by Sarah Marsh
“You know, you should say something to Ark and Roan in advance so they can notify the guards not to be alarmed if she does indeed attend tonight,” Lady Samal said to Sally once Jessa had left the hall.
Sally hadn’t thought about that, but she certainly didn’t want any issues or violence due to a lack of communication.
“Yes, I see your point,” Sally said with a sigh. “Can I borrow your handheld comm? I’ll send him a message.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kalista Dax was surprised when she arrived at the lavish party and the guards at the doors just let her pass when she gave her invitation. She was used to other races recognizing her as Tokka and either attacking or running for the hills, but then again, this was the first party invitation that she’d ever received, so she really had no idea what to expect. On Tokka she was not eligible to mate with another full-blooded guild member, so she was frequently overlooked as a social outcast. Everywhere else she was referred to as the dreaded “Shadow and Death,” the Tokka’s deadliest assassin, which dried up her party invites pretty quickly.
At first when the invitation had arrived from the courtesan guild with the beautiful ceremonial dagger, she’d not even considered attending, but the handwritten note from the new guild matron had evoked an emotional response Kali hadn’t felt in a long time. It gave her pride to know that she had helped this female when she’d made the decision to call the guild master and let him know where to find his abducted mate. Throughout her assassin training as a young girl, the instructors had ridiculed and tormented her for her father’s lineage. It had taken her years to learn to effectively hide her emotions from the rest of her people. She’d worked twice as hard as all the other members of her guild, keeping the highest kill record for a full decade now. But Kali was tired of proving herself. She was tired of pretending to be something she wasn’t. So she did the most unexpected thing she’d ever done in her life…She bought an expensive dress, and she went to a party.
* * * *
“Oh my God, Eve, that must be her!” Sally gripped Eve’s arm and pulled her to turn around and look to the front entrance.
“Wow, are you sure, Sal? She’s kind of…well, stunning,” Eve said as they watched the young woman look around at the other guests. “I was expecting someone, well…a little more serial killy, to be honest.”
“Me too,” was all Sally said in response as they watched the guardsman who held the guest list remember that he was supposed to bring the Tokka directly to Sally when she arrived, as per her instructions.
The Tokka female was a striking representation of her species. She was at least six feet tall, every inch of her body long and lithe. Her jet-black hair was drawn half up, and the royal-blue gown she was wearing flowed perfectly around her. Sally did notice that she wasn’t wearing high heels, though. At an event like this, most of the women were, but she imagined that assassins didn’t usually saunter around in expensive ball gowns often, so she probably wasn’t used to heels. As the guard relayed her request and offered his arm to escort the pretty female, Sally thought for a moment that the Tokka was going to hit him for offering assistance, but she let out the breath she’d been holding when she took his extended arm, and they finally made their way over toward her and Eve. Obviously their mates had seen the exact same thing, as Sally and Eve suddenly saw a mob of worried men coming directly at them from the other side.
“Aww crap, I hope they don’t embarrass us,” Eve mumbled as she smiled innocently up at her three husbands.
“Ladies,” Arkenon said as they walked up and he bent down to briefly kiss his mate, “I hope you knew what you were doing with inviting her. Just remember that your particularly charming brand of sarcasm will not be understood, so try to refrain.”
“We know. We did do our homework, thank you,” Sally answered and slapped away his arm from her waist. “I can’t have you touching me when I meet her. I need to look independent. She’ll respect that more.”
All six of them watched as the guard made his way over with their guest. Galen and Benic also walked up to join them. The males seemed fascinated and nervous all at the same time…but trust Benic to break the awkward silence.
“Wow, is that her?” he asked quietly. “She’s beautiful. I had heard that the Tokka females were a little on the butch side. But I’d totally do her.”
Which of course had Galen and everyone else rolling their eyes again at the younger man. Benic’s ability to say the most inappropriate things at the most inappropriate times was one of her favorite things about her friend. She couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’d best keep your hands to yourself, boy,” Galen teased. “If she takes offense, you may not get them back with this female.”
“Shhhh, shut up, you guys. Here she is,” Sally whispered before donning her biggest smile and stepping up to greet the female.
Sally had done her research on the Tokka, so she stepped forward and bowed gracefully, lowering her head. In Tokka society, taking your eyes of another and bowing is a show of respect and trust, basically saying that you don’t think they are going to slit your throat when you look away. When she looked back up, the woman was smiling, so she took that as a good sign.
