by Anna Carven
It was the fear that maybe, Kail wasn’t the man who’d held her so tenderly and whispered fervent secrets into her ear as he basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
It was the worst kind of fear; irrational, unfounded, threatening to catch and spread like wildfire, destroying all coherent thought.
And Kail stood before her with a captive Human whom he’d ground to submission underneath his powerful hand. In his other hand was a curved knife, its obsidian surface slick with blood.
Her heartbeat quickened. She started to shake. Her legs trembled.
Oh no, not fucking now.
She started breathing rapidly. A tingling sensation spread up her arms. Her chest tightened. She couldn’t breathe. She was going to die.
Panic attack.
She knew what it was, but she couldn’t stop it. That was how anxiety worked.
“Riana.” Kail’s voice cut through the fog of her panic like a scalpel. “Stop.”
Her eyes were locked in amber. All she saw was his unwavering, crystalline, alien gaze.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said slowly, deliberately. “I am on your side.”
The temanjin scars engraved onto his face seemed to ripple in the dim light. They were fierce and unapologetic, just like the rest of him.
As quickly as it had come, her panic receded, sucked away like a retreating ocean wave.
Riana took a deep breath and stepped forward, gathering her composure. She did it for Kail, because he didn’t deserve this from her. For all his darkness, he’d remained at her side. He’d been her only constant in the midst of chaos.
She pulled herself together and offered him a brief nod of reassurance.
That small gesture brought about a remarkable transformation. His eyes softened, and his cold expression melted into something more familiar.
Her Kail.
Riana walked over to the terrified man who kneeled at Kail’s feet. She crouched down in front of him and his eyes widened in recognition. “Y-you!”
“Unfortunately for you, I’m not dead. Now, can you please tell me who wants me dead, and why? I’m at a bit of a loss as to why you all might spend that amount of money on a small-time player like me.”
The man gaped at her.
“Talk.” Kail twisted his hair.
“Ow! Fu—”
“Talk.”
“O-okay! I don’t know why they want you dead, lady! The boss just said you were a Class A security risk.”
“The boss? Who do you work for?” Riana’s curiosity was burning now. They were finally going to get to the bottom of this mess.
The man hesitated. Kail twisted his hair.
“Aargh!” The mercenary gasped. “It’s the new guy, the hero from the space incident. Works for corporate PR or some shit like that.”
“New guy?” Something about that tickled the back of her memory.
“His name’s Emin.”
Riana only knew one Emin. He’d been the Station Boss on Fortuna Tau. “And who does this Emin work for now?”
“Scarabus.” The man shrugged. “Why are you asking me all this? I thought your man had it all figured. Isn’t that why you had us meet under the Old Shard?”
“No.” Riana locked eyes with Kail. “It was just a convenience thing. I didn’t realize our enemies might be one and the same.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
True to its historical nature, the Old London Shard was serviced by antique cable elevators that ran up and down the interior of the building. This was in contrast to its sister, the New London Shard, which was accessed by modern external hoverdecks.
Riana had always thought the older incarnation of the building, with its gleaming real glass walls, was the more elegant of the two structures. Luckily for them, Scarabus Enterprises had decided to locate its head offices in the most expensive piece of real-estate in all of London, taking over the upper floors of the building. Apparently, it had once been a hotel, a place of opulence and luxury where wealthy world travelers would come to enjoy the commanding views of the glittering city below.
Now, it was a secret enclave where small decisions could decide the fates of many.
And right now, they were climbing up its elevator shaft.
Riana clung to Kail’s back just like she had when he’d brought her up on the roof in Tangier. He scaled the wall with the help of his impossibly sharp claws.
Retractable claws, huh? Just like a fucking hunting cat.
Several floors below, the elevator cab lay at the bottom of the shaft, its steel cables severed by Kail’s impossible Callidum blades.
“Forty-eight,” Riana said, glancing at the markings on the side of the shaft. The levels were written in standard numerals, but Kail couldn’t read them, so Riana was his translator. “Three more to go.” According to the mercenary, Emin’s new office was on the fifty-first floor.
“Hm.” Kail kept climbing, never once varying his pace, never once indicating he was tired. He could probably go on for miles without breaking a sweat. Underneath her, his body was solid and powerful and even though there was a fifty-story drop below, Riana had never once felt unsafe.
Kail would never let her fall.
“From now on, you don’t leave my side.”
He would do things his own way, and he might occasionally kill for her, but he would never let her fall.
“What are you going to do, Kail?” They were climbing up towards the head offices of Scarabus Enterprises without any concrete plan. Kail didn’t seem to be worried.
“This is the place,” he’d told her with the utmost certainty. “My instincts are never wrong.”
“I don’t know,” he said now. “I will know what to do when the time is right.”
“Because you always know, right?” Riana’s tone was gently mocking.
“Yes.”
Was it just her imagination, or did he also sound amused?
“Fifty,” Riana murmured, her arms tightening around his neck. Damn, he climbed fast. This was the most comfortable—and arousing—elevator ride she’d ever taken. Kail’s magnificent body bunched and flexed underneath her, radiating warmth. Somehow, he’d arranged his weapons around his person so that she sat unhindered on his back.
