Page 29 of A Darkside Interlude

“He’s the Head of Security, apparently. Doesn’t say much, but I saw him speaking with the Commissioner earlier. They talked for a while. Must have been something important.”

“Are the Kordolians deferring to the Enforcers, now? Or is it the other way around? Nah, it has to be the other way around. The Universe has gone crazy. Jeez, look at this guy. Ice wouldn’t melt in his mouth.”

“Lean and mean, huh. I’ll bet he’s a total savage in the bedroom.”

“There you go, Izzy, fantasizing about aliens again…”

“As if you wouldn’t get into his pants in a single hot minute, Vi. Oh, shit. He’s staring at us. Do you think he heard?”

“From all the way over there? No way…”

Iskar glared at the human females from across the gallery. Just to fuck with them, he put a finger to his lips.

Shh.

Caught by surprise, their eyes widened. They obviously had no idea that Kordolians had very good hearing. The women gasped, blushed, then turned away, suddenly showing great interest in the drinks being offered by an attending service-bot.

Were all the females on this hothouse of a planet so fucking salacious? Others might seek to take advantage of the situation, but Iskar was only interested in one woman.

In truth, he didn’t want to be here. He’d much rather be stalking the streets of Darkside, searching for her.

Blue hair, red lips, dark eyes. Stunning. He couldn’t get her image out of his head. She was everything he could want in a female. He remembered every little thing about her; the quiet fierceness in her expression, the way she confronted him despite her obvious fear, the way she protected the people around her.

Powerless, and yet brave.

As his headache intensified, as lust burned through his veins, as the buzz of conversation swirled around him, Iskar made his decision.

As soon as this ridiculous event was finished, he was going back to Darkside.

“Uh, Sir?”

“What is it?” Iskar gave a sharp, almost imperceptible nod as his man Tyrak appeared beside him. Like Iskar, Tyrak wore understated military-formal attire. To the regular observer, they were dressed for the occasion, nothing more. Their suits were cleverly designed to minimize the characteristic weapons-bulges created by hidden firearms and knives. What the humans didn’t know was that Iskar and his men were armed to the teeth.

At some point, the General had used his considerable influence to exempt all Darkstar protection units from the tedious weapons checks these humans wanted to do at every single entry and exit point. The checks were pointless anyway; didn’t they know that even without guns and blades, a properly trained Kordolian still had his claws?

Tyrak stared across the light-filled gallery, studying the crowd. He spoke in Kordolian. “Just came by to report an odd… incident, Sir. I don’t know what to make of it.”

Iskar tensed. “Report, soldier.”

“I was standing watch in the reception gallery. Some dirty looking kid ran into the place. Ignored all the humans and headed straight for me. He asked for you by name, Sir. Said he’d recognized you on some public live-streaming holo-feed. I thought he was just a troublemaker, one of those Kordolian-haters. The human guards were about to kick him out, but he showed me this.” Shaking his head, Tyrak produced a familiar looking red coin. “A fucking krath. Can you believe it? Now where in Kaiin’s hells would a human brat get a thing like this? Then he pleaded with me to go and find you of all people. Wants us to go rescue his sister, apparently. Said you would know her. Does blue hair ring any bells?”

“What?” Heads turned as Iskar’s sharp voice cut through the buzz of the crowd. The tension in his body surged, sharpening into anger.

Anger burned away everything, including his excruciating migraine. His heart pounded like a war-drum, but everything else about him became deceptively quiet and still.

She is mine.

Confusion fled. Indecision scattered. There was only single-minded focus. Obsession. Right now, he was useless as a guard. He could not rest, could not concentrate, could not breathe until he knew she was safe.

If they have harmed a single hair on her head…

“Take me to the boy,” he ordered. Tyrak didn’t argue, didn’t question, didn’t even dare look surprised. He simply gave a respectful nod, turned, and led Iskar out of the gallery.

Iskar opened his comm. “Torin, I have unexpected business to attend to.”

“You want me to hold down the fort here, Commander?”

“I would… appreciate that, Torin.”

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