Page 21 of Venomous Lust
Then the sound of heavy footsteps resonated from beyond the door and Celaith’s face lost its desperate, almost fearful expression. Her skin took on a serene, pale purple tone and she leaned back heavily on her heels, cocking her head to the side as an arrogant smirk lifted her lips.
Khal turned to the door as it opened to reveal a tall, burly Cattelan male, his mottled green skin marred with a jagged, thick scar running along his left cheek. Silky black hair fell down to below the elbows of his faded black synthetic leather suit. His dark yellow, almost brown eyes stared with cold interest at those in the room, then stopped on Hazel with an open appreciation that made Khal’s blood curdle. Rage coiled inside him at the way the Cattelan’s lips curved when his gaze traveled down Hazel’s body, but he controlled it.
So, this is the captain of the Mother, the Bounty Hunter whose name makes lifelong criminals wet their pants and weep like younglings.
“Captain Roohl. I am Commander Khal, son of Enlon, brother to chief Arlen of the Erynian tribe.” Khal listed his title, keeping his gaze steady and his voice controlled. A male like Roohl wouldn’t likely be impressed by Zaxis’s noble birth, but he would respect strength and power. And Khal possessed both.
Khal moved, placing himself between Hazel and the bounty hunter in a non-equivocal claim over the female.
A snicker escaped Roohl’s upturned lips.
“Possessive, are you, Eok?” Those eyes twinkled and Khal knew Roohl had found a weakness in him. A weakness that could easily prove fatal. “Don’t you worry, I’m not after the human female. I’m not after a female at all, although I must say I could make an exception for that one.”
At Khal’s side, Hazel inched closer, raw terror showing on her open, expressive face.
No one touches what is mine.
A gravelly sound came from Khal’s throat and his talons pushed out of their sheaths. His senses heightened in anticipation of the fight to come. Then Roohl tilted his head back and a roaring, full-throated laugh filled the room.
“Don’t worry your big blue head, Commander Khal. I wouldn’t dream of snatching your prize from you.” Roohl set his shrewd, calculating stare on Khal. “But in return, I’ll ask you for just a tiny bit of help.”
The threat was there, barely veiled. Blunt and cruel, just like the Cattelan captain of the Mother.
“I know what you’re after.” Khal spoke with all the self-control of his long years of training. It took nothing less to keep his tone even, his face as smooth and expressionless as stone. “But I can’t help you.”
Roohl’s dark yellow eyes shone with an evil, almost joyful glint and the corners of his thin-lipped mouth lifted in a vile smirk. His cunning gaze went around the room, pausing on Zaxis before returning to Khal.
“An Eok commander, brother to chief Arlen, and the only heir of one of the richest Avonie dukes banding together in a high tech, highly undetectable ship barely two days from the Frontier.” All traces of subterfuge were gone from Roohl’s face. “You’re not on a trade mission. You’re after the same thing I am. You are after Knut’s bounty.”
Danger filled the room with a thick, knowing silence. The time for games was past.
“We are on a diplomatic mission,” Khal answered, forcing his talons back into their sheaths. “Prime Councilor Aav herself tasked me with establishing a trading and diplomatic outpost with the Decatee people.”
The words flowed easily, rehearsed many times as he had perfected his cover story, the cover story he had given to all who would be suspicious of his absence from Aveyn. All had believed it easily. All, but not Roohl.
“Decatee people aren’t worth shit,” Roohl answered, his face full of disgust. “They’re nothing but primitive savages. Prime Councilor Aav wouldn’t waste her time on them.”
“They might not have technology, but their home planet is rich in Allurium. There is no stronger metal, and it’s getting exceedingly rare inside the Ring,” Khal countered easily, knowing all their lives hung in the balance of how well he could fool the captain of the Mother. “She certainly has a need for that.”
“She can just take what she wants. She has no need for you or the Avonie.” But there was a shadow of doubt in Roohl’s eyes now as he spoke. And a shadow was all Khal needed.
“After all the trouble she had with her former Trade Minister, she doesn’t think it’s wise to start a new war. If the Decatee would stop attacking the Garana outpost, it would give her a much-needed win to present to the Ring’s Assembly.”
Roohl grunted, his mouth twisting with visible displeasure as he considered the information Khal had just given him. Then he jerked his head toward Celaith. “What do you say?” His eyes held no mockery, no threat as he looked at Celaith, waiting for her opinion.
The way Roohl looked at the young female surprised Khal. He hadn’t thought the bounty hunter captain would be close to any of his underlings.
“He might be telling the truth, then again, he might be lying.” Celaith shrugged in non-committal manner. “The only way to be sure is to search the ship. If he’s on a trading mission, he’ll have presents for the Decatee king. Things to trade. Those people don’t value money the way we do. They’ll need things they can hold, things they can taste.”
Roohl’s mouth curved up at the corners as he saw the wisdom in Celaith’s words. He barked orders to the Shriklas still standing outside the door and the snakes disappeared promptly. His dark yellow eyes turned back to Khal.
“We’ll find out soon enough if you lied to me. And I’m sure you know what I do to those who lie to me.” There was a promise in the bounty hunter’s voice, almost glee at the idea of Khal and his companions deserving his punishment.
Khal knew what Roohl did to those he deemed to have betrayed him. Those people wished to die but they seldom did. Roohl didn’t let them die—at least, not for a long time.
Roohl walked to the nearest chair and sat down, putting his boots up on the control board. He absorbed himself in the inspection of his long, dirty nails, ignoring those in the room in an affected relaxed pose.
Still standing to the side, Celaith’s face took on a bored, glazed expression as she settled on her heels.
