Page 175 of Pets in Space 10

Streams of curses flew from Luka’s mouth once he and his brother reached the hover car.

Staring at the building they’d just left, he clenched and unclenched his hands in his lap.

His fangs descended and his thirst rose with his need to do violence.

“This is why the Atoro don’t deal with the Rudurian, Zair. ”

At least his brother had the good grace to duck his head in shame. “I know.”

In his mind’s eye Luka revisited the look of disappointment on the woman’s face as they left her. The taste in his mouth soured. He’d done a lot of bad things and didn’t pretend to be good but in the last ten years as head of the Atoro, he’d managed not to break his one tenet. Harm no female.

Until now.

“Tell me everything about the debt.”

He’d need the information if he was going to do what he was thinking.

As the leader of the Atoro Syndicate in the Kratos Sector, he didn’t have the freedom to make mistakes.

Hundreds of lives depended on him doing what needed to be done and maintaining the tenuous alliance with the Rudurian Syndicate.

“What?”

Continuing to stare at the building, Luka repeated his demand in a harsh tone. “Tell me about the debt you incurred with the number one enemy of the Atoro.”

Zair flushed and stammered his response. “I—I…it was an accident. You know I like the tables, Luka.”

Gambling. He should have known. Instead of taking a place in the criminal organization Luka ran, his brother would rather look for a quick path to fortune. “Keep talking.”

“It was a good hand. The cubes were in my favor and I only needed two more rolls to win the pot.” Zair’s tone rose, outrage in every word. “There’s no way it could fail but by then I’d already laid a promise on the line.”

A low hum of fury bubbled inside Luka. Lips firm, he tore his gaze from the building as he abruptly came to a decision and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt on his left arm.

“You freely gave out a binding promise as a gambling stake, knowing a Rudurian member sat at the table. Not just any member either but the second in command. How could you be so stupid, Zair?!”

No matter his unwillingness to join Luka in leading, Zair was a member of the Atoro and his promise on their behalf was considered binding.

“I was winning!” Zair protested.

More than likely the entire game had been created to trick his brother.

“You lost and as a result you put yourself in the position of owing Gubu a favor. A favor you couldn’t fulfill which required me to step in because you made it under the aegis of the Atoro, putting my word and reputation on the line. ”

Remorse was clear as his brother muttered, “What are you going to do?”

With his sleeve up to his bicep, the tattoo running from his inner elbow to wrist became visible.

Deep black ink flowed in intricate lines and shading to detail the image of a gathos.

The rare feline creatures were stealthy.

“What needs to be done. If the USF ever found out the Atoro sent one of their soldiers to be killed by the Rudurian, they wouldn’t rest until we were all destroyed. ”

“Killed? You think they’re planning to kill her?”

He stared at Zair, wondering at his na?veté. “What did you think they’d do to her? Gubu struck her repeatedly while we stood there and watched. Whatever he wants from her, she won’t do. Those military types are trained to die in the line of duty.”

The thought of the attractive woman dying brought back the sour taste to his mouth. Zair flushed and tugged at the collar of his shirt. Rolling his eyes, Luka ran his hand over the tattoo on his forearm and said, “Zsusa, release.”

A familiar itching sensation on his skin preceded the formation of a real life gathos. Zsusa leaped from the tattoo into his lap and stretched, her long lean body curling against his chest as she purred and butted her head under his jaw. “What need you, master?”

Her telepathic voice held the feline annoyance prevalent in her kind. He scratched her gold pointed ears with the black tuft hairs. Anyone else who attempted to stroke her sleek gold fur would be on the receiving end of her very sharp claws.

“I need you to go into the building and provide a distraction.”

She huffed and lifted her front paw to clean the lavender pads on the bottom. “No. Sounds boring.”

He withheld a sigh, used to dealing with the obstinate feline. “There are treats involved.”

Zsusa didn’t deign to stop her grooming as she repeated the refusal. “No.”

“What’s she saying?” Zair asked, eyeing her warily. He’d had the misfortune to be on the other side of her claws many times. Zsusa had no patience for a lot of people.

“Give me a minute,” Luka muttered then returned to his telepathic conversation with Zsusa. Feigning disappointment, he said, “You’re right. What I want you to do is probably too hard for you anyway.”

As expected, she stiffened in outrage and dropped her paw to knead his thighs forcibly as she pranced around his lap and gazed out the window. “I smart. I very smart. How distract?”

He had to bite back a victorious smile. Gathos loved challenges. While some might assume their juvenile speech patterns hinted at their intellect, the symbiotic creatures were highly intelligent and strove to great heights when properly motivated.

Still, he didn’t want to give in too easily or Zsusa could change her mind halfway through the task and decide she wasn’t interested anymore. It was a fine line to walk.

“You need to get into that building over there. There’s a woman tied to a chair in a room. I need you to create a diversion that will draw the bad men out so I can go in and get the woman.”

Zsusa’s ears flicked forward as she eyed the structure. Then she turned her snout up and sat back on her hind legs. “Change mind. No fun.”

