GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (16 page)

The first two games in the match went to Frezlo and the bystanders were no longer keeping their voices hushed. It sounded as though the betting was fairly even and Gallant's supporters were growing restless. From what bets he had heard, he knew some of them stood to lose a considerable amount if he didn't win but he could only worry about one thing at a time.

His luck seemed to have changed in the third game, when he made two of the needed six quads on initial tries. At least the angry threats from the audience quieted back down enough for him to temporarily scratch them off his list of problems. He took the game six to two, which helped restore his confidence, but Cherry's grip on his shoulder didn't ease up in the slightest.

The next game progressed so swiftly and so disastrously, Gallant was certain Frezlo had used cheats. Although he had been watching closely, he hadn't seen the beast make any suspicious moves, so he couldn't prove anything. By the time Frezlo was ahead five to zero by rolling four quads in a row, the observers were also beginning to question his good luck, but no one was willing to come forward to make a formal accusation.

Gallant achieved a quad on his next turn but it didn't go far to relieve the tension building throughout the room. At least with suspicions aroused about Frezlo's honesty, some of the heat would be taken off Gallant if he lost. That was hardly a consolation though, when any second he could be forced to turn Cherry over to a giant, pig-faced hairball with incineration on his mind.

While Frezlo picked up the cubes for what could be the final round, the room grew silent. Gallant heard Cherry take a deep breath and hold it as the cubes rolled to a stop.

Two greens, an orange and a yellow.

Frezlo's hand hovered over the orange then moved to the greens then back again to the orange. If Gallant's outward show of emotionlessness wasn't so well practiced, he might have been pounding on the table like the beast had. But such a display would be out of character for him, so he forced himself to lean back and fold his hands over his stomach as if he had no particular interest in the outcome of this game.

Finally Frezlo scooped up the orange and yellow and dropped them again.

One blue. One more green.

Gallant could feel Cherry's body vibrating against his back. She was still gripping his shoulder but now she was using it as a crutch. If only he had gained a little of her trust, she would not have to be so frightened. Then she would know he would never allow Frezlo to harm her, even if it meant having to use his secret.

Considering that, he knew he could not do it here, in front of so many. Not only might it possibly blow his carefully created cover forever, he had no way of knowing if every one of the species in the tavern would be affected in the same way. Before he could think through a solution, Frezlo rerolled the blue.

Cherry sent that little cube the most positive thoughts she could conjure up—orange, red, purple—anything but green. But her message didn't get through. The damn thing came up green. And her heart pounded even harder.

Frezlo's triumphant roar was nothing compared to the overjoyed shouts of the bystanders who had won and the furious shrieks of those who had lost.

If she wasn't absolutely positive Gallant was her only chance of getting out of this in one piece, she'd throttle him where he sat.

"Woman... mine," Frezlo declared unnecessarily.

Cherry took a step backward and bumped into a wall of men who had come up behind her. One glance at Dutch confirmed that he was going to make sure Gallant lived up to his part of the bet, with no concern for what it meant to her.

Gallant stood, removed a small hook from the waistband of his pants and unlatched the manacle on his wrist. "Looks like your luck turned around, Frezlo. Almost unbelievably I'd say, but the woman's yours now. Kind of a shame. I hadn't quite gotten tired of her yet. Maybe you'd consider leasing her to me for another day or two before I take off."

"No! Want... her... now."

"Fine," Gallant said with a negligent shrug. "I'm sure there's a pleasure female down the way that I can use for tonight." He tossed the manacle and hook to Frezlo. "She's still a little rebellious. I didn't have time to finish training her. Though I don't suppose you intend to keep her long yourself. I would suggest you use her at least once before doing away with her though. I think you'd find her very.... What had Sinbar called her? Oh, yes. He said she was
amusing."

Cherry's sandaled foot connected with Gallant's shin the next instant but all she accomplished was setting off a round of laughter.

Gallant shook his head as he eased himself out of the reach of any of Cherry's limbs. "As you can see, she's still a bit wild but she's your problem from here on. As for me, having her hot bottom squirming against my privates the last couple of hours has left me with a problem I think I'll have taken care of right away." He gave Frezlo a farewell salute, turned on his heel and walked out of the tavern without sparing Cherry a glance.

She was furious and terrified, and might have burst into tears if she wasn't certain it would only entertain the heathens that much more. She didn't know precisely what she had expected Gallant to do but it sure wasn't walking out like that. She had heard the grumbling of the losers and realized if Gallant had hung around much longer, they might have decided to retrieve some of their losses out of his hide. At the moment, she'd be glad to help them do just that!

The sound of the manacle clicking shut drew her attention away from the door. Always a pragmatist, she knew when to face facts. Gallant wasn't going to rescue her and Frezlo intended to kill her... or use her then kill her. Neither alternative was desirable, but at least the latter would give her a bit more time to attempt an escape back to Gallant's ship... or prepare for her death.

She stared at Frezlo as he rose from the chair and realized that, based on his overall size, he could probably accomplish using her
and
killing her at the same time. He jerked the chain and she had to follow or be dragged by the collar, in which case she stood a chance of strangling
before
he incinerated her. Her list of possible endings to this drama were increasing by the minute.

