Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The trip to Monsa passed in a tense silence, at least from my perspective. Hell, maybe he didn’t care one way or the other about my smell. He just didn’t want to draw attention to us once we arrived in the port city.

Monsa. The fabled port city. Okay, that was melodramatic. I’d simply never been there before. It was even more of a dichotomy than Idhova was, that odd combination of single-story, medieval-appearing stone buildings, intermixed with advanced technology, like our autocon. There were significantly more buildings than in Idhova. I’d heard that the population was somewhere around half a million, but the port city itself covered a lot of square footage.

I stared out the translucent side of the autocon as we traveled along the cobblestone roads of Monsa. Interspersed with the single-story stone buildings were a handful of two- and even three-story buildings that had gleaming metal mixed with them. I wondered idly if that was a similar material to whatever the Foulans built the conveyance from.

After an indeterminate amount of time, though long enough for me to run every worst case scenario through my mind, we reached our destination. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to find my way out on my own. I’d never do it. There had been too many twists and turns on roads that didn’t seem to have visible signs of identification. Perhaps that was part of the tech? Bowyer had said something once about the autocon knowing where to go because the system could read the buildings.

My wandering thoughts stopped when the gullwing door swung open and up. Dane and I exited the autocon. We stood side-by-side facing the building’s nondescript black door. It didn’t appear to be made of stone, which was the typical building material. Nor did it seem to be metal. It could have been a stained wood. Not quite like Earth wood, it was a similar natural material. Very expensive on Foula. And part of how Bowyer’s house burned down that fast. The arsonists had used an accelerant known to burn stone, which must have been the material they expected the house to be made of. Since Foulan wood burned much like Earth wood… Bowyer’s house had been a tinderbox.

The door before us opened. A large, imposing Foulan with dark eyes, full furry beard, and long, black hair pulled back in a ponytail motioned us forward. Must be the bodyguard.

“Alberus Kurn is expecting you,” the Foulan said by way of introduction. “Just you.” He spread his legs wider and let his arms dangle at his sides. Even I knew this was a pretense of calm. In reality, he was preparing for there to be physical trouble.

“This is my technical advisor,” Dane said smoothly, his face angled up to the security camera positioned above the door. “Where I go, she goes. She can answer deeper-level questions.”

I tried to stand in a way to convey, I’m a technical genius , but no doubt failed. After I’d insisted on accompanying Dane, there was no way he would leave me out here. I’m not sure why he wasn’t more trusting. Why would I flee from him now? He was the only one helping me.

Dane and the Foulan bodyguard stared at each other for a moment. The bodyguard lifted a communication device to his lips. He mumbled something in Foulan that I couldn’t decipher, and then an almost imperceptible shift in his stance told me we were okay. The Foulan barked a sentence, translating approximately to, “You may both enter.”

Dane nodded and, with a hand on the small of my back, moved us to follow the bodyguard, who had already turned and entered the building. The tingle where his hand touched me, even covered in clothing, perplexed me, and I almost tripped.

The bodyguard stopped inside the door, waited for us to pass, glanced back outside, and closed the door behind us.

It was atmospheric, to say the least. If there was overhead lighting, it was off. Electronic candles floated throughout the small room. There was no furniture that I could see in the gloom. The bodyguard crossed the hard floor, quiet for such a big male. Dane and I followed behind.

I didn’t know what Dane was thinking, but my terror level inched upward. This was going to be a trap. I just knew it. Tendrils of fear snaked up my spine with every step. I held my breath to calm my racing heart. Although, if I wasn’t careful, I’d have an anxiety attack and pass the fuck out.

The bodyguard opened a nondescript door on the far side of the room with a slight push; there was no handle that I could see, nor did he wave a keycard in front of it. Low-tech. That was unexpected.

