kinds of encrypted sections even I couldn’t tap.”
    “Jacks is good at that.”
    Clay nodded. “I sent him everything. He’s supposed to summon us before he sends out the truth of what happened to Kithra. We might not know all the details of who was behind the explosions other than Saturna and Crichton, but we have enough to prove that Saturna gave the orders.” He snagged his plate and brought it to our side, picked up a