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I frown, because this answer seems too glib. “You’re telling us that she’s hunting you down because she doesn’t like being left behind?”
“Oh no, she’d be fine with being left behind if I was alone,” Lord Nerit complains. “It’s that I’ve acquired a new human companion and that’s the part she gets upset over. She’s jealous and trying to ruin my good time.”
Bethiah peers into the private quarters over Lord Nerit’s shoulder. “Rhonda said you didn’t have any other humans.”
“Well, yes, she would say that after she sold the last one out from under me, wouldn’t she?” There’s a peevish look on his face. “I went to stay with a friend at a country estate, and when I came back, Estrella was gone, sold off. Rhonda feigned ignorance, but now that I’ve got Simone here”—he waves a hand at the human in the bed—“she’s doing everything she can to try and get rid of her rival.”
Bethiah grimaces. She moves over to my side and turns her back to them, leaning in close to me. “I don’t want to say that this sounds like Rhonda,” she murmurs, voice low. “But this sounds exactly like Rhonda.”
I nod. The calculating human strikes me as the type to get rid of her rival and keep her claws sunk into the person she’s decided she wants. I glance over at Lord Nerit. “To confirm, you’re not in any danger?”
“None whatsoever.”
“And you left a valuable slave alone on a space station? This seems like a poor decision to me.”
The bodyguard and Lord Nerit exchange a look.
“You’ve met Rhonda,” the bodyguard snaps. “Tell me you wouldn’t dump her somewhere in the hopes of getting rid of her.”
The lordling runs a hand through his mane, smoothing it. “She found out I was in the process of purchasing another female and she grew upset. I said I would take her on a shopping trip, and I did.” Lord Nerit lifts his chin and straightens his shoulders. “I just didn’t bring her home again. That’s my right.”
So Rhonda was getting replaced and didn’t like it. Not sure why she’s decided that this puny lordling is the one for her, but perhaps he’s easily controlled. Then again, maybe someone like Rhonda is just looking for security, any sort of security. I think of the vid recordings she made on our ship and how she approached both Bethiah and me to worm her way in, no doubt as a backup plan of some kind. “Well, we brought her here,” I point out. “As per the bounty we need to determine that you’re alive and well so we can close out the assignment.”
“You look like an enterprising pair of bounty hunters,” Lord Nerit says. A sly look crosses his face. “Since you’re for hire, I would also like to know how much you would charge to make Rhonda…go away.”
Go…away?
Bethiah speaks before I can. “You want us to keffing kill her?”
Lord Nerit raises a hand to his chest in mock offense. “What? I didn’t say that.”
“You kinda did,” I growl. I don’t like Rhonda either, but killing someone just because they inconvenience you seems like a drastic step. Some bounty hunters might not blink an eye at murdering an innocent target, but I don’t like it. I’ll take down a criminal on the run, or take out someone that’s slaughtered his way across the galaxy. But killing a helpless female because she’s petty and jealous? That’s just wrong.
Lord Nerit steeples his fingers, his ornately covered horns gleaming in the room’s light as he angles his head. “I’m afraid that Rhonda, while attractive, is proving to be a problematic sort of pet. She’s jealous and disruptive. She needs to be re-homed.”
Bethiah seems to relax at that. She shrugs and looks over at me. “Fine. You want us to make her go away, we can make her go away. But we need to collect our bounty first.”
“You’re going to collect from her and from me?” Nerit frowns. “That’s robbery.”
“It’s really not,” Bethiah says in a blithe voice, and I wonder what she’s up to. She strolls forward to Nerit’s side and loops an arm around his shoulders, earning her a confused and slightly repulsed look from the lordling, and an irritated scowl from his guard. “We’re just going to get paid for the job we were hired to do, and then we’re free to take on your job. See?” She pats his chest. “You’re lucky we’re here.”
“Am I?” He plucks at one of Bethiah’s fingers and removes her hand from his robe. “If I hire you for this, I want you to ensure that she’ll never bother me again. She’s grown tiresome in her demands.”
“She cares for you,” I point out. “She was concerned about your well-being.”
Lord Nerit huffs. “No, she cares for my credits and the safety they provide. Rhonda is only concerned about her own well-being, as I’ve learned. She’ll get rid of anything and anyone she perceives as a rival.”
