Frey didn’t know how to respond to that statement, so he said nothing. He dropped his gaze to look at his arm. It felt strange, as if things were moving around inside it. Kind of an itchy feeling. When he lifted his other hand to scratch at the outside, Rone stilled the movement with a gentle hold.
“Leave it be, pet. It’s healing.” Rone turned away. “May I take him now?”
“Yes, of course.” Another Travian came into view, and given the softer angles of the face, Frey figured that itwasa female. She was dressed very simply in an all-black skintight kind of uniform. She stared at Frey as if he were a bug in a jar.Christ.If she was what passed for a doctor around there, she obviously didn’t think of Frey as being much of a patient. It was probably the equivalent of bringing a dog to a human doctor. Frey scowled and looked away.
“Good,” Rone said, slipping his free hand under Frey’s body.
Before Frey realized what was happening, his master had lifted him up. “Hey, wait. I can walk.” His protest sounded feeble, even to his own ears, and Rone ignored him anyway.
Holding Frey in the safety of his large, strong arms, Rone strode out of what had to be a medical bay. Although he felt kind of stupid and like a little kid again, Frey nevertheless gave up any effort to free himself and instead snuggled within Rone’s embrace. He closed his eyes, in part so that he didn’t have to meet the smirks of anyone they might encounter. It seemed awfully quiet, though, well into the Travian sleep cycle. And, with Rone’s long strides, it didn’t take them long to return totheir quarters. Frey opened his eyes when Rone placed him on the bed. Preen came scampering in behind them, holding its own leash. Yeah, no way the small creature was an actual pet.
Frey sank into the soft bedding and expected his master to join him. He also figured that, broken arm or not, Rone would fuck him before going to sleep. The alien didn’t. Instead, he pulled a cover from an invisible recessed hole in the wall and draped it over Frey. Then he turned away but turned back again and tucked the sides beneath Frey’s pliant body, ensuring he was truly warm. Rone looked down and nodded.
“Get some sleep, pet. Watch over him, Preen.” And with that final order tossed over his shoulder, he was gone.
With a sigh, Frey eyed Preen, who squatted on the floor by the bed, its arms crossed over its chest. Frey yawned. “I don’t need babysitting.” Preen just hissed back at him and stayed put. Giving up and with his eyelids drooping, Frey allowed himself to slip into true sleep.
Rone let his fury show as he pounded his way through the station. Most of the inhabitants were asleep, but those he did encounter gave him a wide berth. He deliberately hadn’t changed his clothing, leaving all the knife slashes, bits of blood and gore showing where they’d dried on his tunic and trousers. The ambush and its outcome were probably well-known by now, as rumors flew around stations like meteor storms. Well, he’d wanted to flush out Arpell and cement his own fierce reputation for anyone caring to pay attention. That had been the plan all along, so he should be pleased with where his mission stood at the moment. Instead, he was angry at himself and itching for more necks to wring.
The obvious source of his heightened emotions lay, hopefully asleep, healing under Preen’s watchful eye. It shouldn’t matter to Rone that Frey had ended up in the middle of the fight, yet it did. Even with his eyes wide open, he could still see the delicate human struggling within Arpell’s grasp, choking and desperate to take a breath. He could hear the snap of bone and the scream of agony. His fingers curled with the memory of wrapping his hands around Arpell’s thick neck and cutting off the male’s own supply of air until his body stopped flopping about and his eyes went dull and sightless. If Rone could, he would kill the asshole all over again and drag the carcass from one end of the station to the other as a warning.
No one fucked with what belonged to Rone. That was what he told himself. His murderous fury had to do with safeguarding his carefully crafted persona, not about the boy’s actual wellbeing.Yeah, right. That’s why Rone had knelt beside the human, cradled him with the care he’d show an infant, then brought him to the medical bay at a run. He’d also nearly done the unforgiveable and lashed out at the female medico when she’d initially balked at treating the pet. He’d told her she needed to treat Frey because he was a valuable asset, and Rone had paid dearly for the female’s time and skill. And, of course, it was all about the mission driving him to seek out his quarry at this time.
He rounded into the one part of any station that was lively no matter that it was the main sleep cycle for the majority of the inhabitants. A variety of entertainment areas and comestible establishments still did desultory business. Wherever he poked his head in and searched for the being he wanted, the customers looked his way, then stopped talking. Some appeared uneasy, while others glared at him speculatively, as if realizing for the first time that he was a male to pay more attention to.Good. It was all to the good. His profile had been elevated, although it remained to be seen if that would be to the better.
