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A dark, hooded figure slips into our room. I stiffen, wielding my blade, ready to attack. Sophie is utterly silent behind me, but I can feel her trembling.
"Did I interrupt something?" comes a familiar female voice. "Please, please tell me I interrupted."
I relax even as the female taps the light panel and the hotel room floods with artificially bright light. "What the kef are you doing here?"
Bethiah lowers her hood and beams a too-sunny smile at me. "I heard Lankham was here with the ugliest wife in three galaxies, so I had to come see for myself. Please tell me you're not keffing an ooli. You have bad taste, cousin, but surely not that bad."
I sigh.
"Bethiah?" Sophie peeks around from behind me, her hands on my arm. "What are you doing here?"
My cousin's eyes widen. "Oh, look! It's one of my favorite little humans! Now I really want to be interrupting." Bethiah gestures at the bed. "Go on. Get back to work. Pretend I'm not here…unless you want me to join in. You know how I love an adventure."
"No," I say firmly. I grab one of the blankets off the bed and wrap it around Sophie, who looks extremely confused. When she glances up to me, I shake my head. "My cousin has a poor sense of humor."
"Amazing," Bethiah corrects, reclining on the bed as if it's her hotel room. "Amazing sense of humor. And no one told me you were here with a human female." She gives me a lascivious look. "You've gotten bolder, Jerrok. I like it."
"Shut up—"
"We can share, just like we have in the past."
Sophie steps away from me in horror. "Ew!"
I put my hands on my hips, facing my irritating bounty hunter cousin. "We have not shared in the past and you know it."
Bethiah traces a finger on the bed. "Okay, maybe it was just a fantasy. But I'm willing to experiment if you are."
At Sophie's disgusted look, I make a sound of irritation. "She's saying this just to shock you. That's what she does." I shoot an angry look at my cousin. "She gets you off guard because she can manipulate people easier when they're rattled."
"Plus, it's fun," Bethiah agrees, tracing little patterns on the bed. She beams a sunny smile in my direction. "You look like shit, cousin."
I take the other blanket and wrap it around my body, aware of my scars and prosthetics on display. "Is there a point to this visit?"
Bethiah sits up, mock-pouting. "I mean, yes? The solar storm stranded me, so I went drinking. The port officers have loose lips and couldn't stop talking about Lankham and his hideously ugly new mate, so I thought I'd come and see for myself if you were really sticking your cock into an ooli mouth, or if it's more of a rubbing situation, or—"
I put a hand in the air. "Stop talking. Please."
Bethiah sighs dramatically and flops back on the bed. "I hear that far too often."
I turn to Sophie, who's looking at my cousin with a mixture of confusion and distress. The human's hair is disheveled around her face, a cloud of tangles, and my hand itches to touch her—and it—again. Somehow, I don't think that will happen.
"She's your cousin?" Sophie asks, brows furrowed.
"Unfortunately." I glance over at Bethiah. We look nothing alike, despite the fact that our mothers were sisters. My cousin is tall and slender, her hair roped into dozens of artfully decorated braids between a shiny pair of perfectly-kept-up horns. Her clothing is fresh and neat, and knowing Bethiah, her weapons are state of the art.
Me, I'm just a mess. Rusted horns, rusted parts, worn clothing. No wonder Sophie's so full of disbelief. I hold the blankets tighter around my chest. "I'd like to get some sleep before I have to fly us back to my station, so can we save the visiting for in the morning?" I snap.
"Temper temper," Bethiah says, sitting up. She pretends to whisper to Sophie. "He's a bit of a cranky one."
"I know," Sophie says.
I scowl at both of them.
"Oh, hey, since you're here, wanna help me with my bounty?" Bethiah asks, fluttering her lashes as she gets to her feet. "It's an easy one. Pays nothing but pocket change, but I figured I'd check it out and all."
I scrub a hand over my jaw, tired. My cousin is—as always—talking fast as if she's made of pure energy. I'm exhausted, and I want a carcinogel. Badly. More than that, I just want to be home, away from everything. "You woke us up to ask for help with a bounty?"
"Well, I was hoping that you weren't sleeping. New mate and all." Bethiah gives me a pointed stare. "I mean, I had no idea you knew little Softie here—"
"Sophie—" the human breaks in.
"—but good choice. " Bethiah grins at me, oblivious to Sophie. "She's got nice flanks."
