by Rayna Tyler
I glared at Kowhl, angered by his betrayal. It was one thing to come after me, but hearing what he planned to do with Laria was unacceptable and further fueled my rage. I did not want him touching any part of her gorgeous body. The male would be lucky if he survived to see another day.
Kowhl’s shouted command had the other two luzardees springing from the walls. The male hovering near Laria arched through the air. His move was unpredictable, agile, fast. Instead of a direct approach as I’d expected, he bounced off the sandy surface next to me, then landed on my back. The fabric of my coat and the leather vest underneath were no match for the sharp nails he dug into my shoulders. He’d removed his boots before climbing the wall and used the claws on his four toes to anchor himself to my thighs. Ignoring the sharp, pulsing pain and the metallic smell of my blood, I staggered a few steps forward under the impact.
“Laria,” I called out, too late to warn her about the luzardee who’d landed on the ground next to her. In order to help her, I needed to dislodge the male clinging to my body. I reached behind me and fought to get a grip. He dodged my grasp, sinking the nails of one hand in deeper as he wrapped an arm around my neck. Whether his intent was to push me into oblivion or end my life, I did not know. Either way I needed to remove the tightness restricting my airway.
The shackles were an annoying hindrance to my fighting abilities, but would not keep me from protecting Laria or myself. I stopped trying to grab him and managed to loop the short length of chain behind his head. Immediately shifting with my back facing the wall, I propelled myself backward. The male’s smaller frame was no match for my much larger, more muscular build. The impact forced the air from his lungs. With a painful groan, his grip loosened.
I pushed away from the wall, then jerked my arms to the side, using the chain to pull him off me. Once I had him in front of me, I wrapped the chains around his neck and squeezed.
“Let go.” Panic filled his croaky snarl, followed by breathless garbles. He wrenched his body, flipping from side to side like an animal with its head caught in a trap. He clawed at the wide cuffs covering my wrists, the strong metal partially protecting my flesh. I continued to apply pressure until his body slowed to mild jerks, then slumped before me.
I tossed his dead body aside, uncaring that it landed in a heap near the wall. I turned to assist Laria and found her facing off with the luzardee who had attacked her. She handled her knife with ease, brandishing the blade at any attempt he made to get near her. She’d already gotten in several good swipes. Blood trickled down his arm, rage flushing the scales on his cheeks a deep green. If he got his hands on her, I had no doubt he would end her life.
“Jardun, we’ve got company.” She jutted her chin toward the end of the passageway as she continued to protect herself.
I was glad she no longer viewed me as a threat. I was not, however, happy to see the three new luzardees who’d arrived and were taking instructions from Kowhl. They did not remove their boots to access us using the walls. Instead, they approached us in a synchronized manner, their footsteps pounding on the hard walkway. Other than the stun stick Kowhl stood off to the side clutching, the other males were not armed. They had no reason to use a blade, not when their claws made much more effective weapons.
“Move away from the female.” I took a threatening step toward the male she held at bay with her blade. He jerked his head toward me, then caught a glimpse of his dead comrade.
His low growl turned into a high-pitched shriek. “You will pay for hisss death.”
The distraction was the advantage Laria needed to plunge her blade into the male’s side below his ribs. “Not today.” She gave him a shove as she pulled out the knife, the blade coated with a thin layer of pale green blood. He gasped and grabbed his side, taking several wobbly steps before collapsing on the ground. The glint of sadness and remorse that passed across her face were quickly replaced with a mask of determination. I understood well that killing was never easy, even if it meant surviving another day.
Overcoming the males, taking their lives if necessary, was the only way Laria and I would be walking out of the passageway alive. She knew it too. It went unspoken in the silent glance that passed between us.
The other three males wasted no time retaliating for their two teammates. Two of them rushed toward me, the other toward Laria.
