Page 19 of Stone Awakened

As I watched the interaction between the shark-like Rummicaron Crimelord and the muscled, scary Kertinal, I started to wonder just who the shark was of the two. It was starting to look to me like Carator wasn’t the one in charge after all, the head guard was the much more cunning of the two.

“Enough!” Carator snapped, his jaws clacking together in a snapping noise that echoed across the large room. “Fine, I will postpone my plans for the evening and follow you out to these towers you worry about!” he sounded more bored than truly annoyed with the situation. But I caught a sharp, mean glint in his eyes when he finally looked at me. “I will see you at dinner again tomorrow.” He stalked off without another word, following Or’tal from the room, his two Xurtal females hot on his heels.

I deflated on the spot, feeling like my entire body had just melted. I was feeling extremely conflicted, torn between relief over not having to spend the night with the creepy shark-guy, and fear over our work at the tower being discovered. What was going on? What had Or’tal discovered?

Nobody was coming to escort me anywhere, and nobody seemed to pay any attention to me at all while I sat on that pillow, shaking from nerves. Eventually, I struggled to my feet, my hands pulling on tightly wrapped fabric left and right, trying to keep myself covered as much as I could in this ridiculous piece of clothing.

My eyes fell on my com, strapped to my wrist, and I was shocked to discover how much time had passed. Hours had been wasted as I sat like a pretty ornament at Carator’s feet. I’d barely eaten the food on my plate, but I wasn’t hungry anyway. I was so filled with nerves now, that I felt like my belly was one big ball of lead.

Teetering on the lace-up sandals with their stiletto sharp heels, I tried to orient myself on how to get out of here. I had been dismissed, so the best thing I could do was leave. I needed to find my room and I needed to check on the boys. Leaving them with Uron hadn’t felt right at all, but we hadn’t had a choice, and of everyone here, he was probably our best choice.

I managed a slightly wobbly strut across the pale stone floor, flushing when I realized that I’d drawn the eye of every single male in the room. The dancing girls had disappeared the moment Carator had left, their music abruptly stopping. I was suddenly chillingly aware of the fact that I was the only female present, and I was dressed like a present, ready for unwrapping.

Swallowing, I tilted my head, raising my chin and looking at these males down my nose. Pretending that I didn’t see the lascivious thoughts running through their heads, or that they knew as well as I did, that Carator thought he could order me to his bed like he owned me. If I wasn’t so scared out of my mind right now about what Or’tal had discovered with the planetary defense system, I would have felt humiliated.

Nobody stopped me as I left the grand room, though the two guards flanking the door made no secret of avidly perusing my body. Okay, maybe I was freaked out, but I was definitely feeling humiliated too. If not for the dire situation we were in, I would have snapped at these guards. My stern teacher voice seemed to work on them most of the time, but I didn’t dare now.

As the panel slid shut behind me, I let out a long, pent-up breath. I felt silly for thinking it, as I hadn’t relied on anyone in years, but I wanted Sunder to wrap me up in his wings. I had never felt safe in this terrible place, but tonight I felt like I was watched from all directions. As if this disgusting Crimelord could show up at any moment and drag me away.

Squaring my shoulders, I looked left and right, then picked the direction I thought I needed to go, and started walking.

Chapter 13

Sunder

The fight didn’t show on my face, at least, I didn’t think it did. But it was taking its toll on my body and my mood, which had already been black. I forced myself to make the meaningless small talk, to bluster and bluff along with the other males guarding this extravagant room. Due to its size, it was unclear what it had been intended for, but right now it was in use as a private dining place, and we were guarding a giant safe at the back of it.

Each time I circled the room with my assigned partner, a veteran Kertinal who’d left his military in disgrace, I watched Aggy from the corner of my eye. She was beautiful, her long hair draped around her in shiny locks, her dark eyes emphasized dramatically. Every part of her skin exposed, which was a lot, shimmered pink. She looked good enough to eat in the scraps of silver and red that clung to her curves, exposing more than revealing.

