Zaya’s entire body ached from the hard clay shingles she rested on. Shifting her position slightly, she hoped to find relief, but her movement resulted in crushing a few of the shingles of the rooftop. She felt terrible for the owner of this building. Unfortunately for them, this rooftop offered her the best view of the castle from which she could do necessary recon for tomorrow night.

The architectural style of the castle’s exterior was beyond ancient. It was constructed out of stone. The windows were modern glass though. And the weaponry that she had seen so far was of the latest technology.

Lowering her binoculars, she glanced at Hale who lay a few meters from her on the rooftop. He was focused on scoping out the place seemingly more than she was. All she could think about was that she had kissed him. It was an in the heat of the moment reaction to her repressed feelings for him suddenly reemerging from her heart. She hated how easily he could make her forget their past. Even now while they were working, she wanted to jump to him, push him over, and fulfill every need being around him had revived. Here, on this rooftop. The darkness of the night would hide them from the eyes of strangers.

She was repulsed by her own thoughts. None of those urges needed to be fulfilled with him. She could do just fine on her own. Hale didn’t deserve the gratification of being with her ever again. And she deserved better than him. Hale had to be in control to be satisfied like she did. Yet she still fantasized about him. There was something about Hale that she couldn’t comprehend. She wanted to control him but allow him to rule over her at the same time, a paradoxical impossibility.

Zaya huffed accidentally loudly enough that Hale heard. He lowered his binoculars and looked her way. Through the darkness, his eyes still shone magnificently blue. She turned away from him, hoping that he wouldn’t say anything. When she glanced back over, he had returned to his work. He seemed indifferent to her feelings now, after he had the audacity to ask her if she still had feelings for him earlier. Disgusting…

With an eye roll, she finally peered back into her binoculars. She focused the lenses onto a random spire near the back of the castle. Zaya could see through the window there because someone had forgotten to dim them. Upon closer inspection, she saw several canons housed inside the spire. She was disappointed because she hoped to see something scandalous.

As she continued to scan over the castle, a breeze began to pass through the air. The temperature was much colder than she had prepared for. Her leather jacket wasn’t insulated enough to keep out the cold. She started shivering a little. She hadn’t packed anything warmer, and the last thing she wanted to do was tell Hale she needed to go back to the ship because she was cold.

“Zaya,” Hale whispered.

She set her binoculars aside and turned to him. “What?” She whispered back.

“Are you okay?”

Zaya glared at him and returned her gaze to the castle. From her peripheral vision, she watched Hale roll over once to get closer to her. It looked as though he was undressing, but she refused to turn her head. He placed something on her back.

“You just looked cold,” he said and then returned to his original spot.

When she was sure he wasn’t watching her, she bent her arm and touched her back. He had left her his jacket, which was double lined and soft on the inside. The jacket still held his warmth. While she should have thrown it off herself, she was too cold to be petty.

“Thanks,” she muttered, hoping he didn’t hear.

“You’re welcome.” He gazed at her with a slight smile. “Have you seen anything worth noting?”

She really, really didn’t want to talk to him. “Sorta. I’ve been paying attention to our options for entering and exiting mainly. Oh, and the weapons.”

“Same here. I just wanted to check.”

“Why?” Zaya snapped.

“Not to be rude or anything, but you seem unfocused.”

She sat up on the roof from her position and hurled the jacket back at him. Forget trying not to be petty with him. “Yeah, why do you think that is, Genius?”

He sat up and pushed himself beside her. “How am I supposed to know? You tell me.”

She held a boot to his chest to prevent him from sliding any closer. “You know exactly what you did.”

“If you’re talking about when we kissed, you must have forgotten you initiated that,” he finished his sentence with an arrogant smirk.

She kicked the air out of his chest with her heel. “I hate you.”

He coughed a few times. “Oh, I know. You hate me so much that out of everyone you know, you picked me for this job.”

