Her Cold-Blooded Master

by Lea Linnett

  “What’s up?” asked Ellie, low enough that Scott’s female fan couldn’t hear from where she’d rejoined her friend ahead of them.

  Scott’s expression shuttered. “S’nothing,” he mumbled. “I think I drank too much. ’M starin’ at nothing.”

  They filed into a small, combined living room and kitchenette, and Ellie was surprised to see a newcomer already waiting for them, a box of yet more alcohol sitting on the table before her. She couldn’t see much beyond the fact that it was a human woman at first as Cara moved in to hug her, but then she stepped back, revealing her face.

  It was the girl from behind the bar, Ellie realized. She was wearing the same levekk-style uniform from before, all geometric shapes and dark piping, but her short hair was messy now, as if she’d run her hands through it at the first chance she’d gotten. With her hair now out of her face, Ellie could see three jagged scars beneath her left eye, slashing horizontally over her cheek. Suddenly, her strange hair-style from earlier made more sense.

  She was no longer glaring though, instead grinning at Cara as they shared a private word.

  “Cool, so this is Taz, my sister,” said Cara as she turned to address the room. “She brought the booze, so everyone be nice.”

  Taz raised a hand, her grin widening, but Ellie frowned. For sisters, Cara and Taz didn’t look much alike. Where Cara had a small, upturned nose, Taz’s was long and straight. While Cara’s eyes were round, Taz’s were more almond-shaped, and her skin was a few shades darker.

  Scott and Ellie each exchanged a look but took seats around the table anyway. Soon, the bottles of liquor on the table eased any uncertainty about their newcomer, and Taz was smiling and joking along with the rest of them.

  “So where are you from, Taz?” someone asked.

  She shrugged. “Grew up in the city with Cara. Not under the domes though—north-west of here. We were Harbor Rats, weren’t we, Cara?”

  “You were what?” Ellie asked, tilting her head.

  Eyes so dark they were almost black turned on her, but Taz’s tone was cheerful. “We lived under the New Chicago Space Harbor—you know, that massive stratosport north of the domes?”

  Ellie did know it. The sky-scraping, multi-leveled construction was a permanent fixture on the horizon, and it was especially clear in Manufacturing, where the buildings were short and squat in many places.

  “Anyway, me and Cara, like a lot of kids up there, got real good at filching things off the transports and freighters.”

  Cara scoffed. “You were good at filching things. I just tagged along.”

  Taz grinned, her face softening as she gazed at her sister. “Don’t try and pin that shit on me! You were an accomplice!”

  Ellie looked between the two women in wonder, losing track of the rest of the conversation. Cara was so different with Taz around. When Ellie first met her, Cara came across as a nosy gossip, but now that Taz was in the room with her, she was almost the reserved one. All eyes were drawn to Taz, and while Cara was usually the one demanding people’s attention, she seemed happy to relax into the background when Taz was present.

  Ellie wondered if she changed that much when Lena was around.

  She gripped her drink a little tighter, an old pain welling up inside her. She hadn’t seen Lena in over two months, and three months before that while her sister was locked in prison. The precious twenty-four hours that she’d had with her wasn’t nearly enough, and suddenly she missed her with a breath-taking intensity. She didn’t even know where Lena and Kormak had gone—off-planet, she assumed, what with the way her sister had been talking. But she had no way of knowing if they were safe.

  She sighed. Lena would have known what to do about Helik. They hadn’t been the type of sisters to sit around and discuss boys when they were younger—Lena had barely seemed interested in the topic—but Ellie knew that she would have had some advice for her. And post-Kormak, it might have even been encouraging. At least, she hoped so.

  But who was she kidding? Lena’s primary concern was always whether Ellie was fucking up her life in some way, and with a sinking feeling, she wondered if Helik really was exactly what she’d been warning her against. Lena never wanted her to go to the city. She wanted Ellie to stay safe in Rockford with her needles and thread. She was convinced that only the worst could happen to her if she left.

  And what had Ellie gone and done? Only entangled herself in the riskiest of relationships with one of the most public figures in New Chicago.

