by Rayna Tyler
I knew Burke had a first name but hadn’t given it much thought, but the fact that Jardun knew him on a friendly basis was disconcerting. It furthered my belief that my friends and I were being used in whatever plan, mission, game, the two, or rather four, of them had concocted. Judging by the passive looks on the other two ketaurrans, I was certain they’d been included.
Anger bubbled inside me, the simmering heat bursting along my neck and cheeks. I wanted to know why I’d risked my life battling luzardees for a male who was pretending to be something he wasn’t. Determined to get answers, I faced off with Jardun first. “You need to get over your hang-up about females. And you.” I shook my head and took a deep breath. “What the draeck, Burke? Why are you here, and who are these guys?” I didn’t bother keeping the sarcasm out of my voice.
“More importantly, why did Jardun need rescuing at all?” From the stories I’d heard, the vryndarr were the ones who did the fighting, the rescuing, not the other way around. The tingling dread was back, crawling along my spine like an annoying insect. Instinctively, I knew I wasn’t going to like whatever Burke had to say.
Sloane was a little slow to catch on with where my thoughts were going, but Celeste didn’t need any prompting. Her trust issues were far worse than mine, and her gaze hadn’t left the two ketaurrans since they’d arrived. “Yeah, Burke. Want to tell us what’s going on?” She calmly tapped the hilt of her sword and positioned herself on my left.
“Sloane, Celeste, Laria.” Burke tipped his chin at each of us in turn. “I would like to introduce Zaedon.” He pointed to the chestnut-haired male on his right. “Garyck.” He motioned to his left, to the male with the golden hair and amber eyes. “And their leader, Jardun.”
I glanced at Kowhl, who was still slumped against the wall, then back at Jardun. “He was telling the truth, wasn’t he? You’re a vryndarr.”
“Yes.” A glimmer of guilt flashed in his eyes, then was gone. Jardun cocked his head in Zaedon’s direction, holding out his shackled wrists. “Would you mind?”
“Tired of bondage already?” Zaedon grinned. “Even with such beautiful company?” His flirtatious smile was the kind that made women melt.
“Save your humor for later,” Jardun growled.
Zaedon chuckled, then slipped a narrow, translucent blade from the hem of his vest. He worked the tip back and forth inside the lock until it clicked, releasing the cuffs. “Better?”
“Much…thank you.” Jardun rubbed his wrists, then picked up the shackles where they’d clanked on the ground. With a satisfied smirk, he secured them to Kowhl’s wrists.
“So you’re a vryndarr, huh?” Sloane, who was easily distracted by curiosity, derailed the direction of the conversation completely by moving closer to Garyck.
The male seemed more than a little scary, and I had no idea why she thought it was a good idea to pester him.
“Are those real?” Sloane was short, her reach stretched when she squeezed the thick, bare muscle of Garyck’s forearm.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Zaedon took a hesitant step toward her, then stopped when Garyck grunted and encircled Sloane’s wrist with the end of his tail. “He doesn’t like to be touched.”
Sloane stopped groping his arm, seemingly more amused than intimidated. “Well, that’s too bad.” She winked at Garyck, earning her a snort.
My friend’s complete disregard for dangerous situations always worried me because it usually got not only her, but Celeste and me into trouble. “Sloane,” I warned, then tugged the sleeve of her shirt, encouraging her to leave the grumpy ketaurran alone.
“What?” Her innocent tone spiked my nervousness even more. “He’s cute, in a tough, brooding kind of way. Just because he’s got all those impressive muscles and doesn’t know how to smile doesn’t mean I’m afraid of him.” Sloane patted his arm one last time, then took a step back.
My friend was quick with her hands, possibly the best thief I’d ever met. If I hadn’t seen her in action and known what to look for, I wouldn’t have noticed her tuck something shiny into the bag hanging by a thin strap across her chest and resting against her hip.
I elbowed her in the rib. “Give it back.”
“Give what back? “She placed her hand protectively over the bag.
I rolled my eyes and smacked her arm with the back of my hand. “You know what.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I crossed my arms and glared at her, patiently waiting for her to crack. I ignored the curious stares I was getting from everyone in the group except Celeste.
Sloane rolled her bottom lip into a frustrated pout. “Okay, fine.” She reached into the pouch and retrieved a thin silver band inlaid with green and deep blue stones. She turned to Garyck. “I was keeping it, you know, hanging on to it in case it fell off those bulky muscles of yours.”
“How did you…” Garyck stared with astonishment at the metal band in her palm, then at his arm where it used to be. I’d bet a week’s worth of coins he was wondering how she’d managed to remove the valuable metal without him feeling it.
“One of my many talents.” Sloane smirked and slid the band back into place, then ran her fingertip over the gems one last time before giving me a scathing glance. “Happy now?”
“Extremely.” Not to mention thankful that no one had said anything about whisking us off to a secluded prison. Maybe it was my imagination, but I could’ve sworn there was a hint of a smile teasing the ends of Garyck’s lips. For a male who didn’t like to be touched, he didn’t seem to have a problem with Sloane standing so close to him. And what was with the sniffing? Jardun had done the same thing to me shortly after I’d dragged him from the bar.