LARIA
There were times when the conditions on this planet were harsh, and doing unpleasant things to survive was a necessity. I didn’t enjoy taking a life, never had, never would. I would’ve preferred rendering the luzardee unconscious, but they’d made their intentions clear. They’d already betrayed their deal with Burke by coming after us. If they were planning to kill Jardun and turn me into a sex slave, it wasn’t going to happen. Not if I could help it.
My gaze locked with Jardun’s. There was no judgment in those deep green eyes, only understanding. The connection between us was brief, interrupted by snarls and hisses coming from the three luzardees rushing toward us, prepared to attack.
Two launched themselves at Jardun. The third focused on me. He eyed my knife, then sidestepped, first one direction, then another. He was looking for an opening, a way to get at me without being sliced. I wanted to know how Jardun was faring, but one glance, no matter how quick, would give my opponent the edge he was searching for.
“When we are through with the ketaurran, he will not be able to help you.” The luzardee shuffled to my left. “It would be better if you surrender now. I would hate to injure such a well-made body.” He flared his nostrils, his beady-eyed gaze roaming over me from top to bottom, lingering on my breasts before returning to my face.
He was purposely provoking me, trying to break my concentration. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t being truthful?” I mirrored his steps, certain he was one of those males who took great pleasure in hurting women.
“Your intelligence rivalsss your beauty, female.” His snort turned into a snicker. “I will enjoy avenging my friend’sss death when I spread your legsss.”
“And I’ll enjoy cutting off a particular body part if you get any closer.” My taunt succeeded, and he lunged. I dodged the grab, his claws barely missing my chest. Unfortunately for him, my aim was better, and I left a thin cut on his arm. The need for retribution resounded in his snarl. He was letting his emotions guide his moves, a mistake I planned to use to my advantage. When he spun and grabbed for me again, I held my ground, letting him shove me backward into the wall.
The impact jarred my body, but I ignored the burst of pain along my back and the claws digging into my shoulder and upper arm. I adjusted the angle of my knife and thrust as hard as I could. The sharp tip of the blade easily penetrated his vest and sank into the flesh below.
“Female, you…” His eyes widened, a shocked sheen over the glassy black. He pulled away from me, clutching his midsection. Blood seeped between his clawed fingers, more gurgling from his scaly lips. He’d underestimated my abilities, and it had cost him his life. If he was responsible for enslaving women as I suspected, I wouldn’t be losing any sleep over his death.
As soon as he hit the ground, I turned to see what had happened to Jardun and the other two luzardees. Their fight had moved them away from me and taken them toward the other end of the passageway. One luzardee was already lying facedown in the dirt. Whether he was dead or not, I couldn’t tell. Jardun was straddling the other. He threw a hard punch, the blow knocking the male into unconsciousness. With a groan, he got to his feet, his gaze immediately landing on me. “Are you all right?”
“Fine, I…” There was movement above Jardun’s head. Kowhl, the sneaky male, had waited until we were preoccupied. He was clinging to the wall with one hand and carrying the stun stick with the other. “Behind you!” My warning came too late. Kowhl was already on the ground, jamming the pulse-emitting end of the stick into Jardun’s ribs.
“Did you really think I would allow you to kill my crew, then walk away?” Kowhl’s eyes flared with a fer
al savagery. “There are those who will pay well for proof of your death, vryndarr.”
Vryndarr? Shocked, I hesitated to react, certain I’d misunderstood what he’d said. There was no way Jardun could be a vryndarr. They were warriors, the drezdarr’s elite guard. And if they’d survived the war and still existed, they would never leave their leader’s side. Nor would they ever be in a situation where they were shackled and traded for a pouch of coins.
Jardun growled through gritted teeth. He was big, strong, and had barely flinched when he’d been shocked earlier. He should have been able to withstand the jolt, not been forced to the ground. Not unless someone had modified the stick with a lethal setting.
With Jardun on his hands and knees, struggling to get up, he was vulnerable. When he swished his tail trying to defend himself, Kowhl pinned the end to the ground with his boot, further causing Jardun to tense with pain.
