The offended, conscious Taethan shook his head.
Lore narrowed his eyes. “Now, or I’ll do it for you.” Large, menacing, and his chest markers swirling with warning, Lore gave the impression of eagerness to follow through on his warning.
The Taethan looked as if he wanted to argue, then smartly handed Lore the key.
Lore turned to the human. “Here. Now prepare to leave.”
The human blinked. “Leave? I just got here.”
“You were told no weapons of any kind. The sensor should have registered this yet did not. Why is that?” Lore turned the small phaser over in his hands. “Perhaps because—”
Look out,Zehn shouted.
But Lore had already turned and shielded himself from a second phaser attack. The xechellnhide covering his forearms repelled the blast shot by the human’s associate. The blast did nothing but get absorbed into the arm-bracers and dissipate.
Zehn would have rendered his partner help, but if a warrior was so weak as to not be able to defeat a human, what good was he?
Lore must have caught some of this thoughts because he smirked before striking the unarmed human, rendering him unconscious. Then he lifted the male and tossed him into his compatriot. Lore made short work of the remaining man, disarmed them both, then handed them over to the Welcome security bots that dragged them away.
The entire process took little time, but they’d managed to draw a crowd regardless. The many tourists had stopped to stare, so Zehn took the opportunity to ask, in a loud voice, “Does anyoneelsehave weapons they wish to declare?”
Three visitors willingly handed over a few items before the area cleared up. Welcome’s guides ushered everyone away from the transport dock into the resort with smiles and laughter. With the exorbitant fees the resort charged, their guests expected top treatment. Apparently a fight, with barbarians no less, had just cemented Welcome’s reputation asthedestination place to be.
A few females came closer to Lore, chattered and flirted, and stroked his arms with invitations for later play. Lore didn’t respond, though he did keep the notes handed to him, and Zehn noticed more than one woman leave with a dash of hope in her eyes.
When Lore rejoined him after disposing of those notes, Zehn shook his head. “Not nice, teasing the visitors.”
“Why not? It’s all part of the ‘Welcome Package,’ so I’ve been told.”
Zehn frowned. “By who?”
Lore nodded in the direction of the administration building. “The supervisor. Franklin.”
Zehn didn’t like the small man, but he’d been told to behave himself if he wanted to continue serving as resort security. Since he and Lore needed the human female to come to them, they needed time to court her properly.
Because of the East-West Treaty signed hundreds of years ago, western foreigners could not be attacked or kidnapped without repercussions. In return for leaving the rest of the planet alone, the westerners received barbarian protection. All three tribes rotated members in and out of the resort. But Zehn’s clan, of the Cloud Tribe, was located closest to the resort, thus many of their members had offered their services to keep the peace between offworlders and the native barbarian population.
Zehn would much rather have abducted the female and returned with her and Lore to their village. But the resort had already lost two human females to Zehn’s clanmates. He and Lore had to be very careful about their interactions without drawing suspicion about their activity.
They’d already decided on Mandy of Earth as their bond-mate. They just needed to show her how much she had to gain by joining with them. Clearly her ties to the resort had nothing to do with the people, since she buried herself in the admin building and didn’t leave it until the suns set. Her pattern remained unchanged, and Zehn knew the time had come to let her see their true intentions.
“No time like the present,” Lore said as their shift ended.
Zehn nodded. “But we must be subtle. She’s smart.” He glanced at the administration building.She’s watching us.
I’m still not sure how she’s avoided us so long.Lore gave a rare grin.She’s a good choice for a mate. A real challenge.
Zehn nodded, then frowned as he studied his bond-mate.You’ve gone too long without warring. Your energies have surged to excess.
I can handle it.
So Lore liked to think.Mm-hmm.Zehn sent Lore a mental image of what he had in mind, saw Lore’s eyes glow with a familiar heat, and knew the time had come.
