by Keri Kruspe
Fylgir was a half a foot taller than Ki. A small pyramid-shaped head sat on top of a hefty body with a bulbous chin that drooped over thick jowls and neck. Out of the pointy-head sprouted bright butterscotch feathers that matched a honey-feathered eyebrow. A heavy lid blinked over his one lemon iris and thin, black vertical pupil. He wore his normal canary/chartreuse-striped kilt that reached to his knees, a section draped over his right shoulder. A tuff of canary-yellow feathers covered his split-toed feet that were dusty from running along the woodland floor.
In his two thick fingers on each hand, he carried a regulation blaster, ready to discharge in U’unk’s direction.
“No down put!” Hayami waved an arm to stop Fylgir from shooting. “Fun see good now!”
With a growl, Fylgir did as she requested and lowered his beefy arms.
Grirryrth pulled his head back to get a better view of the small group. Ki had a sneaky suspicion he knew what Hayami had done to the former Chancellor. He’d seen the effects of the Void Bolt when one had attacked his friend D’zia. It caused complete memory loss, the victim retaining only the basic intelligence of a small child. Once administered, the being lost not only their memory but became a blank slate open to manipulation by others.
Fortunately for D’zia, Ki happen to be available to administer the antidote within a short period. He doubted U’unk would have the same opportunity. Even though U’unk’s back was to him, Ki could tell when the mind wipe succeeded. The big body slackened, and he dropped the disintegration blaster to the forest floor.
“See you!” Hayami grabbed Fylgir’s arm and yanked it in her excitement. “More yes buy keep to.”
Ki shuddered thinking of Hayami having something as lethal as a Void Bolt. While she had “retired” from the mercenary life, she was still one of the most bloodthirsty individuals he’d ever met. Without Fylgir’s steady influence, he’d hate to imagine her running around and using the galaxy as her playground.
“Yous sits.” Fylgir told the lumbering U’unk weaving on his feet.
The large male complied with a flop without a comment.
Ki wanted to change forms with Grirryrth, but the big baby whimpered in Hayami’s direction for attention.
“Beautiful oh’s dragon my is I.” Hayami pushed U’unk’s shoulder aside to rush to Grirryrth and Ki. Without fear, the Merkaba ran to the massive dragon who lowered his snout for her caresses. She rubbed the sensitive scales between his eyes with one set of hands while the other scratched his lower jaw.
Grirryrth’s bottom foot twitched with each scratch of her strong nails down his throat.
“Him missed, yes one lovely,” she crooned.
Grirryrth lapped up the attention like a dragon just hatched.
Damn, Grirryrth. Ki groused. Have some dignity, will you?
The only answer was a rumbling purr as he butted his head into her stroking hands.
A loud female moan interrupted Grirryrth’s reunion with Hayami. The dragon pulled back and changed into Ki’s form between one thought and the next.
Ki clasped Hayami’s upper arms to mutter, “Thank you” before he rushed around to get to Sherri, who sat up and rubbed her throat with a slight cough.
“Are you all right?” He stooped and put a hand on her shoulder while she weaved and bobbed. He gazed into her exotic brown eyes while she leaned on her elbows on the pine-needle forest floor. Her breath evened out and her color looked good, except for the purple bruises encircling her throat.
Bruises in the shape of U’unk’s large fingers.
Ki’s body stilled. His vision pinpointed…eliminate the one who did this to her.
“I-I’m okay. I guess.” Sherri raised her head and her eyes rounded. “Wait! What are you doing here?” Those striking single-colored orbs narrowed as her brows snapped together. “Let go of me.” With a jerk, her shoulders swiveled to make him release her.
He did, not because of her actions but because when she spoke, it forced him to abandon his murderous plans for U’unk.
The muscles along his neck relaxed. Her obstinate attitude stroked and settled something deep within. A broad smile broke as he stood with arms crossed and a wide stance. He wanted to strut and show off his female. This brilliant woman faced death and came out fighting. Instead of cowering in fear, she attacked the male she believed wounded her.
Not that she was wrong.
