She snorted softly to herself. Now she was being ridiculous if she was getting upset that he failed to look in her direction just because she entered the room with his people. All the time away from her side to attend to his various duties—and her hormones—was messing with her head.
He had a lot of new responsibilities; he couldn’t continue to hover over her day in and out. She didn’t expect him to, and besides, having a bit of freedom to wander through the complex—even with the guards in tow—had been nice until the novelty of it wore away. Just because they had been joined at the hip for months didn’t mean it could always be like that.
She just needed to take a step back and stop being so paranoid.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. His standoffish behavior and her recent brush with death had done a good job in making her anxious. If that wasn’t bad enough, it didn’t help much with her control over her symbiont, either. The bio-tech reacted to every little provocation lately. Even now, she could feel the cool metal siding over her arm and hand in a state of preparation—for what, she had no idea.
Sweat slickened Terri’s hands, and she swallowed back bile as she wiped her palms on the thighs of her leggings.
Everything is fucking fine.
An annoyed growl sounded just behind her, bringing a welcome distraction. Terri glanced over her shoulder as Azan made a path for herself with her six arms spread wide. The disgruntled sounds from the males died, however. It wasn’t because the pirate patted her blaster with a certain amount of affection, but because of the hard, focused glare of Malraha at the Blaithari’s side as they took point at Terri’s rear. The presence of the two females glaring protectively from where they stood behind her eased a bit of the anxiety clawing at her.
Rolling her shoulders, Terri forced herself to let go of the tension gathering between her shoulder blades and focus on what was important. The investigation. She hoped that the guard’s inquiries would provide some certainty as to what happened in the market. It was the not knowing that put her on edge and visited her during her dreams at night. She only hoped that his presence at the compound meant he would have something to report soon. She had the impression that he would visit after he exhausted local inquiries.
Veral gave a very abbreviated nod to the male.
“Greetings, Shonk Vazan. Welcome to the Monushava House. My mother-kin, Featha, is expecting you in her chambers,” Veral said, his voice cool and hard.
The male grunted, his datapad already out and held firmly between his fingers.
“I take it that you will be escorting me to meet with Featha?”
“You assume correctly. Although she is no longer the head of our line, she still has many duties she oversees. She asked me to escort you to her private office once you arrived.”
“Understood. And what of the alien who was attacked? Will I be meeting with her as well?”
Her mate did not react for a moment, but eventually his dispassionate gaze swept over the crowd without pause before resting once more on Vazan. Veral’s mouth tipped up in a glacial smile.
“I can acquire her location if necessary, but at this point her coordinates are inconsequential. You have already questioned her and recorded what little useful information she was able to provide.”
The guard frowned. “Do you mean that you do not know where she is?”
“Should I?” Veral asked so chillingly that Terri drew back a little in surprise.
What?
Anger rose sharp and hot within her, and she bristled with indignation. As if in a perfectly timed response to the tide of emotion rising within her, she looked down in horror, watching as her symbiotic gauntlet came to life, projecting numerous hard-edged spikes. The Argurma nearest to her blinked down at her arm blankly before giving her a calculated look and shifting away.
Perfect. Now she was more or less literally wearing her emotions on her sleeve. There was little hope of preventing her display from becoming gossip among the entire household that Veral’s mate had a violent temper.
Pressing her lips into a thin, strained smile, she attempted to rein in her fury to regain control of her symbiont and appear calm and unruffled, but it was no use. Anger and confusion beat at her persistently. She was his mate; if anyone would know or care it would be him! What the fuck was going on?
“I am the head of the line,” he continued matter-of-factly. “I can locate anyone in the complex if necessary, but I do not make it my business to concern myself with the coming and goings of my mother-kin, much less of an alien. If you had need to question her, it would have been expedient to have relayed your need ahead of your arrival.”
She blinked in disbelief, her mouth falling open.
An alien?
Was that all she was now?
Terri stumbled back, nausea boiling in her belly as a mortified heat crawled through her, warming her cheeks. She pushed her way past her guards and could feel the weight of their concern as they turned. Malraha seemed to say something, but her words were lost in the roar of confusion in Terri’s mind. The scowl of disapproval on the Blaithari’s face turned to a look of sympathy, but even that didn’t help or stop her from trying to flee. She shrugged away their hands, her head shaking from side to side, no longer giving a fuck if she was overreacting.
She couldn’t believe that he just said that. And in front of everyone—his entire family—as if she were nothing at all.
Her breath stuttered as she wheezed, trying to draw a breath past the knot of emotions constricting her throat. She couldn’t breathe! She could feel the pressure of tears behind her eyes and at the back of her throat threatening to choke her with the crushing weight of her embarrassment.
She needed to get out of there.
Blindly, Terri spun around, colliding with the males still observing from behind her. One of them grunted, but they mercifully didn’t otherwise react as she pushed her way through. Not that it surprised her. They had barely even glanced her way when she slipped between them despite all the wiggling and elbowing involved on her part. Whereas it hadn’t made her efforts to get past them any easier, this time it at least did her the favor of being able to make an exit without drawing too much attention.
