The Healer's Kiss: Book Four of the Forced To Serve Series (31 page)

Malachi laughed. “It is just the way the Sumerian shows her truest affection. Boca Ador and I are very close friends. If anything were to happen to her…” Malachi shrugged at Orem Sel’s glare. “I’m waiting for her to get tired of the Greggor. She will be mine willingly then. You’ve probably never bonded with a willing female in your entire life. This is unfortunate for you because a willing mate is a treasure more valuable than any you currently possess.”

Though he mostly agreed with Malachi’s sentiments, Chiang snorted and swore a death threat to the demon in his native tongue if he so much as laid a demonic finger on Boca. It only made the object of his venom laugh at his words.

“We’ll swap insults later, Chiang. Right now, we have serious business to conduct with our very rude host.” He straightened his still sore body and smiled at Orem Sel. “Shall I vaporize all your guards or are we going to be treated as guests?”

Orem Sel reluctantly nodded in agreement. “No further harm will come to your people. We have an accord.”

“Great,” Malachi said dryly. “I was close to changing my mind about the gift I brought you.”

“Gift?” Orem asked. “The Ethosian pair? I have better here already, including one that has not been touched yet. Your discarded females don’t interest me.”

“You are sorely making me regret that I chose to approach you directly,” Malachi said with a short laugh, staring hard at the detestable male. “Next time, I’ll just hire persuasion instead of coming here myself.”

“You are free to leave anytime you wish,” Orem Sel said dryly.

“Then who will buy my recent acquisitions? I have the seven females that escaped from Fener Sel. Most are still wired. We both lose if you send me away,” Malachi stated. “Besides, how much use to anyone is a planet with just one male?”

Orem Sel narrowed his gaze, wondering if the demon-possessed Norblade male was being deceptive. How could a single being, no matter how powerful, do everything he professed? “Very well, Conor. I will accept your gift. Then we will discuss terms for your cargo.”

“I have brought you my fully trained mate, as was promised long ago,” Malachi said.

“She was promised to Fener Sel. Fener Sel was the one who promised her to me,” Orem Sel informed him.

“Since I didn’t let Fener Sel keep her, details of alleged transference of ownership are not important in this situation. Your fellow Lotharian ruler deserved his death at the hands of Liam’s crew. Who would dare harm a Siren’s mate and think no repercussions would come from it? A foolish abduction is like pulling an overly bright star into your orbit. It will always illuminate things best left in the dark,” Malachi said.

“We can remove any mate’s energy from a female, even a Siren’s,” Orem Sel declared, proud because the cleansing had been his discovery.

“Yes, but the female Fener Sel abducted was also the commander of a Peace Alliance rescue crew. My brother is captain of the ship she serves on. I’ve been working incognito as a medic there because of Fener Sel’s bloody mistake. The commander is still not over her trauma, and now the whole universe knows what happened here. You’re lucky the Peace Alliance hasn’t invaded.”

Orem Sel squirmed in his chair. “It was only a harmless competition between us. Fener Sel took the officer. I took another…prize.”

“Yes…I well know you did,” Malachi said emphatically, staring at the ruler. “We have to bring the high ambassador’s daughter back or the entire Peace Alliance will descend on you and your people. One of the reasons I agreed to come here was to save you. Terris Rein is no longer in the market for slaves, or haven’t you heard what happened there?”

“You came here to try and scare me,” Orem Sel declared. “The Peace Alliance has no jurisdiction here. We have broken none of their laws. What we do on our planet is our concern.”

Malachi let loose a long-suffering sigh. “I have brought you my mate. As a show of goodwill to future business between us, I want the high ambassador’s daughter in return.”

“You can have the girl next week, when I’m done with her,” Orem Sel said.

“I will have her today and untouched, so Liam can return her and save you from your error in judgment,” Malachi said fiercely.

Orem Sel lifted his chin, looking away as he thought. “Your abused mate seems hardly worth such a trade.”

Malachi shook his head slowly. “Not abused, you moron. My first female is
trained
—to please. Issa has rare qualities that only a male like you can appreciate.”

Orem Sel snorted. Malachi looked back to where Liam stood by Issa Onin. At Liam’s nod, Malachi motioned the excited female forward. She glided sensuously across the floor, her long shift swishing against her legs.