She crossed her legs and interlocked her fingers. “Only because you owe me, and I can’t just have anyone work with me. Professionally speaking, you were the best option.”

“Fair enough.” He slid back over to his side of the roof. His face looked as though she had broken his heart, if he still had one. “I shouldn’t have brought up our past at all.”

“Just move on,” she grumbled.

“I can. Can you? I don’t even care that you kissed me. It was just a kiss. You don’t have to make it into something deep. We shouldn’t pretend it didn’t happen, but why do we have to let it become a thing between us.”

Zaya hated that Hale was right. In spite of her acting unprofessional by kissing him, Hale hadn’t let that affect how he treated her when they were working. Zaya did though. Now, she wanted to ignore him and possibly push him off the roof and watch him bleed.

“Hey,” he said to catch her attention.

“I’d rather not talk about this anymore, Hale.”

“Okay fine.” He sat up and dug through his backpack. He pulled out a small bottle of liquor. After he popped off the lid and took a sip, he held the bottle out to Zaya. “Can’t we be friends? Just as long as we have to work together. You can stick it out. Think of all the money.”

Though her anger boiled through her blood, she grabbed the bottle from his hands and started drinking. Friends was a terrible idea. Being friends was how things became so bad between them. But she wasn’t about to bring that up to him.

* * * *

Tonight, Hale saw her. Her shimmering sapphire dress tightly contoured her body from her chest down to her thighs. The rest of her dress was a fabric sheer like siren fins and almost reached the floor. He liked the way dark blue looked on her deep skin tone. She wore silver chokers, and her wrists were stacked with silver bracelets that matched her silver birthmarks twisting along her face down to her feet. She switched out her regular septum piercing for a ring of gemstones. She spent half the day braiding her entire head into long strands centimeters lower than her shoulders. But none of those things were the reason he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Zaya was acting like her true self. She was relaxed, and her eyes were filled with excitement about what was in store for them. She drew her eyes away from their surroundings and looked him in the eyes. Tilting her head back slightly, she grinned at him. He continued to stare at her fondly. After they had shared a drink on the rooftops last night, they were able to coexist in peace. He told her they could be friends, and that’s all they should ever be. But seeing her tonight, he wondered if that was really what he desired. A part of him wanted her again. A small part. Hopefully, that longing would remain small because his heart was loyal to someone else.

He couldn’t deny anymore that he found Zaya beautiful. He had always thought she was, but that didn’t cause him to fall for her the way he had for Pandora. He wished he felt the same way about Zaya that she felt for him. Their relationship could have been easier. And he wouldn’t have felt guilty for not loving her.

Zaya crossed her arms and shivered. Her dress was sleeveless. “You nervous?”

Hale couldn’t say that he was because the last thing she needed was to hear his doubts about the job. But he hadn’t quite done anything like this before.

They were finally inside the grand castle of K’aldi. Currently, they waited in the foyer with a group of party guests just outside the ballroom. Each was waiting their turn for their names to be announced.

“I’m ready. It’s exhausting waiting just to get in,” Hale answered.

“I agree. I wish these people’s names were shorter.”

Hale grinned and shook his head. He continued standing beside Zaya and tried not to stare at her anymore. He fixed his gaze on the tapestry hanging above the entrance of the ballroom. The royal family and their crest were the images stitched on the tapestry with incredible detail. The king and queen’s faces were regal. Their daughter sat in front of them. Her face was young and innocent, much like Pandora’s. She had no idea what was about to happen.

He blinked. He shouldn’t have been thinking about anything else other than completing the job. The people they hurt was nothing more than collateral damage. He had to continue to believe that. Because Pandora wasn’t a part of his life anymore, he didn’t have to live up to her standards.

Zaya nudged him forwards. “We’re next, Hale. Pay attention.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Well, stop that and smile. You want people to like you.”