“Kalista Dax, it is an honor to meet you. I owe you a debt for your service to our family,” Sally said as she felt Arkenon now step up beside her.
“Guild Matron, Guild Master, it is an honor to meet you as well,” Kali replied, nodding first at Sally, then toward Ark. “Thank you for your invitation. It was most gracious of you.”
“Well I’m so happy you came. If it hadn’t been for you…” Sally said as she started to lose her composure, her voice trembling. “I probably wouldn’t be here right now with the people I love. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re family now as well.”
* * * *
Kali was stunned that the human female Sally Owens had just claimed her as family. Just like that. In front of witnesses and everything.
Where she came from, it was a serious thing to claim family. Traditions and laws were followed diligently no matter how unpleasant just so that the individual would not bring shame to their family. Her mother mating with a male outside of her species had meant that her maternal extended family had not even acknowledged Kali’s existence. Her mother had been shamed and disowned by her family for her love of an outsider. She’d never met her father. He was killed not long before she was born, and she knew little of his family, which meant that the moment her mother had also passed on, she was alone in this world, without family of any kind. She’d been alone a long time.
The guild matron must have seen the weakness on her face at the hope of having a family to claim her, and instantly Kali resigned herself to the attack on her character that she expected to be coming.
“May I hug you?” Sally asked softly when she saw the sadness on the other woman’s face.
Kali was shocked, not really knowing what to do in this instance. Why would the woman want to embrace her? Was it a trick? Would she attack when she got close? No matter, Kali knew that she could protect herself. Best to see what the small female was up to.
“I accept.” She answered tentatively, watching the woman smile and then move in to wrap her arms around her and hold her.
After a few seconds, when the other woman did not release her, nor did she attack, Kali was wondering if there was some sort of protocol in human society that she was not aware of that would end the embrace. She looked up toward Guild Master Quinn and was surprised to see the amusement on his face as he watched his mate. Kali raised her eyebrows in question, and he merely laughed.
“Sally, I think she’s had enough. You can let her go now,” Ark said as he stepped back and motioned to the rest of the group that had been avidly watching. “I think we can complete the introductions now.”
The female reluctantly released her and stepped back, but then she grabbed Kali’s hand and tugged her forward to the gathering of people that had been watching.
“Yes, they all want to meet you!” Sally said, pulling her new friend forward.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sally was so glad that Kali had come to their party. The men had eventually relaxed and apparently decided that the new female wasn’t there to slaughter them all. They wandered off to mingle, leaving Sally, Eve, and Kali to lounge at the back of the room on the comfortable couches as they talked about all manner of things. Well…all the men except for Benic had left, that was. He was still sitting beside Kali in the seat he’d claimed and was slowly inching his way closer on the couch, thinking that she hadn’t noticed. Sally could tell as soon as he’d laid eyes on the curious female that he was smitten, but she did think he was in a bit over his head as the Tokka seemed to just ignore him completely.
The fierce female wasn’t what any of them had expected her to be. Once she’d grown comfortable with them, she had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor that Eve and Sally could really get on board with. They asked all about her planet and her people, and in turn she was curious about Earth. They were sitting in a small nook partitioned away from the rest of the party by planters. It was a nice escape from the noise and crowds.
Sally noticed the shift change in the guard that Ark had assigned to her. She didn’t recognize the man who took over, so she assumed he must be new. Eve was telling a dramatic story about what had happened the first night after she’d been given her gula cat as a gift, and how he’d ended up trying to use her husband Kai as a ladder to the bed. Unfortunately for Kai, the little monster had scaled his bare ass with his little kitten claws as they were about to have sex. They were all howling in laughter as she finished the story, and Sally didn’t notice that the guard had turned around and approached them.
“All the Earth whores will be destroyed!” he sneered. “Our races will continue to be pure as the gods intended!”
Before Sally even registered that he was attacking them, Kalista had jumped up and pushed him back, knocking the small plasma gun from his hands. He screamed once more, his eyes thrashing about in a crazed fury, and pulled a blade from his jacket, trying to leap past the tall alien female as Sally and Eve huddled on the couch in shock. Kali, still looking perfectly calm, reached down along the high slit in her gown and removed a long, thin blade from a garter around her thigh. Both Sally and Eve gaped. They’d had no idea that Kali was armed. Nothing had shown under her dress at all.
When the guard lunged at Kali’s throat, she simply leaned back, and then, quick as lightning, her arm was in and out, leaving the man with a shocked and confused expression on his face as he began to feel the warmth of the blood leaving through the severed artery at his jugular.
