Page 12 of Taming Chaos

The humans muttered amongst themselves. Torin ignored them, turning to the Ephrenians. Well, he didn’t entirely ignore the humans. He kept them in his side-view, ready to explode into motion if they tried anything stupid.

Whimpers of pain reached his ears as the two injured ones tried to limp away.

Several of the human soldiers moved forward to intercept him, but stopped when the lead Ephrenian held up his hand.

Stop.

“What do you want, shadowkin?” The trader called him by an ancient name, one that was reserved only for Kordolians. He loomed beside Winters, a faceless figure clad in shimmering grey. The way the Ephrenians moved was strange and boneless and graceful, as if their lean bodies were made of liquid.

“Berhak du amaakat,” Torin said, putting his rusty knowledge of Ephrenian to good use. I have come to trade. He suspected his pronunciation was fucking terrible, but he didn’t want the humans to understand a thing.

“What do you need?”

“Nothing. But you have something I want.”

“Oh?” Sniffing a potential deal, the Ephrenian’s entire demeanor changed. The alien’s tense limbs loosened a fraction, and his voice became soft and eager. “And what would that be?”

“I want her.” He nodded in the direction of Winters.

She stiffened, staring at him as if he were some sort of vicious predator.

Fear and mistrust. That’s what Torin read in her eyes. He wished he could convince her that he wasn’t what she thought he was, but now wasn’t the time.

“Our client has presented a very generous offer for this human,” the Ephrenian informed him. “Very generous indeed…”

Torin read between the lines. What the alien trader was really saying was that Torin would need to bid higher to secure his prize.

On Zarhab Groht, everything was negotiable.

“I can beat whatever he’s offering you.”

Winters’ sublime features twisted into an expression of confusion, punctuated with a little outrage. How dare you bargain over me? That’s probably what she was thinking. Torin didn’t blame her.

“Callidum. That what our client will give us in return for this human. You also seem to have plenty of it, shadowkin. That is our price, and it is non-negotiable. ”

Callidum? That meant the Ephrenians’ so-called client was Kordolian! According to Enki, Callidum weapons were already being traded on Zarhab Groht, and it seemed there were more where those came from. This Kordolian—whoever he was—was willing to give away some of his precious stash in exchange for a human.

It made sense. Who else would be so desperate to get their hands on an Earth-dweller? Ever since the good General had done the deed and defied the interspecies mating rule, rumors of human-Kordolian compatibility had spread far and wide throughout the Nine Galaxies.

Rumors had turned into legend, and now all Kordolian males were desperate to get their hands on a lush, soft-skinned human female, Torin included.

Of course there would be those who would try and obtain their mates by force.

It was Kordolian nature.

Torin shook his head. “My Callidum is most definitely not for barter. What I offer you is something far more valuable.”

“What could that possibly be?”

He laughed. “Your lives.”

The Ephrenian stiffened. “You can’t take us all, fiend. If you move, we shoot.” He spoke to his team in low, rapid-fire Ephrenian, the words coming out too quickly for Torin to understand clearly. Crazy Kordolian… diversion… we have her… leave now… somethingsomething…

“What the hell is going on?” Markov chose that very moment to insert his irrelevant self into the deal.

Winters tried to pull away, but the Ephrenian lunged, capturing both of her wrists.

“Get your hands off me!” She struggled, but the Ephrenian was stronger than her.

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