Tazhr

TAZHR

Emma.

An indentured human female.

And suddenly the most important being on the whole station.

The tension I experienced with her was enough to make my heart race faster than it ever did in a killing I had done before. I never felt anything like the strong, magnetic pull she had on me, although we were shrouded in darkness.

I had been called dramatic my whole life, along with other things. Extreme, psychotic, insane, and wild were all words that rolled off other beings' tongues when they spoke of me. It was something I almost took pride in. They all knew I would go the extra mile to ensure any job was done well. Maybe not well, but done in general.

If the being in question was dead, that was all that mattered, right? At least, that's how I thought of things. Nothing was gray; everything was black and white. Alive, dead, good, evil, happy, sad. Everything had an opposite, and anything that didn't was much too complicated to keep my attention.

If I told anyone about the severe tension I felt with her in the darkness, they would say those same words. They would say I was insane, I was being dramatic; I was on another wild binge, a victim of a sudden, temporary passion.

I even fantasized about it briefly before she left the alley. She might not have known that I noticed her beautiful blonde hair and wide blue eyes in the dim light we had, but I did. They were all I could think about before my natural and eminent mistrust kicked in again.

I left the alley after taking a deep breath and trying to focus.

I usually had a general disdain for everything and everyone that wasn't a Vinduthi and wasn't part of my chosen family. The rest of the galaxy could fuck off and get out of my way as far as I was concerned. And if they didn't… Well, there was an easy fix for that.

Would the knowledge of that part of me scare her?

I paused and shook my head. I didn't understand why I would have cared if a human woman was afraid of me or not. There was no reason for me to be thinking such things when I had clear-cut directions.

We don't have time for this, Tazhr. We have to follow her.

The logical side of me was correct, but I wanted to stay in fantasyland for a moment longer. Right as I thought that, voices from the promenade crowded into the darkness, shaking me from my reverie.

Time to get moving.

Once the voices disappeared, I left the small alley and walked around deeper into Conii's territory. My head turned back and forth while I kept an eye out for any guards who might have seen my little chat with Emma.

If any of them did, there were plenty of alleyways to dispose of their bodies. They would rot within twenty-four hours, and the smell would definitely be obvious after forty-eight hours, but that was plenty of time for us to escape.

Us? There is no us.

I shook my head and kept walking. While I tried to go into my usual clear-headed state of mind, Emma's face kept popping up. It was annoying more than anything.

The paranoia I knew all too well crept into my gut, and I thought of all the ways she could have betrayed me. She could have gone to Conii the second she left my side.

She could have told one of Conii's lieutenants the second she rounded the corner. She could have been even more manipulative with the information and waited to tell someone of my presence a few days later so I wouldn't have killed her that day.

For some reason, even just the thought of her hurting or betraying me made my gut hurt. I went through blood family members planning my murder, friends trying to turn me in to law enforcement, and even being framed for murder myself once or twice.

I guess I should just be grateful that I didn't wind up on Deathgate with Havek.

Betrayal, deception, lies. It was part of our life.

But that's not what I wanted from her. It was stupid, but I couldn't forget the feel of her lips under my finger, the movement of her mouth as she talked, her wide blue eyes.

I just watched her to make sure she wasn't going to betray me right away.

That was all.

Finally catching another glimpse of her long, blonde hair, my heart caught when I saw it bounce, her hips swaying from side to side. She had the bag swung over her right shoulder. It moved enough hair out of the way so I could see her ass perfectly while she walked down the dimly lit passageway.

Wasn't she going back to Conii's compound?

Following her, I felt a little like a stalker, but it still gave me a thrill. Sneaking around wasn't usually how I did things, but I wanted to be able to look at her for as long as I could. I needed her cemented into my mind before I left her alone.

I knew Conii's office would be guarded heavily. Obviously, I wouldn't have been able to follow her there, but I wanted to see what else she had on her to-do list for our terrible enemy.

What is her title for Conii exactly? Errand girl? Bus girl? Human slave?

She turned toward another marketplace, the noise of the crowd getting louder.

Grumbling, I looked around for cover. If I was going to follow Emma any further, I needed a disguise.

I got close to the marketplace and heard the bustling and roaring of salesmen and merchants.

"Prishem samples made straight from the pot! Beans are bagged and ready to go, harvested yesterday!"

"Latest percomms only 2,000 credits!"

