Page 9 of Willow and the Wraith

Before he could respond, the little girl tugged on the female’s sleeve.

“He told grandfather he’s looking for the slavers. I think he can help us.”

The female’s eyes narrowed, studying him.

“Are you… are you here to help?”

He hesitated. His job was to track down the slavers, not to come to the assistance of an unknown female. Yet he found himself nodding, unable to look away from those earnest hazel eyes. Only because she could be useful, he told himself quickly.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, her posture relaxing slightly. “I’m Willow and this is Sooni.”

He hesitated for a fraction of a second before inclining his head slightly.

“You may call me Wraith. What are you -”

The door groaned open again and he whirled, his hand on his weapon. The elderly Ssst male entered, but he walked briskly, his head upright and his eyes alert. His meek, submissive behavior had completely vanished. The change in his attitude and bearing was so unexpected, and so different, that Wraith didn’t almost didn’t recognize him at first.

“What the hell are you doing here?” the older male demanded.

His hand tightened on his weapon, annoyed both by the peremptory tone and the fact that the male had fooled him so successfully, but he simply raised a brow.

“You should ask your granddaughter.”

“He’s going to help us, Grandfather,” Sooni said eagerly, and he realized that she too seemed different - no longer as hesitant and fearful.

“We can’t trust -” the old male began, but the little girl gave him an earnest look.

“Yes we can. Scent him.”

The Ssst’s tongue flicked out, just as the child’s had in the tunnel, and then the male relaxed slightly. What the hell was that about? He was aware that the Ssst carried scent receptacles in their tongues, but it seemed somewhat extreme to trust him based purely on how he smelled. Especially since he did everything possible to disguise his own natural scent.

“Can you get the three of us off the station?” Willow asked hopefully.

While he was prepared to take her along, he wasn’t sure that he was willing to take on any additional passengers. Before he could respond, the old male shook his head.

“No. We’re not leaving.”

“Why not, Malacar?” she asked gently. “You know the supplies are almost gone.”

“No. This is our home.”

The old male clearly wasn’t going to budge, which was fine with him.

“Then we shall leave. Come,” he ordered, but a stubborn little chin went up.

“No. I’m not leaving without Sooni and Malacar.”

“We should go, Grandfather,” the little girl urged, but the old male shook his head again.

“This is our home, child. And we’ll be able to trade for supplies when the Fleet arrives.”

“The Fleet?” he asked sharply. “They are coming here?”

“That’s what we heard them say.” Willow gave him an anxious look. “Is that a problem?”

His business was exactly illegal, but he’d never been too concerned about staying on the right side of the law either - and he had acquired a certain… reputation over the years. Since he had no desire to explain his current activities to some arrogant Kaisarian commander, it was time to leave.

“If you’re coming, come now.”

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