Chapter Sixteen

The Sharqi Pleasure Palace was a male's wet dream. Species from every corner of the galaxy swarmed the dimly lit, gaudy interior. The males inside had two thoughts on their feeble minds. Sex and booze. Not a problem since there were plenty of willing females and a fully stocked bar.

"Smell funny. Me no like,"Esme whined.

"Me no like either."I shook my head in disbelief. This was where Jedrick spent his off-duty time? He was as bad as my father.

"You were not in my life,"Jedrick interjected dryly.

"I know. I know. A warrior has needs, but why didn't you go to Hawaii or the Magic Kingdom?"

"Children's rides do not interest warriors."

I rolled my eyes. Whatever. "I'm working here. Talk to you later."

"What is your plan?" Mister Snoopy demanded.

I sighed.He wasn't going away any time soon. "Yakira got us jobs as servers. We get close to Gulog the Wrathful and take him down."

"They hired Ziyad as a server?" Jedrick's tone was one of disbelief.

I picked up a tray of drinks. "No, she's a bouncer."

"Be careful. Gulogs travel in packs."

"Wrathful got kicked out of his clan but if more show up, we'll handle them. Now go away. I've got a job to do."

"As you wish." Jedrick vanished from my mind.

After three hours of dodging grabby paws, claws, and slimy tentacles, I was ready to start bashing the hell out of the drunken fools. "I think your intel was bad, Yakira."

One-handed, Yakira picked up a drunken Farin by his shirt collar and tossed him at Ziyad.

Ziyad grabbed him out of mid-air and threw him out the front doors.

"Or a certain battle commander arranged to have Wrathful arrested," Yakira replied.

I rubbed my sore butt. If he had, my bounty hunter career wouldn't last very long.

"Gulog the Wrathful has entered the building,"Ziyad said.

I turned and watched him swagger over to a table. He was huge and his hands were the size of small boulders.

Ziyad licked her lips. "Yum. Fresh meat."

That didn't sound good. I threw a worried glance at Yakira, whose face had paled dramatically.

"Please tell me you ate before we left."

"I fight better when I'm hungry."

Yakira's grip tightened on her tray. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

"I've always wanted to taste a Gulog."

"You are not eating him."

"The warrant says dead or alive," Ziyad countered.

"No! I am not spending the next ten hours talking to the enforcers and you know how Lothel feels about you eating people."

"You do not want my help, I leave."Ziyad stormed out the door.

Esme tightened her grip on my hair. "She silly."

"Yes, she is."My stomach knotted. Without Ziyad's help, I wasn't sure we could capture Wrathful. Pasting what I hoped was a seductive smile on my face, I hurried over to Wrathful and placed a tankard of ale in front of him. "Our specials today are Martzu with casu maggots and Balut cheese with mopane worms. They both promote sexual satisfaction," I said in Galactic Basic.

Wrathful leered at me. "I will have both and you will service me."

"We leave?"Esme asked.

"I wish, but we need to arrest him first." I gave the ogre another smile. "The dishes are four hundred credits a piece, my lord, and I am not touching you."

Wrathful shot to his feet. "You dare to refuse me!"

"I will bring you food and drink, but that's all." I pointed to a purple door. "The sex workers are through that door."

"You cannot deny me," Wrathful growled.

One look at the rage on his face and I knew I had a fight on my hands. "Yes, I can."

He lunged for me.

I ducked under his outstretched arms and slammed my boot into his crotch. To my horror, he didn't even grunt.

Gulog the Wrathful bellowed, "I will rip your head off and feed it to you!"

Like that was even possible.

A tray flew past me and nailed Wrathful in the face. Blood gushed from his broken nose.

"Gulog the Wrathful, you are under arrest for four counts of murder, two counts of armed robbery and twelve counts of aggravated assault," Yakira shouted in Galactic Basic.

The room exploded into pandemonium as everyone ran for the exits.

Wrathful grabbed a chair and hurled it at Yakira.

Yakira dodged the chair and it crashed into the wall.

The hairy, five-hundred-pound Hus Ping bartender roared, "Service has been revoked for the Gulog. Throw him…" Thwap! A sword protruded from his throat. He fell backward behind the bar.

"Web him to the wall, Esme. Now!"

Esme spat web balls until a thick layer of webbing glued Wrathful to the wall.

I let out a shuddering breath of relief.

