Chapter 35
We stepped out of the estate, looking a little awkward, having very clearly just robbed Perez's office, given we were carrying his bag with trophies sticking out from the overladen bag.
Add that to the fact that Lily had decided to stuff all of the remaining items from the safes into one of the safes and simply carry it around, and there really was no other conclusion to be had than that we had just robbed him.
The shuttle landed on a flower bed, not caring for the security that tried to flag it down. One of the security people rushed towards us.
"What are you doing?" he asked, confused.
I blinked, stared at him, stared at Lily's loot, and then back at him. "What does it look like?"
"Looks like you just looted the place, sir," he said.
"Yeah, well, you let us in," I answered, keeping my eyes on the shuttle that had landed not far away.
"The boss said that some of his guests were coming, and if we got in their way, they'd likely kill us," he told me.
I looked at Lily and Violet for a moment before returning to the guard. "The boss is both incredibly intelligent and woefully stupid. But if you pick a fight with these two, you’ll end up dead."
The man blinked several times as he tried to process those words.
I chuckled. Perez must have told them not to block the divines, which was probably a wise move if he didn't want a bunch of dead guards from upsetting a few prickly guests, but at the same time, they had rolled out the welcome mat for our looting spree. Honestly, I had to applaud the timing.
I patted the man's shoulder. "How about we deal with the other guests as a consolation? Whoever is in that shuttle is probably going to kill all of us."
That statement caused the guard's face to pale. "Really?"
"Yeah." I winced. "They're very secretive, and we've probably already seen too much." I chuckled internally at how little Perez had given his people, even if he was trying to save them.
But before we could continue the discussion, the ship settled down completely with a thunk, drawing our attention.
The shuttle's doors hissed open, and already waiting at the ramp were two kikai, one sporting two tails, the other three.
"Well, well, well," one of the two divines said, smiling, though it didn't quite reach their eyes.
"Look who we have," the other finished his sentence.
"It's an honor that the divine we've come to duel and slaughter has made herself so readily available." The three-tailed divine chuckled as their tails swished dangerously behind them.
"I'm surprised you're so confident," I said, my voice lifting across the space and seeming more confident than even I expected. Then again, I found myself quite upset to hear them talk to Violet like that.
"And what does a human have to do with our conversation?" the two-tailed snapped.
"Silence," Violet snapped back. "You will speak to him with respect, or you will not speak at all. If this is how the divines act lately, I'm not surprised that you have to force people to respect you.”
That insult must have hit a particularly soft spot in their ego. All five tails bristled, and they looked about ready to choke Violet out.
This was about the time that the guard who’d been talking to me began backing up slowly like he’d stumbled upon two tigers circling in the wild.
"You have no idea of what you speak," Two-tails hissed.
"No, I'm speaking to two divines who haven't even introduced themselves before launching petty insults," Violet answered.
"Ushael.”
“Ishael."
They both spoke practically on top of each other.
Such confusing names. But besides the difference in tails, they were identical, with fluffy blue tails with white tips. Both were classically handsome, if short enough that they almost came off as ‘cute’. Though that also could have been the ears that seemed a little oversized for their heads.
"I can't believe you, a proud divine, would be with"—Ushael paused before saying it with more venom than I thought possible—"such an inferior human."
"May I?" Lily asked, already beginning to prowl forward.
"No." I held her back. This was Violet's fight. There had been enough talk about the pride of the divine Kikai that I wasn't about to step in and do anything for her unless, of course, she asked for help.
Violet sniffed and stepped forward. "Ishael, Ushael. I assume you've come for me."
"Not for you." The two-tailed Ushael stood proud.
"For your tail. You are of little to no interest. Your master may have once been influential and powerful enough to discern The Unity's attention, but you"—the kikai laughed—"are nothing more than a resource to give me my next tail.
I assume you have enough honor that you won't run. "
Violet's chin jutted out at such a question. "I should be asking you that question. Will you run?"
"I have no reason to be afraid." His two tails swished behind him with emphasis. Violet had said that tails equaled power, so I assumed that was where his confidence came from, but I wasn't quite sure how that power scaled. Was it something that Violet could overcome?
