2. Davon

Chapter 2

Davon

T he moment I stepped into the club, gritty sand crunched under my heavy boots, the sound out of place in the middle of the Veerenad city made up of stone, mortar, and more stone. I frowned down at the pile drifting over my boots, wondering where it had come from and why I hadn’t seen it when I paused, my gaze captured by the female dancing on the stage.

There was no other sand on the floor around me . . .

I towered over the lizard patrons, though I wasn't stupid enough to think my Zuldruxian strength would provide much challenge if more than one attacked. I'd only battled a few while living in the desert, and I was lucky I'd made it out of those fights alive.

The cramped atmosphere pressed in on me, and it was all I could do not to turn around and flee. I belonged to the wide-open spaces, not tight, sweltering bars like this one.

Two days ago, a silver vessel traveled across the sky, landing hard in the desert some distance away. I knew what it could mean. The gods were delivering a human female to a Zuldruxian who would adore her for the rest of her days. Could this be the person I was seeking? I ran across the desert to the place where the craft went down, but I arrived too late, finding the vessel empty.

I would not give up. On a mission with only one goal in mind, I would find the woman who'd laid in this craft. Stooping down, I studied the tracks of Veerenads. She’d been captured then, not claimed.

Rising, I followed the tracks, and I nearly lost them before their city loomed ahead. They'd taken her there, and I would find her.

Again, I was too late, arriving at the auction after she'd been sold.

I would not give up; I followed the male who bought her to this bar and the next day, I applied for work, accepting his offer of managing unruly and misbehaving patrons before they destroyed it.

Now, on my first day of work, I stood in the entrance, studying the customers but barely able to keep my gaze off the woman dancing around a pole on the stage.

Seeing the sand deepening until it covered the tops of my boots made me think.

The gods many clans worshipped had made us a promise, saying that when they sent their fated mate to a Zuldruxian, they'd give that person a sign. I'd scoffed at such a thing until I met a human woman bound by love and a fated mate bond to a fellow traedor. The leader of this other clan insisted his water god sent him a sign moments before he met her. A rogue wave crashed over him, saturating his body, and then he saw her .

I was traedor of the Browze Clan, cared for by gods who lived among the sand of the vast desert I called home.

Sand below my feet could not be a sign from my clan god.

Could it?

As I stepped farther inside, leaving the sand behind. Sensations pulsed against me: the thumping music grating across my bones, the air thick with sweat, and the smell of cheap alcohol. Lizard males sat at tables or leaned against the bar, while others shivered and swayed on the open dance floor, lost in the sounds and lights, their eyes glazed with tetradon fever. They sold the drug cheap here, and once tasted, the Veerenads couldn't stay away.

My gaze remained on the stage, where the person I’d bet anything was the woman I sought, Maggie, moved with a grace almost too painful to watch. She looked like her sister, yet not, and I couldn’t drag my eyes off her lithe form.

Her smile thinned her lips but didn't touch her eyes, and the struggle I sensed behind her movements made my heart wrench sideways. I could not deny the warmth I felt already for this female.

Was she my fated mate?

The music pulsed, making my head ache. Movement to my right caught my eye. Two lizard males stood near the bar, shoving each other, their tails whipping out to smack. Anger twisted their long snouts, and the air around them crackled with tension.

“Hey,” I growled. “None of that.” My voice cut through the music. Lost in their scuffle, they either didn't hear me, or they didn't care. They threw wild insults at each other and slashed out with their claws. Other patrons scooted back from them, though a few lingered to watch the fight, one calling out bets as to who might win the match.

I stomped over to them, my boots dull thuds on the sandless, metal floor. “Enough,” I barked, grabbing one of them by the arm. The other snarled and lashed out at me, dragging his claws across my jaw. Pain burst across my skin and the warm trickle down my neck told me he'd cut me.

Tightening my grip on the first, I slammed him into the second, knocking the slasher backward. He hit the side of the bar and ricocheted off, tumbling to the floor on his belly. He rolled and came up in a crouch, snarling. With his gaze locked on me, he charged.

Stools and tables scraped as some Veerenads fled the bar, all while the clink of bottles filled the air, the bartender continuing to serve those ignoring the fight.

Anticipation shone in the eyes of those watching.

The woman kept dancing, though her movements had slowed. Her gaze remained on me. Did I see a touch of concern in her eyes?

There was no time to study her long enough to find out.

While the one I'd knocked into the bar lashed out at me with his claws and his tail, the first circled behind me. They'd gone from battling each other to challenging me, and just the thought made rage coil like a viper deep inside me.