  Lena’s advice would probably be to go home to Augusta where everything was safe. Or at least to stop seeing Helik. Maybe she’d be right, Ellie mused. Ellie wasn’t just endangering herself; Helik was obviously suffering for it. Maybe she should give it all up.

  But that’s not what Lena had done. Lena had chosen to leave the planet entirely just to be with the tight-lipped, scowling levekk she’d brought home.

  And Ellie didn’t want to give Helik up. Why should she have to?

  Anger boiled within her, but beneath it, a tiny splinter of cold fear burrowed deep. Because without Lena, without Augusta, and without Helik, what exactly did she have?

  “Ellie, you okay?”

  Ellie shot up in her chair, her eyes wide, to find Scott watching her, his gaze guarded. Beside him, the hanger-on was back, and she looked annoyed to be sharing Scott’s attention again.

  Ellie blinked away the haze of angry thoughts, shaking her head a little. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. Maybe I drank too much, too.”

  Scott nodded, smiling softly.

  Around them, the conversation suddenly grew in volume, and Ellie began paying attention just in time to hear Cara say, “Do you know what it’s like in the pleasure quarters?”

  Ellie sat back in her chair, searching the room for whoever garnered that response with wide eyes. Her gaze landed on a pale human that she sort of recognized, the one she and Cara had dubbed ‘Buzzcut.’ “No,” he answered, haltingly, as if he’d been called out on something. “I’m from Agriculture…”

  Beside Cara, Taz scoffed. “Well, closer to the city, where the Districts get all blurry, there are levekk buying sub-species left and right.”

  Ellie looked around, alarmed. How the hell had they ended up on that topic?

  “You’re joking, right?” Buzzcut asked, his hairless brow creasing like paper. “I don’t get it. Who looks at a cicarian and goes, ‘Ooh yeah, bugs really rev my motor’?”

  There was a gentle ripple of laughter around the table, but Ellie felt sick. And from their twin disapproving expressions, Cara and Taz felt similar.

  “You know they go after humans too, right?”

  Buzzcut’s nervous grin slipped right off his face. “Wait, what?”

  Taz threw her hands in the air. “Jeez, how sheltered is Agriculture?”

  “Surely that’s just rumor, though,” Buzzcut persisted, looking around for support. “Wouldn’t the authorities stamp that out pretty quick? In Agriculture they don’t let sub-species within fifty feet of a levekk…”

  “Holy crap, you’re like another breed. Shit’s different outside of Agriculture, buddy,” Taz snapped, crossing her arms.

  “Didn’t they just let a levekk escape from prison? Like, two months ago?” someone asked, and Ellie stiffened, her fingers turning to claws around her drink.

  “Oh, I heard about that,” Anna piped up, her bright voice singing out over the room from where she perched on a stool in the corner. “Didn’t he kill a bunch of people?”

  “Humans. He killed humans,” Cara spat. “Stole a girl on his way out of Kharon Penitentiary, too. I don’t like her chances.”

  Ellie’s hands began to shake, and she quickly pulled them beneath the table, her lips shut tight against the sudden chattering of her teeth. They were talking about Lena.

  “That’s terrifying. Isn’t Kharon out in the desert?” asked the girl at Scott’s side. “At least when I’m home alone with my boss, I know there’s someone downstairs. Out there, she’d have had no one.”
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  “They never caught him either. Who knows what happened to her.”

  “Maybe she went willingly?” Ellie’s mouth spilled the words before her common sense could catch up, and she froze solid when ten or so pairs of eyes swiveled to look at her. “I mean, it’s not like every levekk is a monster.”

  “But he was,” Cara argued. “He massacred almost fifty people. He should have rotted in prison.”

  Ellie averted her gaze. She’d met Kormak, and ‘monster’ was the last word she’d use. Monsters didn’t look at people the way Kormak had looked at her sister. That had been the first time Ellie entertained the notion that the levekk might not all be the terrifying beasts Augusta made them out to be, and she’d never forget it.