Too bad for her he didn’t care she was furious at him. Ki was more than grateful she was alive and away from the Chancellor. She could be mad all she wanted—the better to savor the coming battle before they both surrendered to each other.
Mate, purred the treacherous male dragon. We will claim now.
Ki ignored the smug, self-righteous statement. He was more worried about Sherri than giving in to anything Grirryrth had to say. That would come later.
Sherri rose and didn’t glance his way as she marched toward the sitting U’unk.
For the first time, Ki saw the effects of the Void Bolt on the large Zerin.
U’unk sat on the moist forest floor with legs splayed and hands hanging at his side. His slack face tilted to the right, a slight angle that added to the blank expression. The older Zerin’s alien, black irises were unfocused and fixated in one place. A pool of drool was threatening to spill down his overlong thin beard and mustache.
Sherri swung a leg back to kick the prone male.
Ki bolted over and grabbed her off the ground and swept her away.
“Let me go, you overgrown oaf!” She kicked and pummeled his thighs twice with her bare heels. Thank the Goddess she didn’t have any shoes on or she’d have done serious damage. “I’m gonna kick his ass!”
“No, you’ll only hurt your feet.” With a sigh, Ki secured a hold around her waist. Partly to keep her in place and partly to snuggle that luscious frame into his. Taking in a deep breath, he savored her unique scent. Yes, there it was—the aroma of sweet, feminine musk that was all Sherri.
Sherri continued to struggle.
With a grunt, Ki gave her a quick nip at her tender earlobe.
She went ramrod straight and stabbed a lethal glare his way.
Damn, she made him hard.
Grirryrth purred in agreement.
“Put me down.” She gave a whispered command.
Ki didn’t want to, but relinquished his hold. With slow, careful movements, he remained mindful of the sharp needles and rocks on the ground under her naked feet. With a lopsided grin, he stepped back and raised his arms in a sign of surrender.
She returned the gesture by displaying an upright middle finger.
He wasn’t entirely sure, but he surmised he had just been insulted.
“M’alalu! Zerin my own!” Hayami waved her twin sets of arms to get his attention. “See come did I!” Her upper limbs swept to display the silent U’unk.
Hayami always made him smile with her childlike wonder at the universe, even those times when she dismembered an enemy with her bare hands.
She did everything with such gusto and joy.
“Yes, Hayami. I see.” With his palms on his hips he stood between her and the slack Zerin.
Sherri walked closer and stopped next to him. “Is that Shysutá’s sister, Hayami?”
“Yes.” A quick nod as he kept part of his attention on her and part on the drama in front of him. “What are you going to do with him?” He addressed the question to Hayami.
She fluttered an upper right palm in a dismissive gesture. “Bah, oh. Don’t him want. Weapon have I must.” The effervescence of her champagne-pink eyes gleamed with avarice as her lower hands clapped. “Use, much yes.”
“Yeah, but what about him?” Sherri pointed a finger at U’unk while her other hand fisted on her slim feminine hip.
“It is my duty to take care of him.” An unfamiliar male voice spoke.
Ki pushed Sherri behind him at the first sound of an unknown male coming out of the forest.
“I am, after all, his twin brother.” Lok walked int
o the clearing from the same direction that Fylgir did.
While still appearing gaunt and delicate, he looked better than the last time Ki had seen him. One of the major differences between the twins was that Lok had midnight-black hair, liberally sprinkled with butterscotch strands that denoted his advanced age. A long braid hung in a single rope down his back and reached past his ankles. There wasn’t a small warrior plait hooked behind his ear as was the Zerin tradition. His gaunt face was free of facial hair except for an unshaven scruff across his jawline and upper lip.
Dual-colored irises, normal for a Zerin, stared back. A deep-jade inner circle with a lighter apple-green outer ring surrounded the iridescent green pupil. The emotions behind those expressive orbs rolled in waves of despair and resignation.
Moved by the profound sorrow coming from the male, Ki’s mouth tightened. No one should have to endure such misery.
The older male gave a respectable bow in greeting. He wore a traditional soft gray tunic and loose pants tucked into black boots.
“We have not been officially introduced.” Ki met him halfway. With an inborn instinct, he recognized a comrade-in-arms.
