Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
One human, too many aliens
Garrison
THERE WAS a giant, magic demon woman on the ship, and I had no idea how I felt about it.
A magic demon woman who wore next to nothing and surveyed me with a hungry gaze from the other side of the galley. Shohari bristled next to me, though I didn’t know whether it was because my attention was on Coerril, or simply a reaction to her presence.
She should have known I wasn’t looking at the ydouir in that way. I watched Coerril like I’d watch a dangerous predator.
The demon woman arched her back and leaned towards me. “Have you never seen an ydouir before, small one? Do you wish to look at me? Touch me?”
Even though the ydouir’s generous curves were very much on display under her black harness—all she wore—I was more concerned with her claws and tail. Next to me, Shohari growled, and my dick twitched.
“I want to know why you’re here and whether it’s safe,” I said.
Laughter like delicate metallic raindrops filled the mess hall. “Nothing is safe, small one.”
I scowled. “Don’t call me that.”
“My apologies, security guard. Tell me, how would you keep your captain and crew safe from an ydouir?”
“Stop playing with him.” Shohari’s voice was a deep rumble. “That’s my job.”
Her words sent tight heat to my belly. She did care, even if she was trying her damnedest not to.
“Very well,” Coerril said. “I suppose I am a guest on your ship, after all. Where are my quarters?”
Shohari’s laugh bore a fraught edge. “There aren’t any.”
Coerril baulked at that. She cocked her head, eyeing Shohari like the predator she was. “There are no spare beds?”
“No.”
“This is most unacceptable.”
“I am so sorry I don’t have a spare berth on a cargo vessel for a traveller I didn’t plan on having,” Shohari said. “You’re here as a shipment, so you can sleep in the cargo bay.”
“I shall sleep on that sofa.”
“The hell you will.”
“I shall sleep in your security guard’s bed, then.” The ydouir’s wolfish grin held pure delight, and her bright eyes flashed with menace.
Shohari stretched her arms above her head and brought one down over my shoulders, hooking her forearm round my throat. “He doesn’t have one either. He’s with me.”
Coerril wings flexed with imperious disregard. “Regardless. When do we meet Anandri?”
The problem came to Shohari the same time I realised it, and we shared a wince.
“In about eight days, all going well,” she said.
Coerril went very still. “The meeting point is five days from Hydouis, Captain. What trickery is this?”
“No trickery. But I have urgent business elsewhere first.”
She hissed, and the lights in the galley flickered. “You are not going directly to Anandri?”
“I was not told to go direct, nor was I told to pick up a passenger.” Shohari tugged on her headspines.
“I have business to deal with that has already been delayed by visiting Hydouis. If you have a problem with it, you and Tokoran can moan about it together because he didn’t want to waste time coming here, but he had to suck it up, same as you will. ”
The ydouir flexed her wings again, arching them out behind her, calm and casual, but the swish of her tail betrayed her frustration. “And where will we be going next, Captain?”
“Orith.”
She arched a silver brow. “And you would take me to Orith? And him?” Her head jerked towards me.
“You’ll stay on the ship,” Shohari rumbled.
“And who are you fighting?”
Shohari stilled. “What do you mean?”
“Did you think I would not notice the shooting range sharing the cargo bay? And you willingly go to a planet notorious for its animosity to other species with four different such people on board?”
Shohari didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
Coerril uncrossed her long legs, stretching them out in front of her. “What happens if you are unsuccessful?”
The room fell silent apart from the hum of the engines and the shifting of particles in the vents.
“What do you mean?” Shohari’s voice was tight.
“I know little of your people, but I know enough to recognise whatever you plan is risky, no? And now you risk the shipment. You risk me. So I ask again, Captain, what happens if your mission fails?” She leaned back, a careless smile lighting her face, nothing but the twitching tip of her tail to show she was anything but calm.
I gave up fighting my instincts and squeezed Shohari’s hand. Her headspines jerked upwards then fell flat, and her ridgetips flicked and pulsed erratically.
There was another pause, and it was as if the words were dragged from Shohari’s tight, dry throat. “If we fail, we are dead. Or as good as.” Her fingers gripped mine so hard I had to grit my teeth.
“Then it is as well I can fly a ship.” Coerril’s face was taut, and I worried what control she had on her barely restrained fury.
“If we fail, the ship is grounded. The docking clamps won’t be released.”
The ydouir didn’t ask for extra detail, just fixed us with a long stare before responding. “Let me be entirely sure I understand. If your business is unsuccessful, I might be stranded on a hostile planet with no clear means to escape?”
Shohari growled. “That is what I said. May I remind you, I didn’t ask you to be here. This is a trading vessel with its own itinerary.”
“And I expect a trading vessel’s itinerary to involve trading, not warfare. Or is that an unreasonable assumption?”
“Does it matter if you’ve vowed a lifedebt?”
“Enough.” Tokki rose to stand. “This is a rescue mission, and unless you want to put down on the nearest station and find your own way to your contact, you can shut up, or you can help us.”
Coerril looked down her nose, her tail flicking towards him. “I will not interfere in the business of a proscribed planet. Not even for a lifedebt.”
“Do I look like I’m from a proscribed planet?” Tokki said. “This is not an internal matter. We are rescuing one of our people, and we are doing it as soon as possible. And we are not going to fail.”
The hope on Shohari’s face was fleeting, but it was there, and I squeezed her hand again.
“I need to send a comm.” Coerril’s voice was cold. “May I connect to your ship’s system?”
Shohari stiffened. “Absolutely not.”
“You have mission-critical information,” Tokki said. “We can’t afford for you to leak anything.”
“You should have thought of that before telling me.”
“You didn’t give us much choice.”
“Out!” Shohari’s shout left my ears ringing. “Everybody get out.”
Beyond the anger and the power in her voice, I was sure no-one else would detect her vulnerability, but it was all I could hear. I yearned to hold her, to support her, to reassure her.
She dropped my hand and stared at a spot on the wall. “Everybody. Please.”
My gut twisted. Along with the others, I headed to the door, but before I went through it, I stopped.
I backtracked to the drinks machine. She didn’t say anything, and neither did I while it whistled and rumbled, but I left the mug of chrya in her hands, brushing a kiss on the top of her head, in that dip before the ridges grew into headspines, the one that made her shiver.
Damn keeping my distance, at least for this moment. “I’ll be in bed. Don’t sit here stewing too long, sweetheart.”