Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
To call the rooms Lunastra used for private entertaining opulent would have been an insult to the lush fabrics and swaths of metals and gemstones that glittered in the halo orbs.
This room was all a gauzy white and made Lunastra, of course, appear as though she too was a gemstone nestled within clouds, with her deep purple skin and crystal gown.
The Quinzyr male she entertained, however, looked like a smudge of ink within an otherwise pristine world.
He had not even removed his hood and stood in the center of the room, hand resting on the hilt of the dagger strapped to his side, while Lunastra draped herself across a frothy couch.
She grinned at him in a way that made it clear whatever she was hoping to gain, she would win by the end of the night.
At the sound of the door opening, she rose sinuously, circled the couch and extended a glittering hand. “Dearest, you look lovely.”
The gown Lyrace had dressed me in was as black as the clothes the Quinzyr male wore.
I’d kept my hair loose, and Lyrace had fluffed it until it was wild and waved down past my shoulders, the red sheen of it catching in the light.
The male did not so much as move as I approached, but I felt his gaze track from the draped fabric across my breasts down to the swell of my hips and up again.
“I would like to introduce you to an old friend of mine. This is Captain Asher Ruciyah and he is here to meet you.”
He huffed a laugh, and I wondered if the helmet pitched his voice lower. Captain Ruciyah shook his head, the hand hanging at his side flexing.
“I am not interested in paying for the secrets of the flesh,” he rumbled, and I was positive then the mask altered his voice. There was no way it could be real, as dark and resonant as it was.
I lifted my chin, ice cracking through my gaze as I assessed the male.
Lunastra, for all her talk of my bookings, had never once sold my body for credits.
It was something she could have done at a snap of her fingers for clients who would have had no qualms taking what they wanted despite my fighting.
Based on the guards on Ebyd III, I was sure the elite of our galaxy enjoyed when their prey put up a fight.
I had not been as confident tonight when Lyrace had dressed me in a gown that somehow left me more exposed than the suits I danced in.
A small knot in my chest loosened at the captain’s words even as my almost non-existent pride reared its head.
But Lunastra only chuckled, running a long-fingered hand over my bare shoulder, and guided me closer.
“Well, then it’s good that our Juniper does not peddle such things,” she crooned, gesturing toward the seating area she’d been lounging across. “Sit, Captain, before you break something.”
Reluctantly the male followed, sitting on the edge of one gilded chair as if it might shatter beneath his weight, hand continuing to rest on his dagger.
But my mistress was all smiles and relaxation as she drew me onto the couch beside her, a hand possessively wound around my waist. I had come to accept these touches as part of her role as the mistress of the house and had learned from her that a touch could send a message.
“How old are you?” he rumbled.
“She is twenty-seven cycles.” Lunastra’s hand slid up to my hair, slipping it off one shoulder to expose my collarbone.
Captain Ruciyah stilled, only the slightest twitch of his head indicating his attention had slipped to my mistress before moving back to me. “Do you have much experience traveling through the quadrants?”
“She has not—”
“Let her speak,” he snapped.
Silence crept heavily in the room and I took a deep breath, forcing my hands to stay still on my lap even as indignation at his tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Lunastra, however, appeared pleased by his outburst for some reason.
“I have not traveled at all through the quadrants, save for my time with my mistress,” I rasped before clearing my throat. I would have to do my best impression of the speech patterns those from the high-class planets preferred.
The Quinzyr male rested his elbows on his thighs, the movement highlighting the breadth of his shoulders. His dark cloak slithered around him and I wondered why he kept it and the helmet on. Perhaps it felt safer for no one to see your face and read your expression.
I didn’t have the luxury of Uhkazant metal to cover mine.
“Where were you before this?”
It was my turn to assess him and I tilted my head in imitation. “What is it you want from me?”
Lunastra shifted, her lips parting, but he held a large hand up to silence her.
Heat prickled on the back of my neck and discomfort crawled up my spine.
It was something about the timbre of his voice, the quickness of his movements—as if he could have just as easily snapped her neck as silenced her with a gesture.
“Where were you before this?”
I didn’t answer. We stared at each other for a long time as the question hung between us. Lunastra smiled a secret smile, her eyes flicking between the two of us. But I wouldn’t answer any of his questions, not when each one felt as if he was flaying me open with the dagger on his hip.
Finally, he sighed, the sound distorted by the mask.
“I’m looking for a final member for my crew to assist in finding something very valuable.
Something the entire universe is looking for—but I have to get to it first. Luna told me she had someone who was one of the best climbers she’d ever seen, adaptable and tough. ”
You, he didn’t say, but the uncertainty was still there. As if seeing me in this gown made him second-guess everything she had said.
“I have no use for pampered yeskas.”
When I didn’t respond, his hands clenched into fists before releasing. From the corner of my eye, Lunastra grinned slyly and tapped a claw-like nail across the back of my neck.
“I’m out of options.” He said it like a weakness, staring down at his gloved hands as if he might find a better one between them.
