AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I already told you,” I bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from snapping at him, “one of the females is mine.”
“And what about the other one?” Zell asks. The barmaid chooses that moment to drop another full mug of frothy ale in front of him, but he doesn’t acknowledge her. Instead, his steady reptilian gaze holds mine.
I don’t care,I want to say. It’s the truth, and it’s what he would expect me to say. But I’m trying to gain his help.
“Perhaps we can take her to Pamia, where she’ll be safe with the other humans.”
“And what ifyour femalewishes to go with her?”
I swallow down the growl that threatens to escape my chest.Never. She is mine!
Instead, I force myself to lift a shoulder. “If that is what she wants, then…” I can’t even finish, because I know that once I have her, there is no way I’ll let her go.
Zell keeps his face impassive as he thinks over what I’ve told him.
Finally, his lips quirk to the side.
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he chuffs, lifting his refilled mug to his lips. “Females have a way of taking down even the most hardened males. Even the evilest of us don’t have a chance when they dig their claws in.”
I make a face, wanting to disagree. But is he right? Is that what has happened? Ever since I saw her in that hallway. When she turned her head, our eyes met, even though there is no way she could have known I was there watching. Ever since that moment, I’ve feltdifferent.I don’t like it.
Zell leans back in his seat with a long sigh and growls, “I should leave you to find your own way through this mess.” My eyes drop to my nearly empty mug before me, and I feel my shoulders tense. I tell myself that I can’t blame him if he does just that. “But…”
I lift my eyes in surprise to find him grinning across the table at me.
“I find I’m curious to see how this plays out. And to see the female who has taken the mighty, self-absorbed Volethos and molded him into a ball of soft clay without even knowing it.”
I narrow my eyes but remain silent.
“Alright,” Zell leans forward, resting his heavy forearms on the table between us, “what is your plan?”
Tipping back my mug, I drain the rest of my ale before sliding it aside. “I put a tracker on Kurrahstka’s ship before he left his pleasure house, which will lead us to wherever he took the females. I suspect he is either at his private residence or a more secret pleasure station. From there…” I shrug.
“That was good thinking.” Zell nods. “We’ll figure out the next step when we get there. Do you have any idea what we could be walking into?”
I shake my head. “We can only hope that wherever he is, the security won’t be high.”
“You’ve changed,” Zell says, letting the silence stretch between us. “I never would have believed it, but—but I’m glad. It’s nice to see that the Volethos I remember from my youth isn’t dead, like I’d feared.”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t. That youth is long gone, Zell.”
“Perhaps, but you’re finally doing the right thing.” Zell pushes his chair back with a loudskeeeeechand stands. Towering over me, he holds his hand out to me.
I feel an unexpected tightness in my chest. Pushing myself to my feet, I take hold of his arm, wrapping my fingers around his wrist, while he does the same, gripping my forearm.
“Grab your things, pay to dock your shuttle, and meet me at my cruiser. I’m in the last stall in the C wing,” he says, bending down and hoisting the duffel he brought with him over his shoulder. “Don’t be long; I find that I’m anxious to get underway.”
With a nod, I step out from around the table, looking at the duffel he’s carrying. I can’t help asking, “What do you have in there, anyway?”
“Let’s just say I came prepared to take you out, depending on how this meeting went.” Without another word, or the hint of a smile suggesting he might be kidding, he turns and strides out of the bar.
I drop some credits on the table to pay for our drinks before cautiously following after him.
CHAPTERFIVE
Shae
* * *
