Chapter 6
Zaraq
After Sofia showered and changed, she suggested a walk through the gardens. “If we’re going to talk about dark things, we should probably do it in a beautiful area,” she reasoned.
Zaraq considered replying with something like, “Anywhere you go will be beautiful to me,” but figured that would be too corny for her. Besides, just because she was willing to talk things out with him did not necessarily mean she was ready for flirtatious jokes. At the risk of not appearing to take the situation seriously, he agreed to let her take the lead.
The gardens at the annex were gorgeous. During his travels, he was forced to stick to the seedier areas of the galaxy. He was used to busy places where the world looked like slate and the most water you saw was dripping from busted pipes. Thryal was the first planet he’d been able to visit that didn’t have busted architecture jutting into the sky like broken bones.
Everything was tranquil here. At first, such surroundings made him nervous. It was too quiet.
It took some time to let the jitters pass through him and accept that solitude was better than being surrounded by people because it was easier to tell who you could trust if no one was around. Still, having somewhat adjusted to the serenity of Thryal, he soaked it in with a twinge of regret, knowing he would one day have to leave it all behind.
Sofia brought him to a parterre where lemon flowers towered over them, tall enough to offer shade from the climbing afternoon sun.
“I love this spot,” she said, closing her eyes and pulling in a deep breath. “Smells like I’m living inside a box of Lemonheads.”
“Lemonheads?” Zaraq asked. Sofia was capable of saying the strangest things.
“It’s an Earth thing,” she said.
“Lemons have heads on your world?”
She laughed with a huff, as if the question knocked the wind out of her. “No. It’s the name of a candy. A sour treat. You’re familiar with candy, right?”
“Ah,” Zaraq said, nodding. “These flowers remind you of candy. I just smell sanitation liquid.” It was true. The scent of citrus recalled in his mind the oily substance used to clean spills in the casino. Especially blood. He was glad her memories seemed to be pleasant ones, even if his were not.
“You aliens have such colorful names for things,” Sofia said. “And don’t remind me that I am the alien in this situation. I’ve been through enough of that to last a dozen lifetimes.”
“Were the citizens here reluctant to accept you?” asked Zaraq.
Sofia waved a finger at him. “We’re not here to ask about my past. Let’s cut through the fat and go straight for the bone. Okay?”
He wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but he was learning quickly that the best way to find out where Sofia was headed was to remain patient and follow.
“You said someone killed a business partner?”
Zaraq nodded. “Ryka. He was the more business-minded of the two of us. I think that’s why he was killed and I was spared. Without him, I wouldn’t know the first thing about getting clients or negotiating payment.”
“Your boss killed him?” Sofia asked.
“I doubt it. Slikrim never got his hands dirty.” An image flashed in his mind of his former employer watching silent and dead-eyed as two hulking goons stomped a debtor to death in an alley behind the casino. It wasn’t the first time Zaraq had seen someone killed. It wouldn’t be the last, though.
However, it was the first time he’d seen a man watch someone put to death with no reaction whatsoever.
Despite the warm temperatures, a chill gave Zaraq’s shimmering skin terrible goosebumps.
“Slikrim?” Sofia sounded as though the taste of the name offended her. “Is he the big bad?”
Pushing past his desire to ask what a “big bad” was, Zaraq answered what he assumed she was asking. “Slik is a self-made entrepreneur who prides himself on presenting a clean business. Only, you do not build that much wealth and success without amassing a mountain of corpses. Rikuus is rife with crime lords and all kinds of vile people. But he is the worst of them all.”
Anticipating her next question, Zaraq swiftly continued. “Rikuus is the name of the planet where his casino is located. The Constellation Casino and Luxury Hotel.”
“You think one of his guys whacked Ryka?”
“Unquestionably,” Zaraq said.
“Who?”
A few names sprang to the front of his mind, but he didn’t voice any of them. The fact of the matter was, it could have been anyone. “Taking out a member of Slik’s security promises a great deal of benefits. The opportunity to get in his favor to that degree would be difficult to pass up.”
There was a time when Zaraq could envision himself as being willing to take out one of his own just to advance. It took considerable effort to lock that notion away for the time being.