“The fun part is if you can do it without being seen. No one can know you were there, Zsusa, but if it’s too hard,” he left off with a shake of his head.

Claws pricked his thighs in retaliation for his doubt. “I do! I do! No one see Zsusa, master.”

“If you insist. Go now and let me know when they’re out.” He gestured toward his brother. “Lower the window.”

As soon as it was halfway down, Zsusa leaped through and streaked across the walkway like a golden blur.

“I wish I had a gathos. They come in handy,” Zair said, envy lining his tone.

“They’re not easy to manage and require a lot of attention when released.” They also were extremely picky about who they formed the symbiotic bond with.

Five years ago, he’d found Zsusa as a newborn kit in a destroyed nest. A vorra beast had killed her parent and litter mates. He wasn’t even sure she could survive at that young age but when she’d blinked her big purple eyes at him, he was sucked into trying.

For weeks he’d bottle fed her a formula he’d purchased on the black market for a ridiculous fee. Each day she hung on and grew stronger. To his surprise, once she started walking, she’d formed the bond with him which presented as a tattoo on the wearer’s skin.

“Just think of how you could use her though,” Zair continued. “It’s like having a small tool at your disposal to get in and out of places or listen to conversations for you.”

Luka glared at his brother. “Do you understand the control needed to contain her? She’s a wild animal with no sense of right or wrong. The only reason she does as I ask is because she finds value in it. Gathos need structure and to be constantly challenged or they become destructive.”

He’d know since Zsusa once shredded the sheets on his bed when he’d left her alone for a week. That was before he could trust her to stay on skin and not reveal herself whenever the mood hit if they were out. The price on the black market for a captured gathos was well into the seven figures.

“But you could train her out of that. If you didn’t release her from your skin for a while, she’d learn her lesson and listen to what you say or back to the skin she goes.” Zair ended the statement on a smug chuckle.

Luka exhaled on a frustrated sigh and didn’t bother to answer.

The thought was similar to others who craved to have one of the animals in their possession.

There was no talking to Zair on the subject.

It wasn’t the first time he’d expressed an interest in having a gathos or Luka letting him borrow her as if she was an object to be loaned out.

He wouldn’t trust Zair to watch Zsusa for a few hours let alone a longer time frame.

Zsusa’s thoughts entered his mind. “Master, I smart. No one see me come in. Ha!”

“Good job. Did you find the woman?”

“Yes. She in bad shape. Head hurt bad.”

His stomach muscles tightened. The woman had a head injury serious enough to catch the gathos’ attention. “Can you get the men outside the room?”

“She smell funny.” A low purr came across the telepathic connection. “I get closer.”

His pulse jumped and he opened the door. Dimly, he heard his brother follow. “Zsusa, no! Remember, you can’t let the men see you. Only the best can divert them from the room.”

“Then I best. Men not in room. They look for loud noise in front but Zsusa come in back.” Her amusement trickled through along with a mix of hiss and chirps.

“Good job. I’m coming in. Let me know if the men come back.”

Silence. The best part of having a gathos was their innate ability to concentrate on a goal if interested.

The worst part of having a gathos was their erratic shifts in focus.

For all he knew, Zsusa could have decided to make a game of this and returned to taunt the men, interpreting his instructions to fit her whims.

He cursed and hurried to enter in the back since it seemed like Zsusa had sent Gubu’s men toward the front. “Let’s go. Zsusa says the way is clear. To be safe, have your weapon out.”

Zair nodded, pulling out his handheld laser. Luka mimicked the action and held the weapon down at the side of his leg as he crept forward.

Steps light, he signaled Zair with a wave of his hand once they reached the rear. They eased through the unlocked door. He headed in the direction of the room they’d been in earlier. Hopefully, they hadn’t moved Kari.

Overhead lights flickered as they made their way down the hall. At the door to the room, he mentally reached for Zsusa. “Are the men inside, Zsusa?”

“No. I smart. They look for noise.” Her tone expressed her irritation with him asking again.

He pushed the door open slightly. Empty. The lone chair at the center of the room was vacant as well. Fuck, what if they’d already disposed of her? Zsusa might not consider that important enough to mention if they’d come back in and grabbed Kari.

He strode toward the chair, noting the blood splatter on the floor. His heart twisted in his chest. If only he hadn’t delayed in coming back inside. “Damn it.”

The door slammed behind him and a sharp strike to his wrist dislodged the laser from his hold. Before he could spin around, a muted thud followed and an arm looped around his neck, tugging his head back at an angle. “Doesn’t feel good to be tricked, hmm?”

A wave of relief flowed over him at the female whisper. His lips curved up. Lush breasts pressed against his back, sending arousal to surge through his veins and fill his cock. He inhaled deeply and her floral scent mixed with a mild trace of sweat and blood surrounded him.

The last called to his nature. His gums throbbed and the urge to sink his teeth into the sweet smelling woman overwhelmed. “Aht, aht, Zsusa, what were you thinking?”

Because as sure as he was leader of the Atoro, he knew it was his gathos who’d freed the woman from the discarded restraints in a corner.