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Her laugh was short and bitter. “Lodur had his own questionable secrets. Umar made a profession of keeping them for him.”
“He was blackmailing the emperor? With what? And why didn’t Lodur have him killed?”
She rose restlessly to her feet, rubbing the back of her neck with both hands. “My father wasn’t an evil man, Rance. He just wasn’t very good.”
“Are you going to elaborate on that?”
Zarifa snorted as she began to pace. “Not likely.”
Meaning that whatever secret Umar had used to blackmail the old emperor still had power over her. And yet, she’d done all this. Escaped from Umar and his son, bought both this ship and Rance himself. “Umar’s not controlling you now, or you wouldn’t be here. How did you free yourself?” He remembered the comment she’d made about disconnecting Casus’s cameras: “I’ve got a pretty good nanosystem.” “You upgraded your nanos. A combat system? Something they can’t hack.”
She stopped her pacing to shoot him a look. “Good guess.”
“Where does Kuarc fit in all this?”
“He’s going to be emperor.”
Rance shook his head. “The aristos will never let him take the throne, and you know it. He’s a bastard.”
“But he’s a bastard with an army.” She smiled grimly. “And I’m going to help him.”
Unable to sit any longer, Rance rose to his feet. “Zarifa, I know Kuarc. He’s a friend of mine. He believes you were involved in your father’s death, and he’s sworn to kill you for it.”
She stopped pacing to stare at him. “He honestly believes that ridiculous conspiracy theory? For the Lady’s sake, I was fifteen!”
He leaned a shoulder against the nearest bulkhead. “You wouldn’t be the first teenage murderer.”
“No, I suppose not.” Zarifa twisted the diamond on her finger, restlessly turning it back and forth, then sighed and dropped her hand. “I’m going to have to take the chance anyway. Besides, I’ve set up a meeting with one of his advisers. I think he’ll be able to convince Kuarc to see me.”
Rance straightened away from the bulkhead and frowned at her. “That may not be a good idea. There’s a traitor in Kuarc’s organization. That’s how I ended up in this damned collar.”
She nodded. “Dallon Izac, one of Kuarc’s chief lieutenants. Umar got to him last year.”
Rance came to full alert. “Dallon Izac—that’s the son of a bitch’s name?”
She lifted a red brow. “You don’t know?”
“He didn’t introduce himself. I met the fucker in a bar on Market Station to arrange delivery of a shipment of weapons. The minute I sniffed him, I knew he was a lying spy. He had that stench.”
Zarifa cocked her head, interested. “You can tell someone’s lying by smell?”
He nodded. “Werewolf senses. Anyway, he realized I was onto him. Must have seen it on my face. I started to shift, but he shot me with a dart gun before I could take him out. Next thing I knew, Casus was fitting me for a collar.”
“Wonder why he didn’t just kill you?”
Rance bared his teeth. “Bad judgment.”
She laughed. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll make him rue the day.”
“I will; believe me.” Rance frowned and moved over to lean a hip on her desk. “In the meantime, I need to get to Kuarc and warn him about that bastard. Who knows how much damage Izac’s done?”
“More than enough. According to what I’ve overheard, he’s been funneling information to Umar for months.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “But don’t worry too much. I’ve already gotten word about him to Kuarc. I just spoke to Edin, my father’s cousin, who’s also Kuarc’s chief adviser. He’s skeptical, but he did agree to meet us at one of Kuarc’s Thronesystem bases. If I can convince him I’m sincere, he’ll arrange a meeting.”
Rance grimaced. “Assuming he doesn’t decide to kill you first.”
SEVEN
Zarifa went off to check the ship’s engines, leaving Rance to dress. He ordered the ship to fabricate a dark blue uni in his size and waited until the wall unit produced the one-piece suit and a pair of boots.
