“Charick, put him down.” I placed my hand on his arm, feeling the muscles ripple as he slowly dropped the guard to his feet. I glanced at him, giving a soft smile, my blood heating when his lips returned the gesture. My mind immediately returned to the memory of his mouth on mine, his body pressed against me….
Seriously?
I needed to get hold of myself.
Clearing my throat, I tore my eyes from Charick, focusing on the guard who touched his neck with trembling pale hands as he tried to gather himself. “You’ve been following us, haven’t you?” I knew he had, but it seemed as good a tact to take as any.
“Yes.” The Ajani’s voice creaked, and he cleared his throat. “I needed to make sure you were completely alone.”
I shared a curious glance with Charick. “Why? Did you want to talk to us?”
The guard gave a jerky nod, pale blue eyes darting about nervously.
“My name is Willa, and this is Charick,” I told him… using a tactic to build rapport. I’d trained in interrogation techniques with Naval Intelligence. While that part of my life was long gone, it was strange how the training remained, like muscle memory in my brain.
“My name is Malakal,” he said after a few heartbeats, eyes darting about the darkened landscape.
Charick gave a soft grunt and tapped his ear. “We are alone. Your nearest comrades are outside the gladiator quarters. No one will overhear us.”
I tried not to look as impressed as I felt. Exactly how good was Charick’s hearing? I already knew, to my embarrassment, that his sense of smell was excellent.
The guard’s gaze darted to me, running from head to toe. “You are human?”
“I am.” I nodded, bristling. If this was one of those instances where he wanted me to fuck the information out of him, somebody was getting punched… hard. Of course, I’d probably have to fight Charick for the honor.
“I have met a human before.” His voice ended with a deep sigh, sadness washing over his features like a wave. “On the Lernax Centauri space station. Her name was Lana.”
“Is she okay?” I asked, even though I already had the answer from his desolate expression and slumped shoulders.
“I do not know, but I doubt it.” Malakal shook his head slowly, eyes focused on the dirt at his feet as though he felt ashamed to meet my gaze. “Nansar bought her from a merchant and set me as her guard. Lana was beautiful and sweet, and I felt….” His voice trailed off as he lifted trembling fingers to rub the base of his pearlescent horns. “An Aljani’s horns tingle when he meets his fated mate.”
I cast a glance at Charick, who met my gaze, giving only the slightest lift of his chin in response. Of course, he believed in all the fated mate shit.
“I wanted to rescue her.” Malakal continued a deep tremble to the tenor of his voice. “I wanted to help her escape to Tau Ceti, but before I could make a plan, Nansar gifted her to Ambassador Yaard.” A single tear, glistening like a diamond in the moonlight, trailed down his cheek. “I will never forget her screams when they took her aboard the Kerzak ship.”
Charick reached out and laid a hand on Malakal’s shoulder. His golden eyes found mine, his expression dark and worried. Then I remembered. Kerzak were a species that had developed a taste for human flesh.
Fuck! I swallowed back a wave of nausea.
Malakal gathered himself, squaring his shoulders and raising his chin. “I vowed revenge on Nansar. I stayed in his service, watching and waiting for an opportunity.” Pale blue eyes flickered over first me and then Charick, assessing. “But now I see that perhaps helping others might grant the best revenge.”
Charick dropped his hand from Malakal’s shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest, which swelled and flexed the muscles in his biceps. My skin tingled at the memory of those arms wrapped tightly around me.
Shit! Focus Willa!
“What do you know of Nansar’s plans for the Duke’s birthday celebration?” Golden eyes flickered from Malakal to me in the span of a heartbeat. “We believe he plans to use Willa in some way.”
“He does.” Malakal’s glance found me, holding an expression that made me shiver. “Nansar plans to use the human female to kill Duke Ako.”
“What?” I blurted, stunned by the absurdity. “His plan is for me to kill the Duke?”
“Yes.” Malakal nodded.
“Well, his plan is fucked because I’m not killing anybody,” I announced, adopting a posture of extreme obstinance. “Not going to happen. No way. Isn’t Duke Ako his father? Why would he want to kill him?”
Malakal regarded my stubbornness with a shrug. “The Duke has long argued for Earth to become a protectorate colony of the Alliance.”
“What does that mean?” Based on my knowledge of history, protectorate countries didn’t fare too well.
