“I’m not a kid.”

“No? Then act like a grownup.”

Alex squeezed her lips together, bit back a surly response, and then forced herself to relax. Skylar was right, she was acting like a child—the problem was she’d spent too much time immersed in Al’s character—it had become second nature. She drew herself up to her inconsiderable height. She could do this.

“So what is it?” Tannis asked.

Alex shuffled from foot to foot. Why was this so hard? Maybe because she admired Tannis so much. Tannis had taken her in when she was alone and hungry, and on the verge of running back to the Church. Except, at the time, she hadn’t known which way to run. In the three weeks she’d been alone, it had rapidly dawned on her how ignorant she was of the world. Always before, everything had been done for her, and left on her own she’d had no clue how to look after herself.

Would Tannis be angry she’d lied? Even though she hadn’t done it deliberately. Alex hadn’t even realized Tannis thought her a boy until they’d boarded El Cazador, and she had introduced Al to the rest of the crew.

After taking a deep gulp of air, she looked up, straight into Tannis’s eyes. “I’m not a boy.”

Tannis frowned. “You’re not?” Her gaze ran over Alex, took in the baggy pants and shirt hanging off her skinny frame. “Are you sure?”

Rico lounged in his chair, an amused expression on his lean, handsome features. “I believe you, but I’ve got to say”—his gaze roamed her slim figure, lingering on the flatness of her chest—“you sure look like a boy. How about you show us some evidence?”

Alex ignored him and glanced across to where Jon still sat in his seat, his legs stretched in front of him, his expression bored.

Skylar leaned across and switched on the main monitor so a floor-to-ceiling screen lit up in front of her. She tapped a few keys and sat back as an instantly recognizable image appeared. Recognizable to Alex at least, but a quick glance around the room revealed no noticeable reactions.

The image showed a woman in full-length black robes, her hair covered by a dark veil, a serene, otherworldly expression on her small, pointed face. A wave of suffocation washed over Alex as she remembered the weight of those robes—how much she hated black.

Rico was the first to catch on. “No fucking way.” He turned to stare at Alex, then back at the screen. “That’s you?”

She nodded.

“The Lady Alexia, High Priestess of the Church of Everlasting Life? You’re kidding us, right?”

Alex ground her teeth but said nothing.

“There’s a reward,” Tannis said.

Alex peered closer and read the screen. There was indeed a reward, and it was a huge sum of money. Way more than she would have ever thought they would offer. It didn’t make sense. And Alex didn’t like the speculative look in the captain’s eyes. Tannis was a good person, but if anything could sway her, it was money, and this was a lot of credits.

“The Virgin bride of the Everlasting God,” Tannis read out loud, and Alex cringed. “Virgin?”

Somebody sniggered, and two masculine gazes swiveled in her direction.

“A virgin, huh?” Rico murmured, his voice tinged with amusement and a measure of curiosity.

Skylar slammed him in the gut with her elbow. “Get that look off your face.”

“What look?” He grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “Virgins? Highly overrated I’ve always thought. Give me an experienced older woman any day.”

“It’s only a title, isn’t it?” Janey asked. “I mean, it doesn’t actually mean she’s a real honest-to-god virgin.” She shifted her gaze from the screen to Alex. “Does it?”

Alex’s toes curled within her boots. For a minute, she studied the floor. When she looked back up, everyone was staring at her. Even Jon’s bored expression was replaced with avid curiosity. He caught her gaze and raised an eyebrow. Alex scowled. What was the big deal?

“Hey, give her a break,” Skylar said, but Alex could hear the laughter in her voice. “She was married to God. It’s not Al’s fault he didn’t demand his conjugal rights.”

“Ha-ha,” she muttered.

Janey gave her a sympathetic smile. “Hey, she’s only a kid—leave her alone.”

“I am not a kid.”

“You’re not?”

“She’s twenty-four,” Skylar said.

“No freaking way.” Tannis stared at her.

Alex drew herself up as tall as she could, which still left her the shortest person in the room by a good six inches. What was the point? She slouched again, stuck her hands in her pockets, and thrust out her lower lip. And waited for them to get over it.

And for someone to jump to a few conclusions.

No one had yet made the connection between her and the attack earlier. They would eventually, but right now, they were too entertained by the whole virgin thing.

“So what happened?” Tannis asked. “Why aren’t you back there doing whatever priestesses do? What do priestesses do?”

