A riotous shout drove up all around them, males raising their weapons in the air in a frenzied jubilation. Numerous swords and axes clanged together, and blasters fired into the air. With a shove, Egbor drove him forward, but Veral stalled, his attention always on his mate behind him. Her body jerked in alarm as the Igwins sniffed, licking their jowls as they raised their short muzzles to scent the air, and Turogos uncoiled long tongues from their mouths which they flicked at her without any discretion, stealing small tastes of her skin.
Her captors allowed Terri to bat away the tongues with angry squeaks of disgust because they found it amusing, but did nothing to protect her. Crude, hard, scraping laughter surrounded them, their shouts of delight rising among the cacophony of banging weapons at every flinch from Terri. She was brave in face of the slavering interest of the males pressing in around them, but she did not have complete control over her natural reactions. Nor did he.
As an Argurma male, he was accustomed to possessing exact control over so many of his reactions, but he had no control when it came to his mate’s distress. Every dismayed sound she made enraged Veral, his fury mounting with every step deeper into the belly of the pirate ship.
Eventually, they arrived at the brig. It reeked of old blood, urine, and rotten food. An aged door swung open to reveal a cramped cell with nothing inside except a thin, dirty mat thrown on the floor against the wall and a rusted container to expel wastes in tucked into the corner. The cell was so small that there was barely enough room for him to stand in front of the bed as he allowed himself to be herded into the cell. Just as he turned around, the cell door snapped shut, securing him within.
Vibrissae whipping, Veral charged forward, his body slamming into the bars of the door, shaking the entire construct. Unfortunately, everything was well secured, and it didn’t give when his body collided with it. That didn’t stop him from wrapping his fingers around the bars and attempting to rip it free from where it was bolted. His mandibles clacked as he hissed at Egbor, who regarded him smugly from the other side. Terri remained wedged between the males just behind him.
They were going to keep her separated from him!
Egbor’s smile widened. “Do not worry. Your mate will be well taken care of. You understand, of course, that I cannot allow you to keep her in here with you. Not when she is the key to maintaining your cooperation.”
Eyes narrowing on the male, Veral’s lip curled back from his teeth as he lowered his head and brought his face closer to the bars to meet the Blaithari’s gaze. “If any harm comes to her, you will beg me to end your life. Know this: I will show no mercy and every plea will fall on deaf ears. Control me if you must while you can, but be certain that no harm befalls my female.”
The male stared back at him thoughtfully, his head tilted in consideration. Egbor’s nostrils flared, and his shrewd gaze took in every lethal inch of Veral’s killing expression directed at the Blaithari.
A low chuckle rolled from Egbor but he inclined his head in agreement. “I like you, Argurma. It is rare that I meet a male who is nearly as bloodthirsty as me. You would have made an outstanding pirate. Very well. I shall give you my personal guarantee that your female will not come to any harm. She will even have her own quarters, well-guarded from any unseemly conduct from my crude crew. You just keep doing what you are doing—you will lead me to the ship.”
Veral jerked his chin toward Terri. “If you intend to take her planetside, she will need the suit provided for her on my ship in cargo bay. She will require the extra protection, as small and delicate as she is.”
The Blaithari waved a claw absently. “Yes, yes. I would have figured as much. I will send one of my trusted males to fetch them for her before we make planetside.”
“I want her untouched,” Veral hissed. “If you guarantee that no one will lay a hand or civix on her, then I shall not feel inclined to remove them. There will be no other male’s scent upon my mate.”
The captain frowned. “You drive a hard bargain.”
Veral snarled at him. He did not care. He would do nothing unless his mate’s protection was guaranteed in all ways.
Egbor narrowed his eyes. “If I make this concession—and it is a significant one for a female so rare and exotic—then you will lead us faithfully to the resting place of theEvandra?” He crossed two pairs of his six arms, his right hand of the upper set drawing up to tap his bottom lip thoughtfully, weighing his options.
Veral did not like giving the male what he wanted, nor losing the credits and cycles spent on the salvage already—but he would do anything for his anastha. He jerked his head in a stubborn nod, and the male clapped his hands, crowing with delight.
“Excellent!” Egbor trilled. “Very well. You have my word.” The male paused and narrowed his eyes in a cold assessment. “But just so we are clear, since you were so honest and in a sharing sort of mood when it came to what you would like to do to me… betray me and I will skin your female and feed every bloody chunk of her flesh to the Igwins after I have let them take turns in fucking her into a useless pile of flesh. Do we have an understanding?”
Sickness pooled in Veral’s belly as he glared at the captain, his mate’s gasp loud in the silence of the brig. Slowly, he inclined his head, and the captain’s pleased laughter floated around him.
He opened his eyes and watched as Terri was pulled away. She kept turning in their grasp, attempting to keep him within the field of her vision, struggling against their hold to join him. He met her eyes and shook his head. She stilled, her face stricken. For the first time, he wished that she had the implants that his people possessed. He would have already had a private channel established to communicate with her.
Instead, he was forced to plead with his eyes.
Do nothing. Just wait and watch. Wait for the opportune moment.
She studied his expression as she was pulled toward the exit. Just before she was pulled through the doorway, she gave one short dip of her head. She had caught something, some small part of his intention. He hoped it was enough.
Her absence from the room drained his energy and spirit. With a roar he fell to his knees, shuddering with despair from the forced separation. A piercing pain filled him as if something vital was torn out from within him. His mandibles spread as he let loose another roar and another, his voice echoing through the brig as he vented his fury and pain.
6
Terri struggled between the Blaithari as they carried her caged between them, jerking her with each of their uneven steps as they entered the lift. At one point, she wondered if they were intentionally trying to pull her arms out of their sockets, as hard as they seemed to tug her between them. Despite the discomfort, she infinitely preferred their company to the other pirates who watched her every step through the pirate ship.
To her surprise, she saw few other Blaithari once they left the brig. For some reason, she had figured that that the captain would have arranged a crew primarily of his own species, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Aside from her escorts, Terri only saw three or four other Blaithari during her trip to the upper decks where she was presumably going to be kept. For the number of males she had seen in the docking bay, it didn’t make sense that there weren’t more traveling to the upper level quarters. Not only was the short corridor empty, but of all the doors that lined the hall, all but two appeared to be sealed.
“I will be putting you in the room typically reserved for my second-in-command—if I had permitted him to enjoy it instead of housing him with the other upper crew members on the floor just below this one. I like my privacy… and I like silence,” he stated, eyeing her sternly. “You should be comfortable in here so long as I do not hear any noise and you don’t make any attempts to escape and make me regret providing it for you. It is the most convenient way to keep you away from my crew, but if you cannot behave, I will send you down to keep my upper crew company. I can trust them to follow my orders not to touch you, but the experience will be far less than pleasant.”
So that was the way of it. She saw no other Blaithari because the captain kept the entire upper deck for his own use. No doubt the other males were crowded into the levels that they passed on the lift. It was clear that Egbor saw everyone as his lesser. Terri, as a member of another species, wouldn’t have even the smallest amount of mercy from him.
All that kept him in check was Veral’s promise.