“Zehn, let him go.” Franklin seemed frantic. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Francisco. It’s a simple misunderstanding.”
At the name Francisco, Mandy’s entire future seemed poised to crumble.
Crap. They’d found her.
She lowered her gaze to the floor, worried she’d give herself away. Not that she needed to worry about her identity, really. With MikeFranciscohere, asking for her, he must know her true identity, or at least suspect.
Zehn dropped Mike on his ass, seemingly not at all worried about Franklin’s threats. He continued to stare down at Mike, and she wondered what the barbarian would look like when he gotreallymad, because Zehn appeared calm while he waited for Mike to react.
Mike clutched his throat, still gasping for breath. “I want…him…fired.”
“Why?” Natla’s temper was slow to ignite, but once lit, it blazed. “You grabbed my coworker, left a bruise, and you don’t even work here, do you? This section is off limits for guests, isn’t it, Mr. Franklin?”
Franklin started. “Um, yes. Er, sir, I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t be here.” He drew himself up to his pudgy best. “Zehn, you know the rules about accosting guests. That’s an automatic termination.”
Before Zehn could defend himself, Natla spoke up again. “But Zehn was only following his orders, Mr. Franklin. He came to the defense of our employee, protecting her from a man he could only assume to be anotheremployee.” She glared down at Mike Francisco. “I have to tell you, if any man grabbed me like that, I’d expect Zehn to put him on the floor. Hell, I’d expect my husbands to take his head from his neck, one vertebrae at a time,” she growled.
Mike Francisco slowly stood, brushing away Franklin’s attempts to help him stand. “Watch yourself, Zehn. You never know when a rogue weapon will turn up and blast you right in the back.”
Mandy felt Mike push energy at Zehn, and she automatically countered it with her own, pleased she could do so.
Zehn ignored everyone but Mike. He yanked the male up by his arm and dragged him to the south exit. Then he threw the man out of the building. Mike landed in an undignified heap in front of several other humans, likely men he’d arrived with. Near them, Lore stood, watching with satisfaction.
Mandy, along with Franklin and Natla, hurried to the open window to watch the rest play out.
“If we find you in any restricted area,” Zehn warned, “you will meet a harsh death. Not a swift one, but a painful one. Do you understand, Earther?”
The men with him glared, and hands went to where they no doubt hid a few weapons. Odd how the scanners weren’t picking up a lot, lately. But Mandy needed to think about what had just happened.
The Francisco family on Earth catered to the dirty work for several big money conglomerates that continued to grow thanks to the work of families like the Franciscos, who forced good people to pay exorbitant prices and work for cheap. Unfortunately, the Francisco family happened to own her ass. The only bright spot in this whole mess was that Ussed didn’t have any kind of extradition treaty with Earth. They were a pleasure resort owned by offworlders from the Raiegn Galaxy, and only some of those owners happened to be human.
But Red Francisco had the power to make a lot of people turn a blind eye to human rights and decency. Mostly because the Franciscos owned people like her, humans with jacked-up militant psychic abilities. Her ancestors had spent their lives in the military, but when the world had declared peace, sectioning the remaining lands into territories, those serving the past United States had been farmed out to companies with money. On Earth, it seemed as if never-ending greed ran the planet.
She wondered if the barbarians could be bought. Probably not, but they could be threatened. With enough pressure, even the Vyctore clan would bow to Franciscos’ might.
Saddened by the knowledge she’d definitely have to leave, she turned back to work and made a mental note to gather her pay, her secret stash in her grotto, and to say her goodbyes to Natla when they had a moment together.
Mr. Franklin strode outside to give Zehn a piece of his mind while apologizing to Mike and his men. Mollified by several perks, including free drinks, drugs, and pleasure workers, the Francisco party dispersed.
Of Lore and Zehn she heard no more.
“Oh my suns, what was all that about?” Natla hurried back to her. “Are you okay? That looks like it hurts.”
Her wrist was more than bruised, Mandy realized. Mike had to have some telekinetic power, because no way his grip in so short a time should have induced such pain.
“I think he fractured it.” Nervous, scared, and grieving the loss of her stability, Mandy burst into tears. “I’m s-sorry. I just need a minute.”
“You go rest. I’ll take care of this.”
“No.I mean, no. I’ll stay.” At Natla’s expression, Mandy explained, “I’m safer in here with you than by myself.”
“Iknewyou were running from something. Soon as I met you, I sensed it. What’s the story?”
Mandy hiccupped on a laugh. “Really?”
“Yep. I know things about people. From the beginning I knew there was a lot more to you than a grieving Earther. Tell me.”
Mandy sighed. “I belong to the Francisco family. On Earth, big money rules the world. The Franciscos do the dirty work for a bunch of big companies fighting to control the seedy side of the southeast territory in North America. And I’m supposed to be part of the power behind them. I’m small potatoes, but they don’t allow rebellion or escape. Ever.” She held out her good hand and allowed a fireball to dance upon it. Then she closed it, extinguishing her power.