  “Who would go willingly, anyway? I’d sooner fuck one of this dude’s ‘bugs’ than a levekk,” said Taz, gesturing vaguely at Buzzcut.

  The table went silent, until finally the girl on Scott’s arm spoke up. “I’d certainly never touch one. All those scales? Who needs a levekk when there are plenty of good-looking humans to go around?” Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw the girl cuddle up just a little closer to Scott, who remained still.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty terrifying,” said Anna from her corner, shaking her head emphatically.

  “Let’s hear from one of the men,” Cara said quietly. Her gaze flicked to Scott. “What do you think?”

  Scott’s frown, a permanent fixture since the conversation began, deepened. “I think it’s pretty gross. Wouldn’t do anything for me.” As he spoke, one of his hands came up to smooth gently over the arm of the girl clutching at him, and she squeaked happily. “But I also couldn’t give two shits what anyone else does with their time, to be honest.”

  Cara glared. “You should care. Anyone who lays with a levekk willingly is part of the problem, if you ask me.”

  Taz nodded, leaning against her sister until their shoulders touched. “Agreed. We should be standing up to those assholes.”

  “What do you mean?” someone asked.

  She brushed a hand through her short hair, and her scars shined in the light. “Every day that we sit back and let bullshit happen to us is another day that we let them subjugate us. Every time you put your head down and pick through your field in hope of a new paycheck or a food ration or whatever the fuck they give you in Agriculture, you’re saying, ‘I’m okay with what you do to me,’” she said in Buzzcut’s direction. “And it’s not okay.”

  “But what do you expect us to do?” he asked. “We need that paycheck to survive.”

  “We need to push back,” said Taz. “Rock the boat. Demand more.”

  “Maybe we don’t.” That was Anna. “Look at all of us here. We’re part of a program that’s gonna change lives, right? They’re already starting to value our work.”

  Cara scoffed. “You think the measly crumbs we get is anything compared to how the levekk live? To how Helik Kaan’s personal assistant lives, even? They dress it up, they ‘let’ us live in their swanky homes, but none of it is actually ours. Do you think even half of us will still be working for these assholes in a month’s time?”

  “They’ll get their good press and then flush you all down the toilet,” Taz added.

  “I don’t think it’s like that,” Ellie cut in, her frown fierce. She knew she should hold her tongue, she knew she should stay silent, but she couldn’t. “I work with Hel— Mr. Kaan. He really cares.”

  “If you think that, you’re delusional,” Cara snapped, putting a hand on the table. “Just watch. When push comes to shove, he won’t stand up for you or for any of us. At best, we’re pawns that he can use to further his career, and at worst, he’ll sell us to the highest bidder at the end.”

  Ellie grit her teeth, her anger from earlier coiling hot and tight in her belly, but before she could open her mouth to argue, Scott was leaning forward, his expression thunderous. “Why are you even here then, Cara?” he snarled. “Why join the program if you don’t believe in what it stands for?”

  “Because I wanted to see for myself,” she barked. “And you know what I see? I see people turning up with black eyes. I see people being screamed at for not turning a bed sheet down at the perfect angle. And I bet there’s worse going on as well.”

  She sat back, glaring at Scott. Behind her, Anna looked on with wide eyes, her gaze distant.

  The table was silent for a moment, until Scott stood. “I’m heading back. Thanks for the drinks.”

  He left the table with no obstruction, the girl at his side having recoiled during the yelling. When Ellie looked at her, she thought the girl looked relieved rather than disappointed. Behind them, the front door slammed shut.

  Conversation slowly filtered back into the room after a while, and Ellie let it wash over her. There was no point in pushing the argument further, and she was glad when it turned back to safer topics, like human gossip and critiques of the cultural exchange party.

  She stayed until Cara kicked them all out, and when the brunette passed her a bottled beer halfway through the night, she dared to think that there were no hard feelings about their disagreement.

  ---

  Helik was about to rip his own head plates off as he waited for Ellie to return home.

  He’d been cruel to her, he realized. He’d never meant to, but she was right in saying that he shouldn’t treat her like a product. He’d been so caught up in the production, in keeping the public boundary between them high and unambiguous, that he hadn’t stopped to think about how it would make her feel.

