Rebel (The Cat Star Chronicles)

by Cheryl Brooks

  All of which pointed to the need to avoid involving anyone in authority.

  What was the word they’d used? Vigilante? She had never heard it before, but apparently the cops took a dim view of anyone taking the law into their own hands—which was exactly what they would be doing.

  Still, Jack was on her way and, if Roncas’s opinion meant anything, she was a force to be reckoned with and so was the arms dealer, Lerotan Kanotay. Kim didn’t know much about Onca’s friend Dax, aside from the fact that he had a nice ship and could take her to Terra Minor in style if Jack wasn’t available. At least Dax was married and didn’t have any sons of marriageable age. Getting a ride with him would protect her from matchmaking plots to keep her and Onca apart.

  Maybe.

  Many of these same thoughts would have been buzzing around in her head even if she’d stayed behind. Unfortunately, getting a firsthand look at what they were up against hadn’t done a thing to calm her fears. This wasn’t some cheap-ass operation. Force fields were expensive. Even street urchins knew that. Most businesses relied on locked doors and iron bars for security. There was money behind this place—and lots of it.

  She focused her attention on the door as the Cylopean admitted another customer—a big, mean-looking Terran with tattoos and a bald head. The horror of Peska or Dalmet being at the mercy of such a man made her shudder. Cassie could probably take it. Davordians were among some of the more sexually uninhibited species in the galaxy, and Cassie liked boys. Still, the thought of being taken by force was enough to chill Kim’s bones. Sex with guys she liked had been bad enough.

  Nothing like being with Onca at all.

  The minutes ticked slowly by. A few men came out, but no one else went in. They were giving him an hour—which, according to Rashe, was the standard time allotment in a brothel of this type.

  Yet another thing I didn’t know.

  A steady stream of foot traffic trickled along the street, most of the passersby seeming to ignore the Den’s existence. She spotted the occasional Darconian among them, knowing that they were some of Shemlak’s friends and relatives—Draddut being the largest of them all. Kim had barely contained her laughter earlier that evening when Onca was seized and ruthlessly hugged by Ganyn, who was among those patrolling the area. Kim was glad she had come along. If anyone could bull her way past the doorman and his force field to rescue Onca, it was Ganyn. Even with a running start, Kim would probably bounce right off the barrier.

  Although Rashe still considered this particular brothel to be the most likely, he knew of at least three others with questionable reputations. What if they had to check out those places, too? What if her friends weren’t in any of them? They could be dead or even on other planets by now.

  What had seemed so simple in the beginning when Kim and Jatki had formed their own plans had somehow become a monstrous, terrifying undertaking.

  “We need to go after him now,” Kim said. “I can’t wait the full hour.”

  Shemlak chuckled. “That’s why Onca wanted you to stay behind. He knew you wouldn’t be able to sit still and let him do what he has to do. And it’s also why he stationed you here with me. Not many people are willing to take on a Darconian.”

  “I don’t see why—”

  “He knows you care about him, Kim.” He nodded toward the brothel. “And he also knows women don’t like to see their men walk into places like that, whether it’s for a good cause or not.”

  Their men? When had Onca become her man—at least, in the eyes of others? She felt very strongly about him, but she had kept those feelings to herself. She didn’t understand how anyone else could know about them, especially Shemlak.

  “He’s doing this for you,” Shemlak went on. “Not for himself.”

  “How could he possibly think that getting himself killed is something I would ever want him to do?”

  “You were willing to risk your life to discover what happened to your friends, weren’t you?”

  “Well, yes, but that’s different.”

  “Not really,” Shemlak said. “Discovering the fate of these girls is important to you. Therefore, it’s important to him.”

  Kim couldn’t see the connection. At least, not unless— “He doesn’t love me, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “You think not? I believe he does. Enough to risk his life to keep you safe. Enough to let you go if it’s in your best interest.”

