Page 14

Sherrod

T he VIP reception was the usual spectacle of rich, bored, drunk idiots trying desperately to ignore the uselessness of their existence. I should know, I was technically of the rich and bored.

The party was in a dome, high up on the station that used to be a greenhouse of sorts.

There were still remnants of plants along the edges of the round room, and a beautiful white marble fountain of a man and woman embracing, fish spouting water around them.

I had expected the cage match to occur in the lower levels like they usually did, but since this was a championship match, and was very much anticipated, it was being held in a special caged ring one floor down from here.

I grinned and nodded at the women and men who eyed me like a piece of fresh meat.

I flirted and gave the impression of drinking when I was nursing the glass of Valtoshan champagne in my hand.

No one noticed that the pink liquid never got any lower because they were too self-involved.

Waitstaff in pink and green clothing that would be more fitting for a beach circulated, their exposed skin dusted with pink and gold powders, all of them with gold or pink hair.

Music pulsed around us, not unlike the kind I used to play in the BDSM club I owned.

Except this wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear what someone was saying, which helped eavesdropping considerably.

I still had to use my lip reading skills for some of the people too far away to hear, but that was fine.

My camera was catching it all, and I could review what I missed later.

I’d been here for half an hour, keeping watch toward the door for Varnok.

Not for Zephyr.

Definitely not.

I was starting to wonder if the fighters would ever show up when there was a cheer that spun through the crowd.

I glanced toward the door to see two huge males walk through.

One of them was smiling and waving, his scared face friendly in spite of the obvious proof that he could tear anyone of us limb from limb.

But the other fighter, Varnok, was stone faced bordering on hostile.

He was dressed in a kilt of blue and a tunic of gold, and while I knew by the way the fabric moved that it was expensively made and tailored to fit him perfectly, Varnok looked like it was about as comfortable as a hair shirt.

It made me chuckle to myself. He was a surly bastard the few times I’d met him in the past, so it was nice to see that some things didn’t change.

It would make getting information out of him easier.

He was hovering near the door like he was already planning his escape. Most of the guests gave him a wide berth, preferring his more amiable opponent, who was currently drowning in males and females that wanted to fuck him desperately.

I was making my way toward Varnok when a vision in gold and black appeared in the doorway, stopping my legs cold.

Her firm, muscular arms and torso were on delicious display, and the way she moved was elegant, full of power and grace.

Her face was perfectly made up, not too much, not too little.

And her implants were glimmering with gold accents that danced in the warm lighting.

Zephyr outshone every other woman here, and she wasn’t dripping with jewels or silks. She was simply, perfectly adorned with a single piece of embellishment that sucked all the air out of my lungs, and made the room spin.

The hair pin garrote I’d saved and stole to buy for her. I’d been so proud to be able to give that present to her, to prove that I could give her expensive luxuries and see her smile. I’d felt like a champion, a man even though I’d been a child play acting the whole time.

I closed my eyes against the unexpected assault on my heart and tried to find my footing again. It was nothing, just a trinket from one silly child to another. Just…

One of the few perfect moments of my life. Even after all these years.

I leaned on the bar and hoped that I looked like a drunk trust fund brat, not a man suddenly bleeding internally from the stab of a stupid memory.

“What can I get you?” asked the sultry woman behind the bar.

I looked up into beautiful blue eyes and an assessing stare, tried to offer a playful smile back and knew it came out as a grimace. Flirting was my super power, my currency. It came effortlessly to me. But not tonight.

It soured in my mouth, my smile turning hard, and I pointed at a bottle of expensive bourbon.

The woman poured the liquid amnesia into a glass for me and I scanned my ID chip to pay for it.

With one long swallow, I downed it and asked for another.

The woman’s eyebrows arched in surprise, but she did as I asked.

I tried to nurse this one and half way through it, I thought I’d gotten a decent hold of myself when the instrument of my destruction suddenly stood next to me.

“Champagne, please,” she purred and my cock swelled against my will.

I shot the rest of the bourbon and turned to leave when her hand caught my wrist. A frisson of heat ran through that connection, and I grit my teeth to keep from groaning.

