“Excuse me.”
To Bobbi’s relief, Rep. Wheezler came to stand between her and Zerlix.
“Excuse me,” he said again, frowning at the other Saurian. “But you said nothing about using your brother’s bride sexually. I don’t know Rep. Dragon personally, but I do know his reputation—he’s completely undefeated and never loses a fight. I have no wish to incur such a man’s wrath—he would be completely ruthless if he found out I was complicit in this act.”
“He’s not going to find out,” Zerlix snarled. “Think about it, man! All we have to do is throw her body in the street when we’re done. It’ll look like she wandered into the district on her own and somebody mistook her for a Pleasure Girl and spiked her to death. You and I never have to be implicated at all.” He leaned closer to the other Saurian, grinning evilly. “And I’ll let you keep all of her jewelry.”
Rep. Wheezler turned and gave Bobbi a considering look.
“Can I keep her Claiming Piece as well? I’d have to melt it down of course—it’s much too unusual to sell without calling attention. But it’s quite a lot of gold.”
“Fine,” Zerlix snapped. “Keep all of it—I don’t give a fuck. Only give me a private room to spike her in.” He turned his evil, leering grin on Bobbi. “I don’t want anyone walking in on us while I’m having fun.”
“It’s a deal,” Rep. Wheezler said coolly. “I’ll strip the body and take care of disposal when you’re finished with her in return for her jewelry.”
Finally, Bobbi found her voice.
“What? No!” she exclaimed. “You can’t do this to me! You can’t just give me to Zerlix! Look, I’ll give you all my jewelry myself just to help me get away from him!”
She began stripping the golden bangles off her arms but the Saurian pimp was already shaking his head.
“I wish you had spoken sooner, my dear,” he said. “But I’ve already made a deal and I must honor it. Besides, Rep. Zerlix is a loyal customer—it behooves me to keep him happy.”
“It behooves you?” Bobbi exclaimed. She couldn’t get over how calmly the two men had just bargained over her certain death. The Saurian pimp was as much a sociopath as Zerlix was! “It behooves you?”
“It means that it’s in my best interest to keep a loyal customer happy,” Rep. Wheezler said patiently, as though explaining to a child.
“I know what ‘behooves’ means, you asshole!” Bobbi exclaimed. “I just can’t believe the way you think you can let Zerlix kill me and get away with it! When Dragon finds out—”
“He’s not going to find out, you little bitch,” Zerlix snarled, his forked tongue lashing. “I’ve got plenty of people who will swear I was in the house all day today—he’ll never know Rep. Wheezler and I had anything to do with it. Now come on—it’s time for your spiking!”
Lunging forward, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up off the couch.
“No! No!” Bobbi shrieked, kicking out at him. This was her death he was trying to drag her to and she was not going quiet into that good night!
At that moment, footsteps could be heard echoing in the short front hallway. Then a deep, commanding voice shouted,
“Stop, Zerlix! Let her go!”
59
Bobbi looked up, hope suddenly filling her. There, standing behind Zerlix, was Komendant Vizlar and his Advisor, Rep. Yariz. The Komendant was frowning at his son, a look of severe disapproval on his flat features.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Bobbi gasped, looking at the older Saurian male. “Please help me, Komendant—he’s trying to kill me!”
Zerlix turned to look over his shoulder and his face sagged with disbelief, though he still didn’t let go of Bobbi’s arm.
“Sire?” he managed to get out. “What are you doing here?”
“Stopping this,” Komendant Vizlar said coldly. “Your mother told me that you had plans for Res. Bobbi here and I’ve come to keep you from committing a grave error.”
Bobbi nearly sagged with relief. This wasn’t the savior she had expected or hoped for—she’d been hoping that Dragon himself would come bursting through the door to stop his sadistic Saurian brother from raping and killing her. But beggars couldn’t be choosers and at this point she was just happy to be saved, never mind who was doing the saving.
“But she should have been mine,” Zerlix whined, like a little boy denied the toy he wants. “I Claimed her first, Sire!”
“Be that as it may, she was given to your brother,” Komendant Vizlar said severely.
“But I was only going to have some fun with her!” Zerlix exclaimed.
“Fun?” Bobbi demanded, her voice shaking. “You call raping me and murdering me fun, you sick asshole?”
“Excuse me, young lady, but there’s no call for that kind of foul language.” Komendant Vizlar gave her a disapproving stare.
“I’m sorry,” Bobbi said, trying to control herself. “But he was going to rape me and kill me! That’s kind of upsetting, you know?” She shook her arm loose from Zerlix’s clawed grasp, which had loosened when his father confronted him. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the Komendant. “Anyway, thank you for coming to save my life. I’m very grateful,” she said formally.