by Kara Fey
Kamara nodded and moved off in the direction he indicated. Arched openings to the docking levels lined the wall on the far side. Most people who made a purchase wanted to leave as quickly as possible with their new merchandise. She was a powerful sorceress but moving unseen in a crowd was his specialty. Sneaking. Spying. Killing. Once upon a time, they had all been beyond her comprehension. And once upon a time, she’d thought being a princess meant frilly clothes, giggling maids, and perfumed bath water.
Tobiath nudged her shoulder and she forced her mind back to more important matters, like getting out undetected… and alive.
Two more steps and the solution to their problems presented itself. Picking up the pace, she actually yanked on Tobiath’s chain and moved swiftly to intercept her men. The Slave Empress’s Guard stood stationed outside the secondary corridor leading to her old rooms. Galactic coin lay stacked on a long silver table in front of her green-skinned warrior, Lizard. He must’ve traveled the back corridor as she and Tobiath had gone the long way around. Lizard bartered her services and protected her with his life, because that’s exactly what her memory implant convinced him he needed to do. His loyalty was unquestionable. Five of his men stood ready nearby, dressed in nothing but their leather weapon harnesses and loincloths. They were a small army. Her small army.
“Come on.”
“No. You can’t trust him.” Tobiath pulled back on the chain. She yanked him forward in annoyance. He had to follow her, or completely blow their cover. He didn’t like it, not one bit. Adrenaline-laced anger exploded into her mind through their link. Her slave wasn’t happy she’d yanked on his chain. She kept walking toward Lizard and ignored the zing of warning that snapped up and down her spine. Lizard was her man, her personal bodyguard. He’d been with her every time she’d hunted for the Specter. He’d seen her dressed as a Moon Warrior many times in the past. Lizard had guarded her back from day one. On many occasions she’d trusted him with her life. Her life, not Tobiath’s. Something in Tobiath’s outward calm made her shiver and hope the promise of retribution in his eyes was only her imagination.
Chapter Six
Kamara marched ahead of him, determination in the rigid set of her shoulders. If she jerked on the silver chain one more time, he would throw her over his knee and spank her curvy little ass.
“Lizard is mine. I took his mind and he’s been loyal from day one. They can help us.” Kamara pulled him to the side of the room, to the partial privacy offered by black curtains hanging from an orgy stage between them and her men.
“No.” He was ready to strangle her. Absently, her fingers caressed the silver links that bound him and she looked from him to her men and back again. The gesture made acid churn in his stomach and he looked away. She played the part of a Moon Warrior and Anthean slave owner too well. “Walk past him. Do not make eye contact. He won’t even recognize you, Mara. You’ll just put us in more danger.”
“He’s seen me dressed like this before. He knows my voice. Lizard’s hunted with me many times, has protected me for weeks.” Kamara reached up and pulled the wig off her head, grimacing at the limp strands that hung from her hand where the long, brown hair now brushed the floor. Tobiath gritted his teeth and tried not to react. Several of Lizard’s men noticed the change, the dark mat of curls plastered by sweat and pins to Kamara’s head. Too late. The damage was done.
“That was very foolish.” He wanted to hit her as he watched her pull the pins from her hair. Unfortunately, Kamara still believed magic made her somewhat invulnerable. The last few moons out here obviously hadn’t been harsh enough to destroy a lifetime of illusion for her. He’d never had that luxury, that delusion. That innocence. Deep brown eyes implored him to believe. He hoped she was right.
Kamara looked over her shoulder and nodded to one of her men. “I’ve got five men plus Lizard standing around, ready to take my orders. Why should we sneak by when we can use them to stop whoever’s following us?”
What she said made sense. No logical rationale explained the churning in his stomach. The burning certainty that Lizard would disappoint them was a product of life experience. “Let’s do it. But make sure your blaster’s ready.”
Kamara smiled at him over her shoulder and gave his slave chain another sharp tug. Then she headed straight to Lizard. Tobiath gritted his teeth and allowed her to lead him like a stray dog.
