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My fingers pluck at the rough sleeve encasing my arm, and my lips turn down in a sneer. It’s nothing like the finery I grew accustomed to while employed by Madame Athea. This tunic is plain. The fabric is scratchy compared to the silks I’ve come to favor.
Utilitarian.
Utterly boring.
The trousers are equally functional, as are the boots. Still, as much as my skin chafes, it’s vastly better than the jumpsuit I’d been wearing for the last span since rescuing Brox and Igid from Kurrahstka.
The icon continues to spin, and I start to consider that Adrazell may not answer my comm. I hoped that by using a public connection, he might be more willing to accept an unknown code. Seems I was wrong.
Vittu, now what am I going to—
Suddenly the screen blinks, and my old friend appears in front of me. He looks just how I remember him, right down to the deep frown creasing his reptilian face.
“What in the nine systems do you wa—You!”Zell’s purple and green markings suddenly flare, flickering to an angry orange before settling back into his more natural tone. “How the fuck did you find me? And why?”
I lean back and breathe a sigh of relief. I expected him to simply end the comm the moment he saw me. Since he hasn’t… I draw in a deep breath to explain myself.
“You know what? I don’t care.” The comm blinks out, and my charge appears on the screen.
Well, fuck. I guess he’s still angry.
My fingers type in his coordinates once more, and I sigh when the icon begins spinning, starting the process all over. This time I wait nearly ten minutes before Adrazell connects once more.
“Please, just hear me out,” I beg before he has a chance to say anything.
“And why should I?”
My breath explodes from my lungs with apughsound, “Because this isn’t for me.” Well, not entirely.
“Oh. Really.” Zell folds his arms across his chest and gives me an incredulous look. “When is anything you do not for or about yourself?”
He has a point. I need to convince him I’ve changed since the last time we worked together. Mostly. Considerably, maybe.
“I’m going after Kurrahstka, and I need your help.”
Zell opens his mouth to turn down whatever reason he was expecting me to feed him, but then stops. “Say that again?”
My next exhale is relief. I knew I’d only have one chance at getting Zell’s attention, and throwing him the opportunity to take down Kurrahstka is the one thing I knew he couldn’t turn down. “You heard me right.”
As quickly as I can, and before he can cut me off again, I tell him about the abducted human females and how Rovos and his crew have vowed to rescue them—after they mated with a few of them, of course.
I tell him about being kicked out of Madame Athea’s employ and left for dead on a decommissioned station. Not surprisingly, Zell seemed to find that quite amusing.Fucker.Then I tell him about how Brox found me when his mate dropped him off at the same station in a similar manner.
“Brox is mated toIgid?” Zell nearly chokes. “Rovos’ Igid?”
“He is. And, for reasons I can’t seem to fathom, they are disgustingly happy with each other.”
“And so now you’re trying to help Brox and Rovos find the humans Kurrahstka took off station.” Leaning back, Adrazell runs a hand across his chin. “What is in it for you?”
“Is it really so unbelievable that I would do something for no other reason except that it’s the right thing?” I scoff.
Zell doesn’t even hesitate before stating, “Yes.”
I suppose I can’t blame him for not believing me. Not with our history. After all, I’m absolutely doing this for one, and only one, reason. And that reason is a small human female with cutting eyes and wild hair.
So, I decide to lead with…honesty.
“I want one of the females he has.”