“Join me?” she asked.

She knows it’s me…but not the me I want her to.

Even still, I painted a smile on my face, this one far more predatory than I intended, and spun around to meet her eye. Even with those designer heels she was shorter than me, the pin in her hair at eye level, mocking me with memories.

“How can I refuse a request from the most beautiful woman in the room?” I asked, slurring my words on purpose.

I could drink that entire of bottle of bourbon and not get drunk due to my internal filtration system. Though, I honestly wished I’d turned it down tonight so I could get properly smashed.

Zephyr’s eyes rolled at my words and she leaned into me as I offered her my ear to whisper into.

“I know you’re not drunk, Sherrod. What I don’t know, is why you’re following me. Care to explain?”

“I wouldn’t actually,” I replied, bending down to now whisper in her ear.

I relished the tiny shiver that ran through her when my lips grazed her skin.

“If you get in my way, it won’t be pleasant for you,” she warned with a wicked smile.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sweetheart.”

Our faces were closer than was wise, but I didn’t want to pull away. Zephyr wanted a confrontation, she wanted to posture and threaten? Fine, but I wouldn’t give an inch that I didn’t want to. And right now, I couldn’t step away from her if my life depended on it.

Her eyes flitted down to my mouth, and back to my eyes. She frowned just for a second, her eyes narrowing like she was straining to recognize me. But it passed as suddenly as it had appeared and now she was giving me a tight smile that had anger underneath it.

“Are you staying for the match?” I asked. “Should be a good one.”

“You are not here just for the fight,” she lobbed back at me.

“How do you know? I happen to have a lot of credits riding on this. The scaled bastard glowering from the wall over there is favored two to one. But his opponent is known to come back when he’s the underdog. Not only that, he fights dirty.”

“I do believe you have a bet placed, I don’t believe that’s the only reason you’re here.”

“Enlighten me.”

She opened her mouth and snapped it shut when something over my shoulder caught her eye. I glanced back and saw a male covered in skin tight mesh armor.

“That’s a bit of an over…oh shit,” I said when I saw the insignia on his gauntlets.

“You recognize him?”

“Yeah, and so do you if I’m not mistaken.”

She hesitated, her face unreadable to most, but I saw the small tick in her cheek, the hint of fear in her eyes. That was all it took for my control to slip. All I knew was that this male had somehow made one of the bravest women I’d ever met afraid, and I wanted to kill him for it.

“What did he do to you?” I growled.

“Nothing.”

“Zephyr—”

“He found me snooping around some place and escorted me to an elevator, that’s it.”

“He put his hands on you?”

“I’m not some wilting daisy. I can take care of myself.”

The phrase went straight to my heart and I stared at her speechless for a moment.

“What?” she demanded, starting to lose her temper.

“The insignia,” I said, my voice rough as I tried to refocus on the conversation, “it’s the symbol for Lady Seraph Krynn.”

Zephyr’s eyes widened and she swallowed.

Lady Seraph was the head of the Krynn syndicate, the most ruthless of all the Syndicate families.

She’d been the youngest daughter of the head of the family, doted on and spoiled.

Then something had changed and they’d shipped her off to an asylum.

When the facility had mysteriously burned down, Seraph went missing, presumed dead.

Then, she showed up on her family’s doorstep like nothing had happened.

Within a week of her return, her entire family, with the exception of one niece, was killed in a single night.

And Seraph was the undisputed head of the Krynn family.

Ever since, she’d ruled with a terrifying intelligence and cunning, surrounding herself with men and women who had been overlooked and poorly used by her father and brother.

They were fanatically loyal and considered some of the most lethal soldiers in the galaxy.

I’d had one encounter with the woman, and she terrified me.

“What is she doing here?” I muttered.

“How do you know she is? Hardly anyone has seen her outside of her compound in years.”

“If one of her soldiers is here, then that’s as good as her being here, that’s how it works. He’s flaunting the insignia in a room full of people that will know exactly who he works for.”

“A statement of strength.”

“Yeah.”