The small, square room we entered was the opposite of low-tech, and better lit. To our immediate right was a low row of silver boxes stacked against the wall, contents unknown. A bank of holographic screens lined the far wall, with three Foulans sitting in form-melding chairs before them. If I was guessing, the screens showed all entry points to the building. They also appeared to watch several specific rooms filled with boxes of varying sizes. Illicit goods? Exotic food? My stomach lurched at the thought and I swallowed against a rise of bile.

“Welcome, Dane Ragis,” came a low, rolling voice from our left.

Dane and I turned as the bodyguard stepped back to remain standing at the ready against the door we’d come through.

A tall, dark Foulan with silver-streaked facial and head hair stood from behind another desk laden with a bevy of electrical devices. The sharp angles of his face appeared much more wolflike than Dane’s, even separate from the furry differences. His black eyes snapped to take my measure before dismissing me to focus on Dane.

“Thank you, Alberus Kurn, for seeing me and my associate on such short notice.” Dane inclined his head in respect.

Alberus came around the side of the desk and walked the short distance to where we stood in the middle of the cramped room. The males bumped fists in the Foulan way, and then Alberus spoke. “What can I do for you? I understand from our mutual acquaintance that you are interested in exotic procurement.”

While I half-listened to their conversation, I watched Alberus from under deferentially lowered eyes. Did I know him? He seemed familiar. It was hard to say for sure, given that he was more classically Foulan, and many males had that overall wolflike appearance.

The silver streak in his hair was more unique, though, so that was what I searched my memory for. If I’d met him, it would not have been in an intimate setting, given that I did not have a strong memory of him. Alberus must have come to one of the larger parties Bowyer held. My purchaser’s parties were legendary, and he hosted one per lunar cycle.

A high-pitched braying laugh, incongruous with the hulking Foulan, surprised me into lifting my chin. When my gaze met Alberus Kurn’s, I knew I’d fucked up. The laugh. I recognized the laugh. And with rising horror, I remembered from when. There was zero chance Alberus wouldn’t remember me, now that he’d seen my bright blue eyes.

Alberus narrowed his eyes as his lips curled into a sneer.

Dane caught this and stepped closer to me. Before he could speak, Alberus did.

“Don’t I know you?” he demanded.

“I, um, well,” I stuttered and Dane tossed his head as if in response to a buzzing insect. I didn’t understand the movement. Kurn sure did.

“Ah, I see,” Alberus said to Dane.

I didn’t but, for once in my big-mouthed life, stayed silent. This could still go very fucking bad if Alberus remembered where he knew me from. Especially after what happened last time. Instead of speaking, I dropped my head deferentially again, staring straight down at the dark tile. At least, it appeared to be tile.

“Yes, she is mine,” Dane said next to me.

“That is what you say,” Alberus agreed, his voice closer and somehow challenging. Shit, he was approaching me. His boots appeared in my field of vision. A hand reached out and gripped my chin. Not painfully, but not gently.

Alberus lifted my head to meet his gaze again. He smiled wolfishly, and that was my confirmation that he remembered me. “Bowyer Haled’s Obedient.”

“You have her confused with another,” Dane insisted.

“What was your name?” Alberus asked me.

At the sound of scuffling, I cut my eyes in Dane’s direction. The original bodyguard now possessed Dane’s satchel and held Dane’s left arm while another Foulan, materialized out of the wall, stood to Dane’s right, holding a pair of restraints. And a weapon. Similar to an Earth stun gun, the disruptor would be much more lethal, though I’d never seen it in action. I had no desire to see it in action. Dane stood stock still, his impassive face taking in the scene as the bodyguard to his right clamped the set of cuffs around his wrists.

Alberus released my chin and yanked my wig off. He tossed it to the side.

“Hey, that was expensive,” I objected, then clamped my mouth shut. Shit.

“What was your name, Obedient?” he demanded.

I thought about refusing, but to what end? “Parker Robinson,” I bit out.

Alberus ran his hand through my long, blonde hair, then yanked me closer to whisper in my ear. “I always wanted to taste a human.”