Page 18

Sherrod

W e stayed until Varnok sent us confirmation that he’d gone through the warp gate and managed to get away from Olympus. We sped out of there just as the Krynn ships were descending on the station.

“That was close,” Zephyr murmured as she stood from the co-pilot seat. “Where’s my bunk?”

“Yeah, about that,” I said with a shit eating grin. “One bedroom.”

She pinched the bridge of her adorable nose and winced.

“You’re fucking kidding me?”

“Nope. But hey, I’ve been told my snoring is very soothing so you should be asleep in no time.”

The glare she leveled at me could’ve combusted the entire ship and I burst out laughing. It was so damn natural to give her grief like I used to. But instead of bringing up nostalgia for her, all it did was make Zephyr angry, and that wasn’t nearly as fun.

“Relax,” I said, sliding back into the pilot’s seat, “the couch in the lounge folds out. You can have that.”

She hesitated and I silently hoped her pride would get the better of her and she’d insist there was no need for a separate bed. Alas, it was not to be.

“Good,” she finally said, flouncing off to get settled.

I indulged in a look at her shapely ass, picturing it raised in front of me with her on all fours…

Fuck, stop. This is already an impossible situation without thinking about that.

There’d been a time when the lure of getting Zephyr naked and under me was all had thought about.

Until that dream came crashing down in blood and tears, like all mine usually do.

That girl I’d loved had grown into one hell of a woman, and she was even more tempting than before.

If I’d been unfit for her at seventeen, I was definitely not worthy of her after a lifetime of murder, theft and breathtaking selfishness.

It’s going to be hard enough to train her and pretend I don’t know how she fights. That was a stupid mistake earlier.

I tried to get a grip on the conflicting emotions making me their bitch and focused on getting us into the fights.

According to the information that Varnok had, there would be a free-for-all qualifying match of about twenty-four fighters in an open arena.

The fighters go at it, and the last ten standing go into a final qualifying match until there’s only five standing.

Those five are then sponsored by each of the five syndicate families to be their main fighters.

The free-for-all fight at the beginning was usually a no-kill fight but in a crowd of that size, with everyone vying for a spot among the final five, anything could happen. Even a fighter as good as Zephyr could be injured so severely that…

“Stop it,” I whispered to myself, squeezing my eyes shut. “This isn’t helping.”

I breathed and boxed up all the nerves I could. Zephyr was a warrior; she’d seen and done things I couldn’t imagine. I had to believe that she’d survive whatever came her way.

I opened my eyes, jaw clenched as I read the rest of Varnok’s information. It wasn’t until I saw the name of his contact for the Blood Celebration that some of the tension began to unwind from my shoulders.

I typed in the com number for the contact and a secret code to access her private com channel, then waited.

“Sherrod, is it really you?” the Valtoshan female on the com screen said, delight making her face shine. “You look so…old.”

I laughed full and without any of the play acting I usually put on for others. This woman and I went back about as far as Zephyr and me.

“Zelena, you look as radiant as ever.”

Her plum tinted lips rolled back into a wide smile, revealing her sharpened canines with diamond tips.

Her gray eyes were lined in dark purple with shimmering purple dust on the lids.

Bands of onyx and gold wrapped around her tendrils, with a purple crown of sorts at the top of her head.

A purple and gold halter top in what looked like expensive silks showed at the bottom of the com screen and I wondered if it was see through.

Knowing her, it would be.

“If my intel is correct, you’re not calling to catch up,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry,” she quickly assured me, “you haven’t been sloppy. I just have very good spies.”

“Well, depending on what they told you, I’m in need of assistance only you can give.”

“We’ve had this talk before, my darling, wrap it before you tap it.”

If I’d been drinking something, I’d have spat it out on a roaring laugh.

“Thanks for the tip,” I chuckled. “But this is a bit more…delicate.”

“Well, consider me intrigued. This is a secure channel and the room has been isolated. Talk freely.”

I hit a button on my dash and a dampening field with a scrambler came online to hide our conversation from anyone, namely Zephyr.

Zelena and I had met about a year before I’d had to cut ties with Zephyr.

After the disaster that led to my new face and Zephyr thinking I’d died, Zelena was my safe harbor, a friend that gave me comfort in body and mind.

She was mourning the loss of her sister, and so we found a deep comfort and understanding in each other until we had to part ways two years later.

Even still, we kept in touch, helping each other out on missions or just rendezvousing for a drink or no strings attached pleasure.

Zelena knew me better than anyone, had stuck with me through thick and thin. And she was the only one alive that knew about my past with Zephyr, which meant she was about to give me a lecture when she found out who I was working with.

“I need to get a fighter into the qualifying match for the Blood Celebration on Quarn station. Someone not known to the circuit that I can sneak in.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she brought up a small tablet next to her, tapping in information.

“What are the specs?

“Female, light weight class, preferably light weapons.”

“Species?”

“Cyborg.”

“Hmmm…that could pose a particular challenge. But not nearly as much as the fact that she doesn’t have a fight history. These women are a cut above, they all know each other. She’s going to stick out among them.”

“I know and that’s where your particular gifts come in.”

“I was wondering, since I’m pretty sure you could manage getting her in on your own.”

“You had mentioned a few years back that you were considering allowing some of your guards to enter the fight pits as a way to expand your business.”

She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh.

“I think I know what you’re asking.”

Zelena ran one of the most sought after pleasure barges in this quadrant, if not further.