  And he was going to make up for it.

  Or at least, he would if she were here. She’d left the party with a crowd of humans that he couldn’t penetrate, and he had no way of knowing where she’d gone. Roia had already left by that point and he’d been unable to escape the horde of donors that were still trying to invite him for drinks elsewhere.

  He sighed, checking the time on his wristlet yet again.

  What if something happened to her? Even in the Senekkar, crime was a fact of life. It wasn’t hard for undesirables to get in and out if they knew what they were doing. And a human walking home alone at night? That was a good target for anybody with a bone to pick, not just unsavory types.

  And what if that fucking reporter was hanging around? He paced the length of the living room and entryway, bringing up the security footage for the building every now and then. He was tempted to call for a transport and go out looking for her, so desperate was he to know if she was okay.

  His heart almost leaped from his chest when the front door beeped, and seconds later Ellie shuffled into the room, her steps only slightly unsteady.

  Helik rushed forward, taking her arm. “You came back,” he blurted, the words slipping from his mouth unbidden.

  Ellie frowned up at him, but she looked more confused than angry. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I…” Helik gulped back his fraying nerves. “I was unkind to you. You were right about my behavior… I’m sorry.” Despite the uncountable inches of difference in their height, Helik felt small as he waited for her reply, his gaze stuck on their hands as he held hers.

  Ellie let out a breath, half sigh, half chuckle. “It’s fine. I get why you did it.” Her bright eyes met his, narrowed in warning. “I mean, don’t do it again, but… I understand.”

  Relief slammed into him like a charging teniisa, and it only intensified when the little human allowed him to pull her close. He felt as if he were hugging a bonfire. Her skin was warm from the alcohol, her cheeks rosy, and he soaked her up.

  “You’re still wearing the soot,” she mumbled, nuzzling the dark fabric.

  “It’s surprisingly comfortable,” he said. “…Did anyone bother you on your way home?”

  “Nah, I got reception to send a car out,” she said, her voice muffled as she sank into him. “See, I remembered the protocols.”

  “Roia will love that.” A faint grunt reverberated through his chest, and he squeezed the human tighter. “I really am
sorry,” he mumbled, running his claws through her hair.

  Ellie craned her neck back, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t do that. The apology ended when we started hugging.”

  “Oh.” He hesitated, glancing up in the direction of the bedroom. “We might have a problem then. Because the apology’s not over yet.”

  The human’s face did something strange, her eyes lighting up and narrowing all at once, a grin sliding onto her face. “Oh yeah? I could be convinced to stay angry a little longer then, maybe.”

  They stayed connected the entire way up to the bedroom, half-tripping over each other as they climbed the staircase. Helik was eager to throw the doors of the bedroom open, but once inside, he stepped away from her.

  She blinked up at him questioningly.

  “The other half of the apology,” he began, trailing his fingers along her arm as he moved to the bed and picking up a large flat package that had been laying there, “is actually this.”

  Ellie’s eyes widened, but she let him push the package into her hands nonetheless. “I thought…”

  He smiled, suddenly nervous. “I mean, there’s that, too. But I wanted to do more. And pay you back for the soot.” He shrugged, smoothing his palms over his jacket.

  “You already paid me,” Ellie argued. “You bought me a sewing machine and everything.”

  “And I wanted to do more,” he repeated. He stepped forward. “Go on, open it.”

  Ellie did, laying the box down on the bed again and gingerly removing the lid. She went still as she looked at the garment inside, picking it up with cautious fingers. The dress unfolded of its own accord, draping down to the floor when she stepped back to admire it.

  “Helik, this is…”

  “It’s… very levekk,” he admitted, looking at the sleek curves and the black fabric. “Except I had the leggings removed. You seem to prefer skirts…” His voice grew quieter as he watched Ellie. “I know you could probably make something like this in a heartbeat—”

  “It’s beautiful, Helik,” she said, but her pale eyebrows were crinkled. “How did you get this so quickly?”