by Lynnea Lee
Visitors to the compound were not given access to the gardens unless they were trusted. Sarah planned to stay out of the actual south wing building and just snoop around outside. She would be extra careful.
She heard Kean’s growly voice before she saw him and snuck close to the office it was coming from. The wide windows had billowing drapes, and she hid behind one just out of sight and peeked over the edge.
Kean sat on a luxurious high back leather chair, and he didn’t look happy. Zharor and another guard stood each to the side of him like unmoving gargoyle statues. Kean had an audience with two males, and they had said something wrong because Kean stood slowly, deliberately. The air in the room grew tense, but Kean looked as cool as a cucumber. Sarah knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but Kean stood there looking so regal and powerful, and she had to admire him.
Yup, she was totally a teenager spying on her crush.
Chapter 4
Kean despised dishonest males. And the two in front of him were as unscrupulous as they came. They’d been skimming his profits for years now, at first imperceptibly. But recently, since Kean had taken over Soren’s old territory, the two had gotten bolder, thinking he wouldn’t notice with the extra work running the new area.
When he acquired the new territory, Kean had sent the pair of accountants down to tally the coffers monthly. Thinking that Kean wouldn’t know any better, they had skimmed—no, not skimmed, they had outright taken—a substantial chunk as their own every month.
Kean had to make an example of these two. He couldn’t show any weakness, especially now that Vosthea was in an upheaval. He’d given the two males the option to come clean, but they had denied everything. Instead, they’d blamed the new accountant, the same accountant Kean had sent down after he suspected foul play. The new accountant had tallied and reported the amount before the pair was sent down the last two months. Both times, it showed that the thieving dual underreported by a full quarter.
He hated what he had to do next, but it was a necessary evil. His whole life was a necessary evil. What he really wanted to do right now was to go see Sarah, share a meal with her without interruption and take a walk in the garden with her in his arms. But he knew that would have to wait until things settled down. Right now, he had a job. And that job was to be the ruthless ruler of Vosthea.
Kean stood slowly; he knew that the slower he moved, the more frightened his adversary got. The stench of their fear poured off of them. He picked up one of the lying males by the throat and carried him, legs dangling, a few feet to the wall. He shoved him hard against it, and his head cracked against the granite wall.
“I know you are stealing from me. You shouldn’t have gotten greedy. Do you really think I wouldn’t notice a quarter of my profits from that area missing?” Kean smashed the male’s head against the wall again. “Do you?”
With a smile, he twisted the male’s neck, breaking it with a sickening crunch, and threw the lifeless body at the other male’s feet. He planned to only kill one of the pair so the other one could tell the story. He wanted the word to get out. He wanted to be known as ruthless and deadly. The more they feared him, the less work he had to do to maintain his empire.
Many followed him because they truly looked up to him and were loyal. For example, the young guard Zake idolized him and would never even think of double-crossing him. But he knew he had to rule the rest with an iron fist. Any weakness would be used against him.
A movement by the window caught his attention, and he turned to see Sarah’s stunned face at the window, eyes round with fear.
Stars! What was she doing here? She wasn’t supposed to witness any of this. The fear Kean had seen in her eyes when she’d first seen him in bloodlust the day they’d met had tugged at his chest. Sarah was the one person he didn’t want to fear him. Fear was the last thing he wanted her to feel.
Eyes focused on his female, Kean stalked towards the locked door to the garden.
Shaking, Sarah backed away from the door, turned, and ran. Her small fleeing form woke inside him the urge to chase, to hunt.
“Get the traitor out of my face,” he demanded of Zharor. Kean knew Zharor would make sure the male left battered, bruised, and possibly missing a finger. And rumors of Kean’s brutality would spread.
The door automatically unlocked when Kean got close, reacting to the key tag in his pocket. Sarah was still in sight, and he followed, intent on catching his prey. She turned back to look at him, and the look on her face stopped him in his tracks.
He froze mid-step. It hit him then, the overwhelmingly sweet scent of pure terror. This was the scent of a prey, and it goaded the predator to hunt, to attack. But it was wrong. He wanted to chase his female, but only when the fear was tinted with the perfume of her arousal. Chasing Sarah now would only push her away permanently.
Kean balled his hands into fists as he watched her disappear behind a thicket of bushes. He’d talk to her once she’d the chance to calm down.
Picking up his comm, Kean entered the code for Zake to let him know the female had given him the slip. Kean didn’t need to reprimand the young male. He would be teased enough for losing a loud and easily tracked human female.
Sarah ran all the way back to her room and didn’t stop until she was locked inside her bathroom. Once safely inside, she panted breathlessly and pressed her head against the wall. She couldn’t believe what she just witnessed.
Sure, Kean had killed the first day they’d met, but that was self-defense, wasn't it? He’d been there to parlay. They’d had weapons pointed at them, and Gadrek had given the kill order. This time, it was different. The other Tallean male was unarmed and bowing to him; he was terrified. And Kean had killed him with a smile on his face.