I ducked a blow and gouged out with my fist, hitting one of them hard in the belly. He recoiled backward, his air whooshing out when he made impact with the wall.

I pushed forward, following up with more jabs that knocked the wind out of him with each blow. He paled, if a Veerenad could do such a thing, and when I kicked high, hitting the bottom of his snout with my boot, he toppled sideways and landed hard on the floor, staying there.

Whirling, I kicked again, expecting to find the other still coming. He lunged, but I sidestepped, letting him rush past me. I snapped my fist out, catching him in the back of the neck. I latched onto him, coiling my fingers around his throat and yanking him toward me, moving to the side to let the momentum carry him onto a table. It collapsed beneath him, taking both him and the busted furniture to the floor with a crash.

I hefted him and after grabbing the other by the tail, I dragged them to the door and tossed them out onto the cobblestone road. A chall playing with a piece of trash nearby hissed and fled down the alley, tossing a glare at me with its glowing golden eyes.

The two males growled and sent me looks full of hatred. I'd have to take care when I made my way home after my shift. If nothing else, Veerenads were persistent.

Stepping back into the bar, I looked around for any more challengers, but few of the patrons met my eyes. The ones who did only nodded before returning to their drinks and conversations.

My gaze returned to the woman who still danced on the stage. I made my way toward her. I couldn’t hold myself back.

“You owe me for the table,” Wortek growled from where he remained in the shadows near the platform. “I'll take it from your first payment.”

He could do whatever he wanted. I wasn't here for the money. A Zuldruxian sought what he needed from the natural world around him. With the help of our clan gods, I needed nothing from someone like Wortek.

Except for one precious person who belonged to him. The feeling had sunk below my skin already.

How was I going to get her out of here without Wortek trying to kill me?

I turned toward my lizard boss, who leaned his back against the wall, his eyes glittering with malice.

“What’s her name?” I kept my voice steady and indifferent, though heat simmered beneath my skin. My brain spun with possible plans, but I hadn't yet settled on any of them yet. It was my first night working here. I didn't know the schedule, where he kept her when she wasn't bound to a metal pole to perform, or if he kept guards near her at all times. He'd be foolish not to. My eyes weren't the only ones locked on her form.

He grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the low light. “Maggie. Not that the name matters. Female works just as well.” His gaze met mine. “Everyone in the city has been talking about her.” His long snout swiveled, his eyes narrowing as he followed her movements. “Unique, isn't she? I've never seen anything like her before. She’s worth every credit I paid at that auction.”

“She's human,” I said. “Aren’t you worried about what that means?”

“She belongs to me. Bought and paid for.” He chuckled, the sound harsh and grating. “I’ve heard of humans, but this is the first one I’ve seen. You'd think two breasts would turn Veerenads away.” His fingers skimmed across the row of nipples on his chest exposed by the open front of his leather vest. Some Veerenads wore nothing, though many had taken to wearing pants and shirts like Zuldruxians, or loin cloths if they cared to cover their cocks. “Everyone craves her, despite only two engorged breasts on her chest and too thin legs. She has no tail and where in all the fates is her snout? She's nothing like us, which only makes her more appealing. She's bringing people in from all over the city and she's only performed a few nights. Why should I be worried that she’s of a different species? No one’s storming the place, determined to rescue her. She's mine, and I dare anyone to try to take her from me.”

I would, but how?

“I’ll get my money back from her in any way I see fit, and fast.” The greedy glint in his eyes made a growl rumble in my chest. It was all I could do to suppress it. I didn't sense he was interested in her sexually; that would be unusual for a Veerenad, but like with Zuldruxians, males far outweighed the number of females. The disease that swept across our world ages ago had taken its toll on the lizard people as well. Like us, their population was diminishing, partly due to less younglings being born but also due to the lack of females to bear young. This was why my fellow traedors traveled to the god island and begged them for help.

The gods said they'd send mates, and they had.

Maggie was mine. The sand gods had spoken, but more than that, I knew this in my heart. I would not allow anyone to hurt her.

“You need to get back to work, not stand around talking with me.” Wortek nudged his head to where three Veerenads sat at a table playing a game with stones and colorful number blocks. A fourth stood, looming over the others, his glare and clenched fists signaling he was angry and about to take that fury out on the other players.

I sent one last look at Maggie. She spun and twisted, giving everything she had to the crowd, while Wortek watched her as if she was property. It made my blood boil. But as long as he watched her and didn't touch her, she was relatively safe.

My job was to make myself indispensable and gain Wortek's trust.

Only then would he stop watching Maggie long enough for me to steal her away.