Her robotic arm was powerful but she didn't like to use it in a situation where violence could be turned against her. Plus, there was no one present with whom she could seek refuge even if she did manage to break away from Frezlo. Just in case an opportunity to escape arose, however, she noted where he had slipped the hook for the manacle.

Encouraging suggestions and wolf-whistles accompanied their departure from the tavern. As she had surmised years ago, males tended to behave like males, regardless of their planet of origin. They passed the building with the mating animals sign, and she couldn't help but wonder what sort of creature was helping Gallant with the problem he claimed she caused.

He had made it clear that he didn't want to use her for sex but he had also sworn that no one else would use her for anything. There was no reason his breaking another promise should surprise her, except that she had been so sure he wasn't lying when he said he would keep her safe.

Frezlo came to a stop in front of a door and pushed it open. The illuminated symbol above the entranceway meant nothing to Cherry but the only furnishing inside the small, one-room building was a large bed and on that, was a satchel. This, she deduced, must be the luxury suite of Hotel Zeonid.

If Frezlo had meant to kill her right away, he could have done that outside, where she wouldn't have gotten ashes all over his room. And since she no longer seemed to be in danger of strangling, that only left the
other
alternative.

As he pulled her over toward the satchel, she prepared herself to attempt a karate chop on the back of his thick neck the moment he took his eyes off her. To her disappointment, he reached into the bag without letting her out of his sight. Her curiosity about what he was searching for took precedence over all else. She doubted that it was a weapon, since his death ray seemed to be permanently affixed to his index finger.

Frezlo stood up again and held the object out to her. There was just enough light in the room for her to make out that it was the largest hairbrush she had ever seen. He grunted and she took it from him.

Keeping a grasp on her chain, he then unlocked the manacle on his wrist, removed his tunic and replaced the manacle.

Her gaze quickly scanned his huge, hairy form. Although he was technically naked, she couldn't see anything that could be construed as a sex organ but she didn't want to make any snap judgments.

Pointing at the hairbrush, he grunted at her again.

The only thing she could think was that he wanted her to brush her hair, but when she put it to the bangs of her wig, he stopped her.

"No... do... me... first."

Cherry's eyes widened. "You want me to brush you? Is that it?" A softer grunt was her answer. She smiled in spite of the repulsion she felt at the idea of having to touch him. This was far easier to handle than anything else her imagination had been conjuring up. With the brush poised in midair, she tried to decide where to start.

Making a low groaning sound, Frezlo pointed to the brush, then pointed to his feet, his calves and his thighs. After that he patted each arm, his back and his chest.

"Oh! I get it. There's a special routine to this, huh? Okay, I can play hairdresser for you. Let's see, are there any problems I should know about? Split ends maybe? I can recommend an excellent conditioner that would get rid of all these nasty tangles at the same time."

"Do!"
he ordered and pressed his hand on her head until she sat on the floor.

Brushing Frezlo's hair was much harder than Cherry expected it to be. Not only was it extremely coarse, bits of debris were caught in tangles that the metal bristles of the brush couldn't get through. The first time she separated a tangle by hand and removed a burr, Frezlo actually sighed. Or at least that's what Cherry thought it sounded like.

She couldn't help but think of how much she was going to enjoy telling this story to Aster. Abruptly she realized she didn't believe for one second that she was about to die.

By the time she finished the two tree trunks he used as legs, she had received quite a few sighs and something she thought might be an appreciative moan, for a beast. It occurred to her that she was grooming him the way monkeys do for each other. She just hoped he didn't expect her to eat any little bugs she might find while she was
doing
him.

She had just moved on to one of his arms when the door burst open. Before he could raise his lethal finger, Cherry clamped her robotic fingers around his wrist and held it down to keep him from incinerating any possible rescuer.

Frezlo's other arm came up to swat her away at the same time as Gallant stepped into the doorway and pointed a small black box at him.

"Hold it right there, Frezlo. I only want to talk but I'll fire if you lay a hand on her. Woman, you hold onto that arm for a few more seconds while I try to negotiate a deal with your master."

Frezlo snarled at Cherry but the weapon in Gallant's hand seemed to intimidate him enough to make him stand still. Cherry's attention was drawn to something even more interesting.

Gallant was not wearing his eye patch.

Chapter 8

"Voyager... lose," Frezlo said. "No... renege."

"Aah, but a gambler's forfeit is reversed if the winner cheated."

Cherry felt the beast's arm twitch and applied a bit more pressure.

"Prove."

Gallant shook his head. "If I figured out how you did it—and I think I would if I examined that tunic of yours—I'd have to turn you over to the crowd in the tavern. And you know how they deal with cheats."

The moment he mentioned the tunic, Frezlo's gaze darted to it and Cherry had no doubt that Gallant had made an accurate guess.

"Want... woman?"

"As I said, I hadn't quite gotten tired of her yet. But I also want what you agreed to give me had I won—the name of the person who hired you for the Weebort kill."

One second Cherry thought Frezlo was going to cooperate, the next, he had pulled her in front of him with his free arm crooked around her throat. In spite of the stranglehold, she held on to his wrist.