I directed my attention back to Burke. “Now that we’ve got the introductions and the touchy-feely part of the program over with, would you like to explain why you went to such extremes to introduce us to your friends?” Unless I was satisfied with his answers, my anger wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
Jardun glanced at the luzardees on the ground, then at the fading green-and-gold hue in the sky. “It will be dark soon, and no doubt more of Kowhl’s males will be searching for them. Perhaps it would be wise to take our discussions indoors.”
“We should probably do something with these guys?” Sloane waved her hand at the luzardees.
“She’s right. We can’t leave them here for someone else to find, especially not the children.” There was a sadness in Celeste’s eyes.
“We could always dump them in a trash recycler,” Sloane said.
“That will not be necessary. We will take care of them,” Jardun said.
“Okay.” I dragged the word out. “Any suggestion on where you’d like to have this meeting?” I was hoping for someplace public where we could easily walk out if I wasn’t happy with what they had to say. The bar wasn’t far away, but it would be the first place other luzardees would start looking.
“If you will follow us to our vehicle, we have secured a residence with sleeping quarters near the outskirts of the city,” Zaedon said.
Celeste, Sloane, and I had used my transport, a smaller version of a solarveyor, to reach the city. Though it was comfortable and accommodated our needs, including a place to sleep when necessary, it wasn’t big enough to carry all of us.
“We have our own vehicle and will follow you.” Transportation was hard to come by after the war. It had taken me a long time to find the run-down vehicle I sometimes used as a temporary home. There was no way I was leaving it behind and risk having someone steal it.
Besides, I was still raw about being deceived, especially by Burke, and had no intention of making things easy for any of them. Until I was satisfied I could trust Jardun and the others, I wasn’t going anywhere without a means of escape.
Jardun
There was a time when I would not have worried about staying on the streets of the city after the sunlight had faded from the skies. The war, generated by the old king’s brother and his ne
ed to obtain the throne, had taken many lives, destroyed many communities, and left many of the planet’s inhabitants trying to rebuild their homes. Out of those who had survived, there were some who had embraced a dark path that utilized deadly and greedy means.
I had no idea how many males Kowhl commanded, but the arrival of more luzardees posed a threat I preferred not to deal with. Our upcoming discussion was necessary, and one that should be handled discreetly. It was why I had suggested using the dwelling my friends and I currently occupied.
My thoughts and gaze drifted to Laria. She was unlike any female I had ever encountered. Even though she fought as well as any male, it did not keep me from worrying about her safety or that of her friends. Before Burke’s arrival, I had been relieved when the disarray of her hair and the scratch on her cheek were the only outward signs she showed of being in a battle. It had taken every ounce of my willpower to keep from touching her, to convince myself that she remained unharmed.
She did nothing to hide her anger. The color burned brightly on her cheeks. Though she had been deceived and her emotions were warranted, I feared if she was allowed to return to her vehicle, she would leave the city before I got a chance to explain my situation.
“You will not need your transport,” I said.
Laria pinned me with a heated gaze. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you do not get to tell me what I need and don’t need. I’m not leaving my transport behind, and that’s final.”
I was a vryndarr, a feared warrior, yet her fierce words had me cringing like an inexperienced soldier taking orders from a higher ranking male. I glanced at Burke, silently asking for assistance. I had assumed he was aware that if our teams combined efforts, those working for him would follow my orders without question. I did not know why Laria was being so obstinate about a means of transportation, but I wanted to appease her and would do anything to remove her heated glare.
Burke puffed out an exasperated sigh and stepped in front of Laria. “Come on, be reasonable.” He rubbed her arms in a calming manner. “Let’s go back to their place and hear what they have to say. We can retrieve your transport in the morning.”
I did not understand why I had the overwhelming urge to remove the male’s fingers from her skin. Nor did I understand why I was pleased when she shrugged him off, then punched him in the chest below his shoulder with enough force to make him stagger a step backward.
“You know as well as I do that there’s a good chance Trixie will be stripped before I get back to her in the morning.” Laria clenched her fists as if one wrong comment from Burke would gain him a punch to the jaw.
I thought Laria was upset about her transport and had no idea who this other female was she now mentioned. As if sensing my confusion, Zaedon leaned closer. “I believe the female has given her vehicle a name.”
Naming inanimate objects was another human behavior I’d heard about. One I would add to my continually growing list of things I did not understand about the other race.
“If you want me”—she glanced at Celeste and Sloane who each gave her a nod—“us to go with you, to listen to what any of you have to say, then Trixie goes too.”
It was apparent that making concessions rather than arguing was the only way the females were going to cooperate. Before Burke could say anything that would anger Laria further, I moved between them and held up a hand to interrupt. “It is obvious that your vehicle holds great importance to you, so we will accompany you to retrieve it.”
“You will?” Laria’s tone held a note of suspicion.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Fine.” She turned to the other females. “Let’s go.” She headed toward the opposite end of the passageway without waiting for a reply.
Celeste immediately followed, with Sloane bringing up the rear and stopping long enough to snatch the knife Laria had knocked out of Kowhl’s grasp earlier off the ground.