The gaunt male gave a wan smile. “My name is T’terlok Shon U’unk.” He nodded toward U’unk. “As I said, I am the older twin brother of Shon T’terlok U’unk.”
Ki reached over to embrace the male’s forearms in a traditional Zerin greeting between warriors. “I am M’alalu Ki E’eur.” With a gentle squeeze, he let go. “I saw you when you first came to Earth, but where were you before that?”
The male’s mouth tightened. “Shon kept me a prisoner in the palace dungeons for the last fifty years. Since his arrest I’ve been in the care of Councilman Aine.” Going to his sitting brother, he placed an open palm on the bald head. “I understand the weapon used against him has completely wiped his memory.” He glanced nervously around the clearing. “Is that true?” With trembling fingers, he tilted his brother’s face to his. “Do you know who I am?” His eyes darted over U’unk as if to find reassurance.
U’unk blinked before he answered. “No?” His face scrunched. “Should I? I don’t think I do. Who are you?”
The soft note to his voice surprised Ki. He’d only heard the Chancellor speak with flat inflections.
“I am your brother, Lok.” The thin male squatted to sit on his heels. “Would you like to go home with me?”
U’unk broke into a wide smile. “Oh, yes! That would be wonderful!” He spoke as if he were a small child, seeking approval. “Can we have sweet cakes? I’m starving.”
“Now wait just a damn minute…” Sherri pushed past Ki.
He grabbed her arm to pull her back. “Let me.” He waited for her nod of agreement before he approached the sitting males.
“Lok.” When he got the male’s attention, he continued. “While I understand the family bond you two have, you must understand the crimes U’unk has committed against the galaxy. He has to answer for what he’s done. The ruling nine systems need to conduct a trial and decide his fate.”
The other male shook his head and glanced at Hayami. Without another word, Lok resumed a nonsensical conversation with his brother.
Confused, Ki blinked toward Hayami for clarification.
Sherri snorted.
“Worries M’alalu not.” Hayami opened her lower left palm to activate a communication vid.
A holographic image of Aine, the Lead Councilman of Zerin and the Head of the Special Trial Council, stood next to Triad Associates Kasdeja and Tuhon on the forest ground.
“Greetings.” Aine’s aged face was firm with a stern expression. “If you’ve received this message, Chancellor U’unk has been successfully reacquired and his memory wiped. The Triad has decreed that in the best interest of the citizens of the Federation Consortium, Chancellor U’unk will ‘disappear’ with Hayami and T’terlok amid rumors of his death.” The Onoel female and Runihura male nodded in agreement.
A strangled choke came from Sherri next to him.
Ki had to admit, this was bureaucracy at its finest.
Aine continued. “While the honorable T’terlok has suffered at the hands of his brother for the last fifty years, he has pleaded for leniency and requested to be appointed U’unk’s caretaker. In the interests of preventing civil unrest and the potential galactic uprising a trial might generate, we of the Special Triad Council have granted his request.”
“Let’s not forget the disgusting Erkeks and Friebbigh who helped him escape in the first place.” Triad Associate Tuhon spat his displeasure as his obsidian face twisted in anger. “This way, if they all think he’s dead they won’t go looking for him.”
Triad Associate Kasdeja continued as her hands fluttered when she spoke. “We made an agreement with Hayami that she not disclose his whereabouts to anyone, including the Special Triad Council. They are allowed to leave unimpeded and without delay.” Her voice was firm within the small blue-and-orange feathers lying flat on her stern face.
At that final warning, the transmission ended.
“This is such bullshit,” Sherri mumbled.
Ki agreed, but they didn’t have a choice except obey the Special Triad.
Hayami closed her hand when the vid finished. “Go Flygir times to.” She pointed her pink face to the towering yellow Orisha. The lumbering male clumped over to the sitting brothers, now engrossed in a low conversation. “Okays yous, lets gos.” He tapped Lok’s shoulder with a thick finger.
“What? Oh yes, of course.” Lok placed a hand on U’unk’s arm. “Are you ready to go home, Shon?”
