by Stone, Layla
“I wanted to sell something. Picked your name because the Rounder said you had a high rating.”
Several moments ticked by before Z responded. “You’re not a very good storyteller. You left out what you want to sell and how high my ratings were. I like to know those kinds of details, it adds to the fullness of the story.”
Adelia didn’t like the playful way he spoke to her. Murderers weren’t usually playful, they were fake and charming. She had lived through that nightmare before, and she didn’t want to return to it. But she also didn’t want to die a horrible death.
She needed to convince Z that she was not a threat. Hopefully, he would let her go. Or he would make a mistake, and she could escape. Without rope keeping her in the chair, all he had to do was leave the room long enough for her to escape.
“I picked you out of a list of merchants by asking the Rounder who was the best one.”
Z looked at Shine as if he were waiting for the Demon to corroborate her statement. Shine shrugged.
Z looked back at her, ignoring the comment, and asked, “And what did you bring to sell?”
She pulled the liquid ball from her pocket, keeping it in her palm close to her body. Adelia paid close attention to Z’s and Shine’s reaction.
“Homner,” Shine said, narrowing his eyes at her. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“Was this what you were kicked off your crew for?” Z asked, reaching over and grabbing the ball to hand it to Shine. The gun was still pointed at the center of her chest.
She needed to remind Z that she was selling it and not giving it away for free. “That’s mine, and if you take it, you’ll pay me.” To Z, she said, “No, I didn’t steal it, but it is why I was kicked off the crew.”
Z’s lips pursed. “Start at the beginning. And for the love of Seth, tell the story right, with conviction, description, and clear flow.”
There is seriously something wrong with this guy.
Adelia licked her dry lips before beginning. “The captain found something in our last shipment. Thought I was trying to smuggle it onboard or that someone was trying to smuggle it onboard, so he graciously allowed me to be the bait for whoever previously owned it.”
Z crossed his arms, leaving the gun in the hand on the top, his finger still not on the trigger. “Very gracious of him. But you’re speaking too factually, add a little more…flare.”
“Right, flare. My captain is a spineless Krant who is more afraid of an unnamed person than protecting one of his crewmembers,” she said sarcastically.
Z yawned. “Sounds like my kind of guy. I’m going to need you to write down his contact information later.”
Later…not before you leave.
“You like spineless tarqs? That says a lot about you,” she said with a straight face.
A smile curled his lips, and the expression went all the way up to his eyes. “Does it? Maybe. But I do more business with spineless half-wits than thieves. And you’re a thief, or at least you could be, so you’re going to have to do better at convincing me to do business with you.” He looked her over again, wiped his mouth, and offered, “How about I offer you a glass of jubriaan, and you can tell me all about your captain, his ship, his crew, and what kind of business he does.”
This was the craziest hostage—or whatever it was—moment of her life. She could almost forget that he was a murderer. Almost. Thankfully, the blood stains on his button-up were a constant reminder. And she needed water, not alcohol.
Since he didn’t get upset at the last barb, she said, “I’ll skip the jubriaan. That stuff tastes like melted shoes.”
Z dropped his jaw and inhaled. He pressed his free hand against his chest and responded, “First, how dare you? That’s our planet’s icon.” He dropped his hand to the side in mock defeat. “Insults do not get forgotten.” He gave her a deadly look.
She didn’t squirm under his glare.
Seconds later, he said, “What is your drink of choice then?”
She licked her lips. “Water.”
“Boring. Fine, all you get is water.”
Shine, who she had forgotten was standing there, cleared his throat. He watched her as he spoke to Z. “What are you doing with her?”
“Obviously, anything I want. She’s at my mercy, can’t you tell? Oh, and grab a bottle of water for my pet.”
Adelia furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea if he was crazy, faking, or serious.
Z caught her confused look. “What? You’re welcome.”
Shine didn’t say anything before he left.
Z leaned forward. “I believe that you didn’t steal anything. I have a feeling you lack the flare I’m looking for because you’re too serious. It’s something to talk about after we discuss the price of the homner.”
“Do you have bahity?” She knew about the demon disease. She didn’t know what it was exactly, but she knew it made Demons crazy. Not that he was a Demon, but he still could have caught the disease.
His eyes widened for a second. “No. Do you?”
“Of course, not. I’m not a Demon.” She was almost offended.
“Neither am I.”
Shine was back and held out a bottle of water in her face. “Here you go.”
To Z, he said, “I can’t tell what you’re planning, and I usually can. This is probably not the best time for a business conversation. I locked up the homner. If you want to do business, she can come back tomorrow. You can negotiate then.”
Adelia unscrewed the top on the bottle, then tipped it and guzzled the entire thing. The cool liquid flowed down her throat and gathered in her stomach. The bliss was quick. Tingles flickered in her blood and rushed through her body. Cold water had never been so orgasmic.
When she finished, she took a few hard breaths.
Z’s mouth was partly open. When he closed it, he spoke to Shine, not taking his eyes off her. “I’m always open for business, you know that.”
