“How are you, Faro?”
“In a slump.” The A’li-uud had a gruff voice, kind of croaking as though he had spent his entire life smoking cigarettes. “Only had three orders this week.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” Zuran replied. “Do you mind if we join you?”
Faro shrugged. “Suits me,” he said. His eyes fell on me, and they drifted downward from my face to my chest, and then further. He was more brazen with his lust than Terrik, but I didn't feel as violated by him as I had by the aggressive gang leader. Terrik looked like he would have done unspeakable things to me. Faro just looked lonely.
He nodded at me and asked Zuran, “You selling?”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Zuran
“No,” I said at once. “She is mine.”
Phoebe’s skin warmed to the touch as she heard my response. Her cheeks turned rosy, and her lashes fluttered as she looked down in delighted embarrassment. It thrilled me to see her physical reaction to words that tasted so right on my tongue, even under the circumstances.
“Oh, sorry,” Faro apologized. “No harm meant.”
“No harm done,” I replied easily.
“Have a seat.” He motioned to the seat opposite him. All of the tables were equipped with four chairs, which meant three were available, but he did not address Phoebe. She appeared a little affronted, but I understood his behavior. Underground, laaka were generally not addressed unless they were fulfilling an agreed-upon duty. Faro was far from comfortable around females anyway. I had never known him to develop a long-term relationship with anyone, and the only females I ever saw in his presence were laaka who he hired on the rare lonely night.
I slid into the seat he proffered, but not before leading Phoebe to the chair on its right. Once we were all sitting, I leaned across the table and focused solely on Faro.
“Is Feq still a guard at P’otes-tat Ulti?” I asked in a low, almost inaudible tone.
“Yes,” Faro said. “Why do you ask?”
“I need to get a message to my brother. I expect you have heard Venan was arrested for Kharid’s murder.”
Faro sucked in a sharp breath, and then let it out in a whistle. “I did,” he told me. “I did not think Venan did it, though. He was always too loyal.”
“He did not murder Kharid, but he did kill him, and now he has asked that his trial is moved up because he wishes to enter a plea of guilty and serve whatever sentence is put down upon him. I cannot let that happen,” I explained. I did not want to go into too much detail because, no matter how quietly I talked, there were always open ears in the lair. “Has Feq been home recently?”
“He is due to return the day after tomorrow,” Faro said. “Are you going to be around? I heard you were transferred out of Ka-lik’et.”
“I was,” I confirmed. I glanced at Phoebe, willing her silently not to say anything about where we had been placed or why. She remained quiet. I looked back to Faro. “Temporarily, that is, but I am afraid I will not be able to wait two days for Feq to return. Would you be able to give him a message for me?”
Taking a large drink from his cup, Faro nodded. A bit of liquid spilled from the lip down his chin, but he did not seem to notice, or else he did not care. “Anything you need. Could only imagine if it were Feq in that position. He is my son, though, and you have always had a rather contentious relationship with your brother, so I suppose there is a difference.”
I ignored the analysis and said, “I need you to tell him to rescind his request. He cannot. We are compiling evidence in his favor. He does not deserve to be locked up or for the rest of his life or put to death for what transpired.”
“Evidence?” Faro squinted at me through intoxicated eyes. “What kind of evidence? The Council has been to the Palace six times over since the Elder died. Any evidence will be gone by now.”
“It is a different kind of evidence,” I said, “to prove Venan acted accordingly to the situation.”
“Well, I will be glad to pass that along to Feq, but do you not think you are wasting your time? Venan will probably want to suffer the worst for what happened, even if it was not his fault.”
“It does not matter what he wants. He will ruin himself over something he did not do,” I said fiercely.
Faro snorted. “You need not try to convince me, boy. Just wanted to make sure you had good reason to take the risk of coming back here in the first place. Felt right glad when you decided to get your nose clean and stay out of these criminal affairs.”
“You may have been the only one,” I remarked wryly.
“Terrik?” He snorted again and took another deep swig before saying, “Terrik is nothing more than a bully. There is a reason he has to work so hard to keep his control over his minions. A good leader is respected.”
Phoebe nodded vigorously in agreement, and I grinned at her. She may have feared Terrik, but she was proving herself to be braver than I expected. What was more, she did not need to speak to demonstrate she had a backbone. It was visible in her posture, the tilt of her chin, and the revulsion she had shown on her face when Terrik had addressed her. I could not have been more proud of her if I tried.
“Thank you for doing this favor, Faro,” I said gratefully. “I would have had to resort to some more dangerous measures, had you not been here.”
He waved a hand. “You know where I live,” he said. “Come by anytime, especially if you do not want to bring your human around that poor excuse.” He waved his hand again, but this time in Terrik’s direction.
“Thank you,” I said again. I meant it. I had always liked Faro, and while many of the Ka-lik’et citizens thought him nothing more than a waste of space and an embarrassment of an A’li-uud, I had actually always thought him to be too moral to be spending as much time as he did in the lair.
