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“You rutting owe it to Lalo to take the time.” Rossa immediately hits me with the sharp pangs of guilt I was expecting. “She asks after you constantly.”
“In here.” Rossa directs us through a curtained archway. We enter a small living room with a cozy, in-ground seating area. Woven wall hangings hide away the metal walls. I’m glad to see she’s doing well for herself. Last I saw this ship, it was bare as could be.
We step down into the den of curved benches.
“What’s going on?” The question is directed at me. “It must be serious if you’re turning up at my door.”
“It’s as I said. Raina’s recently escaped the Azza slave trade. I was lucky enough to find her in a dropped cargo hold. Two friends of hers were not so lucky, and she wants to find them before they’re in the hands of a slave owner.”
“I can try,” Rossa says. Raina’s shoulders drop in visible relief. I suppose she half-expected the captain to turn us down.
“Are you going to explain why you knew my mate is a human?” I ask her.
“I recently encountered another human female who was mated to a Kar’Kali,” she explains. “They had just escaped from the Azza themselves. They were on Kar’Kal in some freaky lab, no less. We picked them up in the Slavers’ Forest of Okrila. There were so many human females taken for this same purpose that I assumed.”
“Who was it? Anyone I know?” I ask. Fear churns my stomach. It’s as I had thought. The Azza are up to something unnatural, playing with our sacred bonds in their laboratories.
“It was a Deadhead.”
My lip curls in disgust. The Deadheads are those Kar’Kali that have suppressed their true natures with chips in their brains. They’re slaves to their governments and none of them can be trusted. But most of them were recently killed by the Azza in a massive attack. I didn’t know that there were any left alive.
“You let a Deadhead on your ship? Have things changed around here or—”
“If you question my judgment, then you know where the airlock is,” Rossa snaps.
Raina has been quiet up until now. But she cuts in on the conversation, clearly trying to smooth over the sudden animosity.
“What was the human’s name?” she asks. “Did you learn how she ended up at this lab?”
“Her name was Quinn. She was one of many taken from a civilian transport attacked by pirates. Do you know her?”
“No.” Raina seems disappointed.
“How could this Deadhead be mated?” I ask. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“They have not repaired their hormonal inhibitors,” Rossa replies. “This one was different. He claimed he was one of us. He was taken fromMakiva’s Revenge.”
The name of that ship sends a shiver down my spine.
“He said that?” My voice comes out hoarse.
“No. He described what happened that night. He described his brother. He gave me a name, and he wants to see him again.”
“And the name?”
“Kallasiko Bi’Salla,” Rossa says, unfazed by my reaction. “You know this male?”
“Yes.”
“Well, who the rut is he?”
I shake my head, leaning forward to press the heel of my palm across my brow. “Enough. Enough of this for now. I need to know that you will help Raina find her missing friends. That is what I’m here for.”
Rossa turns to my mate. “You’re the only reason he’s here, then?”
“This was his idea,” Raina says. “He said you could help me find my friends. Will you?”
“I do owe him one.”