“Issa, say hello to your new mate,” Malachi suggested.

Issa lowered her gaze, peeking at Orem Sel through lashes she had enhanced for the purpose. It had been a long time since she’d had the pleasure of luring an interesting male. She stared until the ruler squirmed under her perusal.

“Will he be as understanding of my needs as you?” she asked the demon coyly.

“Doubtful, but I’ll have Chiang check on you when he delivers the first shipment of females. If Orem Sel hasn’t made you content, you can return to me. How does that sound?” Malachi asked, looking at the ruler, who looked royally pissed that a female would dare complain about him as a bonding partner.

“Very well, Conor. Give me one final kiss to hold me,” Issa purred, lowering her gaze as she ran loving hands over the firm chest of what once was a male she would have died for. At least the demon had been taking exceptional care of Conor’s body.

Malachi pressed his mouth into a firm line but stepped into the female. “Just one then.”

His mouth descended on Issa’s, the female’s eagerness lending credibility to the moment. He briefly wondered what Rena Trax was thinking about it, and found himself working hard not to check.

Issa made herself remember Conor, pulling out her favorite memory of being bound by him. The demon’s kiss was not even close to the heat she recalled, but she moaned beneath the press of his lips just the same. Relieved when the false display of affection had ended, Malachi stepped away from her and turned to Orem Sel.

“You hold her fate in your hands, Sire. Your fellow ruler, Fener Sel, wired her for you. She enjoyed the wires so much that I left them in place. I suggest you test your control before I leave her in your care.”

Surprised at the information, Orem Sel sat up in his chair and looked at his palm. Curling his fingers, his pulse jumped when the female who thought to refuse him called out. Pressing harder, he saw her hands cover her chest glands as she moaned
in pleasure
over the pain he was causing her. His sharp gaze swung to Conor Synar, who was smirking.

“This is a most pleasant surprise,” Orem Sel said, uncurling his fingers and looking at Issa Onin with great interest now as she panted in recovery. He had longed for a female to share his affection for pain. Sadly, the darker desire was a nearly impossible to train into one.

“Why is your mate a better choice, Conor? Issa Onin is a Peace Alliance officer as well, is she not?”

“Yes, indeed she is, but she is one willing to serve the greater good to achieve her own contentment. Keep her happy, and she will keep the Peace Alliance from ever knowing what happens on Lotharius,” Malachi explained.

Orem Sel sighed. “You have definitely pleased me.”

“Talk is nothing. Prove your gratitude. Deliver the high ambassador’s daughter to me—untouched and unharmed,” Malachi ordered.

“Unharmed is an impossible request. I had her wired already,” Orem Sel admitted. “Other than that she remains unharmed. But how will you keep her from reporting that she was kept here against her will?”

“Let’s just say that incapacitating armed guards is not my only demon trick. I can steal memories as well. Isn’t that right, Issa?” Malachi asked.

“Yes, but you gave the good ones back,” Issa purred, favoring the demon with a genuine smile. Getting back her memories of Conor was something she was grateful for because she still missed the male she had mated. “It’s been ages since you punished me properly. I’ve missed you, Conor.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll not miss me for long,” Malachi said, watching Issa stick out her lip for a pout. “Now be good and perhaps your new mate will punish you later.”

“I am not afraid of him enough for his punishment to be effective,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder before favoring Orem Sel with a defiant look.

Orem Sel felt his heartbeat accelerate at her dare. “I’ll have my guards deliver Kefira to the guest quarters I prepared for you.”

“No,” Malachi said coldly. “You have betrayed my trust too often today. Chiang and Boca will accompany your guards. She will be in my quarters before Issa is in yours. Do not cross me.”

“Very well,” Orem Sel agreed, smiling at Issa. “Know I will take my prize back on the morrow if your mate fails to perform as expected.”

Malachi caught Chiang’s eye and inclined his head towards the guards. Chiang nodded and grabbed Boca’s arm in a firm grip. It was all Malachi could do not to laugh at the fury momentarily crossing Boca’s face before she remembered where they were. Those two were never going to have a peaceful life with each other, a thought which always pleased him. But he shouldn’t let himself get distracted from his ruse.

