Page 92 of The Pleasure Contract

“Well?” she prompts, standing there with her hip cocked and her arms crossed.

Zyre ducks his head and clears his throat. “Pax told us about helping you contact your mother,” he starts, his tone low and serious.

“Which is a crime, by the way,” Glex butts in.

He is silenced with a single glare from my female.

“While he was helping you,” Zyre continues, throwing his father a look that is most definitely telling the male to shut the fuck up. “He stole some information from your comms, mainly your own Permission, Prince Az’s Permission, and a contract document between the two of you. He brought this information to my father in the hopes that we could use it tactically to win the game today.”

“You did all this to win a game?” Lois asks, disgusted.

Zyre sighs. “Yes.” He swallows and nods. “Winning today against our biggest rivals would have brought a lot of pride, prestige, and notoriety to myself, my team, and my father.”

“There can be no pride in winning this way,” Thax grunts from behind me, releasing me from his hold. There’s a murmuring of agreement from my team. “Stealing a Permission is bad enough. But to use that Permission during gameplay is-”

“Ah,” Glex says, gleefully interrupting, holding up one finger as if he were about to impart some kind of valuable wisdom. “But we didn’t even need her Permission in the end, did we? She is human. Her likeness is classed just the same as the creatures the Arena Masters conjured for you all to fight,” he says, grinning.

I move.

It’s not the biggest of movements.

Just a slight lean toward the male who just so plainly stated that my female, and humans like her, have the exact same rights as… wildlife? Creatures spotted on a vacation planet? Animals at a zoo?

Glex notices, though, and he wisely angles himself in a way that uses his son, Zyre, as a living shield.

Coward.

Thax grabs my forearm. He’s not holding me back this time; he just gives me a squeeze – a reminder not to lose myself to violence again.

I turn my head and give him the smallest of nods.

“What about my Permission?” I ask. “Pax stole it, and you used it, completely unauthorized, to upset my female, and, therefore, me. That is a serious crime, Glex. Once this is known, I do not see you staying on the board of the Intergalactic Peacetime Authorities, or my father’s court, for that matter.”

Glex’s smile does not waver. “Prove it,” is all he says before he starts to stride toward the door – the door that Ral and Varrex swiftly block, their arms folded. He stumbles to a halt and turns to say, “All you have is a human’s word. You’ll not find any kind of video featuring your Permission, Prince Az, so kindly tell your teammates to move!”

They do not.

“If Prince Az and Lady Lois wish to go to the authorities about the Permission theft, I will back up their claim, father.”

I’m not sure Zyre’s words had really registered with anyone straight away – least of all with Glex.

Slowly, he turns to face his son, a look of utter disbelief written on his features. “What? Zyre, you-”

“I should never have gone along with your plan,” he states. “But I did. And for that, I am truly sorry.” My sporting rival bows his head to us. “I cannot undo what is already done. But if you need me to speak the truth in any capacity, I will do so.”

“Zyre-” Glex starts, face practically turning purple with fury as he’s marching over to his son.

Zyre doesn’t move a muscle.

But Lois does.

“Help me with the laws around humans,” she says, stepping in front of Glex’s stride.

The male blinks down at her, and I watch him carefully for any indication that he’ll redirect that anger toward my Lois.

“What?” Glex blusters.

“Champion the plight of humans, use your influence to help me with this, and we won’t go to the authorities about the stolen Permission.” Lois glances at me – a quick check-in to make sure we are riding the same drak in this situation. I smile and give her a small nod.