by Tracy Lauren
Da’vi gives the guy an angry look, before completely ignoring the stranger.
“You come here often?” I ask the alien guy.
“This is my twelfth rally, but I often come here just to run the courses too.”
“Tell me then, buddy. Where’s a girl got to go to get into a little bit of trouble around here?” I ask, giving him a sexy smile.
“What type of trouble are you looking for?” the guy shoots back at me, a twinkle suddenly lighting up his eyes.
“Oh, all the best kinds, of course,” I answer.
“There’s certainly plenty of ways to get into trouble on Quar,” he says, leaning toward me, his smile broadening and his hand finding the small of my back.
Da’vi suddenly pushes into the conversation. “Answer her question,” he hisses, flexing his muscles in a way that makes his scales flick wildly.
The traveler’s features harden, but still he talks. “A man called The Oscillion runs this world. Nearly everything you see here he owns. He’s got a few casinos along the main drag, a brothel or two. All legal, from what I hear. One of the casinos has a VIP room, if you’re looking for trouble I’d say that’s as good a place as any to find it.”
“Then that is where we will go,” Da’vi tells me, turning to push his way through the crowd. I start to follow, but the traveler grabs my arm.
“You two UPC? Here to patrol the Rally?” he asks me, the flirtatious glint still in his eyes.
I wrench my arm away. “Fuck the UPC,” I tell him and hurry after Da’vi.
The casino is as packed as the airfield. It’s nearly impossible to make our way through the gambling swarm of aliens, but Da’vi clears a path.
I’m relieved once we make it inside the VIP room. There are significantly fewer people here, enough space to walk without having to squeeze in between aliens that just dragged themselves in out of the hot desert sun. I stay close to Da’vi, running my eyes over the crowd.
I see her at the same time he does. Da’vi’s usually confident and purposeful stride falters and I nearly plow into his back. There at the bar, there’s a Nh’rudi woman. Nh’rudi, just like Da’vi. Her eyes catch Da’vi’s as we approach and she beckons him closer. It isn’t until she looks over his shoulder and sees me that her expression sours.
“Another one of these things on Quar… It’s enough to make a girl want to move,” she hisses in my direction before rolling her eyes and turning back to the bar. Da’vi and I exchange meaningful glances.
“Sounds like you’ve seen a human before,” I comment.
“If that’s what you people are called, I’ve had the unfortunate experience, yes,” the woman confirms without looking at me. She sips at her drink before turning to Da’vi. “Tell me, why is it all the most attractive men tote around baggage like this, huh? It’s a great unfairness to the rest of us.”
“Tell us about this other human,” Da’vi demands. She stares blankly at him, unmoved by his harsh demeanor.
“What do you want with her?” an alien man standing nearby cuts in.
“Not that it matters,” the woman says into her drink.
“She’s wanted for questioning,” Da’vi supplies.
“Hah! Good luck getting any answers,” she tells us mockingly.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I ask her.
“It means the bitch is dead. Got tossed off a building a week back, and let me tell you, she deserved it. That female was insane, utterly destroyed my ship right before the rally and nearly killed me in the process—”
“Do not be so dramatic, Zair!” the other alien chastises.
“Dramatic? I guess it’s easy to be dramatic when you don’t have a damn ship!” she huffs at the alien man.
“Thrown off a roof?” I rush forward and grab the lizard bitch by the throat. “Now tell me, and this time without the fucking attitude, what do you know about this human?”
The woman struggles in my grip. “You’re just as crazy as that bitch V was! Get your hands off of me!”
“Who threw her off a roof?” I press, not loosening my hold on her.
“Some thugs! I don’t know, but it wasn’t me! For all that is good, you people are crazy!” she laments, pulling hard to get away from me. This time I let her.
“What did you say her name was?” I demand.
“They said it was V,” she huffs, straightening her dress.
“Just V, or was it Vivian?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention to her at first, I think Dax just said V. Listen, you’re going to have to let me know if this place is going to become overrun with your kind, because if one more human—”
“Dax? Where is Dax now?” Da’vi growls harshly. The woman grabs her drink and glares hard at us for a second with hate-filled eyes.
“Gone. He was gone before she was. I have no doubt she scared him away. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do than this!” She throws her arms up in anger and frustration before disappearing into the crowd.
“You could have let me handle it,” Da’vi hisses at me.
“Yeah, because you were doing so great out there.”
“You were confrontational from the moment the conversation began!”
“Hah! If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black. Confrontational, he says—”
“Um, excuse me? Excuse me please?” The man at the bar addresses us.
