Righteous Fury (To Protect and Service Book 2)

by Tracy St. John

  It didn’t keep her from muttering, “Asshole.”

  “That condition affects most of the men over here.” Raven winked at her.

  Kimi laughed with her. They might have looked as different as night and day from each other, but they thought alike to the point where they could practically read each other’s mind.

  Damn, I missed her. Kimi blinked threatening tears away.

  Daagiis interrupted them. “I’ve got a signal. It’s weak, but it’s there. We’ve found Tum, so hopefully, we’ve found Hanos as well.”

  “The Cidfec System.” Vendeen and Daagiis exchanged significant glances.

  “That means something to you?” Excitement coursed through Kimi at the hope she’d score her revenge.

  “It was the stronghold of one of Hanos’s lieutenants. When Hanos disappeared, this man took over a substantial number of his holdings. We were about to haul him in for questioning when he abruptly disappeared.”

  “Criminals have a habit of that when they hear law enforcement’s coming for them.”

  Daagiis had a different opinion. “It’s more likely he’d been removed. Now that we have confirmation Hanos is alive, I’m sure of it.”

  “Hanos doesn’t like it when people take away his toys,” Vendeen agreed. “His associate should have known better than to muscle in on his boss’s territory before finding his dead carcass.”

  That awful deadliness was in the judge’s black eyes again. Kimi swallowed. Hanos wasn’t the only man whose absence shouldn’t make his enemies relax. Vendeen was nobody to screw with, even when he wasn’t present and accounted for.

  He might be the only person who could take Hanos’s toys and live to tell about it.

  * * * *

  The remainder of the surprisingly short meeting consisted of hashing out the agreement for allowing the force Saazeer had sent with Laaruu into Consolidated space. They also discussed the likelihood of tracking down Hanos.

  “At the very least, we’ll lay our hands on Tum. We can work on convincing him it’s in his best interests to give up his employer’s whereabouts,” Vendeen said, licking his lips as if in anticipation of a tasty meal.

  It seemed to Kimi that few specifics were discussed on the planned attack itself. She was shocked when the men stood, signaling the consultation had come to an end. Kimi frowned at each in turn. No one had spoken of her and Laaruu’s role in the hunt.

  Instead, Raven grinned at her. “We should celebrate catching that bastard.”

  “We’ll do that after Hanos’s head is mounted on my wall,” Vendeen countered.

  “I’d laugh, but I think you’re serious. No, I’m sure you’re serious. Vendeen, if you put him in our living chamber, I’m moving elsewhere.”

  He winked at her, a flash of humor in his otherwise determined demeanor. Raven had been the only person able to instigate the occasional crack in his mask of ruthlessness.

  “With any luck, you’ll have your trophy soon. Good luck in your endeavors. Let’s go, my darling.” Laaruu tugged on Kimi’s hand.

  She looked from him to Raven, too confused by the abrupt leave taking to protest at first, or even to respond to her friend’s “Goodbye!”.

  As she found herself jogging to keep up with the Paatiin through the throng of aliens in the corridor leading to the bay, objections arose.

  “Wait a second, Laaruu. Where are we heading?”

  “To my ship. We’re done here. We need to rejoin our forces.”

  Kimi jolted to a halt. “You mean – we’re not going with them? We’re not helping them catch that murdering, raping bastard?”

  The aliens around her glanced at her curiously, but continued to stream past. Laaruu stopped and grabbed her by the arm with a threatening glare. “We can discuss all your questions on my ship.”

  “Laaruu…” Kimi tried to plant her feet, unwilling to walk out on the hunt for Hanos. Doubly unwilling to leave Raven.

  “Quiet. Come with me, slave.”

  With that, her program kicked in, shutting her mouth and putting her feet in motion once again. Kimi seethed, but there was nothing she could do to protest. All she could manage was a deadly glare at Laaruu, who ignored her.

  The son of a bitch would pay. She’d kick his ass at the first opportunity, right after she punched him in the throat to keep him from uttering any further commands that might stop her from doing so.