Yakira walked up to him and examined the webbing. "Now all we need to do is get the handcuffs on him."

"We can stun him."

"Being stunned only pisses them off," Yakira replied.

"The warrant said dead or alive. I'd prefer we were the ones walking away."

With a snarl, Wrathful tore through the webbing, grabbed Yakira and threw her across the room. She bounced off the bar, slid to the floor and didn't move.

My temper ignited my berserker powers, and I hurled four tables at Gulog the Wrathful in quick succession.

Thunk! Wrathful's head jerked back.

Thunk! Ha! Got him right between the eyes. He staggered back and almost fell.

Thunk!Several of Wrathful's teeth went flying.

Thunk!Wrathful grabbed his crotch and crashed to the floor. The entire building shuddered.

Did he stay down? Nope. Bellowing like a wounded water cow, Gulog the Wrathful grabbed several drunken patrons and tossed them at me.

I evaded the flying bodies, wincing at the smacking sounds they made as they hit the walls.

Her tentacles wiggling happily, Ziyad shouted her battle cry and attacked Wrathful. All I could see was a black blur and bloody chunks of the Gulog hitting the walls.

Hot, orange blood splattered me as I helped Yakira to her feet. "How do we stop her?"

"We can't. Her hunger is too great." Fear, worry, and anger flashed across Yakira's face.

Dread skittered up my spine. "That's not good."

"No, it is not."

A delicate Farin female with exotic features and beautiful silver hair was suddenly standing next to me. I eyed her elegant black tunic and leggings. What was she doing in a pleasure house? "Can I help you, my lady?"

"No, but I can help you." There was a surge of tremendous psychic power and Ziyad crashed to the floor. For a moment, Gulog the Wrathful swayed back and forth, then he did a face-plant on the tile.

Yakira stared at her in absolute horror. "I can explain my lady."

"No need. I am here to claim my great-granddaughter."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Great-granddaughter? I glanced around. Was she talking about me? Yep. She was looking right at me. I smothered a groan when I realized she was Detja, the Warlord's mate, his second-in-command, and the most dangerous female in the galaxy. I clamped my right arm to my chest. "An honor to meet you, my lady."

Esme peered down at me. "Who dat?"

"I am Detja, your great-grandmother." Detja plucked her off my head. "Aren't you pretty."

Esme wiggled in excitement. "She family?"

"I think so."

Two heavily armed Coletti warriors strode in, handcuffed Wrathful and hauled him away.

"Ah, where are they going with our bounty?" I kinda needed those five hundred thousand credits.

Detja cocked an imperious brow. "Your bounty? I don't see your cuffs on him."

I gaped at her. Holy Goddess, she was stealing our bounty and there was nothing we could do to stop her.

"I've summoned the enforcers to handle the murder of the bartender," Yakira said quietly.

Detja's eyes darkened dangerously. "In the future, you will not accept bounties on Gulogs. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my lady," Yakira said meekly.

Ziyad erupted to her feet with a roar.

"Enough,"Detja snapped and Ziyad instantly obeyed her. "You will answer all the enforcers questions politely. You will not snarl, bite, or otherwise injure them. Am I clear?"

Ziyad bowed. "Yes, my lady."

I bit my lip to keep from grinning. My great-grandmother was a badass.

"I will be contacting your mates about this situation."

Yakira winced. "Is that really necessary, my lady?"

"It is and get Ziyad something to eat before she loses control again."

"Yes, my lady." Yakira hurried off.

Detja turned to me. "Zadie you are coming with me. It is about time I got to know my great-granddaughter."

"You've known exactly where I was for the last four years, and you never once contacted me."

Anger flashed in Detja's eyes. "You are right. Zarek kept your existence from me."

"Why?"

"Your grandfather was a murderous sociopath with delusions of godhood. He was also schizophrenic. Zarek was afraid you had inherited his genetic makeup. If you had, he would have ended your life."

My temper flared. End me? Like I was some kind of mad animal? "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested in becoming a part of your family." I turned on my heel and walked off.

Poof! Detja appeared in front of me. "You have a right to be angry. Everyone in your family has let you down. You survived Gliese and four years of war and instead of becoming a murderous sociopath, you became an honorable warrior." She took a firm grip on my arm. "You belong to us, and I am not taking no for an answer. Plus, I want to see how good of a thief you are."

"A very good one."

"Show me," Detja challenged.

I smiled at her. "Okay. What do you want me to steal?"