He found K-Zet in the third place he entered. The alien lounged on a bench with a drink in his hand and opened his scaly mouth in greeting when Rone approached. Whatever the creature intended to say got choked off by Rone’s fingers pressing on his throat. Rone flung the guy toward the wall then held him there with a grip just short of deadly. K-Zet, oddly, didn’t even try to escape the hold. He merely looked up at Rone placidly, his vertical, yellow eyes the picture of nonchalance. For some reason, the seeming lack of fear irked Rone, so he pulled the alien forward just to slam him against the wall again.
“Killing four of your own wasn’t enough sport for you this eve?”
Mother. If K-Zet had any balls hidden behind his leathery skin and scales, they were certainly big ones. Rone had to give him that much.
He bared his teeth before answering. “It just whet my appetite and left me wondering if there’s anyone else around here interested in taking me on.”
“I can assure you I had nothing to do with it.” Again, one had to admire the calmness in the alien’s voice.
Rone studied the alien’s eyes, searching for the truth—part of him hoped to see a lie there. Too much rage banked within him. He wanted to let it out and throttling someone—anyone really—would give him the release he needed. No, killing four Travians, including Arpell with his bare hands, hadn’t been enough. The sound of bone breaking and the high-pitched scream continued to echo in his head. He’d imagined time and again that his mate would have made that same horrible noise if she hadn’t been dazed from the drug administered by her sister, and her neck must have snapped just like Frey’s arm. He dreamed of her death, and while there was hardly a comparison between his beloved pregnant mate and his inconvenient human pet, he still couldn’t stop his brain from entwining the two.
His fingers tightened in an involuntary spasm. He reined himself back, forced the anger down, then reminded himself that he had a mission to fulfill, and while killing K-Zet might prove satisfying on a primitive level, it wouldn’t help him achieve success. Pulling himself back under control and believing he’d made his point, Rone released his hold then stepped away. He kept his guard up, though, ready to react if K-Zet struck. Part of him hoped the guy would do just that.
Rone inclined his head. “Forgive my suspicion, but the attack on me and the attempt at stealing my pet came suspiciously soon after you approached me and offered for the boy.”
The alien straightened and showed no signs that he’d been recently assaulted in any way. “I would be a poor merchant indeed if I resorted to stealing what could more easily be obtained with time and patience and a good bargain offered and accepted. Besides,” he added, retaking his seat, “I could make more brokering a deal between a male such as yourself and others who are always looking for help.”
Rone’s attack had sent K-Zet’s drink flying, so the guy placidly ordered another. He looked up at Rone. “May I offer you a libation?”
Tossing himself on the bench opposite K-Zet’s, he nodded. “I am thirsty, now that you mention it. I’ll have whatever you’re drinking.”
K-Zet seemed pleased with the response and soon they sat quietly drinking in each other’s company. Or, at least Rone drank quietly. K-Zet slurped noisily at the somewhat bitter juice. Rone forced his blood to cool and to just be patient. He decided to wait and let the creature make whatever offer he intended.
“Word of your encounter with Arpell and his males has rolled through this station with great speed. I can’t say I’m surprised about the ambush. Arpell was known for being a cheat and a sneaky shit. But he did have his uses and, therefore, friendsin powerful positions. If he’d succeeded in killing you and reclaiming his pretty little fuck toy, no one would have called him to task for it.”
For a brief moment, Rone’s rage tried to surface again, goaded by the image K-Zet’s words conjured of the repellent Arpell claiming Frey’s beautiful body. Rone ruthlessly suppressed it. This conversation with the alien was clearly leading Rone in the direction his mission had always intended for him to go. He made himself take a casual sip of his drink.
“Security does seem to be lacking out in this part of the Empire.”
K-Zet waved the hand holding the drink. “Oh, there would have been an investigation, in which Arpell’s males would have sworn on their mother’s lives that Arpell had bested you in personal combat. It would have been a very quick process, I’m sure. Neither the Travian military nor the civilian government have much power this far away from your home world—not as much as they think, in any event.” He drank some more and fixed his yellow gaze on Rone from over the rim of his glass.
The alien had it right. The farther out into space Travians went, the thinner it spread their resources and control. So long as commerce flowed smoothly and nothing obviously and alarmingly wrong occurred, places like this station ran themselves. It was the reason why they’d sent Rone. If a contingent of military investigators had come clattering on board, everyone with questionable business would have either taken off or crawled into their quarters and stayed out of sight until it was safe to come out again. Any effort to ferret out conspirators would have been stonewalled. Privateers and mercenaries kept their mouths shut for fear of having it permanently shut for them. A lone male could slip in and accomplish much more.