The big man showed only mild surprise when Kamara placed her hand on his leather sleeve and began talking to him, but something dark and dangerous fired to light in the eerie greenish yellow eyes. Tobiath hoped the Lizard’s anger stemmed from nothing more sinister than protective instincts. Lizard was a huge man by any standard, a good head taller than Tobiath. Lizard had paid well for green pigment cellular implants, those horrible eyes, and illegal muscle stims. The results of which he proudly displayed by wearing nothing but his weapons and green leather clothing stretched tight over every ounce of his body, from neck to boots. Only his face was bare. Even his massive hands were encased in the material. Any one of the man’s previous sins should warn her off. Instead, the little idiot walked right up to him and placed both their lives in his hands.
Kamara’s voice never reached him, so he had no idea what lies her soft lips whispered to him. Lizard grunted and turned to his men. “No one follows me.”
The loincloth brigade nodded and Lizard took off, heading for the corridor which led to their docking station. Kamara’s I-told-you-so grin wore on his nerves. Tobiath sincerely hoped she was right. Their only weapon hung strapped to her delicious hip, and Lizard was almost twice his size.
They walked through the arched entrance to the exit corridor and entered another world. Gone were the obscene vid screens, replaced by plain track lighting and bare walls, perhaps a path meant to cleanse your conscience before leaving. Tobiath snorted at the thought. It would take a whole hell of a lot more than that to erase his many sins.
He’d almost started to relax, almost, when he noticed a change in Lizard’s gait. A little slower. As if the oaf were actually trying to think…
Not good.
The giant’s steps faltered and Lizard turned his green tinged face to Kamara with feigned confusion in his eyes. “Which way, Mistress?”
Kamara fell for it. A benevolent smile lifted the corners of her beautiful mouth, his only warning. “Follow me.”
“No!” Too late. Kamara turned to look at him and instantly Lizard’s huge arms wrapped around her neck, a nasty neuro-blaster held poised at her left temple. Lizard boy was a lefty. “Let her go.”
“Hands up.” After Tobiath complied, he continued, “I have a surprise for you, slave boy.” The vertical black slits that passed for Lizard’s pupils fluttered open and closed in agitation.
“Whatever it is, don’t hurt her.” Tobiath didn’t look at her face. Couldn’t. The terror he was sure to see in her eyes would rip out his heart. Here he was, a Sentinal, and the one woman he’d ever given his heart to was about to have her brain neuro-fried, while he stood helpless and unarmed in the corridor, naked except for slave gel. Brilliant. He should’ve thrown her over his shoulder and carted her ass out of here. But she’d made him weak. Weak was going to get them both killed.
Lizard’s laughter made bile rise in his throat. The play of rope-like muscle around Kamara’s neck made Tobiath’s throat so tight he could barely breathe. Lizard squeezed, just a fraction, and lifted Kamara to her tiptoes. “I know you killed my brother last year. Fucking bounty hunter. Hunted him like a dog and shot him in the back.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And he didn’t. Lizard had lost his mind… or had it tampered with. Hell. Their enemy must’ve implanted new memories in Lizard’s mind while Kamara was on his ship. They were fucked.
“You’re gonna die real slow for killing him, and this little whore is gonna make me rich.”
Kamara struggled in Lizard’s arms, laid her bare hands over his gloved ones. “Lizard, I am your friend. You trust me, love me. Yo
u are helping us escape an evil slaver.” Was that desperation he heard in her voice? Lizard’s arms tightened, choking off her air.
“ENOUGH.” Lizard’s roar of rage echoed off the lifeless walls of the narrow corridor and was amplified by the vid system. The blast of noise made Tobiath’s eardrums pop. “Do you think I’m so stupid I would fall for your sweet voice again? No! I’m protected this time, no bare skin! I remember what you did to me, how you used me, sold me. You helped him kill my brother, and now you’re both after me.” Lizard took a step backward, still holding Kamara off the ground with one arm.
Kamara couldn’t speak, but her eyes asked the question, begged him to help her.
Tobiath had the answer, but she wasn’t going to like it. “He’s been implanted, Kamara.”
Kamara stopped moving, became dead weight in the giant’s arms. Waiting.