At the same moment, all the men came rushing around the corner with more guards and quickly took the attacker away, trying to stop the bleeding.
“Oh my God, Kali!” Sally said, rushing up to her. “Are you all right? There’s blood on your dress. Did he hurt you?”
Kalista looked down at the arc of blood that now decorated her very first dress, but it was the attacker’s blood, not her own. Like some poorly trained religious zealot could ever have harmed her…but that wasn’t the point, was it? He had been here to kill the human females, and if she hadn’t been there, he most likely would have.
Kali looked back over Sally’s head to meet the eyes of Ark and his brother, Roan, who were now both holding their wives.
“He was here for the human females,” she said calmly, although she felt rather irritated on the inside at how easily someone had attacked her new friends. “You should check the security of the remaining humans not in attendance tonight.”
“Damn,” was all Ark said before he turned and spoke quietly with Eve’s two other mates moments before Kai and Kham were running off to do just that.
“Your security is not sufficient,” she said when he turned back to look at her.
She could see the head guard behind Arkenon bristle at her comment, but if he was the one who had cleared the new guard to active duty, then he was either incompetent or a sympathizer for the Motion for Racial Purity, and either one would get Sally killed.
“No, it seems it is not,” the guild master said as he gave her a calculating look. “Not yet anyways.”
* * * *
The party had been abruptly ended once the attack happened. Kalista had been invited up to the guild master’s suites along with their other friends and family. She was envious of the relationships these people seemed to have. Did they even know how lucky they were? Kali was standing on the balcony, admiring the red hues of the setting Sirotian double suns, when Arkenon came out to speak with her.
“What do you think of Sirus, Kalista? Have you been here before?” Ark asked casually as he stood beside her.
“I have not,” she answered, “but I do find the planet quite beautiful.”
“I have a business proposition for you, but it is not for a contract with your guild. This is for you personally,” he said carefully.
Kali had no idea what he could possibly be asking her for. If he didn’t want her to track down the culprit who had tried to kill his mate, what would he want? She already had her suspicions of who was behind the attack, but unfortunately the fact that she’d had a previous contract with this individual meant that she could not share his identity. The assassins guild on Tokka was very strict with confidentiality. If she broke that rule, even she wouldn’t be able to keep herself alive with the number of assassins that would be coming after her.
“I’m listening,” she prompted him, her curiosity now piqued.
“I’d like you to stay on here and take over the security for the entire guild. More specifically you’d be charged with Sally’s safety and that of the remaining human females we have here,” he said, looking directly her and then looking back inside toward Sally and Eve sitting in the living room. “I know Sally likes you a great deal, and you’ve already proven yourself twice on her behalf.”
She was shocked that the Sirotian would offer her such a position here. It would be a significant change to the freedom she had as an assassin. She wasn’t used to staying in one place too long, but there was the possibility of something here that she couldn’t have seen coming: the possibility of belonging somewhere, of being accepted and not feared.
“I am willing to consider the position, Guild Master,” she answered faster than she had anticipated, and his surprise was apparent. Then he smiled in relief.
“Thank you, Kalista. We can discuss the specific terms tomorrow in my office if you’d like. Sally will be so pleased that you’re going to consider staying,” he said, guiding her back into the suite.
* * * *
Sally could tell from the relieved look on Ark’s face as he and Kali walked back into the suite that the other woman had agreed to consider the position. She was also relieved that Kali would be staying. She couldn’t ask for a better protector for herself or the rest of the women still attending their classes on Sirus. There was obviously a much larger threat to their safety than anyone had known about with this group, the Motion for Racial Purity.
Arkenon took a seat next to her, and she happily threaded her fingers through his. Looking around the room, she was amazed at how much her life had changed in such a small amount of time. But now that Sally had so much to protect, a new family and more friends, she would do whatever it took to make sure they stayed safe. She could only hope that it would be enough.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Marsh was born in British Columbia where she still lives. She has only recently began her writing career, finding it the perfect outlet for taking the edge off a nine to five office job. She’s been a science fiction and romance junkie for years, and when her imagination started to take the characters she’d read about even further in their adventures, she decided to try writing something of her own. Sarah’s also a former pastry chef and spends a lot of time cooking and baking for friends and family,
as well as painting and knitting. She loves to garden and grow things and has a weakness for animals of any kind. She’s also a sucker for a happy ending.
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