“Chiang. Do not hesitate to kill the guards if they show any inclination of further treachery,” Malachi ordered, not having to work much to be deadly sincere.

“Aye,” Chiang said flatly. “That’s an order I’m more than willing to follow.”

Chapter 21

Chiang and Boca followed the guards back down the long hallway, past the quarters where they had spent the night, until they arrived at a set of double doors flanked with several armed guards. The doors were opened after a brief exchange of words. They all stepped onto a platform that led to a set of winding stairs which they followed down until they got to the bottom.

“This is what I saw,” Boca said aloud, forgetting she was not supposed to speak without permission.

Chiang gave her a startled look. “In your vision?”

“Yes,” she answered, looking around. “There are several holding cells nearby. The high ambassador’s daughter is in one of them.”

Chiang saw the two guards ahead of him share a look just as they reached the bottom. When the sting of an injector hit the back of his neck, Chiang fell to his knees, fighting not to pass out. As everything swam across his vision, he saw Boca move towards him only to be stopped by two guards with laser weapons pointed at her. Shaking his head from side to side, he saw her cease her struggles.

With everything happening in slow motion around him, Chiang felt himself being dragged into one of the cells and left on the floor. Moments after Boca was thrown in with him. The cell door clanged shut, securing them inside.

“Boca—are you alright?” Chiang asked. He saw her mouth open but never heard her answer. The blackness descended too quickly.

From behind the metal bars, Boca watched the guards walk back the way they had come, amazed at how eerily familiar the whole scene was to her. Not that it had done a Klageldon dung’s worth of good since the information from her vision hadn’t helped her at all today. Now they were prisoners, and who knew what was going to happen to Captain Synar and the others.

She bent to the floor and started checking Chiang’s vitals.

Chiang groaned at Boca’s touch and rolled his head. The pain in his neck was excruciating. “Tricked me,” he said, struggling to form the words.

“Not just you, they deceived us both,” Boca said quietly. “Rest for now. We can only hope that whatever they gave you will wear off soon. Then we will escape.”

“If you do so, please take me with you. My father will pay for my return,” a voice said from the cell next to theirs.

Standing, Boca walked to a small gap at the front of the cell where the wall ended and the bars began. She saw no one. “Kefira?”

“Yes—that is my name. How do you know me? Who are you?” the voice asked.

“I am Ensign Boca Ador of a Peace Alliance rescue ship called the Liberator. We were intending to free you, but they have incapacitated Doctor Chiang. Now it appears we are captured as well,” Boca said. “Can you move to the front so I can see you?”

“I cannot walk,” Kefira said. “Wires have been inserted in my limbs, and they use a device to cause me great pain.”

Boca walked away from the gap to grip the bars. She screamed in frustration and then smacked the unrelenting metal.

“Why did you show me a destiny I could not change?”

But no stoic entity with a knowing gaze replied to her question.

“
Slaggika
,” Boca swore loudly.

The female they came to rescue couldn’t walk. Chiang wasn’t conscious. Even if she managed to subdue a guard and escape the cell herself, she wasn’t going to be able to take them with her.

She would have to tolerate the situation and keep hoping Chiang regained consciousness soon.

***

The banquet table was laid out with more food than Malachi had seen in many years, regardless of which host body he had been in.

On the Liberator, food was rationed, prepared carefully, and served immediately. With so many planets in organic crisis, nourishment for the physical body was never wasted, and rarely put on gross display. The spoilage of anything edible was a punishable offense on Norblade. Apparently on Lotharius, the potential spoilage was sign of great wealth.

As they took seats, Malachi placed Seta on one side and Rena on the other. Liam shook his head about sitting and took a protective stance behind them, keeping his back to the wall.

“Did you have to violate her so visibly?” Rena demanded.

Malachi looked at Rena. “Want to kiss me and remove the vile memory? I can easily convince you there is no competition there.”

“Add it to your collection,” Rena said, ignoring Seta’s warning glare. “There is no competition.”

Malachi leaned into Rena, deliberately blowing on the top of her ear. “Indeed—that is a profound truth,” he whispered, noting the shiver that shook her.