PrimalHunger (18 page)

Kendra glowered. She stood to her full height, and a red
haze surrounded her vision. She slowed her breathing, trying to keep control of
her senses. Time slowed to a crawl. She attacked again, seeing every move
before he made it. Her skin felt tight, alien. She swiped her daggers against
his torso and hip, arcing electric pulses into his skin. One after another,
until he finally began blocking her strikes.

His curses filled the room and Kendra laughed, swirling out
of reach.

“You are quick, mate.” He grinned. “I’m so hard for you
right now, it’s killing me.”

His words shot a bolt of lust straight to her pussy. She bit
back a moan. “You can’t manipulate this to your advantage. I’m not easy to
fool.”

His grin was feral, fangs gleaming in the light. “You didn’t
set the base rules, Kendra. Everything is fair game.”

He launched at her and she reacted a moment too late. His
short sword glanced off her stomach, while the dagger punched against her side.
She cried out and stabbed back. Her blades hit major organs and he jumped away.
They both held their sides and glared at one another.

“You have got to be the most frustrating female I have ever
met.”

“You’re the one who’s forcing the mating issue, here.”

“How? You think this is my choice? An argumentative,
maddening and aggressive female?” He began circling around her.

“Sorry, I’m not vapid, simpering or Valorian enough for
you.”

“Oh, you’re Valorian enough.” He lunged, she blocked. They
tested one another with steady strikes and feints. “The question is, how much
of it can you handle?”

The door opened and Kendra’s attention split. One of
Destiny’s pleasure crew walked in with a purposeful stride and a hand behind
her. How did she get in here? Her name slipped Kendra’s mind, but something
about the woman set off alarms in her head. Something about the way she walked
seemed so familiar.

Azros launched another attack and she was blindsided, knocked
to her back. The newcomer raised her arm. A weapon! A red haze instantly
descended across her vision. “Get down!” Time slowed and Kendra could see every
move, every detail. She launched at Azros’ legs, knocking him out of the way,
and threw the dagger. The blade flew true. “David! Intruder!”

A shot fired. Searing pain exploded in her shoulder. Her
grip tightened on the remaining dagger, as the would-be assassin collapsed like
a rag doll.

She palmed Azros’ cheek, satisfied that he still breathed.
“Were you hit?”

He shook his head. A shot of relief loosened the fear around
her heart. “I suppose I have you to thank for that?”

Kendra’s gaze swept the room. Azros’ hand touched her
shoulder. He pulled his hand away. “
Desh’ra
, that’s blood.”

She brushed his hands away and moved quickly to the
still-twitching body. The blade had pierced the eye cavity. She swallowed. That
was a damn lucky hit. Sparks of electricity sizzled and popped from the wound.
“It’s clear. Keep an eye on that door, will you? The security team should be
here in a moment.” She knelt beside the body and tentatively touched the face.
Electric shock shot through her and she cursed. “David, weapons off.” The
sizzling and popping stopped.

She touched the face again. No shock.

Azros stared down at the body. She knew what he saw. “No
matter how many times you see them, you never get used to it.” Skin around the
eye socket had peeled and burned, leaving exposed circuitry and wires.

Azros knelt beside her. “What the hell is that thing?”

Kendra sighed. “An old friend.” If the assassins were here,
that meant Skreeta was planning something. Something big.

“You need to pick better friends.”

Kendra laughed. She gently turned the assassin’s head to the
side. A strange but familiar tattoo, badly done, marred flawless skin. “In my
lifetime, I’ve seen three of these things. This would be the fourth. My father
killed the first twenty years ago. They each have the Sheon dragon eye tattoo.”
Azros drew in a harsh breath, and Kendra watched impassively as the assassin’s skin
lost definition, hardening into a featureless face. She knew the rest of the
body would be doing the same. Questions needed to be answered. She still didn’t
know what the hell these things were. How did they keep finding her?

The door opened and Kendra looked up, ready to attack.

Her breath caught. It was like looking at the ghost of her
mother. “Hello, cousin.” The voice was jarring, familiar…and full of shock.

