His Human Possession (Zandian Masters 8)

“Well, I think Prince Zander hopes to mate his warriors to every available female to ensure the continuation of the species. Especially before the war.” Mina gave an innocent shrug. “Also, I’ll be traveling quite a bit with Erick on official ambassadorial business.”

A muscle flexed in Paal’s jaw and his horns twitched, but he simply nodded stiffly and bowed.

Mina waited until his back was turned before she tossed Leti a smile. “Come on.” She hooked a hand through Leti’s elbow and led her toward a washroom in the rear. “You look underfed, and although you certainly look adorable with your, ahem, rainbow decoration, we should get you cleaned up and comfortable. There are clothes in the back and a washroom. Did you hate the food on Jujo?”

“The emperor made me earn it,” she muttered. She couldn’t resist a glance over her shoulder as she left and found Paal had also turned, a deep frown etched between his brows. Did the warrior actually care?

She smiled, winked, and snapped her pigtails as she whirled back, earning an eye roll from the purple-skinned warrior.

A flutter of something foreign winged through her chest. Excitement? Interest? Whatever it was, she’d better watch herself around Paal. The last the she needed was emotional involvement. It violated her personal code of slave conduct. She’d learned from the tender age of six never to care for anyone or anything. And if you do, for some reason, take a shining to someone or something—never let it show.

Because if they know what you love, they know how to hurt you.

2

Zander paced the length of what had become his war room. Seke, his Master at Arms, stood against a wall, arms folded across his chest as they waited for Erick’s hologram to fully appear.

It flickered and then projected into the room from the ship he’d taken on a diplomacy trip to Jujo. His incoming transmission had been marked urgent, which worried Zander.

“My lord, we were attacked,” Erick said as soon as the conference began. Thank veck his business advisor knew how to get straight to the point.

“Taramina?” Seke barked. His concern for his daughter, Erick’s mate, was immediate.

Zander kicked himself for allowing Erick to take her. She was one of only three female Zandians of childbearing age alive.

“She’s fine. We all are.” Again, Zander appreciated Erick’s concise report.

“What happened?”

“There was a party after the banquet and during the entertainment, a being fired a laser from a balcony. I returned fire and killed the would-be assassin, a Finnian.”

“How did the assassin miss?” Seke as

ked.

“I’d assessed all possible threats and vulnerabilities to our position when we were seated.” Erick left it at that, but the rest was clear. He’d kept Taramina and himself safe. Though Erick ran all of Zander’s business and financial dealings, he’d been trained as a warrior by Seke, same as all of the remaining Zandians. He would know what to do when under attack.

“The emperor insisted he didn’t know how the male got on planet and swore he hadn’t given permission for any attack, but I have my doubts. I informed him the time had come to choose sides. If he chose to support the Finn, we would cut them off completely from the supply of Zandian crystal when we take back our planet.”

“And?” Zander prompted.

“He asked for time to consider his position. I gave him until the next planet rotation. I asked that his show of support come in the form of military aid.”

Seke nodded. “Good.”

Erick shrugged. “We’ll see. Any word from the other leaders?”

“We’ll brief you when you come in,” Seke cut in, before Zander could answer, reminding them both that the communication could be hacked.

“Of course.” Erick nodded.

“Anything else?” Zander asked.

“One small detail.”

“What is it?”

“We’re returning with a stolen human slave. A female pet of the emperor. Mina knew her.”