“What do you want?” Da’vi growls at him.
“Do you people know Dax?”
Da’vi and I turn to give the man our full attention. “Who the hell are you?” I counter.
“My name is Merkeem, I run a hangar out near the canyons. Dax has been a good friend of mine for a great many years. He was here a few weeks back, with a female of your kind…” Merkeem lowers his voice and moves nearer to us, his eyes shoot uneasily around the bar. “How do you know him?”
“He stole—” I begin, but Da’vi cuts me off.
“We are friends. He and the human went missing from our party, we seek to recover them.”
“I believe something bad must have happened to them,” Merkeem tells us.
“No shit. That chick back there just said Vivian was tossed off a fucking building,” I say angrily. We waited too long. We should have come for her sooner. Vivian, poor scared and stupid Vivian. I hate to think what happened to her out here all alone. I grit my teeth and look away from the men.
“I do not believe she is dead.”
“Was she thrown from a building or not?” I press.
“She was. Twelve stories she fell. Everyone on the bottom level of the hotel saw it. All of Quar had been talking about her even before that night. You understand of course, the kind of female she was…”
“Yeah,” I say, remembering Vivian. Stupid and weepy, scared of her own shadow.
“She was thrilling.”
“Say what now?” I double take.
“Perhaps we are not speaking of the same female,” Da’vi offers.
“A human female, a brown mane, traveling with Dax? Spectacular pilot, strong in body, sensual in other arenas…”
“Ummmm…” I can’t think of anything to say. Da’vi and I shoot each other unsure glances.
“In any case, all of Quar was enthralled by her. She was quickly becoming a legend here. Then to see her thrown from the rooftop? It was tragic.” Merkeem bows his head a little, clearly shaken by the memory.
“What leads you to believe she may still live?” Da’vi asks.
“She was seen.”
“By you?”
“No. There are children who live in the hovels outside the airfield. I let them work for me now and then, to help them earn a few creds for their families. They had taken a liking to V; she and Dax had been kind to them. Many here have been raised on the stories of the Goddesses, you see. She was a magical thing to them.” Merkeem leans in closer to whisper the rest. “Just yesterday the children came to me. They told me they saw her. Her form had chan
ged, but they saw her.”
“I’m sorry, what? Her form had changed?” I ask.
“They say she looked like a different person.”
“Did you maybe consider the possibility that it was a different person?”
“The children are De’Vesh. They can scent her, read her aura. Her appearance may have changed, but without a doubt, it was the same female.”
“Where did they see her?” Da’vi demands.
“In the merchant district, outside an Aritine artist’s shop. The Aritine was found dead inside.”
“Was Vivian okay when the kids saw her? Was she injured?” I ask.
Merkeem scoffs. “I never truly believed in the stories of the Goddesses.” He takes a long drink from his cup. “V has made a believer out of me. From what I’ve seen, that female cannot be injured, nor killed,” he says, looking at me. I notice something in his eyes, something between fear and reverence.
“We must find her. Can you help us?” Da’vi asks.
“People have spent thousands of years in search of the remaining Goddesses. I don’t know if one can be found unless they desire it. Perhaps your companion would know better how to find one of her kind?” he tells Da’vi, cutting his eyes to me.
“Does it look like I know how to find her?” I grit out.
“Who was it that threw her from a building?” Da’vi asks.
Merkeem shakes his head. “It was a male named Drykn and his men, but they are gone now. The rumor that she lives sprang up yesterday and they were quick to leave Quar after it did. They were too afraid that she would come looking for them again.”
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same girl?” I ask one last time.
“Some say she wasn’t thrown from the roof, but rather, she jumped. A pilot I know swears he saw it. Said it looked as if she glided down the side of the building on a rally banner. Twelve floors up.”
“Why would this Drykn guy run from her?”
“She already killed one of his men. Maimed another. And Drykn? She gouged out one of his eyes. Maybe they thought she might come after them to finish the job. Anyway, wouldn’t you run from an enemy if they rose from the dead?”
“She didn’t rise from the dead,” I insist. But I’m shaken by his words. Could Vivian have really done the things he attributes to her?
I lean into Da’vi. “What do you think?” I whisper. He rolls his shoulder, the Nh’rudi version of a shrug.
“Dax. What happened to him?” Da’vi asks Merkeem.
“I do not know for certain, but I would be shocked to hear Dax left V on his own will. It was easy to see she had a power over him. Word has it The Oscillion had something to do with all this. No true shock there, The Oscillion has something to do with anything that happens on this planet. And a female like V? She would certainly seem like quite the prize to a crime lord like him.”