Recognition was a punch to the gut. “Shyla?” Kendra’s voice
cracked over the name. “How did you get in here? What the hell is going on?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” Shyla’s grim expression sent
chills down Kendra’s spine. “If Skreeta finds out you’re still alive, we’re all
dead.”

* * * * *

The briefing room contained all the key players. Several
volunteers for Azros’ hit and haul against the
Calypso
, Destiny, Kendra
and her team, Shyla, and a scattering of others he didn’t recognize. The room
was a silencer, a place where no data streams or hacks could leave or enter.
Azros leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. It was pretty
state-of-the-art equipment for a supposed brothel in the middle of nowhere. He
knew his head should be running over the plan again, but all Azros could think
of was how to get Kendra off this forsaken planet. Away from here and in a
place he could protect.

“I’ve called this emergency meeting because our home has
been threatened.” Destiny gestured over the body of the assassin. “Nothing we
say today is to be mentioned outside this room upon penalty of exile.”

Azros raised an eyebrow. “Exile?”

Reeva leaned close. “Exile means an escape pod floating
around in the Scavenger Wastes. That’s fate-worse-than-death kind of stuff.”

“Ahh.” Azros nodded slowly. He’d have to find out more about
these wastes later.

Kendra stepped forward. “At 1640 today, this assassin
entered the security team sparring room as a possible impersonation of Maya
Dela Jenkins. She was a Class A courtesan with a history of fine performance.
The would-be assassin was killed by a strike to the optics circuitry. According
to Dr. Monroe, the internal systems fried from the electric shock generated by
the sparring dagger.”

“If it’s an impersonation, where is the real Maya?” Reeva’s
question was seconded throughout.

Destiny held up her hands. “We’ll get to that. This is an
inquiry, people. I don’t have all the answers yet. That’s why we’re here.”

A medic tried to work on Kendra, but she brushed his hands
away. Azros clenched his fists. It was all he could do not to call her out for
being stubborn.

Destiny’s hands folded elegantly against her stomach. “This
assassin is in the employ of the Sheon regime.”

“What does the Sheon want with us?” a voice called from the
back of the room.

Destiny’s gaze narrowed.

The rumbling throughout the room surprised Azros. It seems
his people weren’t the only ones suffering under Sheon abuse.

“There are questions that need to be answered. We have two
Sheon representatives among us…Shyla.” Destiny gestured to the robed woman.
“And the other you’ve already known…Kendra St. Thomas.”

Shocked gasps echoed around the room. The rumblings grew
louder. Apparently Azros wasn’t the only one she kept her heritage from.

“Our time is short, so we need to get straight to the meat
of the matter.”

Azros shot first. “Shyla, how did you know about the
assassin?”

Shyla’s arrival was too convenient for Azros’ comfort. She
examined the body of the…whatever it was. Satisfied with something, she looked
up at Azros.

“I found out about the assassin the same way I got the
schematics and security information, from my mother’s personal data logs. It
wasn’t targeting you when I checked it the first time.”

“Who was the intended target?” Kendra stared at her cousin.

Shyla looked back at her. “You. It’s always been you. She
wasn’t sure you survived, but months ago she started having nightmares about
your return.”

“Hold on.” Mase raised his hand. “The Sheon have been
targeting the chief? Why?”

Kendra sighed. “It’s a long story, and one we don’t have
time for right now. I promise it’ll be a great one to tell over a keg when this
is all over.”

“Why didn’t you warn me about the assassin when you handed
off the information earlier?” Azros was furious.

“Earlier?” Kendra looked from Azros to Shyla and back.

“Because it wasn’t necessary to know! If my cousin was dead,
it would sit here indefinitely, doing the same job day in and out. I’m here
because I get notice when one breaks down. Since I’m already on the surface, I
had to track down the source of the malfunction.”

“If I was the target, then why didn’t it take me down?” Kendra
leaned against the dark wall and crossed her feet at the ankles.

Shyla gestured to the assassin. “She had to reprogram it for
Azros. Rumors about a tiger-striped man spread through your facility like a
solar storm. Everyone was buzzing about him. It would be an easy thing for
Skreeta to change targets.”