  “That’s ridiculous. We only met yesterday. How could he possibly know what’s best for me?”

  “He sees the bigger picture, Kim.” The Darconian paused, shaking his ponderous head. “I never would’ve given Onca credit for thinking on that scale, but apparently he can. You won’t leave this world to collect your share of the trust fund and go on with your life without first rescuing your friends—or at least doing everything you can to discover their fate. He knows that and sees this as the only way to get you to go willingly.”

  “What if we succeed? What if we find my friends and no one gets killed? Will he still send me away?”

  “Probably. Either that, or he’ll go someplace where you can’t find him.”

  Kim refused to accept—or believe—any of it. “How do you know so much?”

  “Rashe filled me in on the details, and I know Zetithians. I knew Jerden and Tarq, and both of them would’ve done exactly what Onca’s doing now. Nobody ever thought he was the type to care much about anything or anybody, but I’ve never known a species whose men worshipped women as much as those cats do. Well…maybe worship is the wrong word. But I can tell you this much—Zetithian men are too damned noble for their own good.”

  On that point, she and Shemlak were in complete agreement. She blew out a breath. “How much longer do we have to wait?”

  With a rumbling chuckle, he patted her head, nearly driving her feet into the pavement. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him out of there. Then you can tell him what a fool he was to risk his life for you and your gang.”

  “He’s a fool for a couple of other reasons, too,” Kim said. “I just hope I get the chance to tell him that.”

  “So do I.”

  ***

  Given the sexual nature most Davordians possessed, Onca should have been able to do this one with both hands tied behind his back.

  Nothing.

  Not so much as a quiver of interest from his cock. This circumstance—though highly inconvenient at the moment—illustrated all that had occurred since his last night in the Palace.

  Oh, yes. He was mated to Kim. Body, mind, and soul.

  Not that he needed proof. He had known it with that first kiss. Jack would have laughed her ass off if she’d known the truth. He, of course, had no intention of telling her anything about it.

  He’d had a tiny bit of difficulty convincing the Herp that he wanted this particular girl, but now that he stood facing her from the doorway of the small room to which they had been taken, he was at a loss as to how to proceed. The room was surprisingly clean, and the bed appeared comfortable enough to lure any of the girls from their cages—if for no other reason than to lie down in a soft place for the half-second before some man jumped on them and did his worst.

  Onca shook off the shudder and got down to business. “What’s your name?”

  The Davordian girl’s eyes filled with tears as she gazed up at him. “We aren’t supposed to tell anyone our names.”

  “Hmm. Too bad about that. Mind if I call you Cassie?”

  Her startled reaction was more than enough to confirm her identity. “I-If you wish.”

  “You girls don’t get fed unless you beg the customers to fuck you. Am I right?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  Clearly she wasn’t going to make this easy. “Are these rooms bugged?”

  Her puzzled frown and her reluctance to answer his questions spoke volumes. What a client did with these girls was his own choice, but the girls’ behavior had to be monitored—and their adherence to the rules enforced.

&nbs
p; Something else we didn’t think about—along with the force field on the door.

  Crap. He was going to have to at least pretend to fuck this girl.

  With a limp dick? Yeah, right.

  This was such a bad idea.

  “I’m guessing they are—especially if you’re afraid to tell me your name.” He held out a hand. “My name is Onca. I’m Zetithian. Perhaps you’ve seen others like me before?”

  She didn’t take his hand, merely shaking her head as she stared down at the thickly carpeted floor.

  To pull off this charade, he should throw her down, rip off what little clothing she had on, and nail her to the bed. Then perhaps he could whisper in her ear, telling her he was there to rescue her and all the others. He should be able to do that. After all, she was a pretty, blond Davordian. He’d done a hundred others just like her—perhaps even more than that.

