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Just his touch seemed to scatter my fearful thoughts.
“The Association is due to arrive in the next several minutes,” he said. “I want you hidden in the walls well before they get here,” he added gently, and I nodded. I stood up, fidgeting just a little.
“Be safe, okay?” I said then and he nodded with a grin.
“Credare doesn’t have anything on me,” he joked, winking at me as he did so.
I grinned.
I hoped he was right.
I walked back to the panel I had emerged from and slid it carefully back into place, keenly aware of my bare pussy beneath my short skirt. The air caressed my naked skin, a constant reminder of his words and his promise of protection. I turned, watching as Bane stood up from the bed and left the room. I followed him silently, completely hidden within the walls into the front parlor where the meeting between the Syndicate and the Association was due to take place. I pressed my palm against the scanner and the sitting room came into focus. I could see everything.
Every guard was tense, their gazes sharp.
I could hear a commotion outside. I focused on it, recognizing the sound of wheels engaging, of hydraulic engines and anti-gravity systems humming with the effort to land a great beast of a ship not far from the home we were stationed in. I knew that a landing field wasn’t far from here, designed close enough in proximity to make meetings like this easy, but not close enough to endanger everyone here.
The guards would be sent to meet Credare and his men, to escort them here while Bane waited in the safety of the guarded home.
With a deep swallow, I pushed away my fear, focusing only on the mission. I had to be Bane’s eyes and ears. I wouldn’t wish Credare’s cruelty on even my most brutal enemy. I had to protect him, just as he was protecting me.
I watched as Bane sat in a lounge chair, both opposite and farthest from the door. He leaned back and folded his hands together, the motion expectant. He turned his head toward me, almost as if he knew I was there and smiled.
Five minutes later, I heard an air shuttle sputter loudly outside the house and everywhere I looked, the guards stiffened. The time had come. Credare had arrived.
I moved closer to the wall, turning my head so that I could see the front door. It opened then and a few guards I didn’t recognize walked inside. On their right shoulders was an Association symbol, a circular target with a shooting star cutting through the middle. Then I witnessed my first glimpse of Credare in more than seven years.
He hadn’t aged well.
He was an alien, but humanoid in nature. His skin was tinged slightly green, a putrid color that only sought to make him look ill. His eyes were a sickly yellow color that made me question the functionality of his liver, which had only worsened from the very first time I had met him. His eyes were larger than a human’s and more circular; quite unsettling when I first laid eyes on him.
He was dressed in a black suit, left unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up a little to reveal both his wrists and forearms. I could see the thumping of his heart through his shirt, another trait of whatever alien species he hailed from.
I watched as his eyes glazed over the front sitting room. He looked cocky and overconfident as always, but there was something else about the way his body moved and the expression on his face. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but quiet alarm bells began to sound in my head.
I didn’t know if it was because I was nervous to see him after so long or if it was actually something to be worried about. I couldn’t figure out what was so off about that moment and I bit my cheek, watching closely. Then I shook my head.
Focus, Cara. Focus.
Credare smiled and even his grin was unsettling. The movements of his lips exposed gray, rotted teeth and I grimaced, remembering the rancid smell of his breath long ago. I was really thankful to be hidden behind the walls then.
“Bane,” Credare murmured, his voice rough, nasally, and far too high-pitched.
“Credare. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Bane answered, his tone confident and even a little dangerous. Credare didn’t even flinch.
Neither one approached the other.
“I’ve heard so much about you. I figured it’s time we meet and maybe, the two of us to come to some sort of mutually beneficial agreement,” Credare said, sitting down in the chair opposite of Bane. Two figureheads of powerful groups in the same room. I felt as though I could cut the tension with a knife.
Bane cocked his head to the side.
“Agreement? What is it that you want?” he pressed, his tone both flippant and edging on hostile.
“Access. For the longest time, the Association and the Syndicate have been at odds with each other and I’ve never been able to take advantage of the flourishing trade here on Dryac,” Credare began, picking his words carefully. I could tell that he was trying very hard to appear nonthreatening. Behavior like this was against his nature.
He usually just took what he wanted, no matter the consequences.
Bane just stared back at him and ran his thumb across the bottom of his chin, deep in thought.