The medic tried to touch her, and again Kendra brushed his
hands away. Azros moved, and Kendra cut her eyes at him, shaking her head. She
had murderous intent written all over her. He held up his hands with an
internal promise to make her pay for her stubbornness later.

“Did you have any interaction with Maya?” Destiny steepled
her fingers. A narrowed gaze pierced Kendra.

Kendra shook her head. “When she walked in, I recognized her
face, but I couldn’t place her name so we never met. Who did her security
scrub?”

Destiny looked up. “Chris.” A dusty-haired young man stepped
forward. “Get me everything you can on Maya. Her history, her family, with a
focus on the last three weeks of her life…I want a full scope.”

He nodded. “On it.” The door opened and he left.

Reeva spoke up. “Shyla, can you erase the visual feed before
Skreeta sees it?”

Shyla shook her head. “I can’t access her data files while
she’s plugged in. She constantly monitors everything that happens on her ship.
They call her the all-seeing eye. I have to get in, erase the information, and
get out without leaving a trace. Do you have any idea how hard that is?”

“Bullshit. You set this up!” Azros was tired of Sheon
politics and double talk.

Shyla’s face grew red with anger and her eyes flashed with
fury. “I gathered the information you needed to bring down the
Calypso
.”

“First Xavier. Now this. It just seems a little too
convenient.”

Kendra looked over at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Shyla has been a great help to us for some time.” Destiny
spoke up. Kendra and Azros both stared at her in open-mouthed shock. She nodded
at Shyla. “Tell them.”

“I’ve been feeding information to Destiny for the past six
months. Since your capture.”

“She passes along flight path routes of the
Calypso
,
potential ships Skreeta wanted to hit…you name it. I have been passing
information along to appropriate people, so crisis could be avoided.” She
gestured around the room. “Most of the people in this room have been involved
in it.”

“So you knew I was alive?” Kendra had grown pale throughout
the revelation.

“No.” Shyla shook her head. “I thought you died a long time
ago. Until now nothing had given me reason to think otherwise.” She glanced at
Destiny.

Kendra looked at Destiny, but the woman stared straight
ahead with no expression.

Kendra turned her attention to Azros. “Who is Xavier?”

“Your coma patient is one of my most trusted advisors. Shyla
just happens to show up and provide me with everything I need to take down the
Calypso
.
Less than an hour later, I’m targeted by an assassin of Sheon origin.”

Kendra looked from Shyla to Azros. “Let’s get all the facts
before we make assumptions.” The medic tried to touch her and Kendra growled.

Destiny slammed her fist on the table and most of the room
jumped in surprise. “I agree. Let’s see what we do know.” She glared at Kendra.
“Let him do his damn job.”

Kendra stared at the ceiling as though praying for patience.
The medic tended to Kendra’s shoulder, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
Azros admired her strength and dedication, but he still wanted to wring her
neck for putting herself in harm’s way.

A young doctor in a lab coat stood beside the assassin’s
head. “My scans indicate very little biomass. It’s mostly synthetic.”

The medic leaned close to Kendra, and Azros had to strain to
hear his words. “A couple more inches to the right and you would have been
lying on this table instead of that thing. You’re damn lucky.” The medic
slapped esskin over the wound.

Azros’ heart froze in his chest. It hadn’t looked like a
mortal wound.

The medic smacked the esskin and Kendra hissed a breath in
through her teeth.

Azros’ fists clenched and feral anger leapt to blaze in the
back of his head.

Kendra glared at the medic. “What was that for?”

The medic glared right back. “Waiting. You did a bang-up job
yourself, but let me do my damn job. I do have other patients to see.” He
packed up his stuff.

Azros caught the medic’s eye, and watched with satisfaction
as all the color drained from his face.

“This assassin is the same type that attacked Kendra two
summers ago,” the doctor continued.

Ice ran through Azros’ veins. Two summers ago. Realization
dawned. The hunting would never stop.

The doctor ran her fingers down the featureless assassin.
“You’ll notice the smooth, faceless and genderless corpse. According to the
file, this is characteristic of their…death.”

A few mumbled comments told Azros the previous assassination
attempt hadn’t been common knowledge.