  The trouble was, he had never needed to be forceful with any of them. Hell, he’d barely even had to purr. Most Davordians threw their arms around his neck and pulled him down. Being the aggressor wasn’t in his nature. At all. Even Kim had made the first move with him—asking him to kiss her and then leaping into his arms and biting him. Granted, he’d taken it from there, but right now, he had absolutely no idea how to even make this farce look good.

  Reconnaissance mission, hell. I am so screwed.

  If he didn’t leave the building in an hour, the others would know something had gone wrong, and hopefully, come after him and the girls. Rashe could have done this much better. At least he could have managed an erection.

  As Onca made a move toward her, the girl cringed away from him. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t trust him at all, especially since he knew her name.

  “Um…Kim sent me.”

  When she still refused to respond, he hesitated, rethinking his tactics. Should he ask for another girl or keep trying to wear this one down until she talked? Clearly, she was more afraid of her captors than she was of him. As far as she was concerned, he was just another dumb john.

  He swallowed hard and tried again.

  “Tell me how you got here. Were you kidnapped?” He knew someone was listening, but at this point, he wasn’t sure it mattered.

  Bad plan.

  He threw up his hands. “Okay, Jack. You were right.”

  The girl stared up at him with yet another puzzled frown. “You’re calling me Jack now?”

  “No. Just talking to myself. No use pretending. I’m only here to find out if Kim’s friends are in this place. If you’re one of them, great. We’re here to rescue you. If not, we’re both fucked.” Not expecting much to come of it, he tried the door, which was, of course, securely locked.

  “You’re more fucked than you think, pretty boy.” The Herpatronian’s voice came from a speaker located somewhere in the room.

  “Yeah. I figured that. But I do have friends.”

  The man’s laughter curdled Onca’s blood and outraged him at the same time. “For your sake, I hope you brought along an army. Not that there’ll be much left of you to find when I’m finished with you.”

  Onca let out a sigh. “Yeah. I figured that too.”

  Hoping the signal wasn’t blocked, he hit the panic button on his comlink.

  “You’re right,” the girl blurted out. “My name is Cassie. Is Kim safe?”

  “Yeah, she and Jatki are outside with the rest of my gang. I hope to hell they can get through that force field or we’re gonna be in for a rough night.”

  “It might be rougher than you think,” Cassie said. “That Herp likes boys.”

  “Oh, joy.”

  Chapter 18

  Kim’s heart plunged to her feet, taking all the blood in her head with it as the panic signal sounded from Shemlak’s comlink.

  “Time for plan B.” Shemlak stepped out of the shadows just as Val swooped down from the sky, landing lightly in front of him. “I’ll take out the Cylopean. You work on that force field.”

  Shemlak swaggered up to the doorman with his pistol drawn, which, as Kim noted a moment later, was probably a mistake. The force field flickered, extending to include the station by the entrance.

  “Great mother of the desert!” Shemlak thundered. “If you want to live to see tomorrow, you’ll drop that field.”

  “Not likely,” the Cylopean sneered. “We know how to deal with troublemakers.”

  What was left of Kim’s circulating blood froze in her veins at the thought of how such people would “deal” with Onca. If he lived through this fiasco, Jack would kill him. And if Jack didn’t kill him, Kim would be tempted to do the honors herself. “This was a terrible idea. I told him that, didn’t I?”

  “Maybe,” Shemlak said. “Can’t remember.”

  Val launched himself at the force field in full flight and ricocheted off it, flying up into the air before landing on his feet. Obviously he had no more super powers than any other large bird. Against a force field of that strength, his only use would be his ability to disable it—from the inside.

  Shemlak tried next, aiming his pistol at the field, turning the setting to kill.

  “No, wait!” Kim yelled. “Let’s all fire at once to weaken the field. And Draddut, you get ready to ram through it.”

  Clearly unafraid and perhaps even anxious to do battle, Draddut scraped his enormous feet on the pavement as he leaned forward, positioning himself for the charge. Ganyn, Rashe, Val, Shemlak, and Roncas aimed their weapons at the door along with Kim and Jatki.

