"Well?” Xandros crossed his arms.
Shaun didn't stand. The only movement he made was to raise his eyebrows. “What? No foreplay?"
Xandros threw his head back and laughed. The man hadn't changed all that much. After all, the core of a man remained no matter what chaos ensued around him. He plopped down in a chair and leaned back. “Old friend, I'm here. That's foreplay enough for some."
The other man's smile was razor thin. “Perhaps. But I don't succumb that easily."
"I've heard rumors to the contrary."
The speed that Shaun possessed stunned Xandros. The man was over the table and at his throat before Xandros knew what happened. He froze and put his hands up.
Shit
. The guy wasn't even out of breath. The blade he wielded was a Nyral
pyver
, a ceremonial knife carried by royal guards.
His gaze held Xandros's, and the cold metal pressed again skin. “I'm not here about rumors."
"Why are you here?” Xandros asked coldly.
"There are two men missing, and I need to find them.” The blade never moved.
"Why would I know where they are?"
"You know everything about the Brotherhood. You trade information with them.” Something dangerous had crept into Shaun's tone.
Fascinating
. There was so much venom in Shaun's voice when he mentioned the Brotherhood. Xandros understood that kind of hatred very well. For some reason, it made him feel some kind of kinship with Shaun, a connection he couldn't ignore.
Xandros tightened his lips. “I stay the hell out of their way. You should know why."
"I want you to find my friends. You're the best in the business.” Shaun twisted the blade over Xandros's skin like a caress. “And no matter what the rest of the world thinks, you're a man of your word.” He slid away from Xandros and then shoved the knife back in a hidden holster in his arm. “I trust you."
"I won't do this unless you tell me everything.” Xandros rubbed his neck and wondered how close to dying he'd really just come.
Shaun nodded. “The two men are...colleagues."
"From the Brotherhood."
"Yes. And like me they were forced to do the Brotherhood's bidding. Aron Kirkland had a mother held hostage, and Finn Black had a mate.” Shaun's jaw muscles flexed.
"Had?” Xandros prompted him.
"The Brotherhood murdered them and captured Aron and Finn. I haven't seen either of them since."
"Why?"
"Because I joined Leo Eyler. Because my actions made all Nyral males suspect."
"How do you know the Brotherhood didn't kill them?” Xandros stared at his old friend. Shaun's fists were clenched, and his gaze slid away. Guilt.
"The Brotherhood wants what it has always wanted.” Shaun tightened his lips. “The death of Princess Sera Placido.” He let out a short breath. “How familiar are you with the Star Prophecy?"
Xandros snorted. “You mean that magic woo-hoo Princess Sera Placido is pedaling? Not a damn thing. Why?"
Shaun's face was set in stone. “She's not pedaling anything,” he said in a hard tone. “There's a prophecy—"
Xandros held up his hand. “Spare me. I don't believe in that shit. The Stars don't determine a man's fate. We do."
The snort Shaun responded with set Xandros's teeth on edge. The man certainly didn't seem like some religious fanatic. “Look. The Star Prophecy is the Brotherhood's bread and butter. You don't find it at all interesting that several of the predictions in it have come true?"
In truth, Xandros wasn't comfortable with anything he couldn't explain. It was easier to scoff at it. “Oh?” He managed to sound bored.
"The prophecy predicted a dark brotherhood that would permeate all systems and all planets. It predicted that a mate of a Nyral man named Eyler would have immense power and begin a religion.” Shaun ticked them off on his fingers one by one. “It predicted the return of the Placidians to their abandoned home planet."
Xandros's stomach tightened. “And the Brotherhood has claimed that they hold the key to these prophecies. You say one thing. They say something different.” He shrugged. “So what?"
"So the rest of the prophecy could refer to Aron and Finn. Three Nyral males who serve the Eyler family may mean them."
With a slash of his hand, Xandros tried to dismiss the prophecies. “It's too obscure, too vague. You're muddying up something very simple. You want Father Pestori dead because he killed your sister."
The flash in Shaun's eyes was the only warning Xandros got before the man's knifepoint was again aimed at his throat. “Nothing about this is simple, Xandros. And mention Mira again, I'll kill you."
