I took the sellah pin with me, puffing a little bit more as I hopped the last two steps over the heap of Xokat in the way. Iwrinkled my nose at him, still pretty pissed over the wholelet’s sell herthing. Still a little unsteady from the patch—or maybe the sellah—I carefully made my way to the bedroom, holding onto furniture when I could. My mob wife persona gave another shudder at the sight of the man still on top of our bed. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, flat and lifeless. His lips were parted from his final scream, a sound that echoed in my mind as I crept closer.
Did mob wives get scared? They had to, right? Everyone is afraid when terrible things happen. They probably got shit done anyway, though. I could do that. I could do it scared. And grossed out, becauseblech. The smell of burned flesh still hung in the air, and In’vion’s belly and chest had a sickening split of charred innards showing.Jesus Christ.How had I blocked that out?
Okay, Cora. Mob wife the fuck up.
I grabbed him by the ankles and pulled with everything I had, planting my weight with my legs and heaving him off the bed. His head bounced on the floor with a gross, hollow sound.
Ick! Don’t think about it. I’m a badass mob wife.
It was slow going, but after several minutes, I made it to the kitchen, where I dropped him for a moment, catching my breath and having another nibble of zibe fruit because it was so juicy and refreshing. You know how a bite of watermelon can feel like it’s rehydrating your very soul after a long summer day in the sun? That’s how that bite of zibe fruit felt going down. So I had a second chunk, followed by another hit of sellah, because no matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes averted from In’vion’s terrible barbecued innards, I kept seeing it anyway.
“That’s what you get when you mess with Yiri Ahlon’sAneah, asshole,” I said to him. Sure, he couldn’t hear me, but I still felt better for saying it.
Mr. Darcy came to see about the sound of the space fridge opening and closing, so I gave him some of the eslu Yiri kept ready for him, and scratched behind his ears for a second before I got back to work.
With a tired sigh, I hit the button to open the hatch and bent to grab In’vion’s ankles again as the wall opened and the deck folded out behind me. When I finally got him to the edge of the deck, I paused. The cekets were right there, excitedly churning the water, but I wasn’t sure… should I take off his clothes? Did they eat everything, or did I need to unwrap the bastard? His shoes should go, I decided, but his shirt was torn to shit already, and I wasn’t touching this jerk’s pants.
“Okay, babies,” I cooed at the cekets, “Mama brought you a snack.”
Tipping him into the water was the easiest part. The cekets took over from there. The water churned, tinged pink and then red in seconds as the circle converged on my offering. Frothier than a good cappuccino, the water was thankfully no longer crystal clear as Yiri’s friends did their work. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the cruiser.
One down, one to go.
But movement in the doorway quickened my pulse. A second later, Xokat stumbled into view, leaning on the side of the hatch.
“You… Fucking…ga’ad,” he panted.
I bristled when the translation told me he’d basically just called me an ugly bitch.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t like taking your own medicine? Maybe you should spring for the good stuff next time.”
“Maybe I will,” he muttered, but the jerk’s knuckles whitened with the effort of keeping himself upright.
“I don’t see you getting the chance, if I’m being honest,” I said.
“Got any more patches on you?” he challenged, nodding toward the bloody water. “Is that how you got him, too?”
“Oh, no,” I said with more self-possession than I felt. “Him I stabbed.”
“With this?” he lifted the hilt of the phase blade and activated the laser.
I swallowed hard, my body going still. Xokat’s lips curled up in a cruel smile. “Out of options, huh?”
“Yiri will be here any minute,” I said, hoping to God orIbarI was right. “You can barely stand. I can wait it out.”
“Maybe I’m bluffing,” he said.
I snorted. “I’ve seen that movie. You’re not bluffing.” The Dread Pirate Roberts he was not. “I can jump in the water before you get to me. Want to go for a swim?”
His eyes darted to the horror still frothing the water. As if they understood what was happening, a few of the elder cekets broke away from the frenzy and swam a lazy loop at the edge of the deck.
“They’ll swarm you,” Xokat said, but he didn’t sound sure.
I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, you’re still a dead man when Yiri gets here.”
“Unless I leave you to the cekets and fly away,” he blustered. “There will be no trace of you, and I’ll be long gone.”
“Oh, yeah,” I snorted. “Make him chase you. I’m sure he’ll calm down by the time he catches up with you.”