I wondered what he was searching for that he needed someone who could climb and adapt.
“I am happy to loan Juniper to you, Asher, you know that,” Lunastra purred.
My stomach twisted and acid crept up my throat. Loan.
A snort slipped through the mask. “In exchange for a senator’s ransom.”
She shrugged. “My gem makes the house plenty of credits. I won’t take a loss for your benefit, not where my belongings are concerned.”
I had spent most of my life as an object and I could not say if I preferred to be treated like a pet here on Daskquah versus expendable work stock on Ebyd III.
Then again, I liked being fed, liked a soft bed and privacy, and I liked the thought that one day Lunastra might grant me what I wished for.
Though I wasn’t na?ve enough to actually think it would happen.
Lunastra was as much beholden to the whims of powerful rulers as I was to hers.
When Captain Ruciyah didn’t respond, she clicked her tongue and rose to her feet, tugging me along with her. “Take her or don’t, Asher, it doesn’t much matter to me. Dearest, run along and get ready for your next performance.”
I nodded and turned to go, but his voice rang through the room. “Wait.”
Lunastra’s hand curled around my shoulder, turning me to face them again, her lips curved in a satisfied grin. The captain rose to his feet. “Have her ready tomorrow morning for departure. Pack light. The credits will be deposited into your account the moment she steps onto the Kuxatana.”
Without another word he strode from the room with heavy footfalls, his cloak slipping across my ankles as he swept by me. When the door shut with a hiss, Lunastra rubbed the space between my shoulders and ushered me toward the door.
“What is it he’s looking for?” I whispered.
My mistress pursed her lips, her silvery brand catching my eye as she raised her hand to smooth her hair as if she was afraid it was out of place.
But she said nothing as she guided me down the hall, her palm on my shoulder dipping to the curve of my hip as we passed various patrons and other yeskas.
Though she nodded at each client, her smile seductive, there was a tightness around her eyes I did not usually see.
She didn’t speak until we entered my chambers and flipped a small switch on the control panel. The hum of the cooling system filled the room. “Do you know anything about the planet Akahzyr?”
Frowning, I shook my head. She circled at my back to release the clasps on the gown so it fell in a pool of soft fabric onto the floor. In another moment, my dressing gown slipped over my shoulders.
“It’s a Class Two planet near the Outer Rim of its quadrant, mainly known for its deep mines and fuel-rich sands.
But it is its people who are the most valuable part of the planet.
They have the unique”—her voice trailed off for a moment in thought while she drifted to my dressing table—“ability to control the world around them. It’s a power they develop starting at birth due to the high level of electromagnetic radiation from their atmosphere.
They harness those powers to move objects, or increase their strength.
It’s said they can even summon electricity or energy to defend or attack. ”
My mouth twisted into a grimace but I knew better than to interrupt her.
“I heard once from a client they have mates they believe are fated by their goddess to be theirs for their entire lives. All it takes is to catch their scent or even merely see them and they become…obsessed. Irrevocably changed by that person, in tune with their desires, their emotions, even their thoughts.”
A scoff of disbelief slipped through my defenses before I could stop it. Lunastra pursed her lips, watching with her silver eyes as I made my way to the vanity and sat down, clasping my hands between my knees.
“I thought Captain Ruciyah was Quinzyr.” I swallowed, my throat aching, and sipped from one of the small flasks of fresh water the staff left.
“He is, but what he is looking for is from Akahzyr.”
Something the entire universe was looking for, he’d said. Something important enough he was willing to hire one of Lunastra’s yeskas to get it—and pay a fortune in credits.
“There was a sacred stone within their planet, one the Akahzyrians worship. It’s said to hold the secret of their power, or maybe it was an extension of their power, I’m not sure.
I’ve heard different accounts. But about twenty or so cycles ago the stone was stolen and since then every mercenary, smuggler, and senator has been trying to get their hands on it. ”
My eyebrows flicked up. She relaxed her arms, hands spread wide in front of her as if to receive an offering.
“If someone possessed that stone, they would possess the power of the Akahzyrian people. It is a weapon that could wipe out entire species and render planets into dust and that annoyingly handsome captain is going to sell it to the highest bidder.”
I blinked. Flames danced in the forefront of my mind, the screams of my people loud in my ears. When I closed my eyes against the image, I saw that male standing in the center of the flurry, his arm swiping toward the home tree.
Burn it to the ground.
My people had been destroyed in an hour at the hands of mercenaries searching for something, though I’d never discovered what. To think that a weapon could be created that could render planets into dust? It was horrifying.
Lunastra closed the distance between us, cupped my face in her hands and tilted it up to hers.
She stroked my cheeks tenderly but there was a fierceness in her eyes tinged with fear.
“I want you to join Asher’s crew, dearest. I want you to help him find the Akahzyr stone, and then I want you to bring it back to me so it can be destroyed.
Do that for me and I will provide you the means for the revenge you seek. ”