Her workers were all Valtoshan trained, even if they were another species, something unheard of before because Valtoshan courtesan skills were supposed to be a closely guarded secret.

Zelena had been excommunicated, which, in a society as religiously zealous as the Valtoshans were about their goddess, was tantamount being branded a traitor.

As a result, she’d had to create an elite group of warriors to protect her men and women, as well as her other business interests, such as black market goods.

They had taken on a kind of legendary mystique over the years, and people came from all over the galaxy to watch them in public training events and recruitment sessions twice a year.

It was the only thing I could think of that would give Zephyr a reputation worthy of getting in without a history on the circuit.

“Is she any good?” Zelena asked. “I do have a reputation to consider.”

Now it was my turn to take a big breath.

“She’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

“Really?”

Zelena waited for more and I looked away from the screen.

“You fucking idiot,” she breathed after a minute. “You…you haven’t! Sherrod, love, tell me you haven’t.”

“Zelena, this is hard enough without you judging me.”

“I’m doing what you asked me to all those years ago, remember?” Zelena asked. “I’m keeping you both safe by checking your impulses where she is concerned.”

“And I appreciate it but the Commander’s last request was to keep her safe.”

“You can’t do that from a distance?”

“No.”

Zelena crossed her arms, eyebrow raised as she waited for me to explain.

I braced myself because what I was about to say would send her through the roof. Zelena, like the rest of us in the galactic underworld, knew of Cypher’s reputation. With a deep breath I charged ahead.

“She’s going after Cypher and—.”

“What?!”

“— I’m trying to keep her distracted by just going after what Cypher wants instead of the man himself. Knock on wood, we’ll be able to do that and drop the whole thing. But to do that, I need to get her into Lady Seraph Krynn’s wing of the station—”

“Sherrod, are you— ?”

“— and to do that, I need her to dazzle the right people as a fighter.”

Zelena sat there, mouth open in shock and not just a little bit of horror.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she demanded.

“Not only are you traveling with the one woman who makes you loose all sense of self preservation, but you’re going to trick someone into getting you into the Lady Seraph Krynn’s wing of the station?

! Lady Seraph? You know, the woman who flays her enemies alive, the one who murdered her whole fucking family in one night?

That Lady Seraph is the one you want to trick and presumably steal from?

You can’t be that stupid, Sherrod! Oh wait, yes you can because Daisy is there! ”

“Shut up!” I hissed with a glance back.

This field might be good at keeping anyone from eaves dropping but if Zephyr had good aural implants she might be able to tap into a frequency that isn’t blocked and then I’m screwed.

“She doesn’t know it’s you, does she?” Zelena pinched the bridge of her pierced nose and winced. “Fucking hell!”

“Zelena, it’s complicated will you just…please help me and you can lecture me later when we meet for drinks, okay?”

Her lips pressed into a disapproving line.

“You mean when I have to pick up the pieces after she shatters what’s left of your black heart? You and I both know that’s where this is headed.”

I ran a hand through my hair, pulling on the strands.

“I know,” I admitted, exhaustion starting to make my body ache. “But I couldn’t say no. It was the commander and it was Daisy.”

“The old bastard knew where to hit you, as usual.”

“He knew that I was the only one that would die for her.”

“Like I said,” Zelena snarled.

There was definitely no love lost between her and the commander.

“I’ll do it,” she said, “for her, and for you. But Sherrod, you have to promise me that if there’s any way to avoid Cypher, even if it means betraying her, that you’ll take it.

I’ve been hearing some chatter and there’s some who believe he’s working with the new K’Tavi King. That fucker isn’t to be messed with.”

“I promise, if I can keep her away from him, I will.”

“What’s your ETA?”

“About eight hours.”

“Good, that should be enough to set this up. I’ll send you the docking and room information an hour before you get there, and I’ll meet you in the suite. I don’t think I need to tell you to be careful around the syndicate family members, right?”

I let out a frustrated sigh.

“You sleep with one trade princess and suddenly it’s all you ever hear about.”

“You were almost executed for defiling the fiancé of Gordon Bryson.”

“That was what? Four years ago?”

“Three. And it was part of a ten-person orgy so yeah, people are going to remember.”

“I’ll be careful, don’t worry. Besides, there are rules during this little gathering. No blood shed, in spite of the name.”

“I will always worry about you,” Zelena said with a gentle smile. “And when have the rules ever stopped this lot from doing as they pleased?”

“Good point. Even so, it’ll be good to see you,” I said, my voice catching.

“And you, my friend.”

The screen went dark and I slumped back. I loved seeing Zelena, she was the only family I had. But at the moment it was stirring up all sorts of things that I’d much rather keep buried.

Like the question of why the commander had asked this of me. Yes, I might be the only person who would lay down my life for Zephyr without a second thought, but there were many other talented people the commander could’ve trusted instead of the one that still carried a torch for his niece.

Why did you do it, you crazy bastard? Why did you ask me, of all people, to watch over her when you made it clear you never wanted me to see her again?

I ran a hand over my face, frustrated that I was this tired after getting eight hours of sleep less than two days ago.

I didn’t want to sleep while Zephyr was on my ship.

If I had one of my nightmares it could get dangerous for her, I wouldn’t be in my right mind.

And then, if she was somehow able to snap me out of it, she’d have questions I couldn’t possibly answer without revealing my identity.

“What a fucking mess.”