This Xandros could understand. “Kill me all you want. You're giving yourself an excuse to take revenge.” He cocked his head to the side. “Or is it the good father? Maybe you'd rather take it out on his daughter."
The knife blurred as Shaun tossed it. Xandros dodged, and the knife clanged when it hit the metal wall and fell. They stared at each other. Xandros raised an eyebrow. “Why am I really looking for these men?"
Shaun rose, and Xandros tensed. Was the man going to really try and kill him? But he only walked across the room, bent down, and picked up his knife. “They're an integral part of the Star Prophecy.” His face had no expression as he took his seat and met Xandros's stare.
Xandros shook his head. “Bullshit."
For a moment, Shaun was silent. Then, he sighed. “It doesn't matter what you believe. It's what the Brotherhood believes. And they believe that Queen Sera Placido must die to gain power over all the systems. They believe Aron and Finn are part of the prophecy."
Typical mumbo jumbo bullshit. It sounded like the Brotherhood. “Again, why not just kill them?"
Shaun's gaze slid away. “I don't know. But I do know the Brotherhood is trying to blackmail Leo and Sera, and they're using these two men to do it.” The way he wouldn't meet Xandros's stare was suspect. Xandros was pretty sure the reasons given weren't all there was to this.
Xandros glared at him. “What you hide from me could get people killed, Fenway."
It was right there, ready to be revealed, but Shaun shut it down, and Xandros could tell he wasn't saying everything. “They're using these two men to force Princess Sera out into the open. Leo will do anything to protect her."
"And you'll do anything to protect them both."
Shaun's head shot up, and he met Xandros's gaze. “Yes. Anything."
Shit
. He meant it. Whatever Xandros asked for, Shaun would do it. For them. Xandros tapped his fingers on the table. “You know I'm usually quite eccentric when it comes to payment."
"I remember,” Shaun said with a smile.
Yes, he'd remember. Xandros had always been willing to do things for a kiss or more. Male or female, he wasn't particular as long as they did one thing: submitted to him in that moment.
"I reserve the right to follow my own rules, not your princess's."
"Naturally,” Shaun agreed.
There was much more to this, and Xandros wanted to know what was behind it all. Part of his need to know was wrapped up in Leo Eyler. His old friend was up to something. Xandros had a few good reasons to keep tabs on Leo.
"Okay. I'll find them.” He glanced at Shaun who had visibly relaxed. “I'll name my price when I bring the information.” Slowly, he allowed his gaze to peruse the man. Even across the length of the table, Xandros could feel the heat increase between them. Shaun's face flushed with color, and he tensed, but there was no rejection of the silent threat. He'd said anything, and he meant it.
Xandros stood up and bolted across the table, catching the other man by surprise. He gripped the back of Shaun's neck and restrained the arm with the holster with his other hand. Then he bent down and took possession of the man's mouth, punishing him, demanding his submission.
Shaun didn't fight him. Xandros felt Shaun's cock like an iron bar against his thigh. They were Nyral males, and Shaun was no submissive which only made Xandros harder. When he broke the kiss, Shaun was breathing heavily, his eyes half-closed.
"That was a down payment.” Xandros released him. “Be prepared to pay up when I come back."
The only response from Shaun was a crooked smile that almost made Xandros groan out loud.
Three weeks later
When Xandros wanted to drink, the last thing he needed was a crowd surrounding him like in this place. It was the only bar on Muerte, a planet aptly named death for everything here was dead boring. He lifted his glass and glanced around the bar. It felt good to be on his own again, without a crew, responsible only to himself. Being a space acquisitions expert—or pirate, as some small-minded folk would call him—was enough adrenaline for anyone, but he missed the days as a lone tracker.
The liquor was warm, burning his throat as he tossed it back. He hadn't always been a mercenary. Ugly memories skirted the edges of his mind, and he shoved them away impatiently. Focus. He needed to focus.
Maybe it was the sexual encounter with that Nyral female that had started him thinking about his life on his home planet before he'd become an “acquisitions expert.” He remembered how he'd tried to fit in by desperately trying to be “normal.” It was all an act and didn't work anyway, all because of his last name. No amount of success in school, none of the misguided bids for popularity blotted out the fact that his father was Anton Ivanovich. He'd tried to join the military but was rejected because of his father. When he'd been turned down by the military, he'd signed on as a tracker for Teran Five and changed his last name.
