by Anna Hackett
“Welcome to my domain,” a deep male voice said.
Chapter Three
The information merchant strode toward them. He was tall with a firm body, although he carried far less bulk than the gladiators. A wide smile topped a face full of sharp angles and eyes that tilted up at the sides.
Zhim wore a flowing white shirt and elegant trousers that Kace wouldn’t be caught dead in. His feet were bare.
“So…” Zhim came forward, his strange multi-colored eyes zeroed in on Rory. “You are Aurora Shannon Fraser of Earth.”
He reached out, as though he was going to touch her.
Kace reached out and caught the man’s wrist. Zhim stilled, then turned his palm over and grinned. As if Kace had told him an interesting story.
“Call me Aurora again, and I’ll hit you,” Rory said in a friendly tone lined with very sharp teeth.
Raiden snorted, and Kace had to struggle to hide his own smile.
“Beautiful with an edge.” Zhim tilted his head, a strand of his long, dark hair escaping the tie at the back of his neck. “Fascinating.”
“I’m not here to fascinate you, Mr. Zhim. I’m here to ask about my friend.”
“Come, come.” He waved them over to some couches that were set out on the terrace. A beautiful woman with long, platinum-colored hair and wearing a flowing pink dress came out of the large open doors, carrying a tray of drinks. She set the tray down on the table and hurried away without a word.
Zhim settled on a couch, sprawling back against the cushions like a king in his palace. “So, you are searching for Madeline Renee Cochran. Commander of the Fortuna Space Station.”
As always, Kace wondered where the hell Zhim got his information from.
Rory perched on the edge of a couch. “Yes. Have you heard anything?”
Zhim shrugged and picked up a small, jewel-colored glass. He waved at the tray. “Please, help yourselves. It’s made from the juice of the tuava fruit. Expensive and tasty.”
The gladiators didn’t move, but Kace watched Rory shrug. She took one of the drinks, sniffed it, then took a sip.
“It pains me to tell you this…” an unhappy scowl crossed the man’s face. “But I have no information on the location of Ms. Cochran.”
Rory’s shoulders slumped. Kace moved closer, quelling the urge to touch her.
“So why are we here?” Rory set her glass down. “I’ve been told you are the king of information. That you’re a master of finding it and selling it.” She sniffed. “I guess that was all an exaggeration.”
Zhim straightened, and Kace stifled another smile. The information merchant’s eyes narrowed. He clearly didn’t like not having the information.
“Rory,” Zhim drawled. “If the information was available, I would have it.”
She leaned forward. “Madeline is here on Carthago, somewhere. I saw her in the cell beside mine at the House of Thrax. Someone knows where she is. They clearly have the information, and you don’t.”
Zhim’s mouth opened, then closed.
Rory tucked a red curl behind her ear. “I think this is a waste of time. I think we’ll have better luck if Galen just asks around. Or if Raiden, Kace, and the others search the city—”
“I will find her,” Zhim bit out.
Rory lifted her hand, looking at her nails. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Kace couldn’t control his smile anymore. He glanced at Raiden and Galen. Raiden had a huge smile on his face, and even Galen’s lips had tilted up.
“Feisty.” Zhim tossed back his drink and set the glass down. “I like that.”
Kace felt his jaw tense. A gleam had come into Zhim’s multi-colored eyes. He stared at Rory like she was a sweet, expensive treat. Kace’s hand curled into a fist.
“You’ll tap your extended networks?” Galen asked.
“It’ll cost you.”
“It always does,” Galen said dryly.
Zhim glanced back at Rory. “I may give you a discount for bringing me a pretty girl to chat with.”
Kace leaned forward, but Rory slapped a hand against his chest. She shot Zhim a sugary smile. “And I might punch you in the nose.”
The blue-green colors in Zhim’s eyes swirled, and Kace shook his head. The guy was enjoying this.
Rory stood. “Well, Zhim, it’s been…interesting.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.” The information merchant stood, the breeze making his shirt flutter. “I do hope you come back and visit me again…Aurora.”
Rory moved fast, slamming her fist into Zhim’s gut. He doubled over and grunted.
“I warned you,” she said.
Zhim grinned. “It was worth it.”
Rory shook her head. As they moved back to the elevator, Kace could hear Zhim laughing. The elevator doors closed, and the bubble started downward.
“I hate him,” Kace muttered.
“He annoys everybody,” Galen said.
“I didn’t mind him,” Rory said.
Kace stared at her. “You liked him?”
She shrugged. “He’s annoying, but I can tell he’s smart, if a little crazy. I don’t mind a little crazy.”
Kace knew no one would ever describe him as crazy. He frowned at her. “That’s the kind of man you like?”
Her eyes met his, held for a second. “I don’t have a type, pretty boy.” She crossed her arms over her chest and let her gaze drift down his body. “I’m an equal-opportunity kind of girl.”
Kace blinked and heard Raiden chuckle.
Rory turned to Galen. “You’re sure he’ll find the information to track down Madeline?”
“He’s our best bet,” the imperator replied.
The elevator slowed and the doors opened.