“Your business effects mine, so I’d say this is my business, too. And if you plan on talking to the nipsy, then I’m going to be here. But if you’re going to do something stupid, well, then…I’m not feeling that.”
Adelia didn’t know what a nipsy was, but it sounded insulting. She decided she disliked Shine.
“Something stupid like what? Kill her? I’m not going to kill her, Shine,” Z said.
“I know,” Shine said brightly. Then he turned to her and said, “And I’m staying.”
Z lowered the gun a fraction. “I don’t remember the last time you doubted my side of a business agreement. I get the contacts, make the deals, design the product, and you make it. Or did something change recently?”
Shine looked just as confused as Adelia felt. “I haven’t changed, but this…” he said, moving a finger between Z and her, “this is new.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at. I have had female clients before, and I’ve done negotiations with a gun. What’s so new?”
Shine’s voice rose. “Are you serious? We have a body in the container, and you want to have a negotiation with this nobody?”
Z acted shocked. “Hey. We don’t insult new clients, we only threaten them.”
“I’m going to strangle you,” Shine said, deadpan. “I’m being one hundred percent serious right now.”
Z chuckled. “I know, Shine. And that’s one of your worst vices. Seriousness leads to cancer.”
Adelia was sure she had never been more confused than she was right now, and she hated that Z’s laugh made her want to join in.
Shine pointed at her. “You know this is no time for a negotiation, right? Unless you’re looking to blitz her.”
Z tilted his head, the corner of his mouth turned down as if he were thinking about it. “Not yet.” With his gun hand, he pointed at the door. “But I’d prefer to spend time with my pet alone.”
“You’re serious?” There was something in the way Shine squinted at Z. It was as if he were not only confused but borderline worried.
&n
bsp; Z huffed. “Is that a problem?”
“You’ve never called a female your pet before.”
Holding his arms out wide again, Z said, “And yet, I just did.”
Shine ran a hand over his mouth, quickly sliding it back to his jaw horns. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’re not acting like yourself. You just beat your favorite associate unconscious. You’re a little on edge. This, whoever she is, is not important. You need to go home, calm down, and come back tomorrow to question Trent like we planned. After everything is sorted, we can talk to this one.”
“I’m perfectly fine.” There was something in Z’s tone that made the hair on the back of Adelia’s neck stand up. It was a threat masked as a facade of calm. She knew that tone. Knew what happened when that tone turned to action.
Adelia was finally seeing the real Z. The one who could murder by beating someone to death.
“No, you’re not.”
Z stood up and got in Shine’s face. Then she heard him speaking threateningly. “I’m not the one talking about our plans in front of a total stranger. Between you and me, I’m the one acting myself. I’m the one taking care of business. I’m not asking nicely anymore, I’m telling you to get out of my warehouse.”
“You’re not as calm as you think you are.”
“I never claimed to be calm. I don’t need to be calm to do business. I only need to be smarter than the person I’m doing business with.”
Adelia slowly moved her hands from her thighs to the seat underneath her. She wasn’t going to sit around as they finished their heart-to-heart. She gripped the seat hard and put pressure on her feet, preparing to throw the chair and run.
Z wasn’t even looking at her, but the gun moved, pointed at her skull, his finger on the trigger. “Don’t move, Pet. I’d rather not have to shoot you. I already have enough clean-up to do tonight.”
She let the seat go and put her hands back on her thighs.
Shine stepped back and held up his hands. “Fine. You do whatever it is you’re going to do. I’ll see you tomorrow at ninety.”
“Ninety,” Z repeated.
Shine left. When he was gone, Z moved towards her, placed one hand on the back of her chair, and leaned down until they were so close she could smell his breath. She felt his nearness intimately, as if he were warming the air just by being there.
“Shine’s right. I’m not myself. I’m tired, pissed, and need a drink. So, I’m going to ask you several questions, and you’re going to answer them honestly. Do we have a deal?” He spoke in the same dark tone he had before. His voice seeped into her mind, reminding her of black memories that she had kept at bay for years.
She swallowed and then spoke to him in the same way: with defiance. “It’s not like I have a choice.”
His eyes lowered to her neck. “You always have a choice,” he countered. “What’s yours?”
Lies. She didn’t have a choice. She didn’t have any assurance that he was going to let her go if she answered his questions. She didn’t even know what kinds of things he wanted to know. She had done nothing. She knew nobody. And there was no reason in her mind for her to be in the situation she was currently in.
“Are you going to let me go if I answer your questions to your liking?”
She felt warm pressure on her vein. His thumb circled once before it stopped. Her skin lit up with a rush of tingles. It had been over two years since she had been touched. It was strange, and yet she liked it. She hated herself in that moment.
“The consequences depend on how you answer.”
She felt a surge of courage. She challenged him back. “Meaning, that if you don’t like them, you’re going to kill me? That is not a good motivation to answer honestly.”
“That’s your choice. Let’s begin...”
He was so close. His eyes bore into hers. “First question. What’s your name?”
“Adelia.”
“What are you?”
“I’m a Grach.”
