Chapter 4

Hyt

“Shit, I can’t believe I did that.” I’m growling as I storm down the hallway, tearing my hat off my head with one hand and ruffling my hair with one of my tentacles. My companion flits around me, chattering wildly about that ridiculous human girl. I don’t need her. Sure, I’m attracted to humans, but couldn’t I easily find another girl to sidle up to? My mating tentacles came out. I didn’t even want them out. They just fuckin’ did it. May the Dead Kings watch over my stupid ass. All these years of blind dates and awkward family set-ups, and my body wanted her? “Would you stop?”

I whirl on my companion, but he’s determined to get in my face. I swat him away, ignoring the nonsensical sounds that escape his beak. No translator ever created has been able to understand a companion. Doesn’t matter. I know what he means regardless. I know what he wants. See why I nicknamed him Shithead?

“There isn’t a worse potential mate in all of the Noctuida.” I’m incensed now, on my own behalf. My body betrayed me by releasing a part of my cock that should only emerge for my future wife. Falopex aren’t like Vestalis; we don’t fall madly in love after staring at someone for three seconds. But we can only pick one person to mate with. Just one. Once we’re mated, we share our very life force with that person. I was kissing her, too. What if I’d given her my pearl by accident?

Fuck.

I have to choose carefully.

Combining my life force with a girl who’s already mated to an Aspis? Madly in love with an Aspis apparently. A girl who’s all set to be the next queen. I’m a moron. I am stupid as sand. My cock is going to get me killed.

“Oh, enough of your shit.” I wave my companion away and turn, tucking my hat back on my head. I slap my palm on a screen beside another door and walk through without stopping, exiting the classified area I was in for one of the main thoroughfares on the World Station.

Innumerable species stream by me, some of them palatable, others … not. Everyone looks at me, even if it’s just in passing. Not only are the Falopex the Noctuidan police force, but we’re usually naked or close to it. Believe it or not, I’m the modest one in the family.

“Alright. Back to it.” I lift my hat and then wave it around my head. Mostly, I’m sure they’re staring at me because Falopex are popular in porn. E’erybody loves a good Falopex fuck. Except for that human. The thought hits me like a punch to the stomach, and I frown.

That’s what finally gets the crowd moving again, flowing in and out of various shops along either side of the hallway. Clothing shops. Snack carts. Pheromone shops for, well, they’re wearable scents. Hard liquor. A matchmaking office.

A brothel.

I smile because that’s exactly where I’m headed.

That human … she thanked me for stopping us at the crucial moment. I hit my face with my tentacles on either cheek, pulling my suckers off with a pop. This is what Eve did when she was upset, slapped herself. I love mimicking humans. I find them to be bright, empathetic, and daring creatures. They’ve intrigued me for as long as I can remember.

But oh boy, what my mother would do if I brought a human home as a wife …

I sweep up to the entrance, a soothing sea blue, a sweet smile on my face, and I knock several times. An attendant answers the door, and I nearly choke when I see that it’s another Falopex. She’s a pale, sweet pink color, nine-tailed as always, grinning back at me with sharp teeth. Her pheromone bubbles explode around her, and she giggles.

Ah, Dead Kings, anything but a Falopex female.

“Officer, what brings you this way?” One of her tentacles reaches for one of mine, and I draw back before remembering what I came here for. Damn it, that Eve girl has screwed up my entire day.Not only is she off-limits, she insulted me. Hah. As if she knows what it’s like to be a Falopex who saves creatures that nobody else cares about. What a fuckin’ thankless job.

I lean in, one arm propped on the doorframe, my other hand reaching out, knuckles skimming the female’s jaw.

Whelp. I made a huge mistake today. Whether that mistake was letting an engaged, mated human captive rub her slickness all over my cock or … stopping her from impaling herself on it, I have no idea. If I’d given her my pearl while we were kissing, that would’ve been the end of it. I would’ve had myself a little Earthling as a wife. And with my mating tentacles all riled up? I was about this close.

I almost choke.

If I wanted, I could fuck a girl—any adult female from any compatible species—and we wouldn’t bond. But I can’t kiss girls. Because my kiss could come with my pearl; it’s a risk I can’t take. That pearl holds my life force inside of it. If I give it to the wrong female, and she doesn’t give it back, it’s … I just fuckin’ can’t with myself.

I could’ve found myself with a wife today … or ended up dead if Eve chose to steal my pearl.

“Well, little lady,” I drawl, letting sex and sugar drip from my lips. Falopex are just built for sex. What can I say? I don’t make the rules. “I was just wonderin’ if I might join you for the evening. I do understand that this is your personal residence. I do understand that you are a valuable citizen of the Noctuida and a faithful follower of the Imperial Court.” I let out a husky laugh, using my tentacles to pull my hat off my head and tuck it against my chest. This is where I smirk and lean back in with a wink. “I would like you to know that I’m interested in paying you for mating privileges.”