“No. I’ve discovered the truth! You’re coming with me, little whore. I’m going to ride you until you scream, then take you to Tantra prime and sell you to the highest bidder. I already have a buyer.” Lizard leaned forward and Kamara’s feet touched ground again as Lizard licked the side of her face. The putrid green tongue ran up her cheek and Tobiath saw red.
“Drop me!” Kamara’s order flooded the corridor with magic and flowed through their link until his skin tingled. Tobiath smiled, and knew the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Flesh to flesh, tongue to cheek. That taste had just cost Lizard his life.
Kamara dropped to the hard floor in a heap and rolled to her side. She came up on her knee, blaster in hand, and fired. Lizard roared in pain and went down. The surge of raw power Kamara had summoned made the air thick with magic; it lingered like the smell of rain and earth after a storm. Not only had Lizard boy touched her, but the slimy tongue had pissed her off.
Kamara looked at him, eyes blazing. One shaking hand wiped the wet stroke of Lizard’s tongue off her cheek. Tears gathered on her lashes, but she blinked them away. “I can’t believe he got to Lizard, too.” Her eyes drifted over Lizard’s body and a shudder racked her small frame. Tobiath wanted to gather her in his arms and comfort her, but there was no time.
“Let’s go, Mara.” Slowly, so as not to get accidentally shot, he walked to her and pried the blaster from her fingers. Kneeling down on one knee, he kissed her fast and hard. She was out of immediate danger, but his blood boiled with the possibilities. If anything happened to her…
Yanking her under the arm, he forced her to her feet and pulled her down the corridor toward his ship. “Move!”
The blessed silence lasted about half a minute. Fifty paces. “Tobiath, I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you.”
He wanted to punish her. Kiss her until she begged. He wanted to spank her for being so stupid, and hold her so tightly she’d never be in danger again. Their link fed him her grief, the gnawing ache in her heart at Lizard’s betrayal, at her own vulnerability and helplessness against the sorcerer who’d tampered with her servant’s mind. Tobiath’s mind and heart had been numb for years, conditioned not to feel anything. Now her pain, her loss tore through him, left jagged wounds he had no defense against. Never had he felt this much adrenaline raging through his body, like an explosive wired to blow with a hair-trigger. He had to taste her, comfort her, know she was alive.
Her gasp of alarm had him rock hard and at attention as he backed her into the wall. “Shut up. Don’t talk.”
“I’m so very, very, very sorry.” She grabbed his slave collar and gave a gentle yank. Her eyes were swirling with something, but it sure as hell wasn’t contrition. Despite her pain, wildness flickered in the chocolate colored depths. She was passion and life. Unrepentant. Free.
Dangerous.
God, he wanted to stay angry with her, but the devil dancing behind her eyes denied him. “You’re impossible.” He didn’t give her the opportunity to reply. He needed to feel her pulse in his hands, her heart pounding against his chest. He needed to taste life and hope again. Crushing her soft lips beneath his, he drank her in, and let the pain of loving, of fear, wash over him. For the first time in a long time, he wanted to feel.
Soft and inviting, she opened for him. Her tongue darted out to taste and explore his mouth. The thin silver material of her shirt molded and clung. The gel he wore picked up their combined heat, amplified and spread the burning warmth through the rest of the strange suit. Hard and begging for attention, her nipples announced themselves to his chest. Tearing his mouth from the honeyed sweetness of hers, he lifted her higher, pinned her to the wall above him and pulled one taut peak into his mouth through the thin fabric. Every cell in his body smoldered with the knowledge that he’d nearly lost her, that he no longer wanted to live without her.
“Yes.” Kamara wrapped her legs around him, fingers threaded through his hair, demanding he continue, pulling him closer.
The sounds of preliminary movement behind them caught his attention. It sounded like a groan of pain. From Lizard? He tore his lips from hers, turned his head to listen, then looked up into Kamara’s eyes. “Please tell me you don’t have the damn thing set on stun.”
Her delicate shrug made him groan and set her back on the ground.
“Mara!”
“I’ve never killed anyone. I prefer not to commit cold-blooded murder, if you don’t mind.” Her anger flared to life, punched him in the gut through their link.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” He adjusted the blaster setting to ‘kill’ and put his body between her and danger.