He paused for a second and looked her over then sniffed the air. His eyes narrowed as if he had determined she was lying. His anger wasn’t silent, it built around them, making the air thick. She was about to explain when he asked his next question. “What is your captain’s name?”
Her old captain. But she didn’t clarify that to the crazy male. “Eriben.”
“Start at the beginning and tell me everything from the moment you landed on this planet.”
She wet her lips. They were dry and a little swollen, burned from spending hours under the star’s rays.
In five long breaths, she summarized everything from her previous job on the merchant ship to the homner liquid, ending with the Roth Demon looking for a fighter. When she finished, he didn’t look happy or angry. It was as if he didn’t believe anything and was entirely detached from the situation.
His words were empty of emotion or interest as he asked, “And what were you planning to do with the money?”
Nosey-ass bastard. “Why do you care where I spend the money? Once you pay me, which you’re not going to do, but if you did, it would be my money. And I don’t answer to you. So, I guess I should have said, it’s none of your business.”
Z used the barrel of the gun to tap her nose. His voice was less dark, more playful but still threatening as he said, “We made a deal. You’re wavering. Let me remind you about your part in the bargain. You answer my questions. All of them. Honestly. And I won’t show you the consequences of breaking our deal.”
Adelia wanted to trust Z. Regardless, she had no other choice but to answer. “I would have used the money to get off the planet.”
He made a small noise at the back of his throat. The gun disappeared from in front of her face. Z returned to the chair holding the weapon.
The tension in the air was gone, but the memory of his breath, his touch, still lingered on her skin and in her bones.
“Why don’t you smell like a Grach? Your kind usually has an earthy odor.”
She didn’t realize that she had looked away until it was too late. Breaking eye contact would make him think that she was lying. Her brother always told her to never take her eyes off someone when talking, it made it look like you were fabricating a story.
She explained, “My glands were removed.”
To her surprise, Z almost looked upset. “What does that mean? And be very specific.” He leaned over and rested his elbows on his thighs.
“It means that I don’t have glands to secrete the addictive Grach hormones. My smell and touch will not affect you.”
“Any touch?” The way he said it sounded like a come-on of sorts. She knew what he was indirectly referring to, so she clarified.
“All glands. Especially the ones from my sex. The only ones that weren’t taken out were the ones in my mouth. My saliva is still addictive. But since I need it to digest food, the doctors left those.” And to this day, she had never been kissed. Not even when she had been married. No one wanted to end up in withdrawal.
After coming in contact with the Grach hormone, the gramones, a person would feel amazing—or at least that’s what her research had turned up. But then they would crash hours later and suffer mental delusions. It wasn’t specific what exactly they experienced, and she never had a chance to talk to another Grach about it to find out.
“You wanted to remove all your glands?”
She didn’t answer that right away. Did she have a choice? “Yes. I agreed to the procedure. But I was young, and the way my adoptive parents described it, it was like I would kill my husband if I didn’t get them removed.”
Which was a lie. Scientists speculated why Grachs had the glands. Some said it was how they kept their mating partners. Others said it solidified a mating. Either way, it didn’t matter if Adelia had the glands or not. She didn’t get to choose her husband. It wasn’t a mating. And her parents had chosen poorly.
“How many sexual partners have you had?”
Prying bastard. “One.”
“One,” she confirmed.
Z didn’t ask anything more for a few moments. He ran his hands through his hair, ruining the stiff, gelled style. When he stopped, his hair looked a mess, and yet he worked it.
Adelia mentally slapped herself again. He’s a murderer.
“That’s a low number,” he said. Then asked, “Who abused you?”
“Excuse me?” The words slipped from her soul in a whisper.
She didn’t talk about him. Ever. Her ex-husband was still on Yunkin, still in a position of power and if he found out she told anyone what happened, and it got back to him, he vowed he would see her shipped off to Debsa the prison planet. But even if he didn’t threaten her future, she didn’t want to talk about her life for those four years.
It was humiliating, and she didn’t have the ability to look someone in the eyes and tell them she allowed her ex-husband to use industry grade tape to smooth out her waist line because he said she looked fat. Or the timed he made her bathe in vinegar before they had sex so that he didn’t have to smell her. And those were what he did when he was in a good mood.
When he was angry, he used the chains. They were hidden in every room of the house. When he wanted to punish her, he chained her wrists to the floor and got creative.
Memories she pushed deep to keep her sane, and this bastard was asking her to share.
“Answer me. The pain of your memories will be nothing compared to what I can do.”
She didn’t know if that was true. A reckless part of her mind wanted to challenge him, to find out. But then she thought better of it. “I divorced two years ago.”
“His name, Pet. I like to collect names.”
“Olmy.”
“What does he do? What planet does he live on?”
Her head fell back, hitting the back of the chair. Memories…so many memories of being degraded, slapped, pinched, tied up for days, and embarrassed. She had to get through the emotions that were now lodged in her throat. Had to remind herself that she was free of that, and this Z, whoever he was, was a nobody.
Showing as much decorum as she could muster, she brought her face forward, sat up, and replied, “He’s a Federation officer on Yunkin. He is a station lead for area seventy-two.”