Page 34 of Shielded Heart

“Do you truly think so poorly of me?” Arcanthus asked with a scoff. “We didn’t do anything inappropriate.”

No, nothing at all inappropriate…that kiss had beenright, had made more sense than anything in Arcanthus’s life.

“You’re not nearly as funny as you think.”

“Not a joke, Drakkal. Samantha is a…delicate creature, at least outwardly. I want her to be comfortable at every step along the way.”

“Who are you, and what did you do with Arcanthus?” Drakkal glanced at Arc from the corner of his eye.

“This is different. It’s…serious.”

“Oh,nowyou want to be serious? You haven’t taken any of my warnings seriously, but I’m supposed to suddenly give you the benefit of the doubt?”

“So, I’ve taken a few risks,” Arc replied with a flick of his wrist. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned about her. Terrans are still considered exotic, and she’s been accosted several times in the few days she’s been in the city. There was a groalthuun taking pictures of her today.”

Drakkal grunted and tightened his grip on the controls, his claws extending slightly. “Trafficker, probably.”

“Hence my concern.”

“You’re the one who exposed her to it. Exposed yourself, too.”

“Oh, I’ve not yet begun to expose myself, Drakkal. You’ll know when I do so—even you won’t be able to look away.”

“Kraasz ka’val, Arcanthus. You’re lucky I like you.”

“Yes, I am.”

Seven

Vaund didn’t look up when a knock sounded at the door. He maintained his slouched posture in his kraug-hide chair, his long, claw-like fingers curled over the ends of the armrests. Reports flitted through his optical feed; columns and columns detailing expenditures and earnings, all of it nonexistent as far as the Consortium was concerned—the records would be sent to the Inner Reach Syndicate’s headquarters before local copies were destroyed.

The only sound in the knock’s wake was that of his respiratory pumps maintaining a constant airflow into and out of his lungs; the years had, unfortunately, only increased his awareness of the noise.

He perused the currently displayed report to its end, tallying everything on a small side screen at the lower edge of his vision. Once he’d confirmed the totals were accurate, he allowed his attention to stray from his work; twenty or thirty seconds had passed since the knock, and there’d been no follow up.

Vaund considered it a sign that his subordinates understood him well—they knew to wait until he acknowledged them rather than cause a second interruption.

“Enter,” he said, a low buzz running beneath his artificially replicated voice.

The door opened. Vaund didn’t have to turn to see the groalthuun, Straek, enter the room; the cybernetic helmet encasing the ruined flesh of his head provided full view all around.

Straek stopped two meters away from Vaund’s chair and blinked his large, black eyes. “Found a few prospects today, boss.”

Vaund eased his hold on the armrests and lifted a hand, index finger extended. “Show me.”

Straek activated his holocom, bringing up several still images on its projected screen. He swept them together with his fingers and flicked them toward Vaund.

The images appeared in Vaund’s optical feed—three males and two females.

Vaund examined the stills one by one, assessing the candidates by species, build, and appearance. Two of the males were promising—a pair of daevah, twins with mirrored patterns on their violet-red skin. They looked to have athletic frames, which was a good start. Male daevah, who were always born as twins, were popular both with wealthy buyers looking for sex slaves and with the organizers of underground fights seeking entertaining combatants.

These daevah could pull in a decent payout on the Caldorian market.

But the last image was the most intriguing of all—a terran female with expressive brown eyes and long brown hair. She had a certain innocence to her features that would undoubtedly enhance her market appeal. The image only displayed her head and part of one shoulder.

“Give me everything you have on the last one,” Vaund said. “The terran.”

A moment later, fresh images appeared in his feed—all containing the terran, taken in what appeared to be one of the upper city malls. The crowd blocked her from full view in most of the images, and her baggy clothing made it difficult to determine the shape of the body beneath, but she seemed a slight, attractive thing.

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