Continuing to apply the stick to Jardun’s ribs, Kowhl leaned forward and retrieved a short, thin-bladed knife. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who liked to conceal blades in their boots. The muscles in my chest tightened when he raised his arm, poising the blade over the center of Jardun’s back.
There was no honor in what Kowhl planned to do to Jardun. Without hesitation, I pulled back my arm and threw my blade. Death would be too easy an end for the traitorous male, so the knife, true to my aim, caught him in the shoulder. I’d learned enough about the luzardee anatomy to know that the blade missed any organs, only penetrated muscle, and wouldn’t leave any debilitating damage.
The force caused Kowhl to falter. He shot an unbelieving glare in my direction, then growled a guttural word in his language which translated to a female dog in mine. Not that I cared. I’d been called worse. All that mattered was keeping Jardun alive.
I rushed at Kowhl before he had a chance to recoup and yank out my knife, then propelled him into the wall. I grabbed the stun stick out of his hand and rammed it into his scaly belly, then knocked his knife from his hand. As he doubled over, I withdrew my own blade. His body tensed and jerked, but I continued applying the zapping pressure until he slid down the wall and landed in an unconscious heap. He wouldn’t die from his injuries, but he would be in a lot of pain when he woke up.
Jardun had recovered quicker than I’d expected, a lot faster than it would have taken a human male. He seemed a little unsteady, but at least he was on his feet. He blinked several times, then glanced from me to Kowhl. “Female… I mean Laria.” He quickly amended when I pursed my lips. “You did this…for me?”
“Yeah, the slimy reptile was going to knife you in the back.” I knew it was a cultural thing, but he needed to get over his hang-up about women being able to fight and defend themselves. It hadn’t taken me long to discover that the males on this planet also had massive egos, and I didn’t want to bruise his by pointing out that I’d just saved his life. I crouched and used Kowhl’s pants to clean my knife before returning it to its hidden sheath.
“Are you injured?” He held out his hands as if he were going to reach for the cut on my cheek, then changed his mind and dropped his arms.
“I’ll be feeling the bruises later, but no, I’m fine.” His ribs had taken quite a bit of abuse. “And you?”
He rubbed his side, his chains rattling. “I will heal.”
“We should go.” I kept the stun stick handy in case I encountered any more of Kowhl’s crew on our way to find my friends and get out of the city.
He gave me a nod, then fell into step next to me. I gave his profile a quick glance. The male intrigued me. He’d had more than one opportunity to escape during our fight with the luzardees, yet he’d stayed, just as he was staying now. Was it possible he truly was a vryndarr? If so, why was he in shackles? And why had Burke sent my friends and me to retrieve him?
We hadn’t gone far when Celeste and Sloane made a miraculous appearance and brought my pondering to a stop. Though the difference in height between my friends was a contrast, Sloane being shorter, with a stunning blue gaze, the confident way they carried themselves was similar. They both had long brown hair pulled back in braids. Celeste’s was a few shades lighter and matched the deep cinnamon of her eyes.
“Looks like we missed all the fun,” Sloane said as she stepped over one of the downed luzardees.
Celeste used the tip of her boot to turn over the only other luzardee besides Kowhl that hadn’t met his demise. “Laria’s losing her touch. This one’s still breathing.”
I was relieved nothing bad had happened to them, but I wasn’t over being mad that they were late. “Nice of you two to finally show up. Mind telling me what took you so long?”
“I can honestly say it wasn’t my fault this time.” Sloane shot Celeste an accusatory glance. “Somebody took her time haggling at the market again.”
“Hey.” Celeste smacked Sloane’s arm with the back of her hand, then pointed at her dark leather, calf-high boots. “Do you know how hard it is to find someone who makes these boots?” She shoved her hands on her hips. “And is willing to sell them for a decent price?”
Any rant I’d wanted to make dissipated. There was a deeper meaning buried beneath Celeste’s defensive behavior. Old memories, old scars, pushed to the surface in my mind. Losing members of our families during the war was the one thing the three of us had in common. Finding a way to help others was how we’d reconnected. We’d lived off the streets, scrounged, fought, and stole to survive. I’d die to protect either one of them and knew they’d do the same for me.