Pushing her way back through the crowd, relief filled her in a cool rush as she broke free into the main corridor. Bracing herself against the one wall with one arm, Terri drew in gulping breaths of air, the unshed tears that she refused to let fall stinging her eyes. A tremor ran through her, and she shuddered with pent-up emotion.
Something had changed, and she felt helpless to understand it or circumvent it. Veral had changed since they arrived on Argurumal.
Now that he had gained the leadership of his family, was he regretting mating with her? Did he suddenly so dislike the idea of having a human mate and half-human offspring? Was it just a matter of time before they were stuck in a room somewhere in the compound to be cared for but forgotten?
A few days ago, Terri would have laughed at such speculations. Never before had she been plagued with worries like these. From the first when Veral made his intentions known, she had been secure in their bond. But now… everything was different, and she was faced with uncertainty for the first time.
She hadn’t been able to ignore the fact that Veral was delegating her protection to guards, a perception confirmed by how pleased he had been when she accepted Malraha into her guard… Was it because he couldn’t be bothered with her?
He hadn’t even accompanied her to the last few visits with the medic.
She squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to push away the doubts and slow her panicked breathing. She didn’t allow herself to think of anything else but the rhythmic flow of air in and out of her lungs.
And the burning anger that wouldn’t be ignored even as her anxiety dissipated. If anything, it felt like it was climbing through her blood. Blinking back her tears, she glared at the red threads of mineral in the black stone beneath her hand. She didn’t look up from it as she l
istened to the approaching footsteps.
“You are well?” Malraha asked, hesitant.
“Of course she is not well,” Azan snapped with heat. “He just humiliated her out there in front of everyone! I am half-tempted to go neuter him in your honor,” she offered, slanting Terri a hopeful look.
“I’m sure that offer comes from a good place somewhere within your heart, but no, that’s not going to help anything,” Terri said with a weak smile at her friend.
The pirate grunted, unconvinced. “I find it changes a male’s behavior quickly. I would enjoy fighting my way through his guards to make a point… but if you insist, I will not.”
Malraha curled her lip at the Blaithari, her mandibles widening and closing in clear discomfort despite her sneer.
“You do not understand Argurma society. Veral cannot appear weak…”
“Oh, so it is habit among your kind to pretend as if your mate doesn’t exist?” Azan said, a brow cocking in challenge.
“No,” the Argurma admitted. “But we should trust him to act in the best interests of the line. That includes his mate as well as all of us.”
Azan shook her head, her three pairs of arms folding over her chest as her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“I do not like it. This is not the same male I remember. That male would not have spoken in that manner. Nor would he willingly be parted from his mate as he has allowed. Something is wrong with this scenario,” she snarled.
Slowly, Terri straightened, adjusting the thin white material of her robe that flowed over her belly. She couldn’t see the hem any more than she could see her ankles around which it fluttered. She smoothed one hand over her symbiont gauntlet, watching the way tiny metal tendrils lifted from its surface at her touch, like grains of metal to a magnet. Unlike everything else around her, her symbiont was the one thing she still had some measure of control over, even if it was responding.
“I agree,” she said slowly, drawing the attention of both her guards. “But there’s not much I can do about it. Not until I’m able to speak privately with him. I’m tired of just waiting around for him to have time for me, rarely venturing beyond our chambers or our private part of the courtyard gardens. Time to do something constructive.”
The Blaithari gave her a curious look, the Argurma stood stiffer at her side. Terri grinned at them as she lifted her right hand.
“I do believe it’s time to resume training. I don’t know if someone is trying to kill me, or what the hell is going on with Veral, but I am not just going to sit around waiting to be saved.”
A wide smile split the pirate’s lips.
“There is the female I know so well!” She glanced over impatiently at the female at her side. “So where can we take her to train with her symbiont properly?”
The Argurma’s vibrissae puffed and flattened uncertainly as she considered.
“There is a training yard…”
Azan clapped the female on the shoulder. “Excellent! We shall go there!”
Terri’s lips curved as she allowed her arm to be taken by her friend.
“This day is suddenly becoming a lot more interesting. I will have much to regale Wendy with this evening.”
Terri arched an eyebrow at the female’s sudden exuberance.
“Speaking of Wendy… does she mind you being gone guarding me like this?”
The Blaithari chuckled. “I will have to tell her that you asked that. According to my dearest human, I need to find a hobby so that I am not forever plaguing her while she tries to work on our accounts and logs. It is a bit of a mess she inherited, and she is still trying to put it right. She is likely thanking you for every hour of peace she gets on the occasional shifts I take to relieve Navesha,” she grumbled.