“Okay, let’s get back to the House of Galen.” Galen’s ice-blue eye glittered. “I have some other people I can contact as well, but I’m running out of options. Whatever the Thraxians have done with Madeline, they’ve hidden her deep.”
Despair flashed across Rory’s face before she pulled herself together.
Raiden and Galen pushed open the doors and stepped outside. Kace followed with Rory. Out of habit, he scanned the street. There were too many people, and too many transports. Feeling suddenly uneasy, he stayed closer to Rory.
Suddenly, she stopped and grabbed his arm.
“I really don’t have a type, but I do have to tell you that all of a sudden, big, tough and slightly uptight gladiator is working for me.”
He felt like he’d taken a fist to his chest. “Rory—”
She leaned closer and, at that second, a projectile whizzed past her head. It hit the window behind them, shattering the glass.
Kace moved, tackling her. They rolled across the pavement.
More shots peppered the ground around them. Drak!
Kace yanked Rory into his arms, lifted her off her feet, and leaped up. He ran, pushing for all the speed he could.
More projectiles fired, and more glass shattered around them. Rory buried her head against his chest. He felt a hard punch to his side, and his body jerked. Drak, he was hit. Ignoring the wound, he kept running.
He heard people screaming, and the whine of transport engines.
“Kace!” Raiden’s shout.
Raiden and Galen flanked them. Galen had an energy shield up, generated from a metallic band on his wrist. He stepped in front of them. More shots hit, disintegrating as they struck the large, blue barrier.
“Get into the closest casino,” Galen called out.
They all shuffled backward, up some steps, and into the casino’s front door. Inside was a hubbub of people holding frothing drinks and huddled around tables playing cards and holo games.
Kace set Rory down. “Are you okay? Were you hit?”
She shook her head, scraping her hair back. “I’m fine. But oh, my God, you’re bleeding. Were you shot?”
He felt the warm slide of blood at his lower back, soaking into his trousers. “It’ll keep. First, we need to get y
ou to safety.” They needed to get back to the House of Galen. Fast.
“It’ll keep?” her voice rose. “What do you mean, it’ll keep? You’ve been shot.” She moved to lift up his shirt.
He grabbed her hands. “Rory. I’m Antarian, we have a high tolerance to pain and can manipulate our bodies. I’ve slowed blood flow to the wound and dampened the pain.”
Her brows rose. “You can do that?”
He nodded and turned her. “Come on. We need to go.” Kace could see Galen and Raiden were already assessing the best way out. They’d attracted some attention, but most of the people in the room looked bleary-eyed and far more interested in playing their games.
“God, it looks like someone vomited a rainbow over the place.” Rory shuddered.
The casino was very colorful. He saw walls painted different shimmering hues and the ceiling was a swirl of colors. Tall, slender servers walked through the crowd, balancing large trays of drinks and wearing uniforms in virulent pink, blue, and yellow.
“This way,” Galen said with a nod of his head.
Kace scooped up Rory again and moved through the crowd.
“Kace, I can walk! You’re hurt.”
“Shh.” He tightened his arms around her. No one was getting to her again.
“You’re so damn stubborn.” She shifted in his arms, and tore a strip of fabric off the bottom of her shirt. Then she reached around him and pressed it against the bleeding wound on his back. “I don’t care if you can slow the bleeding and stop it hurting. You want to bleed to death just to prove how tough you are. Typical man.”
She gently touched his injury, and Kace battled a flood of conflicting emotions. No one had ever cared for him when he was injured. Sure, they dumped him in a regen tank in Medical, but he was a fierce Antarian soldier. From birth, Antarian children weren’t coddled—no hugs, no one to fuss over scraped knees, no one to help ease the pain.
“There is no need—”
“Shut up,” she snapped.
Bemused, Kace did that and focused on getting her out of there. As they passed through the crowd, he watched Rory taking it all in. The packed tables with holo games projected into the air, the machines with blinking lights and grating music with players lined up three deep to have a turn.
“Well, these aren’t blackjack tables and poker machines,” Rory said, “but this place looks pretty darn similar to casinos on Earth.”
They passed a Robinid alien being carried on a golden litter by four giant humanoids. Rory’s mouth dropped open. The Robinid had deep blue skin, an overlarge head, and several tentacles.
“Okay, not quite like Earth,” she murmured.
They skirted around a dance floor and a crowd of people were dancing and jumping to the deafening music. Dancers were grinding against each other, some kissing and fondling each other in plain sight.
That was the District. Whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, and right where you were standing.
Soon, they were moving out of the main casino area and into a corridor. Galen waved them through a door and into the kitchens.
“Holy cow,” Rory breathed.
Several workers and chefs bustled around the long benches and steam rose off the cook tops. A chef stirred a large pan and blue flames shot into the air. But Rory was staring at the huge tank set along one wall. Inside, all manner of aquatic creatures swam idly. Some larger than Rory herself.
“The clientele pay very well to have the freshest of everything,” he said.
They reached a back entrance and stepped out into a narrow alley. Galen and Raiden were tense and alert.
Kace arched his head, looking at the rooftops. “I don’t like this.” Too many places for a sniper.
“I don’t either,” Galen said with a frown. “Let’s make it quick.”
