AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Keran muttered a curse in Braxian under his breath. “This means the next victim is already beyond help.”
My throat tightened as I once more nodded. After Kranax Beetles laid their eggs inside a host, the larvae took two days to hatch. They would then eat their way out of the body, taking the longest route to stock up on the reserves necessary for them to complete their maturity. It took many hours, sometimes up to a day.
If the killer kept to his pattern, the next corpse would turn up in three days. This meant the Kranax Beetles had laid their eggs inside the victim sometime this morning. Unless we could find him in the next twenty-four hours, the chances of saving him would be next to nil. And even if we did, the damage caused by the eggs growing inside of him before we could take them out would destroy any type of quality of life he could hope for in the future.
Over the next hour, I covered every detail Melinda and I had managed to gather about the cases, as well as any information I possessed about the victims: names, jobs, residential address, as well as a map overlaying their houses, place of work, and locations their bodies were found in relation to each other. No connecting threads gave us the slightest hint as to where to go from here.
“You have done an admirable job, considering the obstacles lain in your path,” Keran said with an air of respect that made me feel all fuzzy inside.
In my eyes, I hadn’t done anywhere near enough. But I was in over my head and didn’t know where to go next to protect my boys. I had expected the Prince to berate me for not having done more. But his words piqued my curiosity.
“Obstacles?” I repeated.
“Mmhmm. After receiving your last message, I communicated with the Peacekeeper’s Commander to have all the investigation files forwarded to me before my arrival,” Keran said, his voice hardening. “He used every possible excuse to explain why he couldn’t share the information about an investigation in progress, even after I said that I would put my far more considerable resources at his disposal to find the culprit as they struggled with a limited budget.”
Eyes wide, I gaped at him with wonder. “Damn! I wish I could have been there to bear witness. He loves throwing his weight around.”
Keran snorted. “He certainly tried to. But he learned quickly that I don’t put up with that nonsense. When he tried to shut me down, I reminded him that our Dagna’s niece is married to General Khel Praghan, leader of the Sentinels. As a high-ranking member of the Galactic Council’s peacekeeping force, he has oversight powers over regional law-enforcement of member planets. If he persisted in his interference, General Praghan would certainly be curious to know why they were making so little progress in these cases.”
I burst out laughing as I stared at him in awe. “Ormloff must have peed his pants. It was high time someone had some kind of leverage to take him down a notch.”
“I do enjoy setting fools straight,” Keran said smugly. “He requested a week to get the files in order. I told him he had three days until our arrival and to see that everything was ready. A couple of my guards and my medical officer should be there now as we speak to perform a proper autopsy on the victims and get copies of the files.”
Truly impressed, I whistled through my teeth before sobering. “I’m genuinely blown away with how quickly you got him to move. Having connections certainly does wonders. Unfortunately, I doubt Commander Ormloff will have much to offer. He hasn’t done anything. I can’t tell if it’s laziness, genuine lack of resources, or flat-out corruption, but I’m pretty sure his team has done less than the minimum. It doesn’t help that many people dislike the hybrids—and Braxians in general. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they were dragging their heels about this because they see the hybrids getting killed as a good thing.”
“Braxians can be… challenging,” Keran said, looking amused. “Our males need intense training, brutal sports, and the ability to brawl under strict rules and great discipline. We need to vent our excess of violence.”
“Sadly, we’re not staffed to enforce this type of strict discipline,” I said, annoyed by the bitterness seeping into my voice.
“Few people are,” he conceded sympathetically. “And you are correct. Ormloff asked for a week so that his unit could try to whip up something together. We cannot rely on him to solve this, which is why my team will take over the whole thing. We do have very powerful allies. And Haven and the Twelve willnotwant us to make a galactic stink about their failure to protect those who sought refuge here. I need this resolved within the next couple of weeks. I have to be back on Braxia in no more than a month.”
For a reason I couldn’t explain, that struck me hard. Considering I’d just met him barely a couple of hours ago, my reaction didn’t make much sense. And yet, an odd sense of abandonment welled within me at the thought of his departure.
“My crew will be working through the night so that we may have a plan of attack first thing in the morning,” Keran continued. “Any special place the hybrids usually hang out?”
I hesitated. “Not exactly. They used to hang out here before, but the older they got, the more they began going their separate ways,” I said carefully. “However, they will attend most sports events, especially of the competitive types. And, naturally, they lurk around most of the strip clubs and adult entertainment venues.”
“I will need the list of those venues,” he immediately replied.
“Of course,” I said, my voice cooler than I intended while trying to silence the disappointment surging through me.
Under the circumstances, it was unfair to automatically assume he wanted to go there for his own entertainment, but knowing how constantly horny Braxians were, I didn’t doubt he’d seize the opportunity to also get some… release.
His gaze appeared to darken as he studied my features, having no doubt perceived the sliver of disapproval in my voice. I fought the burning urge to squirm, suddenly feeling exposed, like he could read my every thought and emotion.
“The Cabaret is the most popular club, and the most welcoming to all. Some clubs will only welcome specific species, and in others, the performers refuse to ‘service’ certain clients.”
He tilted his head to the side, examining me as if searching for some underlying meaning to my words.
“I bet you had fun moderating incidents where frustrated hybrids were being denied service,” he said with disturbing accuracy.
“It is my job to see to the integration and welfare of the hybrids, here on Haven, including fighting for their rights,” I said with a shrug.
“Hmmm,” Keran replied in a non-committal fashion while continuing to stare at me.
“You have a pretty intense way of looking at people,” I blurted out nervously.
It was his turn to shrug. “So I’m told. You’ll get used to it.”