“Oh, yes, Officer Hieronymus,” she schmoozes, the fins on either side of her ears perking up with excitement. “I’ve always prayed to the Dead Kings that you might come and see me.” She steps out of the way, dressed in a silken robe with nothing underneath. Not unusual, that. Most Falopex prefer to be naked, and this one’s a workin’ girl. I’m surprised she even has the robe on.

She thinks I’m telling the truth because that’s what Falopex do. We let everyone know our truth color, and we stick to it. We never lie. Liars are executed on my home planet. So this girl? She believes every stupid, idiotic thing to come out of my mouth. Why wouldn’t she? As I said, Falopex never lie.

Except me.

I am a consummate liar.

I’m lying right now.

I lie when I’m pink; I lie when I’m blue.

That cute little human girl will never be able to figure out whatever logic puzzles she’s playing at in her head. I’m a liar and a disappointment, someone cast off to the most worthless, useless post in the whole of the Noctuida, forced to waste my life away on butt-fuck-nowhere Jungryuk. By my own dad. Imagine the bitterness and the resentment that might build up.

The thought is enough to make me laugh as I swing the assault rifle over my shoulder with a flick of one tentacle. The others grab onto the arsenal that I strapped to my back after I left Eve and the prince. Nine tails holding nine pistols.

“Alright, you stupid fucks. Where is he?”

A dozen different species of male dart up from the tables, knocking over drinks and games and hookers. When I start shooting people, I know exactly which targets to hit. Gunpowder fills the air as I resist the urge to use my assault rifle. I don’t need that much firepower just now, and I’d rather not set off any of the World Station alarms. This isn’t exactly police-sanctioned business.

When the males all lie bleeding on the floor, I lower my tails and my weapons. I look first from the Falopex female that answered the door, and then over to the others as they stand up from the floor where they’d tumbled.

“Get out.” I use the assault rifle to gesture, and that startles them all enough that they take off running. When my sister was only thirteen, she was stolen from Earth and trafficked to a brothel just like this.

I do not patronize brothels; I do not spare johns.

I do rescue human beings. Not only is my sister one, but she’s helped me appreciate the minds and hearts of humans. What I discovered long after that, when I hit sexual maturity, was that the human women I was rescuing were attractive to me. But I’ve never felt right approaching one. They’re scared, traumatized. Most just want to return to Earth.

But … Eve is different.

She doesn’t feel like a victim.

She feels like a challenge.

I walk through puddles of blood in my boots, whistling a song. It’s one that my father taught me when I was little. I can’t remember the words that go with it.

I squat down at the side of a large glass tube, sloppily covered with a cloth that’s soaking wet with spilled liquor and blood. I lift the edge of it to peer underneath. There’s a human man suspended in a thick hot pink goo. Ah. Okay. A black market Cartian medical transport. This is the same device that cyborg girl—Zero—would’ve had her brain strapped into. My father wanted me to look into that issue—since there are virtually zero Cartians left—but I told him all looked well.

That was a lie.

I just thought the Cartian girl would make a good bodyguard for Eve.

“Ahh, there you are.” I smile as I reach out with a tentacle and tap on the glass. The man turns his head toward me, eyes wide behind the translucent goo. He’s wearing glasses, hands cupped over his bare genitals. Nothin’ I haven’t seen before.

Males don’t interest me, but you know what does? Checking out human males to see if I could compete. I always can. I grin a little wider as I stand up, turning away from the oversized tube and using my tails to heft it up off the ground.

This is the last of ‘em. The last of the kidnapped humans in this batch. I’m sure there’s already another group down at that sleazy stall with those sleazy twins. Next time I see ‘em, they’re both dead. I will keep on killing those fuckers until I get it right.

Humans … pets, meat, or mates.

What a shitstorm.

I carry the tube with me into the hall, leaving bloody prints as I head back in the direction of the restricted area. Within a minute or two, other Falopex will swarm the area, but at that point, I’ll be long gone, they’ll investigate, and they’ll realize that even if I’m a liar, they have no reason to pursue me.

Might not be sanctioned work, but it’s a job well-done.

I take the human back to my ship and prepare myself for a long night of trying to figure out how to open this tube. Cartian tech is great, but it can be weird as hell.

“No worries, little human male.” I pat the glass wall of the tube. “I’ll get you out of there.” I frown. “Eventually.” The man is clawing at the glass and mouthing words I can’t hear.

Trust me, my friend, the sooner I get you out of there the better.

I’d love another session in my room with my tentacle wrapped around my dick, my mind wrapped around Eve. I’d love it even more if she was the one wrapped around me.

“Ah, shit.” I take my hat off and sit down hard on the length of the glass tube. Shouda figured before I sat down that the poor human male is getting a face full of my ass. One day I might actually wear pants. Wouldn’t that set my mother into a frenzy? “I’m still into that stupid girl, and for what?” I scoot a bit to the side so I can look down at poor Connor. He just stares blankly back at me. “For a broken heart, that’s what.”

I will quench this weird obsession.

I might be willing to rescue her, but I don’t want that girl for anything beyond that. She’s too dangerous. She’s taken. She’s not worth it.

Told ya I’m a liar.