Terri had to agree that it was odd how frequently Navesha needed to tend to some matter or another. While Dreth took a secondary guard position, following at a greater distance, he was always present. Navesha was the only one among them who regularly disappeared. It was difficult to wholly trust the female to be reliable. She had suspected her briefly after her attack until she learned that Navesha had been visibly recorded on all monitoring systems attending to her tasks. But the female’s absences—who had sworn to protect her—were almost as strange as Veral’s. Argurmas took oaths very seriously as far as she understood...yet lately she was starting to feel like she never understood anything about the species at all with the strange behavior being displayed.
Blowing out a deep breath, Terri followed Malraha’s lead along unfamiliar corridors as Azan fell into step behind her. Many Argurma paused in surprise as they passed by, but none so much as those who halted in their sparring as she entered the large, padded training room.
Terri slowed, aware of their eyes upon her as they watched her cross the floor. They stopped when they finally came to a series of target droids that Malraha decided to select from. As the female leaned forward to peer over at them, Azan craned her neck to watch.
“Do not go easy,” she advised as she wrinkled her nose at a sleek droid.
Malraha gave the Blaithari a doubtful look, but at Terri’s nod, she returned the droid and went down to another section, earning a grunt of approval from the pirate. Even as the female’s eyes scanned them, fingers deftly selecting one droid after another of various shapes and thickness, most of them larger than a human, Terri couldn’t help but to fidget under the weight of attention.
A male nearby chuffed to the female at his side as they watched the droids trail behind them.
“It is Veral’s shame that he mates with a weak offworlder—we have all seen how he distances himself from her, as she must also—but now she thinks she will impress us with this display? For what purpose?”
“Perhaps to win her mate’s affection back?” the female murmured. “It is admirable to attempt to return honor to her mate, but those droids will injure her, and it will just make her situation worse, especially for a gravid female. A foolish endeavor. Should we stop her?”
The male’s lip curled ever so slightly at the corner in a smug smile.
“Allow her to humiliate herself. Perhaps then she will creep back to her quarters where she belongs rather than force her presence among us.”
Terri’s back stiffened with indignation, but she was gratified all the same to hear the female hiss angrily at her companion.
“There is nothing objectionable about her presence here. She is his mate. I would prefer any offworlder to being alone if I failed to bond.”
The male grunted, unmoved by her anger. “Be pleased that you bonded with me rather than a lesser being. Veral had found in his mate a being of nothing but soft, weak flesh. A female who is easily broken. I share no concern for her. The droids will not harm a gravid female. If she suffers a bruised or broken limb, it is something easily repaired by the medic. What is not so easy to repair will be her humiliation. She will learn that she is not fit mate to an Argurma.”
A low growl escaped from between Terri’s teeth. Weak, my ass! Sure, she was pregnant, but she had been training throughout, not sitting on her ass eating candies. She was accustomed to activity and sparring. Gritting her teeth, she strode over to her guard and pointed to a boxy droid with enormous metal hands. She had practiced with target droids before on The Wanderer. All it took was enough critical successful strikes for it to register her victory. This model was one she had recently graduated to.
“Malraha, this one first.”
The female nodded and activated the droid’s programming. A bright strip of light that ran down the side of its head flashed, and it turned and approached Terri with aggressive strides. As expected, it moved easily on its feet, making it an effective target, its huge hands grasping for her. Terri ducked out of the range of its hands, her arm lifting as she summoned her blunted whips. It moved quick, lunging at her in progressively faster strikes, but Terri managed to stay just barely ahead of her as she snapped her whips out, catching it time and again with loud, cracking blows. Though sweat
noticeably slickened the back of her robe from exertion, she didn’t hold back her triumphant grin when the droid flashed red and dropped away.
A laugh escaped her amid the approving murmur of her gathered audience. A second and a third droid followed, each of them dispatched after a grueling battle, and each bolstering her confidence a little more as her symbiont responded with deadly accuracy. She was actually having fun!
It seemed to be catching, because even Malraha appeared to be affected by it. Her vibrissae were twitching with obvious excitement as she readied the fourth target droid.
Loud growls and hisses, however, had her turning her head to meet Azan’s grin from where she was propped against the nearest wall. Terri bit back another laugh at the female’s satisfied smile among the glowering males surrounding her. She had known what she was doing when she told Malraha to not go easy and now was reaping the profit. She had clearly been engaged in taking bets with the Argurmas near her.
Shaking her head with amusement, Terri turned to face her newest target. The droid was considerably larger than the others had been, but it was a natural progression as far as Terri could tell. Unlike the others, however, it was studded with spikes, including two club-like appendages extending from its arms. She whistled low as she looked it over. Definitely going to be more of a challenge. She didn’t relish the thought of being whacked with those mallets, no matter how it was programmed. It was sure to leave bruises on her arms and legs despite the fact that it wouldn’t be more than a sharp sting to an Argurma. It was nothing that would kill her, however, and the droids didn’t target the torso so she had little to worry about with her baby outside of being a bit more winded and weighed down. At worst, she would be sore and humiliated.
The Sands of Argurumal (Argurma Salvager Book 3) Page 14