If they weren’t climbing up the glass tower to go and kill someone, she might have found the experience thrilling.
“Riana,” Kail said suddenly, surprising her, for he’d been quiet most of the way up, “aren’t you angry?”
“Huh?”
“They were trying to kill you. How can you still have compassion for your enemies?” He was talking about the fourth mercenary; the man from the tunnels, the only one Kail hadn’t killed.
That was only because she’d convinced Kail to let him go. Kail had reluctantly agreed.
“Only for you,” he’d growled. How romantic.
Riana sighed. “Maybe it’s a hard concept for you to understand, but we Humans all have our reasons for doing things. Sometimes it’s greed, but mostly it’s survival. He was following the orders of someone above him. He watched three of his comrades die and then had you scare the living shit out of him. I don’t think he’ll be coming after me anymore.”
“Hm.” Kail digested her reasoning as they reached the next floor. “I presume this is fifty-one.”
“Guess so.”
Kail stopped just beside the elevator doors. “Hold on tight,” he warned.
As if Riana would do anything else.
He found a foothold on a small concrete ledge and unsheathed a straight-bladed Callidum dagger. This was stabbed into the wall and used as a handhold as he reached across with his other arm, balancing against the wall.
With his claws still out, he hooked his fingers around one of the elevator doors and pulled.
The thing squealed, and then slowly began to slide open, forced to yield under Kail’s immense strength.
“Out we go. Quickly now, before they realize what is happening.” He stepped across and brought her through
the gap, setting her on her feet in a fluid series of movements.
“Oh.” Riana’s eyes widened as she took in their new surroundings. The whole place stank of money well-spent.
They were in an opulent foyer, where the floors were made from gleaming real marble and the lights were chandeliers of glittering crystal. She’d never seen anything like it.
A reception desk stretched along an expansive glass window. Vases filled with stems of fragrant, exotic flowers—she didn’t even recognize the types—were arranged artfully on the flawless, mirror-like black benchtop, which looked like it was made from rare Jentian stone. The distinctive, heavily stylized Scarabus logo was discreetly engraved into the surface of the reception desk.
The whole place smelled heavenly; the air was infused with notes of jasmine and vanilla. Relaxing music reached her ears, the dulcet tones adding a certain ambience to the scene.
But what was really impressive was the view. Even on this cloudy day, the view of the city below was impressive. Riana caught sight of the ancient London Bridge stretching across the Thames.
Some things on Earth would never change.
“Excuse me, you can’t be in here.” A woman appeared from behind the desk. She strode over to them, her sky-high heels clacking on the polished floor. She wore a figure-hugging suit of the purest white, and despite her impossibly fitted skirt and precarious shoes, she managed to teeter elegantly on her toes; a perfect walking oxymoron. “You can’t be in here without an appoint—” Her pink lips widened into a silent O as she caught sight of Kail.
“We’d like to see Mr Emin, please.” Riana kept her face perfectly straight, resisting the temptation to look up at Kail.
“I-I’m afraid he’s in a board meeting right now. Perhaps I can take your details and let him know that you called.” Her sky-blue eyes kept flicking towards Kail. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, she tried to keep cool and composed and professional.
Kail was in full armor-mode, probably because of the wan sunlight filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The lady probably hadn’t realized that she was dealing with a Kordolian.
“I’m afraid we’re rather short on time.” Riana replied in an equally polite tone of voice. She didn’t really know why she felt the need to be civilized. Perhaps the surroundings were having a weird psychological effect on her. “My, uh… partner here has a very important job he has to get back to.”
Schick. That was the sound of a blade leaving its sheath.
“Uh, I’ll just call him now.” She tapped something into her gold link-band. It looked like some sort of distress code.
“Oh, no,” Riana sighed. “You did not just call security, did you?”
The woman started to walk backwards. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.” She dropped all pretense, her eyes turning hard. “I don’t even know how they allowed you up here.”
“They didn’t.” Kail strode forward, and all Riana could do was follow.
Chapter Forty
The boardroom doors wouldn’t open without an authorized palmcode, so Kail just pulled out his plasma gun and shot at them.
The metal eventually melted, and when Kail stabbed his dagger into the door-panel, conjuring a rain of sparks, the cursed thing finally opened.
Riana followed wordlessly behind him.
Her presence tempered his anger, just a little. He was a bit more conscious of his own actions.
All because of her.
The woman wearing the ridiculous spike shoes was fortunate that Riana had been there to speak nicely to her.
If she hadn’t been there, Kail would have done things differently.
He raised his gun as the Humans in the room scrambled to their feet.
“Who the hell allowed you in here?” A man stood at the head of the table. His voice shook with outrage, and his grey eyes were narrowed in surprise and anger. This one was older, and as with many Humans who began to show their age, his hair was turning silver and there were lines around his eyes.
The other Humans were all looking towards him, desperate for leadership. It was obvious he was the boss in this place.
Good.
A strange feeling coursed through Kail. It was the feeling he got when something in the Universe was awry, and he was about to make it right. It was the certainty that balance was about to be restored.