  They hurried straight to the bay and boarded his ship. She watched helplessly as the hatch closed.

  “You may speak now.” The bastard looked amused. She’d wipe that smirk off his morphing face soon enough.

  “You asshole! How dare you—”

  “Do you want to go after Hanos or not? Before you lose the opportunity to do so, consider your next few words and actions.”

  Kimi blinked, trying to catch up on what was happening. “Oh. I thought—we’re going after him with the Paatiin fighters? Not Raven and her pals?”

  Laaruu barked commands at the ship, sending it into the space outside the station. He pointedly ignored her, his air demonstrating insulted aggravation.

  Kimi sat down, morose at having arrived at the wrong assumptions. She couldn’t keep a note of accusation from creeping into her voice, however. “I thought I’d never find Raven again. This reunion was a big deal to me, and we didn’t enjoy it fully. You could have at least given me a chance for a proper goodbye.”

  He sighed. “It’s not goodbye. We’ll be meeting up with them once more. Since there is the chance that Hanos has spies on board that station, the entirety of the plan could not be discussed while we were there, not even in Vendeen’s office, which is swept several times a day for listening devices. This matter has to be handled with the utmost care.”

  “The meeting was just for show, then?”

  “Obviously. Along with letting you and Raven get the initial joy of seeing each other again out of your systems so we can concentrate on the work ahead. All our strategies have been established, through stringently coded messages.”

  The meeting had been a plan within a plan. Kimi had been kept in the dark about the whole matter, left to behave foolishly. Her temper kindled anew. “What are you playing at? I agree to be your slave, then you pull shit like this. You refuse to trust me with what’s happening.”

  “Just as you refuse to trust me.” Laaruu moved so that his nose was within inches of hers, his turquoise stare hectic with anger. “You were quick to jump to conclusions when I made you leave. Did I not promise you that you’d have your chance to go after Hanos? Was it not clear that you would do so while working with your friend Raven? Why are you determined to see the worst in me at every opportunity?”

  There was hurt behind the fury. Kimi was taken aback to realize Laaruu was stung by her lack of faith in him. Faith he hadn’t earned.

  Swallowing, she answered quietly. “I could have played the part, if you’d let me. It’s hard when I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “Sometimes it’s how the game must be played. Especially when lives are on the line.”

  “Laaruu, I’m not the type of slave who automatically defaults to her master’s judgment. Even if I were, we have trust to build yet.”

  “It’s because I let Hanos get his hands on you, isn’t it?” A flash of disgust—not for her, but for himself.

  “That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re treating me like I shouldn’t think for myself when you’ve insisted you wanted the strong woman Daagiis told you about. If that is who you want, you have to treat me as more than a pawn in a game.”

  He stared at her for long seconds, understanding slowly dawning in his expression. He took a step back, looking her over. “You are the woman I pushed you to become, aren’t you? Fierce, deserving of being fully informed of what’s happening. But in an emergency—”

  “If bullets are flying, or whatever we’re using in this universe, I can default to your expertise. But if it’s not death facing me in the moment, I need the details.”


  Laaruu heaved a breath. “I always saw myself taking care of any slave I took on, as I was taught we Paatiin should do. You’re supposed to be able to rely on me, without feeling the need to question.”

  “What about us relying on each other? Maybe I’d be honored if you could count on me too.”

  He considered. She waited, letting him work out the conflict of what kind of slave he’d thought he should have, and the person he’d been driven to claim.

  With real effort, Laaruu said, “I could try. It’ll be difficult, though. We Paatiin are not used to consulting with our slaves.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll tell you to fuck off, as needed.” She grinned.

  He laughed. When he held his arms out to her, Kimi went readily. She responded to his kiss, rubbing wantonly against him as the program told her he’d enjoy.

  “Do we have time for you to lord over me?” She nipped his lower lip naughtily.

  His eyes brightened. As it turned out, they did have a little time to kill. Especially time for him to punish her for every instant of disrespect she’d shown on the station. He’d kept careful track. He made her wail in agony, then in ecstasy.