"Try your luck at the credit lottery! Only happening this week until next year!"

I rolled my eyes. The lottery. What a joke. Luck wasn't a real thing; it's imagination for fools.

I peered around the corner and saw Emma getting lost in the crowd. I marked her direction, and slid back into my hiding place as I saw a large sentient walking toward me in a floor length, black cloak. Perfect.

As he came around the corner, I caught him in a chokehold and snapped his neck. I glanced down either side of the hallway and ensured no one was looking before I checked under his robes.

Thank the seven galaxies, he's wearing clothes under this.

I took off his cloak and pulled it over myself. Putting the hood up, I walked through the marketplace, only taking small glances when needed.

Despite heading in the direction I knew she went, I didn't see Emma. Uneasiness crept through me. I had to find her. I needed to know what else she was doing. I wanted to see what a normal day looked like working under Conii.

That was a lie.

I wanted to see what she looked like on a normal day working under Conii.

The amazement didn't leave me as I bumped into various beings shifting through the crowd. I tried my best to keep my head down, but it was difficult when trying to keep an eye on someone. Then again, she would have stood out in any crowd.

She was remarkable.

Most humans would have crumbled from the fear of being shoved up against a hallway by a Vinduthi. She maintained her calm in a crisis, something I barely saw from any being and never from a human.

There she was. But why was she going there?

Speeding up my pace, I walked into a dingy curiosity store, wrapping my hand around the bells on the door to keep them from jingling as it closed behind me.

In a moment, I found her entering a small section to the side of the shop. I snorted at the shelves. There were books in all alien languages but by far the greatest number of books were in human languages.

Even on their dying world, the humans still valued their paper books. They held them as sacred, even bringing one or two books in their cargo when they traveled as refugees.

Once on the station though, the sacredness wore off fast enough when faced with hunger. And so the books ended up here. Well, not here, exactly, but in any number of curiosity shops that catered to those with enough disposable income to enjoy fanciful things.

It always struck me as absurd, this human fascination with reading. I studied the books, pacing the aisles and tracing one of my fingers over the spines of the books. The last time I read something from cover to cover was probably when I was much younger, barely able to talk.

Curling up with a story never felt that important. It didn't win a battle, or outthink my enemies. I had no use for it.

Not so for humans. One or two of the refugees who earned out their contract had even gone on to establish small presses on the station. They put out pamphlets and translated books from various alien languages into human languages. Who bought them, I never cared to find out.

But apparently the answer was Emma.

"Do you have this in a human copy?"

My eyes closed, and my heart leaped as I froze in an aisle. It was her voice, soft and smooth like a lullaby. Please, tell her yes. Let her have what she wants.

"I can check in the back," the clerk snapped.

"Oh," she replied sheepishly. "Okay, thank you."

I could have slit the Talimarian's throat for that tone he used with her. She bought one of his stupid things, for seven galaxy's sake. Why would he be so up in arms about checking in the back? It made no sense to me. How could he not have fallen over or swooned over her from just one glance at her face?

"Here you go," the clerk said. "Only one copy. Not many people ever want to read the original Mondian version and I don't get that many human customers that want to read it. But you're welcome to buy it."

I turned around slightly, peering out from the side of my hood as I surveyed her by the merchant's desk. She had a volume cracked open to one of the first pages.

She doesn't skim. She reads through things. Meticulous. I like it.

I couldn't read the human language, but one sight of the Mondian subtitle on the cover made me shiver. ‘The History of Deathgate.' Either this is an insane coincidence, or she knows more about the plot against Havek than I realized.

I picked a good one to bring to my side.

"This is perfect, thank you."

As she reached for her percomm, I spun around back to the shelf. I heard her pay for the book and watched as she walked out the door. She held the book so daintily, and when she cracked it open, she didn't stretch the covers or pages. She wanted to keep it preserved in its old condition.

Even if she knew about the plan against Havek or that he was sent to Deathgate, why would she have wanted an older copy? That didn't make sense.

Unless she cares enough about history, which, judging from the way she held the book so gingerly as not to bend the spine, I assume she does.

That only made her more attractive to me. I turned back to the books. I had to concede. She wasn't going to leave my thoughts. I had to have her, and maybe then I could continue the mission Alkard sent me on.

If I seduce her and get this obsession out of the way, I might finally be able to do this job with a clear head.

Technically, I would be doing this for the sake of the mission…right?