Purity (Pure and Tainted) by Evangeline Anderson Page B

coursing through K’s
slender frame. Loki could handle himself in a fight but K was a trained killer
and Boone was betting she could be lethal, even without her suit.
    “I don’t like this,” Loki said, speaking to Boone but still
glaring at K who returned his look with an unwavering stare of her own. “I
don’t like her being out here with us. She ought to be locked up.”
    “And just how will that help?” Boone demanded. He let go of K and
backed Loki away so he could lean down and talk to the man privately. “Look,
Loki, you said yourself she’s still in full Paladin mode and as long as she
stays that way the chance of her helping me get Shayla out of those mines is
slim to none.”
    Loki raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “And you think letting
her run loose is the answer?”
    Boone sighed in frustration. “I think she needs a chance to
realize we’re not the enemy. All she knows about us is what she’s been taught
by her superiors which is why she thinks the entire rest of the solar system is
inhabited by sex-crazed infidels. If I keep her locked up in my quarters her
opinion of us is never going to
change.”
    “I still don’t like it.” Loki glanced around Boone’s shoulder to glare
at K who was standing beside the table, still tense for a fight. “Don’t like it
one damn bit.”
    “You don’t have to like it. But I need you to deal with it. For me. For Shayla. ” Boone
searched the other man’s eyes. “Try to understand. I need K’s help if I’m ever
going to see my sister again.”
    At last Loki looked away. “All right. But
I don’t trust her and you shouldn’t either.”
    “I’ll keep your advice in mind, as always,” Boone said evenly. He
raised his voice. “Now let’s eat before everything gets cold.”
    Mom joined them shortly and simmed herself a cup
of caffeine brew before sitting down beside Loki. She smiled at everyone
and helped herself to the food, remarking that K was a good cook when Boone
explained that she’d helped make the meal. Boone was beyond grateful for the
graciousness of his navigator. He had never known Mom to get ruffled about
anything. No matter how tense the situation was, she had a smile for everyone.
He just wished everyone at the table could have such a peaceful attitude.
Unfortunately that was not to be—Loki and K were headed for a showdown.
    Loki started it innocently enough by addressing K. “So you’ve
never eaten anything before?”
    “No.” She didn’t elaborate as she had for Boone.
    “That’s a shame. And here I thought that protein paste crap was
stuff the Purists only gave to their prisoners.”
    Boone frowned at him. “You’ve had it?”
    “What do you think they fed me in their genetics lab, caviar and shoalin lobster?” Loki made a face. “That
paste is awful stuff—so bland .” He
looked at K. “Of course the rest of the solar system has access to spices. Like
this.” He pulled a small shaker out of the pocket of his gold shirt and began
liberally applying it to his eggs.
    K frowned. “What is that?”
    “ Helikat —an Erian spice.
It’s a little hot but it certainly peps up these bland eggs you and Boone
made.”
    “Watch it, Loki,” Boone growled. “ I seasoned those.”
    “And I bet you did it with Princess Paladin in mind too, didn’t
you? You didn’t want to burn her delicate little mouth with too much flavor.”
    “It did occur to me that
if she’d never eaten food before it would be better to start slow,” Boone
admitted. “You wouldn’t feed a newborn baby kansiki peppers.”
    “I am not an infant,” K objected.
“Eating may be new to me but I am not afraid to try new flavors. Give it to me.”
She held out her hand to Loki.
    “Darlin’, I don’t think—” Boone began but Loki was already passing
the shaker over.
    “I’d be careful with that if I were you,” he said blandly. “Too
much can burn a hole in your esophagus and put pits in your stomach.”
    “K, he’s telling the