  An hour later, an alarm beeped within the ship’s cabin, cutting through Kimi’s moans. Laaruu roused reluctantly, swatting her spasming cunt a couple more times for good measure before answering the summons. A low voice responded, sounding like Daagiis. They spoke back and forth for a little while. Though her program understood Paatiin, Kimi couldn’t make heads or tails out of the conversation. It was gibberish, some sort of code.

  The communications system clicked off and Laaruu sat up. He eased Kimi off his lap.

  “Daagiis’s party is in position. We can join them.” With an amused air, he issued commands to his own fleet, which had followed them over the border into Collective space.

  Curious about the expression Laaruu wore, Kimi prodded him as soon as he finished speaking to the squad commander. “What’s so funny?”

  “Something Daagiis told me. I told you he, Vendeen, and Raven were concerned about spies.”

  “They found some?”

  “It would seem so. A ship captain he brought along on this party, the very one in command of the vessel he’s on, attempted to send a message to Hanos. It set off alarms Daagiis had secretly installed on every vessel in the attack fleet.”

  “Did the message get out?”

  “Daagiis had fixed it so no communications can be sent outside the attack fleet without his approval. He also gets a look at inter-ship messages, so any subversion attempts among his men are pinpointed immediately.”

  Kimi was impressed. Daagiis had left few avenues of treachery within the ranks. “I bet that captain he caught is regretting his lapse of loyalty.”

  “He’s currently in the brig nursing four broken bones and other injuries, courtesy of your friend Raven.”

  “She does have a temper.” Kimi chuckled and inwardly saluted her bestie. “Who’s flying the ship?”

  “The first officer. He’s a much more dependable man, lucky for him. We’ll dock with their craft in about ten minutes.”

  Kimi was delighted to hear she’d soon be with Raven again. Hissing against the aches Laaruu had left her with, she hurried to dress.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kimi peered at the room she’d entered. It wasn’t merely featureless, but utterly blank. Ceiling. Walls. Floor. All a bland gray, utterly without detail. She frowned at Raven, who was dressed in a “sim” suit, identical to what had replaced Kimi’s camosuit. The body-hugging outfits were dark gray with stiff black piping that ran all over the fabric in random-seeming paths. Raven had explained the black piping consisted of sensors, which would record hits as they trained.

  They were aboard the Gilothean ship that led Vendeen’s attack fleet. Each had a Paatiin ship flanking it, in case some of the others decided to go rogue. Other Paatiin craft had docked in the Gilothean vessels’ docking bays, but Laaruu’s people kept to their sparkling ships. Vendeen had been adamant that the Paatiin were not welcome to seduce his best fighters.

  The Gilothean ship was nice, the parts Kimi had seen appointed almost too well for her to believe it was a warship. Hell, there was even artwork on the walls. “Are you sure this tub is ready for a real fight? Looks kind of fancypants to me.”

  “It’ll do what it’s supposed to when the time comes. It would give your boyfriend’s fighters plenty to think about.” Raven fiddled with sensors on her outfit. She straightened and grinned at Kimi.

  “If you say so. When does the magic start in here?”

  “As soon as I tell it to. I’m going to go to the other end of the room first.” She sized Kimi up. “We haven’t sparred in a long time. It’ll be interesting to see how we match up now that we’re running around with computer programs in our heads.”

  “Along with your mutant-power robotic arm. You do have control over that thing, right? No danger of you crushing me, like that traitor you found?”

  Raven chuckled. “I’ve enabled a program that won’t let me use it in excess of human strength. You won’t be of much use fighting Hanos if I’ve pulverized you.”

  “No kidding, bionic woman. Or are you more of a cyborg?”

  “I’m your worst nightmare. Grr. Grr.”

  Kimi wasn’t fooled by the silly face Raven made. Though she’d not killed people with her bare hands as Kimi had—at least not on their home world—Raven Virtue was trained to be lethal. Circumstances had been kind to the lawbreakers she’d faced as a park service ranger, keeping them from finding out just how lethal.

