Page 59 of On A Rift's Edge
“I wonder why that is.” Remi flounced onto a nearby sofa, crossed his legs and let Teo cling to his hand. “Oh, right. My parents haven’t given a shit about me my whole life, but now that I’m no longer running around doing their bidding they’re concerned.”
“Perhaps if you listened to me, you wouldn’t be in your current situation.” Arimanius didn’t bother trying to get Teo to obey him and instead focused on his son. The contract Teo had agreed to wasn’t enough to overcome Remi’s psychic control over the hopper. “That’s in the past. If you’re here to ask for help getting away from the Azdaha, I’ll hear you out.”
Remi laughed so hard he all but choked. “I’m not here to talk to you,Ari.” He emphasized his father’s nickname. “Or to give my long-absent mother an update on my love life. I’m here to stop that little bitch over there.”
Remi pointed to Kat, and everyone in the room turned to stare at him.
Except for Teo, who only had eyes—and sticky finger pads—for Remi.
Kat cleared his throat, ignored the insult, and pushed away his typical fear of being the center of attention. “I won’t let your father keep tormenting Lyall. If he wants the control object in exchange, I’ll give it to him.”
“No, you won’t.” Remi sounded colder and more vicious than Kat had ever imagined he could be. Teo bristled at his side, which added to the threatening atmosphere hanging in the air. “I’m not going to let anyone take them away from me.”
Arimanius gave a surprised grunt and turned to Kat. “Can you truly get it?”
Kat straightened his spine and looked Don Arimanius, head of the Colony mafia, directly in the eyes. “I’m not going to negotiate with you while I’m tied up. Sorry, it’s not my kink.”
That was unnecessarily provocative and downright rude. Part of Kat cringed at the disrespect. Another part reminded him that Arimanius had kidnapped him. Twice.
If Remi could play the entitled bad boy, so could Kat.
Arimanius jerked his head at Lyall, who walked over behind Kat. The hellhound remained silent as he removed the snake-like creature that bound his hands, but then he stroked the chafed flesh around Kat’s wrists. The warm touch of his fingers didn’t last long, but a lump formed in Kat’s throat. He knew Lyall was upset that he had blundered into Arimanius’s territory trying to rescue him. But the little gesture of comfort meant so much.
“I want Lyall released from his indenture and a seymour-enforced contract that ensures you and the Colony leave both of us alone in the future.” Kat rubbed his aching wrists and projected as much confidence into his words as possible, given the circumstances. “In addition, you’ll agree to let everyone in this room leave whenever and to wherever they wish, safe and healthy. Lastly, you’ll get out the state within twenty-four hours.”
“He’s bluffing.” Remi threw up his one free hand, since Teo was playing with the other one and murmuring compliments in a bubbly language that must be the native tongue of the hoppers. “The control object is secured in the monstertown, with two komainu guardians and my boyfriend, an Azdaha drakone, guarding them. What’s Kat going to do, force his way in and grab it for you? He’s a human trained to help when a cat gets a boo-boo, not a fighter.”
“All I have to do is make one call.” Kat felt on firmer ground now. He could do this. “Then you need to drop all of the wards around this building. A portal will open here, and the control object will be delivered right in front of you.”
“And who will create that portal?” Arimanius sounded wary but interested, which was a start. “That mothcat friend of yours can’t translocate without a line of sight to her destination.”
“Lyric can portal themselves here.” Kat raised his chin and ignored Remi’s hiss of surprise. “That’s the name of the riftperson inside the control object. They can communicate telepathically now, and they like Zale. I call the half-kraken, and he and Lyric will do the rest.”
“You made a fucking deal withZale?” Remi yanked his arm free from Teo and jumped to his feet.
Lyall let out a growl of warning, but Remi stomped up to Kat, blue eyes blazing with fury. The full impact of his psychic lust powers hit like a blow, but Kat closed his eyes and put a mental picture of Lyall in his mind, and the effect faded away.
He opened his eyes to find Lyall reaching out for his hand. He grasped it and found his voice again. “You can’t stop me from doing this, Remi. Your slutty little tricks don’t work on me.”
“If your offer is enforced by the seymour, then I’ll accept it.” Arimanius came up to Kat, glowering at Remi until the half-ratkind backed away with a sulky expression. “With one caveat. If the control object doesn’t arrive here, you’ll also accept an indenture contract to serve me.”
Kat’s mouth felt dry, but all he did was nod. If this didn’t work, at least he and Lyall would be together. “Deal.”
Giana walked over and took the alien plant out of her purse. “Ari, you should have agreed to my offer in the beginning and avoided this unpleasantness.”
She handed the plant to Lyall, who accepted the ball of dried branches.
“Both of you have to repeat the agreement, then stretch your palm over the seymour.” Lyall’s hand shook as he held up the alien organism, and he had desperation in his eyes. “The plant enforces the agreement through a poison that goes into your bloodstream. If you don’t fulfill the terms, you die.”
Arimanius held his palm over the plant, and Kat put his much smaller hand next to his.
“Lyric will arrive inside this room in the next hour, and you’ll release Lyall from his contract as soon as they’re here. If I don’t deliver, I’ll accept the indenture contract.” Kat kept his hand steady, and after Arimanius repeated his side of the bargain, the plant jabbed a thorn into his finger and began sucking blood.
It hurt more than he had expected, but then it was over, and now Arimanius was standing in front of him with an expectant look.
Remi had taken several steps back, and next to him Giana was whispering something that the half-ratkind appeared to be ignoring.
Kat realized the Pouch Twins had stolen his e-watch, but before he could panic Evangeline the cyberbug flew over and landed on his wrist.
