Page 1 of A Mate for Vasek (Tallean Mercenaries #11)

Vasek

“About time,” Vasek grumbled as the pounding at the door echoed through the room he’d rented.

It wasn’t the male, pale and with a badly bound wound on his leg, that surprised him.

No, that was normal and expected; people didn’t come to him unless they were injured or dying.

It was the enticingly sweet fragrance that blew in with the iron tang of blood that had him taking a step back, even as his newest patient stumbled in, pulling a tiny human female behind him.

This must be the source of the wonderful scent.

She had tanned skin, much like their females, but that was where the similarities ended.

Sunny streaks of yellow brightened her hair.

She was short, and one might mistake her for a youngster if it weren’t for her developed hips and breasts, which rose and fell with each breath she took.

Vasek frowned at the large rash that covered the female’s legs and the feverish look on her face. This female was very sick.

Vasek had met Bakum only once before when he’d sewn several fingers, stored on ice of course, back onto Bakum’s business partner’s hand. This was a common way Vasek found new clients working as an independent medic in the outer planets.

Bakum shoved the female to the floor beside the makeshift examination table, a converted inn bed Vasek had lined with protecti-plas so he wouldn’t get blood on the mattress.

Vasek had set up the room in his usual fashion, moving the double beds provided by the inn to opposite sides of the room, and creating a makeshift clinical setting.

This wasn’t his usual office. However, “usual” would be a misnomer. He rarely stayed in one place for any length of time, preferring to cycle through his safe houses. It was just better that way.

Vasek didn’t like how rough Bakum was with the female. “It’s easier for me to work on you if she isn’t underfoot. I’ll take a look at your human after I finish with you.”

“No, not her. She does not need a medic,” Bakum said, even as the female fell from her sitting position to lie curled up on the floor. He glared at her like he thought she’d done it on purpose.

But Vasek knew better; the female was too weak to even sit upright. “She does not look well.”

“I will not pay for it.”

Vasek shrugged, hiding his disgust. “Your choice. She is not my investment. Either way, she can’t sit here.”

He never understood the need to control or own another intelligent being, but the type who refused to care for their possessions were the worst of the lot. Bakum did not deserve this female.

Ignoring the other male’s glare, Vasek helped the human up before leading her to a soft armchair next to the bed Vasek had been using as his own the past few nights.

Despite her round bosom and hips, the female was so slight that he worried she’d fall apart right then and there.

She was also freezing, so he grabbed the blanket and tucked it around her.

Her eyes, which had been downcast until now, looked up at him, and Vasek’s breath hitched in his chest at her bright green eyes. This luminous green, while ordinary in Talleans, was less commonplace in humans. She was only missing the reflective membrane that helped Talleans see better in the dark.

He blinked hard at the vulnerability that shone through the glassiness. Brushing a finger surreptitiously over her cheek, he found it hot, despite how cold her body was. She was feverish.

A sense of protectiveness rushed over him.

Fuck Bakum. This female needed help and she would get it, whether the asshole liked it or not.

He’d much prefer to treat her first, but made his way back to the male stinking up his temporary clinic.

“Now let’s see this wound. And tell me how you got it without telling me any details.”

Vasek never wanted the details. Details were what got people in his profession into trouble. The fact that everyone knew he refused to listen to details meant people rarely came after him for information, and those who did only did so once.

The strict rules, including an ironclad confidentiality clause, kept him neutral in any and all conflicts, and that was good for his health.

Those smart enough to survive in a place like Vosthea, his home base, respected his wishes and knew not to force him to pick sides, lest they ended up bleeding out on his doorstep.

In fact, just last year he’d patched one guy up, only to turn around and work on the very male who’d caused the injury. They’d both come to him not knowing the other was there, but had the courtesy to call a truce while he worked on them.

It was also expected that his clients would not knowingly bring trouble to Vasek’s door.

And if the patient’s pursuers were one of Vasek’s clients, not uncommon in these parts, they were to wait at least half a day after the patient left Vasek’s care to make their attack if they found their mark.