Here, the District wasn’t so pretty. There were several overflowing industrial trash receptacles and a rotten, damp stench that seared Kace’s nostrils. They hurried through the alley. He wouldn’t be happy until they were back inside the arena walls.
Suddenly, projectiles slammed into the wall behind them. Kace bent his body over Rory’s, hearing her cry. He raced for cover, seeing Galen and Raiden running in front of them.
Green laser fire lit up the alley and guards dressed in black uniforms surrounded them. The stone-faced men and women fired their laser pistols up toward the sniper’s location on the roof.
What the drak? Kace straightened, looking at their unknown saviors.
“Sir, the gunman is gone,” a female guard said, looking beyond Kace’s shoulder.
Kace turned. A man dressed in a black suit and a crisp white shirt was striding toward them, black hair brushing his shoulders. With a loose-hipped stride and suave sheen of elegance, the man should have looked wrong in the dirty alley. Instead, Kace sensed the gloss was hiding something that felt very at home in the darkness.
“Rillian.” Galen stepped forward. “Your timing is impeccable.”
“I heard you had some trouble, Galen,” the owner of the most exclusive casino in the District—the Dark Nebula—said. “I thought I’d see if you needed some assistance.”
“Thank you,” Galen said.
Rillian’s black eyes fell on Rory. “Another of your women of Earth, I presume.”
“My name is Rory,” she said, her tone sharp. “And I belong to me.”
The man’s lips twitched and he inclined his head, his curious gaze running over her red hair. “A pleasure, Rory.”
Kace tightened his hold on her. “We need to get her to safety.”
“My security team will escort you home.” Rillian looked at Rory again. “If you have an interest in visiting the District, Rory, my casino is always open.”
Before she could respond, Kace turned her away. “I think she’s had enough of the District today.”
With Rillian’s well-trained security team flanking them, Kace and the others moved out of the District, and into the back streets of Kor Magna’s old town. This was where most of the city’s local residents lived, worked, and played. Most locals avoided the District like the Noovian plague.
When he saw the cream stone walls of the arena rising up above them, Kace felt the first stab of relief. Rillian’s team left them at the entrance to the arena, and Kace followed Galen and Raiden as they made their way through the tunnels. It wasn’t until they stepped past the guards and through the huge double doors of the House of Galen, that he let himself really relax.
She was safe.
They headed straight for the living area, and Kace sat Rory down on one of the couches. Then, he patted down her arms, her sides, checking for any injuries. He saw no blood, no bruising.
“You want to check my teeth, too?” Her tone was as dry as the desert.
He ignored her. On the bottom of her shirt, he spotted a few flecks of blood. His brows drew together. “What’s this blood?”
He jerked up the torn hem of her shirt. When she slapped at his hands, he gripped both her wrists with one hand.
The skin of her belly was covered in a dozen or so small nicks.
“It’s just from some glass from the smashed windows. It’s nothing.”
Harper rushed into the room. “What happened?”
“We were attacked,” Raiden told his woman. “Someone fired on us as we were leaving Zhim’s apartment building.”
Regan hurried in next, holding a small medical kit. “Everyone okay?”
Kace grabbed the kit, reached in and snatched up a tube of med gel. He rubbed some onto Rory’s cuts.
They both went still for a second. Then he kept smoothing the gel onto her creamy skin.
“Ouch!”
“It’s not bad,” he said.
“Says you.” She frowned at him. “Look, you’re the one with a bullet lodged in your back. You need medical help, not me.”
“Kace?” Galen asked. “You’re wounded?”
“I’m aware of my body’s limits, G. My body’s already working to expel the
projectile.”
“So, who shot at you guys?” Harper asked.
“We don’t know.” Galen’s tone turned icy cold. His anger like a blade.
“The shots came from the building across the street from where we were standing,” Kace said. He’d instinctively noted everything he could about the situation.
Galen nodded. “I’ve already sent Lore and Nero to take a look around.”
“It must be someone with a beef against the House of Galen,” Rory said.
“A beef?” Raiden asked, frowning.
Rory waved a hand. “A problem, a grudge?”
“No,” Kace said.
He felt everyone looking at him.
Rory leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
He held her gaze. “Whoever fired on us, was aiming at you.”
Chapter Four
Rory took two steps, the sand moving beneath her feet, and swung her sword.
The clang of metal echoed in the air around her, and she felt the blow reverberate through her arms. Damn, Harper packed a punch.
Rory stepped back, letting her sword drop. Her arms were so tired. She wiped an arm across her sweaty face.
“Come on, Rory. Focus,” Harper said.
Gritting her teeth, Rory lifted her sword and attacked again. They’d been at it for a couple of hours, and Rory was determined to master the sword.
They moved back across the sand of the training arena. The clang of the swords was punctuated by their harsh grunts. A second later, Harper swung one of her swords hard. The force of the blow knocked Rory’s sword out of her hand.
The training sword landed on the ground near some sparring dummies and Rory let out a frustrated noise. Right now, frustration was her constant companion.
“Dammit, Harper. You use two swords like a pro, and I can’t even hold onto one.”