Blood rushed through my body straight to my groin, my mind flashing back to how good she’d tasted as I’d feasted on her in that planetary defense tower. My frown finally won out, and I made myself scowl at the next guard we passed, which made the male snap upright and nearly fumble his laser rifle.

Mind racing, I tried to figure out a way to end it tonight, to kill Carator without getting myself and Aggy killed. My Fire looked brave and determined as she sat at the Crimelord’s feet, I was proud of her. That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t stop this, no matter what. Nobody was going to lay hands on my female. I didn’t care how possessive I had started to get, Jett liked her, so I was going to make damn sure she’d be sticking around after this. If we managed to get out of here.

I focused on doing what I did best, casually extracting information. I knew better than anyone how to pretend to be one of them, to joke along, to blend in. Soon I had the guards working on the safe complaining about the issues they had with opening it. That followed with speculation on what was in it, which ranged from an extensive porn collection to files with dirt on each of the Crimelords and their top goons.

I made another pass with my new buddy around the safe, I eyed it thoughtfully, no wonder Carator was dying to get into this thing. It also suddenly made a lot of sense why this place was so heavily guarded, this was a goldmine. Even if what was in it was just regular riches and not data, the fact that everyone speculated that it was, would make this a hot target.

We crossed back into the sitting area, where Carator was barely making an attempt to be a host while he lazily watched the dancing slaves. There were five females, and I was relieved to see that they bore no signs of injury as they moved. The slaves had arrived here with Carator, his own personal retinue, a sign that he didn’t enjoy breaking his toys. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at the pale stone floor. Those thoughts were not making me feel better. I had to get Aggy out of there, but how?

There was a fire alarm, I could set it off as they were about to leave. The ensuing evacuation would delay things, could I sneak Aggy out in the chaos? Race for the boys and hide us out in the forest until the Vagabond arrived? My mind shot back to the Jukjuk, who traveled in packs, with advance scouts. I’d read up on them after my previous encounter, Arakon was not a safe planet to spend a night outside on.

I searched around in my head, pulling up the maps of the palace and outbuildings that I’d memorized when I got here. Was there a place somewhere behind the walls where we could escape detection? I had just compiled a short list of options in my head when my skin prickled with awareness.

Or’tal strode into the grand chamber like he owned the place, cool confidence in his bearing. He scanned the room, green eyes sharp and cold. Each guard caught in that gaze flinched and straightened, rushing to look like they were doing their very best guarding this room and their boss. I met his stare straight on, not flinching, standing my ground. With guys like this, it was best to show them that you wouldn’t bend or break, that you were made of stronger stuff. They respected nothing else.

I wasn’t sure if I imagined it, but I almost thought he inclined his head my way. Then he broke our stare-off, his posture gaining a bit more stiffness as he paused in front of Carator’s low table, behind which the Crimelord sprawled in a chair that was almost a throne. What he said to the male, froze the blood in my veins. Issues with the defense grid? Had he found out about our tampering?

Torn between relief when Carator and his head guard left Aggy forgotten at the table, and fear over what they had discovered, I forced my face to remain blank. Aggy was safe for now, we had a bit of time to figure this out. I could panic, or I could do something about it.

Keeping a sharp eye on my Fire, I circled the room again with the Kertinal dropout at my side. At each entrance point, I chatted with the males there, trying to figure out what was going on. Like I was well used to, most guys were old gossips, eager to find out what was going on, to share juicy tidbits. So again, it didn’t take long for a picture to form.

When I saw Aggy get up and leave, I was struck with the urge to wrap her up in my wings and hide her from view. I hated how all the males were tracking her progress through the room, the crude comments they shared as they nudged each other and pointed. The door shut behind her and now another fear struck me. Did she know the way back? And what if she ran into someone in the hallways?

The shift that I’d been put on ran until midnight, still another twenty minutes to go before I could leave. At this point, would ducking out cause more harm than good? I had to maintain my role here as long as I could. But Aggy… she wasn’t safe dressed like that, on her own.

*

Agatha