Breaking any of these rules meant they found themselves ignored the next time they called with a grievous injury.

No sane male wanted to search for a new medic when they were at death’s door.

Too bad there were plenty of insane characters here in the outer planets.

Luckily, those types often brought about their own demise rather quickly and weren’t a nuisance for long.

Which was to say that very few people crossed him, but it did happen.

In fact, that was why he was in New Rhea right now.

Things in Vosthea had gotten dicey after the Dominion came knocking, demanding information on a male he’d treated.

The Dominion assholes had given up after Vasek called in a favor from a ruthless but honorable male he’d saved a few years back, but Vasek preferred to skip the planet for a little while until everything died down.

He’d been here for almost a month now, hopping from safehouse to safehouse between calls for his services, and had just finished packing up and was ready to make the trip back to Vosthea when he’d gotten the call from Bakum.

Bakum was a fussy patient, twitching and flinching constantly, making it difficult to work, and Vasek had had to give him a sedative to clean out the knife wound and patch him up.

The sedative also meant that Bakum was knocked out cold, meaning Vasek had a chance to check up on the little human female.

Okay, so he might have done that on purpose.

Just because Bakum wouldn’t pay for a treatment didn’t mean Vasek would let her die. And by the looks of it, if he didn’t treat her, she would die. He was cutthroat when it came to business, but he had a heart.

The female’s small frame shook as he approached, and a scent of fear stung his nose.

Dawn

Dawn looked around the unfamiliar room. She’d been going in and out of consciousness and had no idea how she’d ended up here. The last time she was fully aware of her situation, Bakum had been dragging her through the New Rhean wilderness.

Bakum had been adamant that New Rhea didn’t have many dangerous beasts, and he’d been right. The only close call she’d had was when that ancient-looking crocodile-meets-sturgeon monster thing had tried to eat her while they were crossing the river.

But what Bakum hadn’t accounted for were the sheer number of dangerous plants they’d have to go through.

One of these plants had given her that painful rash on her leg that felt like it was going to burn her up from the inside.

She’d screamed when she’d touched it, and Bakum had gotten angry.

He’d picked her up to shake her like he usually did when he was unhappy with her, and had brushed up against the nettle-like leaves.

The big brute of a Tallean had wailed like a baby.

Bakum’s rash had healed up the next day, but hers had stayed. The worst part started when the pain of the rash subsided. Her whole body ached, and even breathing hurt from how tired her muscles were. She felt feverish and chilled all at the same time. And she kept passing out.

Bakum hated that, since they were technically on the run, but no amount of shaking woke her. So he’d dragged her along.

Dawn was surprised he hadn’t just taken the valuable dress she was wearing and left her to die in the wilderness.

But that was most likely because he’d spent so much trying to evade their pursuers already and needed to sell her to recoup costs.

He knew Dawn had been important to her previous owner, and he knew that their pursuers were after her as well as him, but he didn’t know why, and she wasn’t stupid enough to tell him.

So now he had to drag her around while running for his life.

Ha! Served him right for killing Kotch and ruining her only chance at getting back to Earth.

When the idiot had gotten stabbed on his way back into the port, Dawn had hoped that he’d find a medic, and fed up with her illness, get both of them fixed up. But nope. That asshat was stupid and cheap. She should’ve known he wouldn’t spare any credits for her.

The only thing she had to be thankful for was that Bakum was better than the guys who were after them. Those thugs, her previous owner's newest hires, were total monsters. They’d been literal pirates before taking this job. Really bad pirates, since they struggled to make decent credits.

With Kotch gone, Dawn thought the pirates would go right back to plundering and murdering, but instead, Kotch’s friend Morad had rallied the motley crew, and they were coming after Bakum and her.

She guessed it wouldn’t matter much now.

She’d heard the medic’s words, and they’d confirmed what she already knew: she was really sick.

She was freezing all the time, and everything hurt.

And just staying awake was difficult. Her life over the past few days was just a series of memories, a chunk here, a sliver there.

She was surprised she was even still alive.