Sarah had read him wrong. Despite being so nice to her, Kean was a monster at heart; he was the monster everyone claimed he was. What would happen when he tired of her? Would he hurt her one day when he got bored? What if she did something to anger him?
Kean had stalked after her like a lion intent on his prey. And she had fled, terrified for her life. He’d only followed for a few steps, though. He didn’t need to chase her. Kean knew where she slept.
“Fuck! What was I thinking?” She’d picked up the habit of talking to herself while stuck inside Gadrek’s room, and it came back now that she was under stress. “I need to get away from this room now. It’s the first place he’ll look.”
Hands trembling, she opened the bathroom door and eyed the porch door again. A compound this big must have a lot of servants or workers to keep it running; she would find them and hide among them. If there were other humans there, maybe her scent would blend in.
A shadow outside changed her mind about leaving through the exterior door. Zake.
“Damn! He’s onto me. Why is he always around?”
A knocking sounded at the door leading to the hallway, and Nouma opened it a moment later. Talleans didn’t wait to be let in after a knock; the knock was just to announce their presence. If one wanted privacy, they would lock their door, which Sarah hadn’t done.
Privacy wasn’t exactly at the top of her mind after witnessing a murder.
“What are you doing on the bathroom floor, child?” Nouma lifted her up and guided her over to sit on the bed. “You reek of fear! What happened?”
No longer sure how much she should trust the older lady, Sarah struggled with what to say. She couldn’t outright lie; Talleans had an exceptional sense of smell, and Nouma would know immediately. Besides, she was a horrible liar, and she knew it.
She decided on a loose truth, “I’m just worried about my future.” And she was. Nouma didn’t need to know that Sarah was worried about Kean murdering her in cold blood one day.
Wanting an excuse to leave the room, Sarah changed the subject and asked Nouma to show her around. Not just to the pretty parts of the garden, but to all the parts of the compound. The servant’s quarter, kitchens, all the inner workings of the st
ronghold. She needed to get to know the place more thoroughly.
Nouma, glad to be useful, took Sarah on a tour, showing her how things worked and introducing her to some of the residents. After Nouma divulged that Sarah was worried about her safety, many of the people she met, human, Tallean, and a few Fietes—a subservient race the Dominion used often as slaves—declared Kean’s compound to be the safest place on Vosthea. Kean had strict rules on how females were treated and dealt with offenders stringently.
She met a cook who gave her and Nouma sweet pastries for lunch and told her to come back daily so he could help her put some weight on. The sweet older Tallean male even offered to teach her traditional Tallean pastry-making; he was looking for an apprentice. Sarah filed it away as a possible option in the future.
Nouma took her to the creche, which overflowed with rambunctious children, mostly Tallean. One lone human boy play fighting with some Tallean boys—they had leather caps on their claws to prevent them from hurting each other—looked like he was getting his ass whooped, but he was grinning ear to ear. That kid was going to grow up to be one tough cookie.
At the door to the creche, a young Tallean male, not much older than the children inside, stood on guard in a uniform, the usual guard weapons strapped to his side. Two adult Tallean males stood guard next to him.
“This is Jadus, our youngest guard.” Nouma eyes shone with pride.
“Hi, Jadus.”
“Hello, human female.”
Wasn’t he a little young to be on guard duty? Most doors only had a pair of guards, so Jadus was an extra here. But those were real weapons strapped to his belt. Sarah decided to do a little prying.
“So how did you land a guard job so young? You must be really strong.”
The kid beamed. “Kean gave me the job. My father had a disease that made him weak, and my mother had a bad job and got very hurt one day. They owed a lot of money and couldn’t pay it, so I told Kean I’d come work for him instead. I send home credits now.” He puffed his chest out in pride.
Kean had taken the child as payment for a debt? Sarah wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “And do you like your job? Do you like living here?”
“It’s good. I’m not hungry here. And I don’t need to worry about bad males following my mother home anymore. I send my family the credits I make, and they visit me here when they can.” Then the kid’s face clouded over. “But I only do guard duty half the day. Kean makes me take classes with the kids.”
Nouma chuckled. “Kean doesn’t need uneducated guards.”
“I don’t need math to do guard duty!”
One of the other guards spoke up. “If there are twelve intruders, and there are three of us guarding the door. How many enemies would each guard need to take out?”
Jadus thought to himself for a bit, then said, “As many as they could.” He looked mighty proud of himself for thinking up the answer.
They all laughed because it was technically true but gave Jadus the mathematically correct answer anyway. The kid was clever, and Kean was right to have him continue his schooling.
“I’m sure you are doing a great job, and the children inside are extra safe.” Sarah smiled at the kid, satisfied with his answer. He was happier here and well-fed, and Kean was essentially training him to be a real guard in the future, while still giving him a proper education.
And on it went. Sarah met more and more people at each location and heard more and more stories about the people living here. It became clear that this compound was a safe haven for many, and many working here had nothing but positive things to say about Kean.
It took most of the day for Nouma to show her the entire compound, and the sun was setting as they walked back to her room.
“You still seem unsure, child.”
Sarah decided to come clean. “I saw him working, Nouma.”