It wasn’t what Celeste had purchased, it was understanding why she’d been driven to spend time haggling for a pair of boots she didn’t need that concerned me. It meant the nightmares were back. We all had them, but hers were the worst. Sloane and I didn’t have any siblings, but Celeste had a younger sister. Or at least she did until Sarus’s soldiers attacked the settlement and she’d been forced to watch her die.
There was nothing she could have done, but she’d taken the death hard and blamed herself. It didn’t help that she was also twisted in knots over a guy, a ketaurran no less. I didn’t know his name, didn’t think she’d tell me even if I asked. All I did know was that he’d promised to help get her family somewhere safe, then abandoned her two days before the attack. No one, especially not me, could fault her for using shopping or helping children, any orphan who’d survived the war, as a coping mechanism, a way to feel in control.
“Besides, this is partly your fault.” Celeste aimed her glare at me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, sure I’d missed some critical part of the conversation. “How is you two being late my fault?”
“When we showed up at the bar, you were already gone. The bartender was less than helpful, so it took us a little longer to figure out where you went,” Celeste said.
Sloane beamed with excitement. “Did you know he had a blaster?”
“Please tell me you didn’t take it.” I glared at Sloane, the skilled negotiator, sometimes thief in our group.
Sloane smiled and cracked her knuckles. “It was tempting.”
“Until I reminded her about the design flaw in the older models,” Celeste said.
Sloane shrugged. “Yeah, not really interested in a weapon that shoots the wrong direction.”
“Laria, who are these females?” Jardun had been standing off to the side, listening to our conversation with a skeptical scowl.
“The better question is who’s the hottie, and where did you find him?” Sloane interrupted, then sauntered toward Jardun, her gaze rolling over him with admiration.
I didn’t find my irritated reaction to her perusal amusing and had to stop myself from stepping between them.
“Hottie. Is that a human insult?” Jardun furrowed his brows and looked at me for an answer.
“No, she was complimenting your appearance.” I bit back a grin. “To answer your other question, these are my friends, Celeste and Sloane.” I pointed at each of them in turn. “And this is Jardun.”
Sloane took a step closer to Jardun and touched the chain hanging between his wrists. “Don’t tell me this is the package Burke wanted us to retrieve.”
“Since when are we doing bounty work for Burke?” Celeste huffed.
“Since never.” A deep male voice I’d recognize anywhere echoed off the walls around us.
Celeste, Sloane, and I jerked our heads in Burke’s direction at the same time. I was surprised to see him in the city and not back at the settlement. I was even more bewildered to see two more ketaurrans trailing on either side of him.
Burke’s dark hair and stubble covering his angled jaw were a contrast to the two males pacing next to him. His height topped six feet, yet he was still shorter in comparison. Both ketaurrans had the same broad-shouldered, muscular build as Jardun. One had dark chestnut hair with cinnamon streaks, a pale blue tint to his skin and scales. The other appeared gruff, intense, almost deadly, with piercing amber eyes and golden hair a few shades darker than his skin. If Jardun really was a vryndarr as Kowhl had said, then I assumed the other two males were probably ones as well.
Burke strolled toward us with a confident, take-charge-of-any-situation swagger.
His arrival triggered an uneasy suspicion that I’d been used as a pawn in a bigger game.
Before I had a chance to ask him what he was doing here, Jardun had moved forward and was glaring at Burke. “Thaddeus, please explain why you did not send me the males I requested.”
“Wait.” Sloane, always the first to point out the obvious, interrupted by waving her hands. “You’re first name is Thaddeus?” She winked at Celeste and me. “How did we not know that?”
“Because it’s none of your business.” Burke’s cheeks reddened, and he curled his fingers into fists. “Sorry, Jardun, I don’t recall your request for help specifying males.”