Alex shrugged.

“Anyway, I would have thought it was a cushy number.”

“She got to wear that great outfit.” Janey giggled and waved a hand at the screen where Alex’s robe-clad figure still showed. “That would have been enough to make me do a runner.”

“Well, she’s hardly a fashion statement now. So why did you run?”

“I was bored. It was an impulse thing, but then I got stranded…”

“On Trakis Twelve?

She nodded.

“That was three months ago, and it looks like they’ve been searching for you ever since.”

“And now they’ve found her.” Everyone swung around to look at Rico. “That’s right isn’t it? They’ve caught up with you. That’s why you’re coming clean now.”

Alex would have liked to deny it, but he was spot on. It took Tannis a moment to process the information and her expression cleared.

“Shit. You’re what that High Priest guy was on about. You’re the thing that belongs to them.”

Alex nodded again.

“You’re the reason the Church came after us.” Tannis sighed loudly. “So what do we do now?”

Skylar shrugged. “We keep out of their way.”

“Why not hand her over?” Jon spoke for the first time. He sounded genuinely interested. “You get rid of the problem and pick up the reward.”

Tannis pursed her lips, her yellow eyes cold as she considered the question, and Alex peered around at the people in the room as fear gripped her insides. Janey and Daisy both wore identical expressions of sympathy, Rico still appeared amused, and Skylar’s face was blank. The captain’s expression was hard to read, and Alex waited for her to answer.

“Because he’s, or should I say, she’s crew, and we don’t give up our crew. Not to anyone. Not unless they want to be given up.” She turned to Alex. “Do you want to go back?”

The walls seemed to close in around her as she thought of the years ahead. The stultifying boredom that would slowly choke the life from her until even the will to live would abandon her. No, she didn’t want to go back. At some point, she knew she’d have to, just not right now.

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Well, you’d better stay then,” Tannis said.

At her words, a warm wave of relief washed through Alex.

“Though I suppose we’d better think of something else to call you,” Tannis continued. “Cabin boy doesn’t seem appropriate anymore.”

Alex had a few ideas. Now that the need to keep a low profile was gone, she wanted to learn everything. How to fly. How to fight. Maybe Janey would teach her how to hack into systems. Then when she went back, she’d be able to find out what everybody was up to—at least that might keep the boredom at bay. The ship’s mechanic the Trog was already teaching her how the engines worked—there had never been any need to keep a low profile with the Trog—even if he had guessed what she was, he wouldn’t have told. The Trog didn’t talk much. He basically hid under his scruffy hair and skulked around the engine room on the lower deck. Alex often wondered what he was hiding from.

“Okay,” Tannis said. “So now we know why the Church is after us. Let’s just keep out of their way. Hopefully they’ll give up—how important can one priestess be, right?”

The question didn’t seem to need an answer. Happiness bubbled up inside Alex until she had to fight to keep the grin from her face.

“And at least we know the Church doesn’t want you dead, so they’re not likely to blow us out of the sky without any warning. Unlike our other friends.”

Tannis turned to Skylar. “Any thoughts on why the Collective are so keen to see him dead?” She waved at Jon and frowned. “Why is he still half naked? Janey—go get him those clothes.”

…

Jon admired the sway of Janey’s hips as she left the room, then cast a surreptitious glance at Al, only to find her watching him out of those huge gray eyes. Hungry eyes. Heat curled in his belly, but he dismissed it—it had been a long time, that was all.

At twenty-four, she was no child, but he still wasn’t interested. If he had to have a woman, he’d choose the other redhead—she’d know what she was getting into. Or the green one. He’d never seen anyone quite that green before—she would have a certain novelty value.

But his eyes were drawn back to Al, and then to the screen where the image of the High Priestess still stared down at them. He was finding it hard to believe they were the same person. Her fear had been obvious as she’d waited for the snake lady to make a decision. She’d been in no way sure whether they wouldn’t hand her over, and her relief when she’d learned they would let her stay had been palpable. The decision confused him; he didn’t know what to make of these people.

The immediate animosity with the vampire, he had understood, and the fight had been good—had cleared away the lingering effects of the cryo. But now it seemed forgotten. Rico was murmuring to the Collective woman, but his body language was relaxed. As though he sensed Jon watching him, he glanced up, but Jon ignored the implied question in the vampire’s eyes.