  “Shall we? I’m looking forward to seeing what an alien forest looks like.”

  “I look forward to finding and beating you.”

  “Not if I find you first.”

  Smirking, they went to opposite ends of the room. Kimi gave the chamber another look as she went. She tried to imagine how a square space barely the size of a baseball field could fool its inhabitants into seeing themselves in entire cityscapes or a vast countryside. However, Raven had assured her it would seem quite real.

  They faced each other. Raven called, “Ready?”

  “May the best blonde win.” Kimi blew a raspberry at her black-haired friend, allowing a touch of irritation to creep through.

  She was thrilled Raven was alive. No doubt on that score. Yet she’d mourned her friend for months, letting grief destroy her life. Meanwhile, Raven had been living happily ever after with Vendeen and Daagiis. It wasn’t her bestie’s fault that Kimi had opted for the bottle, but all the same, she looked forward to getting a few licks in while they trained.

  “Let’s do this,” she grinned.

  “Run program, Forest of Eka.”

  Kimi gasped as she suddenly found herself in the alien version of woods. She supposed the tall, twisted growths with golden feathery fronds surrounding her qualified as trees. The strange humps of vegetation, like brown moss, could be considered bushes. Sprigs of leaf-and-pod undergrowth crept in patches along the black soil.

  The foliage was fascinating; the stench less so. Though it wasn’t an overwhelming reek, it was far from pleasant. Kimi’s nose wrinkled as it filled with what could only be described as rotting meat and vinegar. Nasty.

  The sounds of unearthly beasts calling and screeching would have set her hair on end, but they were nothing compared to the grisly moans that issued from the densely feathered treetops. It was as if hundreds of damned souls called for relief, relief none of them expected to be granted. The vibe was eerie and soul-chilling.

  Even with the dreadful noise and smell, Kimi was astounded. Enthralled, even. None of this was real? She reached out her gloved hand to touch a pod-plant that nodded against her hip. It sure as hell felt real. No amount of stroking, then grabbing at the plant could convince her senses otherwise. Only when she went as far as to lick a pod and encountered only air did the illusion fail.

  Amazing. Earth’s attempts at virtual reality were child’s play compared to this.

>   She shook herself out of tourist mode, realizing that Raven might be creeping up on her position at that very moment, taking advantage of Kimi’s distraction to spring on her. Ranger Furio needed to get to work.

  Kimi moved quietly out of the last position Raven had seen her, using the fallen leaves, fronds, and other debris to hide where she placed her feet. She crept to a moss hill and hunkered behind it to watch for her opponent. Raven was the type to hunt her quarry, not wait for it to stumble across her.

  Then again, that was Kimi’s usual M.O. too. Wouldn’t it be funny if Raven was at the other end of the room, hiding and trying to wait her out too? They’d be here all day, wondering where the hell the other was.

  The noxious odor of the flora was stronger than before. Keeping her eyes peeled for Raven, Kimi leaned closer to the moss and inhaled. She fought not to gag at the acrid, rotting stench.

  The sound of something close by snapping twigs and crunching through leaves and pods underbrush froze her in place. She peered over her smelly shrubbery, expecting to see Raven slinking past.

  Oh shit. That’s not Raven. I don’t know what the hell that is.

  It was ugly. And weird. And striding twenty feet away, moving on all fours. As tall as Kimi, it reminded of something prehistoric. Reptilian skin. Horns and spikes. Its face was vaguely horselike, with a horn at the tip of its elongated muzzle, more sprouting from the bony frill at its neck. Beyond the frill, a forest of barbs stuck out from its neck and shoulders. More protruded from the end of its long tail, which gently swooped from side to side.

  It took no notice of Kimi, crackling past as if it had places to go and other horned reptiles to see. It wasn’t terribly loud, but it made more than its share of noise. Kimi had the sudden intuition that Raven might hear it and think it was her blundering about.

  She kept low, following the creature by the sound and keeping the vegetation that shivered in its wake in view. She dashed from one bit of cover to the next, searching for her opponent.