“Where can we find this Oscillion?” Da’vi asks.
“I can tell you, but you didn’t hear it from me,” Merkeem tells us conspiratorially.
***
Not long later, Da’vi and I are surrounded by a group of guards. The fight was a short one. Practically choreographed. A boot connects with the back of my leg and I fold onto the ground. Da’vi hisses and flicks his scales, but he does nothing and allows the men to tackle him. Once he’s down, more join in, rushing forward to shackle us. Rough hands push me hard into the dirt. Sand grinds against my cheek, puffing out with every angry breath I take. I can’t believe his big plan was for us to get captured!
Chapter 48
V
“Why not just do it himself? He’s got one of these TASE things and he knows how to use it,” I ask, not really caring. I used to cry all the time, now I find it hard to even feel. “Alibi, no alibi, what does he care if his plan is to take over the trafficking ring anyway?”
“The Oscillion is political. Diplomatic. If he killed Vigere outright it would cause a scandal, a war even.”
“Hmm,” I say, looking out the window. We are taking a surface craft, one of those hovering vehicles that reminds me of a car from Earth.
“He will not be on world when you do it. He is attending a party for first flag on a ship in orbit.”
“Nice alibi,” I say, still not caring.
I can feel Narron’s eyes on me, burning into the back of my head. Judging me.
“Vigere is likely to have many traveling companions. He has been informed that the brothels have something of a surprise for him.”
“Do I get to jump out of a cake?” I ask drily.
“What do you plan to do about the companions?”
“Narron, I don’t know what the fuck I plan to do about Vigere,” I say, turning to look at him.
“You are really going to go through with this?”
“You know me.” I hold my hands up as if to say, what you see is what you get.
He reaches into his pocket and holds a small vial out to me.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“A backup plan,” he says. “Just in case. This is a very strong poison, V. You can use it to finish Vigere, instead of a more physical method. At the very least, it would be less bloody than your last kill. Or…if things go poorly, it is a way out for you.”
I scoff, but take the vial into my hands.
“I have something else for you,” he says as we slow to a stop in yet another Quar back alley. He tosses me a bag with some skimpy clothes made from a smooth white material and a pair of sexy white boots to match.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“It’s your disguise,” he tells me.
“What? This isn’t enough?” I motion toward my new Aritine features. Narron grunts noncommittally.
“Is this my stop?” I ask, peering out the window.
“It is,” he says gruffly, like he’s angry with me.
“You still aren’t going to give me a weapon?”
“Small sister, you are the weapon.”
“Where are you going to be?” I ask.
“I have business to attend to before I join The Oscillion.” He looks away from me, hiding whatever his emotions might be. “He has forbidden me to join you. Otherwise I would—”
I cut him off. “When I’m done here, where do I go?”
“Back to the fortress. That is your home now.”
I move to get out of the craft, but Narron’s hand grips my wrist, stopping me.
“If you ran now, he is the only one who could ever hunt you down. The only one equipped to bring you back. If you ran far enough, it might not be worth his while to pursue you.”
“Narron,” I sigh, trying hard to will him to understand, “believe me, I’ve run far enough.” Pulling away from him, I slam the door shut and don’t bother looking back as the craft whirrs away.
The door to the brothel’s storage and maintenance room has been left ajar for me and I slip inside.
Chapter 49
Allison
A group of muscly guards surround us as we descend an elevator. We pass through long dark halls, spiraling staircases, and a series of locked gates, all leading us deeper and deeper underground. Eventually we come upon a guard at a checkpoint monitoring prison cells. I shake my head in dismay at all of this.
“Next time I’m coming up with the plan, Lizard Boy,” I tell Da’vi.
“You think you could do any better?” he growls at me.
“It’s not like you set the bar very high. I mean, look at all this! I sure as shit hope there’s a phase two to this plan! How the hell did you think we were going to get out of here anyway?” I say, raising my voice.
“Shut your mouth!” a guard says, giving me a hard shove to the back.
“Good luck getting that one to shut up,” Da’vi tells him. “I’ve been trying for months.”
“Hah! I didn’t even know this one could talk at first. I assumed he was more lizard than man,” I say to the guard urging me forward.
“Do you two always fight like this?” he asks, f
rowning.
“Yes,” Da’vi and I say in unison.
“This creature has the most sour disposition I have ever—” Da’vi criticizes.
“Sour? Is that the best you can do!” I stop in my tracks to turn and shout at Da’vi. “That’s the most watered-down, weak-ass insult I’ve ever heard.”