I got to my feet, and I offered a hand to Phoebe. She took it and slid from her own chair, and I watched the silks pool around her feet. In the blue light, she almost looked a little bit like an A’li-uud as her pale skin absorbed the watery hue, and her fair hair was washed out to a colorless white. She still looked amazing, but I realized I preferred her above ground where she was definitively human.
We made our way across the room again, and I was glad to see Terrik had vacated his seat. Just as we were about to reach the exit, however, he appeared, and behind him were three henchmen.
“Leaving so soon?” he asked. He was smiling, his leer pulling his lips back over his teeth and where his teeth should have been. “I think we still have some talking to do.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Phoebe
Terrik was burly, but the A’li-uud behind him were downright huge. Their muscles bulged so thickly that I could see the veins pulsating through their royal blue skin, purplish lines protruding, and their shoulders were so wide that one of them could have stood behind Terrik and completely overshadow him. I felt an immediate desire to run, just to turn around and take off at a sprint and hope that I could find my way out of the tunnels. But that wasn't an option. Even if I managed to get a head start, there was no way I could outrun one, let alone four, violent A’li-uud.
Zuran looked meaner than I had ever seen him. He looked fierce normally, as all A’li-uud did, but I couldn't see his pupils at all as they had dilated into minuscule pinpricks in the center of his white irises. His fists were clenched, and his own muscles were beginning to bulge with veins. He was even swaying slightly on the spot as if he was considering hauling off and punching Terrik in the face. I hoped he wouldn't. I didn't know a lot about what was going on, but I did know enough to realize that wouldn't end well for either of us.
“I do not believe there's anything to talk about, Terrik,” Zuran said. “As I mentioned before, I am on time-sensitive business.”
“You have had your conversation,” Terrik retorted. “It is now time we have ours.”
Zuran placed an arm around my waist and pulled me so close to him that my bare skin poking through the holes in the
silks pressed flat against his torso and grew warm instantly. His fingers dug into my side as if they still wanted to be a fist. I grimaced, but he did not loosen his hold.
“May I ask what you would like to discuss?” Zuran asked through nearly closed lips.
Terrik continued to leer. “We had an agreement, and, if I recall, that agreement required weekly delivery from you.”
“There was nothing to deliver. There was no news.”
“We needed the key to the vault.” Terrik cocked his head. “Or did you forget? Were you too caught up in becoming a good little warrior than remaining loyal to the people that took care of you from the time you left home?”
“You never took care of me,” Zuran snarled. His fingers now clawed so deep that I was certain I was going to have nail marks. “I had to learn how to take care of myself. Everything you taught me only led to more trouble.”
He was inching backward, bit by bit, and I wouldn't have realized if I didn’t stumble with the sudden distance between us. I took a step back, but it was not unnoticed by Terrik. He closed the space that Zuran had made. “If that is truly how you feel, maybe our discussion should be going rather differently.”
“I feel we need not be having a discussion at all,” shot back Zuran.
“Well, unfortunately, you have never held the position of authority in which you had the right to make that decision.” Terrik grinned broadly. “I do.”
Zuran was silent for a moment. His fingers repeatedly squeezed my side like he was thinking with his hand. Terrik waited, which surprised me because I did not take him for a patient person. Finally, Zuran nodded.
“May I have a moment?” he asked.
Terrik quirked a brow. “Quickly,” he said.
Zuran turned me around and walked several steps away from Terrik and his band of hooligans. He leaned very close to me so only I could hear him. “When I say run,” he whispered, “run.”
“What?” I exclaimed as quietly as I could. “You don't seriously think we can outrun them?”
“No, I do not.” He darted a look over his shoulder at them to ensure they were not listening, and then looked back at me. “But I do not intend to outrun them.”
I realized then what he meant. He wanted me to run while he fought. Or else he was going to go with them willingly, and that meant I probably wouldn't see him again. In fact, either way, there was a good chance I wouldn't see him again. I shook my head wildly.
“No,” I protested. “No, no, no.”
“Phoebe,” he muttered urgently. “This is not a time to argue. The most important thing is getting you out of here to safety.”
“I don't even know where I'm going. I'll end up lost in the tunnels.”
“Better lost in the tunnels than Terrik’s prisoner.” He cupped my chin in his hand, and he leaned down. When his lips met mine, I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and desire, but I also felt a sense of foreboding. It was like this was our kiss goodbye, and I didn't want it to stop. He pulled back, though, and brushed a stray strand of hair from my forehead. “Try to remember how we came in. If you make it out, go to the colony. Do not stay on the walk. If you get lost, I will find you.”
“What if you can't?” I whispered. I suddenly felt near tears.
“Terrik has never bested me before,” he whispered reassuringly. “And I have done much training since the last time we sparred.”
“There’s four of them. There's one of you. This isn't difficult math.”
“I am asking you to do what I need you to do in order to stay safe,” he intoned firmly. “This is not only for your safety, Phoebe. This is also for mine. I cannot be distracted by my need to protect you.”
It was the first time he had voiced anything about needing to protect me, but I understood what he meant. If I were there, he would not be focused. He would be too caught up in making sure I wasn't hurt, taken, or killed. His best chance at survival, as much as I didn't want to admit it, was without me.
“Okay,” I agreed willingly.