“Will there be sweet cakes there?” Shon U’unk kept the simple innocence of a small child. “Can we play Jûn-Jûn after we eat?” He stood with Lok’s help and bounced in excitement as his large hands clapped. “That would be so fun!”
Lok nodded. “Yes, brother, we will do that.” He grasped the top of U’unk’s arm to lead him out of the clearing. “But first we have to go to Hayami’s ship to take us home.”
“Ooh, the pretty pink lady?” U’unk’s guileless eyes swung to Hayami with a wide smile. “We’re going with her? I like her.” He nodded his bald head as his long facial hair swayed. With a shiver on his large frame, he rubbed his arms under the bell-shaped sleeves of the burgundy robe he wore. “I’m cold.” A quivering chin went with the innocent gaze.
“Yes, let’s get you someplace comfortable. Come, we’ll find some of those cakes you want.” Lok led his eager brother away.
It was a tender moment when U’unk grabbed his brother’s hand like a trusting child.
Ki still wanted to blast his head off rather than watch him walk away. Even when the two males disappeared around a copse of trees, the temptation lingered. He mentally shrugged. Just as well, he had something more important to take care of.
Yes, mate.
“M’alalu.” Hayami caught his attention. “Have please Shysutá ship mine to? Then you come AoA you need? Out Shysutá leader new must?” Her bright pink lips curved in a mischievous smile that matched the pulsating mirth in her expressive eyes.
“Elemi, please transport Shysutá to Hayami’s ship.” After his command to the ship, Ki narrowed a glare at Hayami. Little instigator. He appreciated her offer for him to take over as the head of the AoA since Shysutá was injured, but he’d come there for only one reason.
Sherri.
His reason stiffened beside him. “Well, now that that’s over, I’ve got to get going.” Sherri headed back to her house.
Ki promised himself not to laugh as she balanced on her toes to navigate through the forest floor with bare feet. Warmth spread through his chest as he appreciated the sway of her hips in the loose pants she wore as she tiptoed through the sharp objects on the forest floor.
“Yous goin’ or whats?” Flygir demanded with a lumbering hand on Hayami’s shoulder.
Whenever the two stood together, the clash of their pink and yellow colors threatened to give Ki a massive headache. “No, thanks.” He shook his head with
a wide smile before turning to follow the obstinate human. “I’ve got better things to do.” Damn, it was good to have a clear goal again. Hayami’s twinkling laughter faded as he caught up with Sherri and swooped her in his arms. Her warmth settled over him as her elusive scent calmed something deep inside.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sherri punched a fist at the top of his chest.
He gave a slight grunt to let her know he was paying attention.
“Put me down right now!”
“In due time, yofie-na.” He nuzzled her fragrant neck without breaking his stride. With a gentle lick, he savored her ambrosial flavor of her soft skin. Soon she’d be panting cries of pleasure underneath him as he plunged into her hot, wet…
Blinding pain caused Ki to stop and grab the ear Sherri’s teeth had in a firm hold. Fruking female bit hard enough blood seeped. “Goddess damn it, female! What was that for?”
Chapter Twelve
SHERRI
Sherri fumed. Asshole! Who did he think he was, anyway? Picking her up like a sack of groceries with eyes hot enough to melt off a girl’s panties. Not to mention the heady fragrance coming from him in intoxicating waves.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
So what if she’d decided to go after him? So what if he came to her rescue like a freaking knight in shining armor, saving her from the evil villain? So what if the mere sight of his massive, gorgeous, pearlescent body made her want to jump his happy ass?
His smoldering, possessive gaze pissed her off. No way would she let an overgrown, alpha, too-smug-in-his-own-masculinity male take her for granted. If he knew what was good for him, he’d back the hell off right now! Who could blame her for administering a little physical pain so he’d get the hint? Maybe she shouldn’t be proud she had to resort to primitive tactics, but the lumbering giant refused to listen.
That little snip of pain did the trick. Big baby, he didn’t have to yell like that. Thank God he didn’t drop her, but she had to do something to make him pay attention to her demands to put her down. His masculine mojo squirreled her insides, and it was hard to think. They were close enough to the house she wouldn’t have to walk far on the rough forest floor. She’d gather whatever dignity she had left and be done with it.