“You must have theories,” Sofia said. “How else are we going to prove your innocence?”
The question hit Zaraq like a typhoon of ice water. Knowing perfectly well what she just said, he asked her to repeat herself just to have something to say.
“You don’t think I’m going to let you live a life of fear. Do you?” Sofia’s eyes narrowed, appearing to read Zaraq’s face for the most minuscule twitch or quiver. “We can’t enjoy our time together if you’re constantly looking over your shoulder.”
Zaraq had to step away. He walked through an alley separating a grouping of willow bushes and lavender tails just to catch his breath. Standing next to Sofia and having this conversation was suffocating. His greatest fear, other than being caught, was having someone else ensnared in his mess.
Part of the reason he avoided attachments was this very scenario. Only, in his worst imaginings, he never expected someone would willingly jump into the mire of crime, corruption, and death. He’d always assumed all of that would simply find him one day and anyone in his vicinity would be collateral damage. He needed to think of a way to dissuade Sofia from involving herself.
“You’d better not be thinking of telling me not to involve myself,” Sofia said, coming around the corner.
Are humans capable of reading minds ? Zaraq wondered in his exasperated head. Sofia’s method of charging through the bush instead of beating around it was proving difficult for him to operate in the ways he was used to.
Maybe that’s a good thing , a rational part of his brain countered.
“You’re right,” he told Sofia. Watching her blink in surprise was gratifying.
Didn’t see that coming. Did you?
“Right about what?” she asked.
“I can’t keep running. Not if you and I are going to try and have a life together.”
The veneer of Sofia’s toughness was starting to fade and soften. She offered him the smallest hint of a smile.
“But you can’t get involved.”
That toughness wall went right back up as she threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. “Are you serious? I know we haven’t known each other very long, but you must have figured out by now that I don’t do anything halfway. When I commit to something, that is it.”
“I understand,” Zaraq said, keeping his voice level. “But you don’t know what kind of people you’re dealing with. These people don’t play fair. If they so much as sniff you poking around their business, they will delete you from the universe. Understand?”
“Were you not listening when I told you Carmen and Arccoo’s secret origin story? I literally left my planet just to help her be with someone she loves. Do you think I knew what I was getting myself into then? Fuck, no! I had no idea, but I did it anyway.”
Keeping his composure was becoming increasingly difficult. “This isn’t like traveling through space, Sofia. This is dealing with people who make a living thinking up ways to murder people without getting caught.”
“So?” She seemed genuinely unfazed. “My brother-in-law is a legit prince. He can command an actual army. If this Slik motherfucker tries to pull something, Arccoo can snap his fingers and have that dude’s whole criminal empire torn down.”
“Well, that isn’t exactly true,” Arccoo said.
Instead of standing in the garden arguing, Sofia and Zaraq decided to put a pin in the conversation so they could grab some lunch. While he had been hoping for a private affair so they could discuss this business alone, they were joined in the dining hall by Carmen, the prince, and Elena.
When the others arrived, Zaraq whispered to Sofia. “You said we would be alone.”
She leaned to whisper back in his ear. “I lied. We’re even.”
Arccoo used a silk napkin to dab at nothing at the corner of his mouth. “Rikuus is in open territory. If I were to take military action there, we could be inadvertently starting a war with more than a dozen worlds.”
“So, when you said it isn’t exactly true,” Sofia responded. “What you meant was, it can’t be done at all?”
“I understand, Your Highness,” Zaraq said, relieved. “Please don’t worry yourself with my troubles.”
“I may not be able to send in the cavalry, but I do have contacts on Rikuus. I could reach out to them. I’m sure they can get sufficient intel on your former employer.”
Carmen turned to her husband. “Have you heard of this guy before?”
“Only in passing,” Arccoo answered. He looked at Zaraq. “In my experience, individuals like Slikrim tend to hide behind their wealth, obscuring them from sight. If anything, the fact that I’ve barely heard of him suggests how truly dangerous he is.”
Zaraq agreed. “The casino is the main attraction. Slik almost never presents himself to the public. People are so enamored with the grandiosity of his business that they never give a thought to the man running it.”
“He must get away with a lot,” Elena suggested.
