Chapter 16 #2
“Blazing stars, where did you get that thing, Dimon?” I asked as he began undoing the shackles around my wrists.
He didn’t answer at first, but held the control unit to the collar firmly in his hand where I could see it.
We were out of the brig, my boots silent behind his plodding steps, and almost at the hangar bay when he finally glanced over his shoulder.
My skin prickled at the sight of the very sharp, predatory look in his black eyes.
That was the Dimon I’d known five years ago, before he’d indulged in too much Peckana and Roka.
“It was at the bottom of a chest of trophies, can you believe it? I think it came with the raid we did on that Star Class Cruiser seven years ago. Remember her? The rich Asrai nobles with their pets and their fancy robes? We netted a fine haul that day.” I did remember that ship, now that he mentioned it.
It stood out because it was one of the first times I’d run into our moral differences.
That ship had carried Asrai nobles, some of whom had their own household slaves.
I’d managed to secrete them onto a shuttle and send them to the nearest safe planet, and Dimon had been pretty annoyed about that.
One Ulinial female hadn’t survived the raid; used as a shield by her Asrai owner, and it had to be her collar I was now forced to wear.
My stomach roiled with nausea at the thought, but I managed to hold onto my breakfast.
It was a good thing the hangar bay proved the distraction I needed.
I suspected that much of what remained of the Vidu’s crew had gathered inside it.
Guns bristling, and not all of them loaded with tranquilizer darts.
Either a choice by Dimon, or he was beginning to lose control of the males.
Those that still stood were definitely the tougher ones, the survivors.
The ones fast enough to get out of my path when I’d started fighting yesterday.
The rest of my plan didn’t hinge on killing them, though; that would just be a nice bonus.
Xathena wasn’t present, and I could not see Irena anywhere either, though I caught a faint whiff of her scent.
When I scanned the crew present, I smirked with satisfaction.
There were no other Ovters present, and definitely nobody small enough to fit the task of helping me steal the diamond.
“Hey, Dimon,” I drawled. “Where’s that small second you promised me to help steal this diamond?
I warned you it’s a two-male job.” Very purposely, I said male; I needed him to come up with using Irena himself.
He gave me a glare he wouldn’t have attempted before he’d snapped that collar around my neck.
Then he waved the remote in my face and ordered me to kneel, an attempt to reestablish his position of power in this situation.
I made a show of baring my sharp teeth, growling, and glaring, but when he shifted his thumb on the remote, I dropped dutifully to my knees.
I’d push this, but not so far as to receive another jolt.
“You killed the male suited for the job,” he snarled in my face, his jagged, sharp teeth only inches from my nose.
“But I’ve given that some thought, and why put one of my males in harm’s way when I have a perfectly suited slave around to do the job?
Right?” He directed that at the crowd, who then began eagerly agreeing.
I saw the gears slowly spin inside the eyes of one of the more experienced males present, though.
I was pretty sure it was a new face, a Kertinal with several notches in his horns to indicate the people he’d murdered.
His amethyst eyes glowed as he boldly questioned Dimon’s plan.
“One problem, boss,” he said in that typical Kertinal sub-harmonic voice.
Boss was spat out with disdain rather than respect, which made this male a follower of Xathena’s upcoming bid to grab power.
“That slave has been impossible to catch the past couple of days. Xathena…”
“Xathena is an idiot who failed her task!” Dimon snarled in fury, cutting across the male with a slash of his hand.
I chuckled and basked in the chaos of the conversation, and in the way several of the males nearest my kneeling form shuffled a little farther away from me.
So, so scared of me. I snapped my fangs, just to scare them a little more.
I hoped Irena was listening, and that she’d take this opportunity to let herself get caught.
That hadn’t been part of my instructions, but she was clever.
If she was listening, would she see, as I did, that it was the best course of action?
It would take a lot of bravery to make a noise, to step out of hiding, and I could not guarantee that they’d refrain from hurting her.
All pleasure at the currently unfolding situation vanished as I realized that.
I could not protect her; I had to play my role with the slave collar.
If it did get out of hand, instincts would take over, and I’d start killing until they dropped me.
My brave mate proved just how bold she was, and how much of her timidity and fear from before had morphed into a desire to control her own fate.
She did exactly as I’d hoped, making a shuffling noise when using her had been mentioned.
While most of the aliens here had nowhere near as developed a sense of smell as I did, many did have very good ears.
They caught that sound and turned to look.
It wasn’t very long before two jogged off and returned with Irena clutched between them.
They gripped her upper arms a little too tightly for my taste, so I memorized their scents and faces.
If I had the chance, I’d make sure to remind them that hurting a female—especially my female—was unacceptable.
They’d lose their fingers for this. Irena made it easier on herself by meekly letting them drag her along, her head lowered and her eyes wide with fear that definitely wasn’t fake.
“What was that?” Dimon said smugly in the face of the brazen Kertinal, and this time, the male backed down.
Dimon was winning back the loyalty of his men, and I decided it would help our case if I helped that along.
A clash between him and Xathena was much better than a solid victory for the Xurtal second.
When they dragged Irena, without explanation, onto the shuttle, I followed obediently when Dimon ordered me to.
That definitely made Dimon look good in the eyes of his men.