The couple in front of them entered the ballroom. Zaya and Hale stood at the threshold on the ballroom’s grand entrance doors. The announcer was a small human woman who greeted them with a large smile.

“What are your names?” The announcer asked them.

Zaya leaned over to the woman and whispered. The woman nodded and instructed them to step forward out onto the entrance stage. Hale stood beside Zaya in the center. All eyes in the ballroom stared at them. Hale smiled with closed lips and swallowed uncomfortably. The hololights from the chandeliers seemed to focus on them alone. Hale was thankful Zaya was with him. Her confidence alleviated his anxieties about being in the limelight. She had more experience with these situations. He could still learn so much from her.

The announcer took a deep breath. “Duchess Kaai and her husband Len of Soruta.”

Those were the aliases their client had assigned to them for the ball. Soruta was a planet in the outskirts that K’aldi traded with occasionally, but no one knew much about them. Their client had educated them on the known customs of Soruta, enough that no would be suspicious of them.

Hale offered Zaya his hand, and together they walked down the long staircase towards the crowd. People said hello to them as they walked by towards the center of the room where some danced to the live music. The musicians played their woodwinds and brass instruments upon a stage off to the side.

Zaya looked into his eyes. “Dance with me, husband?” She grasped his hands and pulled him into the dancing crowd.

“I guess I don’t have a choice.”

She leaned in very close to his ear. “It will make us look more approachable.”

“Yeah, yeah. You just want me to dance with you.”

“It’s for our image.”

He didn’t believe her, but he didn’t want to press her for the truth. Like him, she liked to ignore feelings. Hale placed one hand on her hip and gripped it tightly. His right hand was the hand that he would lead them with. He held her hand outwards with his right, and they moved in rhythm with the music. He moved them backwards to start off. Before they switched directions to follow the surrounding guests, Hale released her into a spin. Zaya’s shiny gown flared outward as she spun. As quickly as he could, he brought her close to him again.

“You’re still good,” she commented.”

“Of course.” They parted for a moment and then came back together. “You look very good tonight by the way.”

“It wasn’t for you.” Zaya held back her laughter. “But thank you. I guess.”

He probably shouldn’t have complimented her at all. But he couldn’t stop himself. Zaya pretended that she didn’t care about his opinion. Yet that wasn’t the truth. With enough well-timed compliments and suggestive glances, he could probably win her back for the night. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the ship with her right now.

The image of the young princess of K’aldi lingered in his mind. When he thought of the tapestry, the princess’s face was replaced with Pandora. He shouldn’t be thinking about her. Two months had passed. He had saved her a lifetime of misery by leaving her on Elani. Despite knowing he made the right decision, he always thought of her in the most inconvenient moments.

Hale continued dancing with Zaya and smiled and laughed with her, though he was internally tormented by his thoughts.

Once the song was finished, she drew him away from the crowd. They stood near the wall far from other people.

“I’m going to introduce myself to the king and queen. While I’m distracting them, that’s the perfect time to go to the princess and…” Zaya narrowed her eyes judgmentally, “do what you do best.”

“And that is?”

Zaya broke away from him. “Lead her on.” She returned to the crowd and began walking towards the king.

She acted like she didn’t want to hear his response, not that he had anything to say back. But he didn’t believe what she said about him. It was never his intention to lead Zaya on. He just never wanted to be exclusive with her.

Hale took a few deep breaths as he watched the princess of K’aldi talk to several guests that surrounded her. He saw double vision. He saw both an innocent princess and his main target tonight. If only he had time for a couple drinks.

He walked the long way around the guests until he reached the princess’s side. When he stood in her field of view, immediately her gaze left the individual she was speaking to and trailed up his body to his face.

The princess looked back at her guests and excused herself, and afterwards, she approached Hale. She smiled and held out her hand to him.

He kissed her glove and met her blue eyes. “Your Highness, Len of Soruta.”

“It’s good to meet you, Len. I was hoping you would eventually come say hello.”