Page 6 of A Merciless Bargain
“Me. An exotic human female used to surprise people. Especially since your kind isn’t known for finding my kind attractive. Nobody else on this planet has a human Obedient.”
“Bowyer Haled procured rare species for consumption,” Dane said.
My stomach lurched. “Really? That’s repulsive. We never ate like that at the house.”
“You would not have. Not if Bowyer wanted to—” Dane stopped.
“Save me to eat later?” I filled in for him. “Ew, gross.”
Dane grimaced in disgust. “That is a possibility,” he allowed. “But I was thinking a different outcome if he was indeed supplying for Vadhea.”
“Oh. If Bowyer wanted to live?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Funny how he is now unalive. Could he have sampled the merchandise?” I asked myself, though now my eyes widened. “Did he take something that was Vadhea’s?” I was so very fucked if Vadhea thought I’d also been involved in skimming or sampling.
“Not according to the file. It is not clear why Bowyer was killed, but because he was a supplier for Vadhea, that cannot go without a response.”
A glimmer of hope surfaced. “Okay, then hear me out. If what I’m telling you is true, and I’m not the one that killed Bowyer, then Vadhea has the wrong person.” I smiled in triumph. “And that means that therightperson will know that they got away with killing Vadhea’s supplier.”
Dane appeared to mull over the implications of what I’d said.
My smile dropped. All of this assumed that was why someone killed my purchaser. “Ask for an extension because of the inaccurate information.” I reached out to grasp his arm clad in the gray long-sleeved shirt. His hard muscles flexed against my hand.
“Help me prove that I’m innocent and someone else is guilty,” I continued. “Then you can bring them to Vadhea. Don’t bring me to be killed.”
Dane stared for a moment at my hand on his arm before pulling away and rising. “I dislike being given incomplete information. Or being lied to.”
“You think someone actually lied?”
He gave a curt nod. “I do not believe that the Lynka Syndicate did not know that you are a human.” He looked at me with hooded eyes. “Or an Obedient.”
Holy shit. There it was again. Was he attracted to me? I needed to take advantage, but I didn’t know how when he’d already rebuffed me. “I don’t know why they would lie,” I admitted.
“Nor do I,” he groused. “How did you come to be purchased by Bowyer Haled?”
“Like other human females, I was recruited by someone representing the Collector,” I began, chuckling at the absurdity. “For me, it was at a bar after work. The recruiter was of a highly human-appearing species, thus I dismissed him at first. I only considered what he offered after he convinced me he wasn’t insane or on drugs. His webbed feet and superior technology were quite convincing.”
“You were willing to walk away from everything you knew?”
I shrugged. “My life was fine. Nothing exciting. I worked for a hospital in human resources.” I snorted. “You probably don’t know what that entails. Trust me when I say it’s boring. Outside of work, I enjoyed hanging with friends and the occasional one-night stand. When the recruiter explained that I could travel to outer space—fucking outer space!—and make obscene amounts of money by becoming an Obedient, I told him to sign me up.”
“You did not ask for details?” he asked, not surprising, given his own apparent detail-oriented approach to life.
I sighed. “You’re being literal. Of course I did. The recruiter explained that I’d be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and we’d come to a mutually acceptable contract.” I smiled wickedly. “After my audition with the Collector, I was in.” My smile dimmed. “Bowyer wouldn’t have been my first choice, but he was decent to me, and offered the obscene amount of money I’d wanted.”
Dane appeared confused.
“When my contract was up, I planned to explore the universe,” I explained.
He nodded, and then his mouth thinned into a line of displeasure. “There would be a lot of information about your history. I do not believe that the Syndicate did not know it.”
“I don’t know why they didn’t, or why they withheld…” I trailed off at the hard look I now saw on Dane’s face.
“Unless you are the one lying. You are correct that the Foulan rarely find humans attractive. Too weak and hairless.”
“Hey!” I objected.
“You may not have been Bowyer Haled’s carnal Obedient. Maybe he procured you.”
“Wait,” I interrupted, nose wrinkling. “As food? We’re back on that? You think he bought me for food, and that’s why I killed him?” My voice rose an octave with the second question.