“Kean took you into work?” Nouma tsked. “I’ll never understand why males need to show off their females during business meetings, especially with what Kean has to deal with. It’s awfully boring most of the time, and the rest of the time, it’s not safe. He deals with many unpleasant types. No wonder you are worried.”
“He didn’t bring me.” Sarah blew out a breath. “I snuck in and watched from the window.”
“Oh.” Nouma’s eyes softened.
“I saw him—” Sarah paused, not knowing how to get the words out. It felt as though saying it out loud made it more real. “I saw him kill someone.” She stared at her feet. “He didn’t know I was there. I got scared and ran.”
“Oh child, you don’t ever need to worry about him hurting you. He never would. Don’t let what you saw change your view of him. Kean has had to make some tough decisions in his life. If he killed someone, the person probably deserved it.” Nouma nodded as if punctuating her words. “You’ve been outside the compound; you know how bad it is out there. Kean could never show weakness. He has to be just as ruthless as the worst of them in order to maintain control.”
Sarah nodded. She knew.
“Go in and rest. I’ll have the kitchen send some food over to you.”
The door closed, and Sarah laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. All the people she had met spoke of Kean as if he was their hero. By their words, you’d think he was an angel doing God's good work: a drug-dealing, traitor-killing angel.
She was so confused. But Sarah knew one thing, tomorrow when Kean came to see her at lunch, she planned to be gone exploring the compound. She didn’t want to spend any time alone with him until she figured him out. And she definitely wasn't sleeping with him!
Chapter 5
Kean sat in front of the comm; on the screen, his friend Ulrek’s face loomed. He knew Ulrek from his Dominion days. Ulrek had been a poster child of the Dominion fleet and was admired by Dominion supporters and hated just as vehemently by everyone else. The Dominion had fucked Ulrek over too, just as they’d done to Kean years ago. Now, Ulrek owned a trio of vessels, stolen from the Dominion.
“I need your help. While you fought the Dominion troops in space above the planet, I took over the last port on Vosthea.”
“I heard! Most of the planet is talking about it.”
Of course they were. Kean continued, “I'm having trouble maintaining order. I know you prefer to stay out in space, but I’m calling in my favor.”
Kean had helped Ulrek survive his prematurely scheduled death by Dominion hands. He'd had no intention of letting the Dominion kill off his friend. They’d gone to the Academy together, and both had graduated top of their class. While Kean had gone on to become a renowned biochemist for the Dominion, his friend Ulrek had joined the fleet. Ulrek was given the newest and shiniest ships to captain. He’d enjoyed a life of fame, just as his father, Ulren had.
But just like with Ulren, the Dominion had some unsavory plans for the much loved and lauded captain. The Dominion had secretly planned and executed Ulren’s death. They used it to rile up the public, who loved him. And as a result, they’d reaped the rewards of countless donations and hundreds of thousands of new recruits for their army, eager to avenge the death of their hero.
Kean had gotten news from his numerous networks that the Dominion planned to do the same to Ulrek. He had warned his friend and worked with him to foil the Dominion's plans. The Dominion had fucked Kean over once, and he’d be damned if he let that happen to his friend as well.
Having procured human slaves from Earth for the Dominion for years, Ulrek believed that humans made horrible slaves. They were too intelligent, too stubborn, too wily. They did, according to Ulrek, make good crew and allies when given the right incentives.
During his most recent trip to Earth, the one the Dominion had planned to be his last, Ulrek had instead spent his time there recruiting his new crew. Ulrek had taken his new human crew, marched back into his ship, and killed off all members of the existing crew who had known about the Dominion’s plan to kill him off.
Now almost
half of Ulrek’s crew were strong human males, eager to take on the galaxy. He had recruited at a high-security prison, and most of the males there faced a life of lock-up. Ulrek had offered them a chance at freedom, a chance to explore the galaxy, a chance to live. Most appreciated the opportunity for a new life.
“You don't need to call in a favor, my friend. My males are getting restless, and we need to get planetside. Humans are not yet used to life in space, and they need some solid ground beneath their feet.” Ulrek looked thoughtful. “I heard about the little human female you picked up from Gadrek's stronghold. A small little thing. You have a thing for that type.”
Kean did. He had an inexplicable draw to females who looked small and cute but were deceptively strong and feisty. Mental strength was extremely important for Kean. As a producer of a particularly addictive substance, Kean needed a female who would be able to resist the seductive pull of Euphora, despite using the substance occasionally when in the public eye.
Kean had a female briefly once, a human. It didn’t last very long. She’d become addicted quickly, and Kean had had to send her far away so she could get clean. Kean was glad he had not developed a mating bond with her. It would have broken his heart to watch a mate destroy herself with the very substance he created.
“Sarah is too little of a thing. Gadrek starved her, and she is malnourished. But nothing some good food can't fix.”
“Then why are you not ecstatic when you talk about her? I thought you were looking for a mate.”
“We’re not there yet. She’s terrified of me. She snuck in and secretly watched me while I worked. I was dealing with those two accountants who've been skimming the top off of our profits. She saw what I did to traitors, and she ran.”