“Like framing Zaraq,” Sofia added. “Which is why we can’t let him get away with this.”
“My curse is not your burden,” Zaraq said.
“I’m sorry, Zaraq,” Carmen said. “I’m afraid you are mistaken.” She set down her drink and pushed her plate away from her. “We’re from Earth. On our planet, you don’t let someone you care about suffer alone. My sisters reminded me of that when Arccoo was forced to leave.”
She leaned forward over the table. “If we care about someone, we fight for them. I care about my sister. She cares about you. This means that I also care about you. We have to help you carry this burden. Sorry. Them’s the rules.”
“Your heart is wounded,” Arccoo said. “I knew a good man who refused the help of others in order to achieve a goal that he believed was righteous. His heart was similarly sick with fear and regret. I wish I had done more to help him earlier. This is why I, personally, must offer my assistance in proving your innocence.”
“You’ve been outvoted,” Elena said. “Four to one.” As if what she said wasn’t clear, she clarified. “I’m saying I want to help you as well. That’s why I said four instead of three.”
The emotions swelling up in Zaraq’s chest were difficult to identify. The closest he’d come to feeling them before was when he and Ryka agreed to go into business for themselves. Never truly having a family, he did not know what it felt like to have someone willing to treat him as an equal. When compared to what Sofia and her family were proposing, that was nothing.
When their meal was finished, Zaraq asked Sofia if he could have some time to think.
“You’re not going to run off. Right?” she asked.
“No,” he answered honestly. “I need to collect my thoughts.”
With a hint of reluctance painting the shadows of her face, Sofia nodded. “There’s an opera thing going on tonight,” she said. “I’m going to try and look crazy hot for it. Will you be my date?”
“I’ve never been to the opera,” Zaraq said. “Is dressing warmly required?”
Sofia laughed and gave him a polite shove. “Do you have a suit?”
He nodded.
“Wear that,” she told him. “Come by my quarters at seven. You’ll see what I mean then.”
Zaraq walked slowly back to his room, considering everything he had learned that day. How could these people he barely knew be willing to risk their lives for him? Were they playing him in some way? Was this all a ploy to turn him in to the authorities?
After years of having to second-guess what everyone around him was thinking, attempting to diagnose their ulterior motives, his ability to sense deception had been refined to a sharp point. This also meant that he could recognize when a person was being earnest.
Every inch of his nerves warned him against trusting these people, but his heart told him otherwise. Its slow, steady beat advised him to remain cautious and protect them, not distrust them. As he put on his suit, he promised himself he would let them in. It felt right. However, at the first sign of real danger, he would have to find a way to leave them behind and settle the score on his own.
He arrived at Sofia’s quarters as she was opening the door.
Her dress was stunning. Caressing every slope, it highlighted her figure in ways he had yet to notice before. It sparkled in the lights like silver stars falling through the sky on a crystal-clear night. He tripped at the sight of it.
“Does hot mean very attractive?” he asked her as she beamed at his clumsiness.
“Oh, yeah, it does,” she said.
“Then you have succeeded,” he told her. At that moment, he had no desire to sit and watch singing. He wanted nothing more than to stay here with her.
Once again, as if reading his mind, Sofia made a suggestion he didn’t know he was hoping she’d make. “We have some time before the show starts,” she said. “Want to come in for a drink?”
“Yes,” Zaraq blurted out. “I am very thirsty.”
Sofia let out a single laugh. “I bet you are.”
“Your living space is very nice,” he said, really taking it in for the first time. He didn’t get much of a look at it the last time he was there. The arched ceilings were especially impressive. He found them soothing in a way.
“It’s the most incredible apartment I’ve ever had,” she said, walking over to a small bar near the balcony. She filled two short glasses with golden liquid and brought them over.
The first sip helped to calm his nerves.
“I don’t really like the opera,” Sofia said. “What if we stay here instead?”
Zaraq finished his drink. He placed the empty glass on the bar and walked slowly over to her. He could see her chest rising and falling with anticipation as he loosened his bowtie. As he came to a stop in front of her, he cupped her face, getting lost in her emerald eyes. This woman could be the end of him, and he would go with a smile.