"I have more honor than either of you." Violet's tail bristled.
"Fabulous." The two-tailed kikai seemed overjoyed at her response. "Prepare your final rites and come meet us here in two days. I could use a vacation before I get back to work."
The two-tailed kikai licked his lips like he was looking at a meal and not a person. Then again, I doubt he saw Violet as anything more than an opportunity to get another tail.
"Violet," I said cautiously, putting a hand on her back, "we should go."
My words caused her to give one last lingering glare to the kikai, who had dared to taunt her. "Do me a favor and brush your tails well. I'd hate to have to use something so mangy." She got the last word, turning on her heels at that.
We walked away as proudly as we could, while carrying all of our ill-gotten gains.
Lily paused, regarding both of the divine kikai for a moment.
"Got a problem?" the three-tailed kikai bristled, returning Lily's gaze.
"Yes, two of them," she said without missing a beat. "Here I thought Violet was the worst your kind could get. It seems I was gravely mistaken."
It was a subtle jab at Violet, but I'd give it to her.
"Do you even understand what we are?" one of them chuckled confidently at Lily, only for her to tilt her head ever so slightly.
"Divine kikai," Lily answered. "And yet, I don't find either of you remotely impressive. Faulty name, if you ask me." She said the statement in such a way that even I would believe that her opinion was tantamount to the truth. "How much stronger does an extra tail make you?"
"Each tail doubles our strength," the two divines said with a cocky grin plastered on both of their faces, not that it mattered much to Lily, who grinned back at both of them.
"Oh, so you might actually put up an interesting fight." She stared at the three-tailed kikai, completely ignoring Ushael.
For a moment, I thought Lily was going to start a fight right here and now, but she turned on her heel, and neither of the kikai seemed interested in picking a fight with her. I wondered if they too could sense the danger within Lily’s body.
A moment later, their attention shifted to me. It seemed after Lily's comment that I had at least become interesting enough for them to assess.
"You are human, yes?" one of them asked.
I crossed my arms. "I don't see why you deserve any answers from me.
It's not as if you're worth my time." I could tell just how proud these two were, and for Violet's sake, I would happily stir the pot a little more.
If anything, their getting upset could work in our favor and get them to make a mistake.
"You should know when you are speaking to your betters!" the two-tailed shouted, only for the three-tailed to hold him back.
"Quiet," he snapped.
"Yes, listen to your betters, if you must know who I am.
I am both of their captains, and to be honest, I'm not used to such poor manners on my ship.
" I turned to join Lily and Violet with as much swagger as I could put into my next few steps while we exited the gardens in front of the mansion.
Thankfully, Gallicard had provided an entire lesson on how to have pirate swagger.
Apparently, that lesson had been important because it dissuaded people from being a problem.
***
Tiri fidgeted nervously as she and Brick were led to penthouse seats. Perez was practically drooling over Brick, yet her man was putting up a good front when he crossed all four of his arms. There was enough bicep on display to make any girl drool.
"Come on now!” The big grogax frowned at Brick. "Not going to place a bet? I mean, who doesn't want to bet on the coin flip?"
"That's just random chance,” Brick answered.
“Which means you have even odds,” Perez prodded. The bigger grogax then dipped a hand into a bowl of nuts and tossed the whole handful into his mouth. He’d been eating this entire time.
“But I don't quite double my money now, do I?" Brick said.
Tiri was happy that, at least thus far, he had proven he could continue to use his logic and resist the apparently intoxicating allure of gambling for his people. She had done a bit of research while trying to help him through the current mess.
"Well, then if not that, what about who scores first? Carlick isn't a very offensive team. I practically handed that one to you on a silver platter.” Perez stared down at Brick as if he were an idiot. The man was really putting pressure on Brick to roll the dice.
“And I would have barely won anything," Brick continued.
"You refute every statement," the bookie said, "I gave you fifty thousand feds to play with, and you're not playing with a single drop of it. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd say you weren't here to gamble." The bookie scowled at Brick.
Brick turned, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Why would I be here to gamble? Didn’t you just invite me to see a game?"