“You didn’t give me a chance!”
“Let’s go.” Swarming footsteps and shouts were coming from farther down the corridor now. Lizard must’ve called up the loincloth brigade.
Holding her hand, he pulled her along and ran as fast as her shorter legs allowed. If she didn’t want to kill them, he couldn’t very well waste them right in front of her. In the past, he would have blasted every single one of the bastards and thought he was doing the universe a favor. But now he seemed to be towing a conscience. If their enemy had tampered with their minds, Mara would say he was killing innocent men. Yeah. Right. If they were innocent, he’d shave his head and join the Order. He didn’t doubt they all deserved to die for something. But then, who didn’t?
Pandemonium broke out behind them. Screams chased them all the way to his ship. Neither of them looked back. Neither of them saw Lizard and his men lining the corridor, dead. Nor did they see the shadowed man swiftly and silently attach the tracking device to the hull of Tobiath’s ship and slip away like a ghost.
* * *
Kamara bit her lip, sank back into the plush co-pilot’s seat, and stared straight ahead at the multitude of stars before them. Such beauty in the universe, and such evil. Somewhere, out in the vast array of stars and spinning worlds, her young, innocent cousin lay at the mercy of a madman.
Tobiath sat to her left, all business now, putting as much distance between them and Tantra-9 as possible. She didn’t make a sound, didn’t want to distract him. Nothing would make her happier than never seeing the station again. She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to wash the stench of the wretched place from her soul. Kamara pulled the remaining pins from her hair and shook the dark strands free in disgust. She needed to feel real. Like herself, and not the disgusting servant of men she had been pretending to be the past weeks, weeks of her life wasted in a trap set by an unknown enemy. She felt like the worst kind of fool.
“You all right?” Brisk and businesslike, Tobiath’s question caught her off guard. His gaze skipped along the computer instrument panel as his hands made adjustments to their course, hands she desperately needed to feel touching her flesh, assuring her they were both alive. Whole. Redeemable.
She lied. “I’m fine.” He turned to face her, and she quickly averted her gaze to study the long, slender fingers lying calmly in her lap. A princess knew how to fake calm. That vital skill was ingrained from a very early age. “Did you get a feeling about Zira?”
“Yes.” The pause lingered, but pa
tience won out and he continued. “She’s alive. Very close. I can’t get a fix on her location. I think they’re moving her.”
“Great.” A deep sigh slipped out before she could stop it, and suddenly she was tired. Too tired. All this time, all the men and memory implants she’d dealt out to them as the Slave Empress, and still she’d failed Zira, failed her whole fucking world. So easily manipulated by another sorcerer. So sure of herself and the protection of her birth, she’d been such an easy victim. And Tobiath was hunted because her memories had proclaimed his guilt. False memories.
Weak. She was too weak to be a queen.
In her lap, her hands danced around each other like lovers afraid to part. Attempting a smile, she rose and stepped around her seat, studied the black paneling and instrument panel behind his chair. “I’m going to write a message to my brothers that will clear your name. I’ll send it immediately. You won’t be hunted anymore. I’m so sorry, Tobiath. I was too weak, too trusting. I was arrogant and full of my own power. I should’ve had a Shadow Master test the memories before I put a bounty on your head.”
“Mara.” His hand caught her right wrist and halted her escape. Electricity jumped from his skin to hers, rushed up her arm and shot straight into her laboring heart. “Don’t go.”
Mustering her courage, she glanced over her right shoulder, and was caught and held by the torment in his gray eyes, by a pain equal to or greater than her own. When he pulled her back, she could no more resist than she could will her pulse to stop pounding. He swiveled away from the instrument panel and pulled her down onto his lap on the soft gray chair. Strong and comforting, his arms wrapped around her from behind, his lips nudged the back of her neck through the mass of black hair.
“Please.” Pulling her firmly back against his chest, his hands wandered over her abdomen, rose to cup her breasts through her shirt. Instantly, her nipples rose to greet him and he gently pinched each in turn. His lips had finally burrowed through her hair to bare skin, and he blew his words across the sensitive skin. “Don’t leave me sitting here all alone.”