That infernal temanjin sense. It had followed him from the desolate ice-plains of Kythia to this bizarre green-and-blue planet.
“Helen,” the boss-man shouted, “call security!”
“It won’t make a difference,” Kail said darkly.
“Who the fuck are you? What makes you think you can just barge in here and interrupt a board meeting? Identify yourself.”
One bald man in particular was staring at Kail and Riana in horror, the color draining from his face. Interestingly, there was recognition in his eyes.
Kail marked him.
Idiots. They were all mercenaries, even though they tried to forget it by disguising themselves with the trappings of wealth.
Their actions had almost caused the deaths of Kail and his brothers, and most unforgivably, they had tried to harm his mate.
“Someone in this room was complicit in the destruction of the mining station,” Kail said quietly. They all turned at the sound of his voice. “Perhaps all of you are guilty.” He walked across to where the boss-man was standing. “And someone in here sought to destroy my mate.” A terrible, dark anger welled up inside him. He would seek revenge not just for his brothers, but for Riana, too. “My blood bonded mate. Do you understand what will happen to you if anything ever happens to her?”
He pointed his plasma gun at the boss-man’s face as he looked around the room, studying each of the Humans carefully. The men and women looked back at him in shock.
“I will come for you,” he said quietly, “and I will end you in the worst way imaginable.”
Riana had stepped away. She was standing with her back to the giant window. He latched on to the familiar, calming sound of her heartbeat.
It wasn’t beating rapidly as it did when she was afraid or nervous. It was steady.
It was a quiet affirmation, the counterpoint to his snarling, seething temanjin. The beast wanted to kill them all.
Riana’s presence held it at bay.
“B-baseless allegations,” the boss-man spluttered. He stared over Kail’s shoulder, looking through the doorway in desperation. “Helen,” he yelled. “What the hell is taking them so long?”
Kail lost patience. This foolish Human was not taking him seriously. He pulled one of his throwing knives and hurled it at the table. It speared the polished surface, landing less than a hand’s breath away from the boss-man.
The Human’s head snapped up. “Bloody hell,” he exclaimed. “If you’re going to kill us, then get it over with. But at least understand who you’re dealing with, you fucking psycho. Anything happens to me, and you’re a dead man. Do you even know who I am?”
Kail didn’t know, and he didn’t particularly care.
The bald Human, the one Kail had marked, was staring at his boss with desperation in his eyes.
“My mate has requested answers,” Kail continued, playing close attention to the interplay between the bald one and the boss-man. “She will get answers. Talk.”
“Do you know anything about this, Emin?” Boss-man turned to the bald man.
Ah. So this was the one they called Emin. Apparently, he’d been the one in charge of the mining station before it exploded. He vaguely remembered something about this so-called Station Boss being present on the mercenary craft that had crashed into the ocean with Kalan, Nythian, and Lodan onboard.
Kail took a step towards Emin. The man shrank back. “He authorized it.” He nodded towards his boss. “He has to authorize everything.”
“What are you talking about, Emin? I don’t know these people. Who is this man? Why don’t you show your face?”
“He’s o
ne of them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The… invaders.”
Realization dawned on the boss-man’s face. “Call Nonhuman Affairs right now!”
“Don’t call anyone.” In the blink of an eye, Kail had Emin on his back on the floor. His hand was around the man’s throat. He pressed the plasma gun to his temple.
“Oh, my God!” People were panicking.
“Answers. Talk. If I have to ask again, someone is going to die.”
Emin closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. “She was identified as a threat to the organization’s operations during a routine systems analysis. A Class A security risk.”
“A threat?” Riana took a step forward. She looked indignant. “I’m nothing of the sort.”
“Oh, come on. A former systems programmer who possesses highly sophisticated datamining skills? A survivor of the Fortuna Tau incident with links to the Kordolians and Sergeant Varga? You hacked a military server, for fuck’s sake.”
“She was the one who did that?” The boss-man’s silver eyebrows rose.
“A subsequent systems analysis recognized the attack script. It was remarkably similar to the one used to steal our funds and divert them to the Free Nile Rebels in ‘fifty eight.”
Kail glanced at Riana. She shrugged, and she didn’t even attempt to look innocent.
Goddess, she was so lovely.
“You think she was behind that political clusterfuck?”
“Either that, or she had a very good teacher. That’s Delta-grade security manipulation. Not many people on this planet are capable of such a thing.”
Kail had no idea what they were talking about, but it sounded as if they were actually terrified of what his clever Human could do.
“Enough about me.” She shifted uncomfortably. Again, Kail’s gaze was drawn to her. She was irresistible. Behind her, a burst of sunlight broke through the clouds, illuminating her. So lovely. Her dark eyes shimmered with some unfathomable emotion. “The explosion on Fortuna Tau was no accident. I have evidence that someone here was communicating with the mercenary ship that arrived on the mining station shortly before the explosion.” She looked around the room. “There were innocent people onboard the station. Dedicated people. People who worked hard for this company. Why would you want to destroy them?”