He kissed me again and then turned around. Terrik was still there waiting.
“Have you finished?” he asked snidely.
“Yes,” Zuran replied. “I am ready.”
“I am pleased to have your human join us,” Terrik remarked, refocusing his seedy eyes on me.
“Oh, no,” Zuran interjected. “She will not be staying.”
Terrik’s lip curled. The same brow he lifted earlier lifted again, and his eyes flashed. “I do believe she will, Zuran. I think it is time I learn a little something about humans.”
“I said no,” Zuran repeated. Then, so loudly the walls of the lair practically shook, he yelled, “Run!”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Zuran
Phoebe was gone in a flash of purple. The silks flew out behind her like smoke, swirling through the air and billowing in puffs. She streaked past the guards protecting the entrance to the lair so quickly that all four of them whipped around to look at us in confusion. I could hear the soles of her sandals slapping on the stone ground through the tunnel, echoing back to me and reassuring me that she was safe, at least for that moment.
Terrik bellowed a wordless shout, and I whirled around to face him just as he lunged. My daggers were out of their sheaths in a split second. The crimson geodes glowed red light into my palms, reminding me of blood, and I brought the blade slashing downwards in a cross. Terrik bellowed again, this time in pain, as he was sliced down his face exactly where his scar already was.
The A’li-uud behind him were on me faster than I could react. I felt a blade that was not mine slip across my neck, pressing into my skin and creating warmth where it drew blood. An arm was around me, holding me up against a beefy form, and I heard a voice in my ear speaking A’li-uud. “Move, and I will take your head off.”
I had never been good at following orders.
I swung my right arm up, and my fist connected with a temple. The knife in that hand met resistance against what was presumably a skull, and the henchmen shouted in my ear. He shoved me forward, knocking me onto my knees, but I rolled and was back on my feet in the blink of an eye. Terrik was bearing down on me now. The other two, both armed with thick knives identical to Terrik’s, advanced. If I was going to survive this, it would be a miracle.
Terrik jabbed forward, shoving the tip of his blade at me as if to spear me through the gut. I jumped back, but my heel caught on an uneven brick, and I fell again. This time, I was not so fast. I had only made it into a crouch before a body was thrown on top of me, crushing me to the floor beneath and driving every ounce of oxygen out of my lungs. It was the A’li-uud I had wounded. Dark blood was pouring from somewhere on the back of his head, dripping in rivulets down his neck and around to his front as he hovered over me. A droplet splashed on my cheek, staining me with his injury. He raised his knife, poising it over his head, and brought it careening down through the air toward my eye.
I did the only thing I could do: I stabbed. I brought my arm around and sent my dagger plunging into his spine, just above his tailbone. He fell forward onto me with the impact, and his roar of pain deafened me until the only thing I could hear was an incessant ringing. I pushed him off, sending his knife clattering across the floor, but was unable to stand before Terrik’s foot slammed into my ribs.
Again, all of the breath was knocked out of me. I grunted and tried to roll away before a second kick could be landed. I was not successful. His two cronies circled me, and one reached down and snagged his hand into my hair. He pulled, wrenching me up to my feet by my scalp, and I yelled in agony. Now standing, I was able to see Terrik’s face clearly. He was furious, absolutely seething, but there was still a measure of undeniable enjoyment hidden beneath his marred mask. The slices where my blades had cut into his face were thin and not nearly as deep as I would have liked, but beads of blood had formed along their trails and drizzled down to his chin. He looked more fearsome than I had ever seen him before.
“And here I
thought you may have gotten wiser with age,” he remarked sarcastically. He was no longer speaking English, which made him more intimidating, but I was not frightened of him. On the contrary, I was just as angry as he was.
“I did,” I spat. “I was wise enough to walk away from the likes of you.”
“Not this time,” he jeered. He drew his arm back, wielding his knife, and sent it sailing down before me. The blade licked my face, stroking deep past my eye and down my cheek. I felt no pain until he pulled it away, and then I was riddled with it. I shouted, my face burning. I did not know if there was blood falling from the wound or even if he had just hit me and I had been so dazed I had thought he had cut me, but it mattered not. I was blinded with the agony.
“An eye for an eye,” he said delightedly. His grotesque mouth was twisted with glee, and I knew then that he had indeed cut me. I would now bear a scar like his.
Unless he killed me.
He drew the knife back again, but a hand suddenly appeared around his wrist. Terrik spun on the spot to see who interfered. Faro jammed his elbow into Terrik’s jaw. I heard a crack, but my eyes were still too blurry with pain to see clearly. I would not have known it was Faro who came to my rescue if I had not smelled the drink that accompanied him.
They scuffled, battling over the knife. The two cohorts holding me were shouting to Terrik, asking for direction. Terrik was too distracted to respond. He battled with Faro in a desperate attempt to keep his weapon, but the older, more experienced A’li-uud had the advantage.
“Let. Him. Go.”
Faro’s voice was deep, unyielding. He sounded more commanding than Terrik ever had, and I realized he had managed to wrangle the knife away and was now wielding it at Terrik’s throat.
Zuran: A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 6 Page 15