Chapter 22

GENERAL KOZA

The dark alley is hidden from the view of the main walkway. I duck through the low arch that will lead to the meeting point, dropping the act of a leisurely evening stroll once I’m out of view. I’m thinking about Ava, the way she looked with her hair tousled from my hands and the flush of her skin after her third climax, the warmth of her presence close behind me.

Her vulnerability if anything happens to her—or to me.

I’d been fiercely opposed to bringing her at first, but if this is what she truly wants, I do not have it in me to deny her. She is trusting me to protect her, and I will do everything in my power to ensure her safety. Her insistence on protecting me in return has something new and intense blooming inside me.

I see a figure far ahead in the dark alley where I’m meant to meet my contact. They’re leaning against the wall, shrouded in a dark cloak. It reminds me vaguely of the bar, of Ava in her disguise, of how she took my cock into her mouth and the way her slippery tongue felt against me.

My distraction is unusual. I normally have no trouble focusing when working. I force my attention back to my contact just in time for my hairs to stand on end at the way he’s moving. He hasn’t seen me yet, so I pull Ava out of view and cover my own face before I take a careful look around the jagged corner.

I get a brief look at the lower half of the face under the cloak hood. I feel my blood freeze. What was bothering me was ~familiarity~.

~This is no rebel. We have somehow been compromised.~

Waiting in the alley is none other than Gryshin, the High Commander’s most trusted spy. He is a six-limbed species who is agile with all six feet on the ground, as well as in an upright position, and varying combinations. He has been trained his whole life in nothing but hand-to-hand combat and espionage and is one of the few with a good chance to beat me in a close-quarters fight.

Only the High Commander’s senior command staff know Gryshin’s relationship to our leader. Any other rebel in my place would have unknowingly handed over priceless information.

Ava gives me a questioning look as I pull back around the corner. I grimace in response, and gently hold her. I explain the problem in as few words as I can. Her face goes still, and my gut twists at the hint of fear that passes over her eyes before she steels herself.

“Let me make the approach,” she says, and my hands tighten on her arms. Something softens in her expression, but her voice is still soft and urgent. “If we miss the handoff, he’ll know he was recognized, and there aren’t many people who would recognize him.”

~She’s right, damn her.~

I hiss in frustration. She smiles and presses her forehead against mine. “You’ll just come around the other side while he’s distracted,” she says, hiding her nerves with a teasing tone. “Obviously.”

I hate letting her go, but we don’t have time to come up with a better plan. We’re a few minutes late as it is. I suppress a growl and hurry into position as Ava pulls her hood low over her face and starts down the alley.

They exchange coded greetings, and she digs in her heavy cloak as if retrieving the chip. Gryshin turns to shield her from sight as though he were truly a conspirator. I steal through the alley from the other side, trying not to acknowledge that he’s blocking my path to Ava and could probably tear out her throat before I could stop him.

I cannot stand him looming over her a moment longer, and as soon as I reach them, I wrench him away from her and slam him against the wall. Before he can recover from the shock, I punch him sharply in the throat. His body is covered with hard armor-like plates, with few vulnerabilities, but one is the soft, unprotected flesh of his neck.

Ava ducks away as soon as we clash, and I relax just a little, though some small part of me is tracking her movements.

Gryshin makes a wheezing sound, but hits back with his upper two limbs while the lower four drop to the ground in a fluid motion. The strikes land hard, but I’m anticipating his next move—with four limbs planted in a wide stance, he intends to launch himself into a tackle and overpower me.

I give the appearance of being more dazed than I truly am, allowing him to move. Before his feet fully leave the ground, I spin to the side, launching myself onto his back and pulling my blade free from its sheath.

The other highly vulnerable area is the space in between the plates where his limbs meet his torso. His movements create a gap where a well-placed knife can pierce the soft flesh and organs guarded by the bony plates.

Unfortunately, the cloak he is wearing only allows me to estimate where to strike based on his movements. I miss the first time, the blade hitting the hard shell. The impact reverberates up my arm and almost causes me to drop the knife.

Gryshin’s lower limbs grab at me. He had shifted his weight to three of his upper four limbs, allowing him to reach me from underneath. His final limb beats at my face, hitting blind, but striking me more often than he misses.

I know that he has retracted his head in defense, shielding his soft neck where my right hand is securing my hold on him. My tail is wrapped around one of his middle limbs, further keeping me in place on his back, but he will be able to dislodge me at any second. I use all the strength in my tail to pull his arm free, unbalancing him and opening a gap between the plates I know is there but cannot see.

I strike again with the knife, this time hitting my mark, and the sharp blade plunges in with a squelching noise. His three hearts are placed between each set of limbs, and luck is on my side as he drops like a felled log. I must have hit the middle heart with my strike.

I roll off his back and flip him over. Gripping the fins on his head through the hood of the cloak, I pull out his neck and quickly slit his throat.

I can feel my eye swelling shut, and the sting of a split lip from the blows he landed on my face. Suddenly, I remember Ava, and the adrenaline drains away, leaving me cold. She’s standing in the mouth of the alley, watching Gryshin’s limp body with an odd, blank expression that unexpectedly makes me cringe.

~Has she ever witnessed this kind of violence before? What must she think of me as she watches me clean my knife on his cloak?~

Reluctant to meet her eyes, I search his body quickly for transmission devices and find his standard-issue comms device. It’s not actively transmitting when I crush it under my heel, but still, I must assume I have been identified.

~Thank the goddess I brought Ava with me, as I cannot return to Darsherva now.~

AVA

My stomach sinks as I watch Koza fight the cloaked alien. It’s a blur of fists and flesh and too many hands, then a flash of Koza’s blade. The cloaked alien falls, and Koza cuts their throat.

I should be horrified, I am horrified, but it’s mostly washed away by my relief that Koza is okay. It’s eerie to see the body so still, and I’m thankful it’s covered by the cloak.

He won’t look at me as he cleans his knife and searches the body. He crushes a device and then reluctantly offers me his hand.

I take it without hesitation, give it a squeeze, and we retreat back to the shuttle. Once inside, he finally looks at me, and my heart breaks at the fear in his eyes.

He maintains eye contact with me as he activates the comm of the shuttle with a spoken command.

“General,” Zynett’s voice fills the space through the speakers of the shuttle.

“I would like roasted Yorg for the morning meal. Make sure it is fresh.”

“Understood, General,” Zynett replies, the comm cutting off with a small crackle.

He punches some commands into the control panel, and the ship starts to ascend, following the course Koza has just entered. My mind whirls at the coded messages and swift actions.

“This has been anticipated,” Koza says. “I could only keep up both parts for so long, Ava. Now the next phase begins.”

I step forward and hug him. Relief engulfs me as he holds me close.

~Well, my slow introduction into the Multic just sped up by a shit ton.~