I looked up then, the deadly blue Cerberus female watching me over the top of her drink. I knew I should keep my farking mouth shut, but I wasn’t an outcast because I always did the smart thing. The right thing? Usually. But the smartest? No. Seems I hadn’t learned a damn thing.
“Exactly what kind of business?”
She tapped her armband. I was shocked to receive an answer. “I am to deliver the human to Cerberus myself.”
Her cackle made me sick. For the past five years, ever since I’d begun trading in stolen Hive tech, Ulza and I stayed out of each other’s way… outside of our tech dealings. I had no desire for that situation to change. She was a cousin to Cerberus himself, was a member of Cerberus legion and a known associate of the Silver Scions, a tightly knit syndicate of doctors, engineers, scientists and killers from every sector of the galaxy. They bought Hive integration technology and sold what they could on the black market as surgical enhancements to anyone with the credits to pay for it.
Ulza bought every piece of Hive tech I brought to her without complaint. I didn’t like her, but I liked her business model. She always paid, up front and on time, and never asked where I procured my goods.
“And Jirghogis procured her from…?” I asked although I knew she wouldn’t answer this one. I pushed my beverage container across the scarred tabletop. The thought of any human—fark that, anyone at all—dealing with Jirghogis, the creature whose shipment warehouse was used for illegal trade and auctions, made me choke down bile. He was far from humanoid, a hideous creature with huge eyes and a tail thicker than my torso. His exoskeleton was covered in scales, and those scales? Coated in poisonous slime that emitted an odor designed to sear the lungs of anyone who got too close.
“So you are interested in the female.” She tipped her head to the others at tables nearby. “Like everyone else under this dome.”
“Simply curious. We don’t get many humans out here,” I replied, glancing toward the nearest exit. It was time to leave. I had no desire to investigate the appearance of an unknown human nor in why Cerberus wanted her. The last time I’d tried to save someone, my brother, Malik, had paid the ultimate price for my failure. The accident was five years past. The memory of him dying in my arms so vivid, it could have been five hours ago.
The wrong Councilor’s son had died that day. Malik had bled out in my arms in the middle of the desert, and there hadn’t been one farking thing I could do to save him. My father lost his heir, the responsible son, the one groomed from birth to take his place, and had been left with me.
Rebellious. Impulsive. Bored with politics. Lacking in both patience and diplomacy. My brother had been mere minutes older than me, but his spirit had been wise. Measured. Compassionate.
Everything I was not.
Memories of my brother’s face pushed into my mind, and I forced them away. No. I wasn’t interested in saving anyone. Not anymore.
I had finally completed my goal and gathered enough credit for the one thing I did want to buy, a weapons upgrade for my ship. Fuck yes. The Scion Spectra IV ion cannon. For several years now, I’d hunted down every Hive Soldier, Scout and Integration Unit I could find. I killed them all, without mercy, and stripped them for parts to sell to the Silver Scions. Where those Hive parts ended up or inside whom, I couldn’t care less. That was not my concern. If some asshole from Rogue 5 wanted a cyborg arm or enhanced vision, good on him—as long as he paid.
“No, we do not. Stay out of my way, Isaak.”
“Of course.” I wasn’t going to argue with her. That would be bad for business.
“Good. That’s settled.” Ulza stood. The elder blue female was nearly six feet tall and lined with muscle. I didn’t dare take my eyes off her. The Xeriman race was known for both their bad temper and lack of control. Add the deadly fangs, and she could be truly terrifying. She was not full-blooded Xeriman. No one on Rogue 5 had pure blood left, their hybrid nature making them unpredictable.
I didn’t know of her other business dealings, but I’d never once heard of her purchasing more than Hive Tech. A female? There were plenty within Cerberus legion. A human female would be… diverting, but why now? Why this one?
I was curious, but I did not have time for a female. A mate needed shelter. Protection. Cautious handling. I couldn’t offer any of that. Not after what happened. It would be cruel and unfair to any Trion female to ask her to be mine. Cruel for me as well. It was the female who wore the chains on Trion. Marks of adornment, protection and mastery.
While it was in a Trion male’s nature to control, I was worse than most of my kind. I needed a female to give herself to me without inhibition. Something inside me demanded submission. Complete. Total. I would not mate unless the female gave me total trust. Consent. A mate who would allow me to care for her completely, in every way. I needed a mate who needed more from me than sex. Sex was easy. I wanted a mate who would surrender her very soul into my keeping.
The thought of taking a female against her will? Claiming her without her pleasure-filled cries? Repugnant. The idea of one being taken to Rogue 5, let alone Cerberus… she would not live long.
She must have heard me grunt in disgust. “Do you have something else to say to me?” she asked.
I shook my head, took a big swallow of my drink, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Good luck.”
She turned and left. No goodbyes, but we weren’t friends. Our business was complete, and I had an ion cannon to pay for and finally possessed the credits to do it.
I left soon after and walked the nearly deserted corridors of Omega Dome. The scents of sweat, piss and smugglers were something I’d long ago learned to ignore. The echoing emptiness, however, was disconcerting. No one was around. There was a reason for the eerie quiet. They must be gathering inside where Jirghogis kept his mercha
ndise to see the human.
The female Ulza intended to take to Cerberus.
I thought of my friends, Ivy and Zenos. Ivy was human, and she behaved nothing like any other female I’d ever met. She was anything but docile. In fact, I’d first assumed she was a rebel from Viken or Everis. An outcast like me. Someone who wanted to leave their past as far behind as possible. Especially once she bought the Hive tech from me and insisted I tell her how to contact the Silver Scions to have it implanted. Those implants had made Ivy stronger than most males. Her mate didn’t seem to mind. Zenos of Astra legion was even bigger than an Atlan.
Thinking of Ivy and Zenos made me grin. They would be waiting for me to return to the Lelantos with my new and improved ship. They’d promised to get me drunk on the very best Atlan wine to celebrate my success before their next dangerous foray into Hive controlled space. The pair were hard core rebels who did what I did. We invaded Hive controlled space. We killed the Hive, and we sold the parts in Sector Zero.
Ivy and Zenos belonged to Astra, their leader giving them an incredible ship—the Lelantos—and free rein to fight and scavenge Hive parts. Me? I didn’t belong anywhere. Trion was where I’d been raised, but I wouldn’t go back there. It was my home world, but not my home. Not anymore.
I killed Hive. Lots and lots of them. I wasn’t a Coalition fighter, but I hated the Hive and what they did to my people. To all people. Killing them was no crime, and if I managed to make a profit while I was at it? Who would judge?