Chapter 8
YIRI
“Do we have anyone who could do a job on Earth?” I asked Nerus.
My second squinted at me through the pulsing lights of the club. “What the fuck do you want from that backwater planet?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Do we have a guy in the area?”
“No. Do we need one?”
I sighed. “Not yet.”
Sellah smoke and sweat wafted through the air as Evik returned from the dance floor with a Tueri female on each arm.
“You should be getting your kicks while you can,” he said, sitting on the couch across from me and shoving my knee with his foot. “You’ll be a mated male soon.”
Nerus looked anywhere but at me. He knew how I felt about D'vinda. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have hunted her down and started a war with the Cendaquans.
“And you’ll be mated soon after,” I said. “I don’t blame you for wanting to enjoy life while you can, but I’m going to enjoy my mate.”
“Oh, yeah?” Evik goaded me. “Has he even spoken to a female, Nerus?”
Nerus reached for my sellah cartridge and took a hit from it, quiet as always.
Evik laughed. “Too bad Nerus can’t give you heirs. He keeps your secrets so well.”
Nerus fixed him with a deadpan look. “If I didn’t keep his secrets, he would dump me off his cruiser for his cekets. They’re well fed enough.”
“Not out of loyalty or love?” Evik asked, enjoying himself. “And here I thought you two were going to grow old together.” He looked me up and down with a sly smile. “Well, older. Are you sure a female will even have an old thug like you?”
“This kid,” Nerus chuckled, passing the cartridge back. “He’s lucky he has good sellah.”
“Everything in order for tomorrow?” I asked Evik.
“All set. Te’ve knows what he’s doing,” he said.
I nodded. “Keep your growers happy. We don’t need any more upsets in the supply chain.”
“A little upset is good for business now and then,” Evik said. “I’m not going to baby them. They work for Ahlon, not the other way around.”
“I said keep them happy, not give them everything they want. Find the balance.”
“Sure, sure,” Evik said. “By the way, I think you’re going to have to find the balance with Dad. He sent me down here to get you.”
“You’re telling me this now?” I rose to my feet with a sigh, thankful for the loud music covering the sound of my creaky joints.
If the kid heard that shit, I’d never live it down.
Nerus stood as well and followed me upstairs to see the boss.
I gestured for him to wait at the door, and he took up a watchful post beside Zacal’s guards.
“Uncle,” I said, stepping into his office and closing the door.
“Sit,” he said, pouring a drink for us both. “I want an update.”
“Te’ve is doing well,” I said. “His team is efficient, and he keeps me informed if there are setbacks. I’m much happier with him than I was with Masoh.”
“Good,” Zacal nodded as he passed me a glass. “That’s not the update I need, though.”
“I still have time,” I said.
“So there’s nothing to report.” Zacal was disappointed. “I don’t care if D'vinda becomes my daughter-in-law or my niece, but it worries me that you have no prospects.”
“Give me a break,” I rolled my eyes, feeling as petulant as his son. “I didn’t say I have no prospects.”
“Then give me a fucking report,” Zacal said.
Sighing, I waved a hand. “There’s a female,” I said, “but she’s off-world.”
“For how long?” Zacal asked, brow lowering.
“She’ll be here in time,” I said.
“She’s in transit?”Zacal assumed.
“Not yet.”
“What’s her arrival date?” he pushed.
I grimaced. “I don’t know yet.”
Zacal’s eye twitched. “Tell me, Yiri. Would you tolerate work ethic this pathetic from our soldiers?”
“Respectfully, Zacal,” I said, teeth grating. “She’s not work. She will be my mate. Things are going well, but she needs time to prepare. Everything will be settled before you have to give Shek a name.”
“He’s already pressuring me for an answer,” Zacal said. “If I continue to put him off, he’ll be insulted. If I give him Evik’s name and you have no intended mate to show him, he will be insulted.”
“If you force me to marry his ga’ad of a daughter, I’ll kill her, and he’ll be insulted,” I snarled. “Stall for time. I’ll let you know as soon as I have news.”
“Two days.”
“Zacal.”
“Two. Days. And only because you’re like a son to me, Yiri.
You’ve had years to find a mate. Any number of alliances could have required this of you, and yet you did not prepare.
” His features twisted with frustration.
“I’m being lenient. One day, you will be in my place, making decisions like this for your men.
You’ll see how impossible it can be.” He sipped from his glass and then scoffed.
“But you’ll have Evik for an heir. He isn’t half as headstrong as you. Everything is easier for you.”
I made a disgruntled sound. “So easy to have my life tied to a female I hate,” I said. “She’ll be here even as Evik’s mate. I’ll have to look at her lying face. She killed Rava.”
“You don’t know that,” Zacal sighed, his shoulders slumping at the start of an old argument. “We agreed to put the past to rest, Yiri. This is what that looks like. You will do your duty to this family, or face the consequences.”
His expression was cold and hard as stone.
It had been years since I’d pushed him to this particular mood.
He had a hard enough time with me when I was a young male that he had to dole out some tough love.
It was never pretty, but I was never in any doubt that he was in the right.
Even with this, I understood why it had to be this way.
If things fell apart with Cendaqua, it would put our family in danger.
His mate and son, all our soldiers and their families, and all our loyal allies.
He may have raised me, but he wouldn’t put me and my grudge before everyone else.
“Two days,” I said. “I’ll give you my answer then.”