Zaedon crossed his arms and chuckled.
“What do you find so humorous?” I asked, confused by his behavior. If my longtime friend continued to annoy me by staring at Laria’s backside, he would soon earn a strike to the jaw.
“It is amusing to watch your interactions with the female. If I did not know better, I would say you liked her.”
“She is an excellent fighter with admirable skills.” I did not mention how her scent and nearness set my body on fire and made my cock hard. The desire to make her mine grew steadily stronger the longer I was in her presence.
“I do not think it is her skills you are admiring.” He smacked the back of my shoulder. “Come, let us go retrieve her Trixie.”
Chapter Four
LARIA
The residence Jardun had taken us to wasn’t a quaint out-of-the-way building, and it wasn’t someone’s home. The exterior showed signs of wear, but nothing like the bar or any of the nearby buildings in that section of the city.
The place resembled a small palace, mostly because it was one. Unlike the settlements where the buildings were constructed using the planet’s version of trees, those who lived in the larger cities constructed their homes from stone and sand.
Things had changed so much since the war that I’d forgotten the ketaurran ruler kept residences in several cities. My father was one of many scientists who’d made up the exploration team onboard the Starward Bounty. He didn’t rank high enough to be included in the meetings the humans had with the drezdarr when we’d first arrived. But I remembered the few visits we’d made to the city and seeing the unique building from a distance.
Upon our arrival, Jardun showed us to our sleeping quarters, which consisted of an elaborate gathering room encircled by separate rooms, each with its own bed. There was even a bathing room containing a large tub with a polished sandstone finish. Now that my body was relaxed, my sore muscles were making themselves known. A fine layer of dirt, sand, and blood covered me. I had every intention of enjoying a long soak later.
“Laria,” Jardun waited for me to stop staring at the tub and return my attention to him. “I must leave now. There are matters I need to discuss with Zaedon and Garyck, but I promise to return soon and answer all your questions.” His glance included Celeste and Sloane, who’d taken seats on a nearby lounger.
“Okay.” There wasn’t much else I could say. Arguing would be pointless. Since Jardun had admitted he was a ketaurran, there was a good chance the drezdarr was somewhere inside. Was he the one responsible, the one behind whatever it was that Jardun and Burke had negotiated? Did the matters he planned to discuss with his friends also include their leader? I might have to wait to speak with Jardun, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t get some answers out of Burke first.
As soon as Jardun left the room and I heard the thud of his boots fade down the corridor, I moved away from the entrance and gave Burke my full attention. “It’s time to tell us what’s really going on. What kind of deal did you make with the ketaurrans?”
Celeste and Sloane glared at him expectantly. I knew I could count on them to back me up if I didn’t get the answers I wanted.
“Laria, sweetheart, it’s complicated,” Burke said.
I took a step back, pulling away from his placating touch. “Don’t you sweetheart me.” I wanted to make sure he understood that I meant business. Using a move he’d taught me, I grabbed his wrist and swerved my body, then flipped him over my shoulder. He landed on his back, expelling a whoosh of air. I got some satisfaction knowing I wasn’t going to be the only one who’d be stiff and bruised in the morning.
He recovered quickly and got to his feet, making sure to keep some distance between us. “What the hell…” He rubbed his lower back.
“I knew there were times when you kept the truth from me in the past, but I didn’t push for all the details because you never put the lives of my friends or me at risk, not without explaining the dangers first. But this—” I slapped my hands on my hips more to keep from walking across the room and using him to vent more of my frustration. “This was downri
ght deceitful and could have gotten me killed.”
Burke swept a hand through his short dark strands. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
I paced a few steps, staring at the floor and taking in a few calming breaths. “Did you know that Jardun, that they were vryndarr?”
“I did. I’ve known since the war.”
I was certain there was more to the story and was tempted to ask how they’d met. I’d seen Burke’s blank gaze before and knew an explanation wouldn’t be forthcoming no matter how much I pressed for one. Dredging up the past, especially the years during the war, was painful for all of us. I had no intention of making Burke relive something he hadn’t readily wanted to share.
“I still need answers about what happened today. What was going on with the luzardees?” Now that I had time to think about what had transpired, I wondered if the scaly males had been part of some bigger plan. Though I had a feeling the betrayal part hadn’t been a consideration.
“Jardun needed our help,” Burke said.
“You could’ve told me…told us.” I wasn’t letting him get away with a meager explanation, not when I sensed he was still holding back a critical piece of information.
“Or just asked for our help,” Sloane said with a shrug.
“I agree. What was the point of putting us in danger?” Celeste asked.
Since I was the one who’d done all the fighting, the one with the scrapes and bruises, I harrumphed and shot Celeste a really? glance.
“You know about their culture. Their women aren’t trained for combat, not like I trained each of you.” Burke slipped his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t think Jardun would believe you were skilled unless he’d witnessed it firsthand.”
“Wait a minute.” Sloane jumped to her feet, her face beaming as if she’d recently solved an intricate puzzle. “Since the ketaurrans have a thing about protecting women, wouldn’t it have been easier to send some of your guys? Why send us?”