  “Ready, aim, fire!” Kim shouted. The force field crackled where their pulse beams converged. “Now, Draddut!”

  For a creature so large and cumbersome in appearance, the huge Darconian took off running at a surprising speed. Aiming for what was undoubtedly the weakest spot, he barreled past the beams just as Kim gave the order to cease fire. Hitting the field with an impact that was probably audible three blocks away, Draddut bounced off the barrier and landed with a thud.

  The Cylopean cackled with laughter. “Your pathetic attempts are no match for our equipment.”

  Kim glanced around in desperation. Most of the prudent passersby had fled, but a surprisingly large number of onlookers remained. Some of them were even cheering.

  “Don’t just stand there gawking,” Kim screeched. “Do something!”

  Nobody moved. Spotting a group of police officers in the crowd, she fired a couple of shots over their heads. “You guys have been chasing me for years. Now’s your chance to come and get me.”

  Ignoring her taunts, the police stood their ground. One of them laughed.

  Kim stood there, gaping at them. “Rashe was right. They really are in on it.”

  ***

  The door slid open and two Herpatronians shouldered their way inside.

  Onca pulled Cassie behind him. “Getting kinda crowded in here, don’t you think?”

  “You could say that,” the Herp on the left snarled. “Get her out of here.”

  Grinning, the other Herp shoved Onca aside. “Hunard’s gonna have some fun with you, pretty boy.” Grabbing Cassie by the arm, he dragged her away. The door slid shut.

  Onca studied his opponent. He was no match for a full-grown Herp, and he knew it. The simian race was known for its belligerence, strength, and, unfortunately, its agility. Onca had nowhere to run or hide. Not that he had any intention of giving up without a fight.

  “I’ve wanted to get my dick into one of you cat boys for a long time,” the Herp said.

  Onca flicked a particle of fluff from his sleeve. “Well now—Hunard, is it? You should’ve booked an appointment while the Palace was still open. My ass isn’t for sale anymore.”

  “I’m not buying,” Hunard shot back. “I’m taking.”

  “And I’m not offering.”

  “Even better,” Hunard snorted. “I’m getting hard just thinking about ripping your pants off and fucking your pretty little ass.” Parting the front of the peculiar diaper-like garment that most Herps favored, he whipped out a dick t
he size of Onca’s forearm. “Think you can take it?”

  Onca shrugged. “I’ve seen bigger. And you know what they say—it’s not the meat, it’s the motion.”

  “I’m gonna love making you scream.”

  “Promises, promises…”

  Agile and strong they might be, but Herps were also predictable. Onca sidestepped the first lunge with an ease that drew a growl from the outraged ape. “You might as well give up and bare your ass for me right now, Onca. Or did you give the girl a fake name?”

  “No need for me to lie,” Onca replied. “All of my clients knew my name. Not that many of them cared, but I did at least introduce myself.”

  “Bet you never bothered to dress, either.”

  “Generally not. This was different.” Onca edged away from him again. Reaching the door would serve no purpose. The best he could do was to keep moving and pray his friends got to him in time. “I wasn’t actually planning to get laid. I was here on a rescue mission.”

  Hunard snorted. “Some rescue.”

  “Call it a reconnaissance mission, then. Either way, my friends know what’s going on in here, and they’ll break in eventually. Then we’re going to shut this place down for good. You know, kidnapping young girls—even the kind who live on the street—isn’t very nice, aside from being illegal.”

  “No one cares about that shit. Not when we’ve got so many customers willing to pay.”

  “By the way, how much do you charge?”

  “Five hundred a fuck,” Hunard replied. “Big bucks no matter how you cut it.”

  Onca laughed. “I got a thousand per session—but then, my clients had more discriminating tastes, and some people thought I wasn’t charging enough. I hated to seem greedy, though, and since the Palace was a legitimate business, I didn’t have to ‘cut it’ with anyone. Especially not to keep them quiet.”