Like a stack of dominoes, he saw how that had herded him down a dark and dangerous path. Yet in the midst of the horror that had followed him as a tracker, he'd held on to an ideal that had a human face. He shook his head. He didn't think about those times too much. But all of it led him to this bar, this moment.
It could be another dead end. There'd been several in the weeks since Shaun had contacted him. But the trail led to the same person every time. Aron Kirkland and Finn Black had talked to one person just before they were taken, before they disappeared. A female assassin named Rina.
The woman was like smoke, coming and going, leaving no trace of her presence. Descriptions of her were wildly varied. Some said she was blonde. Some said she had jet-black hair. Some noted her braids twisted in a particular fashion. Some said her hair was a long curtain. He couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone.
One thing was certain: she was fucking dangerous. In her wake were murders, suicides, and destroyed lives. It was like she was the bringer of death to everyone she had contact with. He'd noted she didn't waste time killing for no reason. All her victims had victims of their own.
Her calling card was only the absence of ego in her assassinations. Most Brotherhood assassins were caught because they grew greedy for attention, overconfident in their abilities. Rina never let down for a second.
But Xandros was good at what he did, and he had discovered she would be in this bar tonight. Her team would meet and receive orders. The other nine were here, in the corner, an isolated group no one approached. They exuded their profession.
Xandros was convinced Rina wouldn't be so heavy-handed.
The doors opened, and a couple came in. The man headed for the bar. The woman, a slender brunette with perky curls, slid into one of the booths. When the man raised his hand for the bartender, Xandros said, “Your wife has a beautiful
appau
fur coat."
The man blinked and stared at him. “My wife?” He glanced around. “I'm not married."
"My mistake,” Xandros murmured and zeroed in on the brunette. Now there was a great disguise. A heart-shaped face framed by sweet brown curls, and most of her body hidden by a white animal fur coat. Unique.
When her gaze met his, dark brown fawn's eyes stared back at him. The same eyes that had glazed over in pleasure when he took her at the club. Beneath that damn coat, he bet she had a burn, the beginnings of a mark he'd never intended to brand her with. Just as he had one on the inside of his thigh. A herwalk, a predator bird. Well, well, well. The great Rina was his little machinka.
Two men stood, materializing from the corner of the bar, and Xandros's attention shifted to them.
Shit! Teran Five goons
. They were easy to recognize. Black suits? Check. Ridiculous sunglasses? Check. Nondescript features intended to be forgotten? Check. If they were this far out, then they were members of the Teran Interstellar Force, Teran Five's little project to police the universe. Swiftly, he tossed the remains of his drink on a large burly Graote sitting at the table in front of him.
Graotes weren't fluent in Universal. They usually just charged. This one was no different. After flicking fluid from his huge, flat nose, the Graote turned its ugly bug eyes on him. Xandros, of course, pointed to the man next to him and the big, bad brute ran the poor man into the bar.
Fights broke out, and in the melee, Xandros broke a bottle over the head of a Teran Five asshole before he managed to make his way to Rina. “Better come with me, machinka."
She ducked a flying table and took his hand. The remaining Teran Five goon shoved patrons aside trying to reach them, but Xandros yanked her out the door and into the alley before he had a chance. His new prisoner tried to break free, but he wasn't going to allow that. “No, no. None of that. And you won't be kicking me in the balls again either."
He dragged her into the alley away from the door and studied his captive. Her perky curls were in disarray, and the coat clearly impeded her ability to escape. He smiled and jerked her into his arms. In the darkness, he couldn't see the expression on her face, but he felt the pounding of her heart. It gave him fierce satisfaction that she was rattled, that her pulse pounded at his touch.
"Did you wash my cum off right away? I'd like to think you left it there, the smell of me permeating your senses.” He loved the way her pulse leaped. Yes, she had waited to wash it off.
They weren't going to get far with those TIF bastards on their tail. He stopped, flattening against the outside wall, and watched. She was still, waiting, watching, as he did. The two men blundered down the alley, and Xandros attacked.