Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“What? Never?” Bard cast another sidelong glance at him but the Monstrum’s face looked perfectly serious.

“Never,” Rarev repeated. “When I was appointed to my post as Chief Commander of the Monstrum Kindred, I swore to put my people’s needs ahead of my own. It would be wrong for me to call a bride when so many Monstrum have none.”

Bard gave the other male a look of renewed respect.

“That’s good of you, Brother. And I’m sure it’s not easy to do.”

Rarev shook his head, his mane swishing through the humid night air.

“Not really. Though I admit to finding the many curvy, smooth-skinned females of your ‘verse quite bewitchingly erotic, I have met none who is well suited to me. We Leonis Monstrum are very…dominant. It would take a strong female to be able to stand up to my needs.”

Bard was about to ask him what “needs” he was talking about, when a shady voice hissed at them from the alley.

“Sssay, aren’t you the Kindred looking to buy Yillium?”

“Our contact!” Bard growled. He motioned at the alley and drew his blaster as a precaution. It didn’t do to come to a place like Passion Prime unarmed—there were almost as many pickpockets and thieves as there were whoremongers and Flesh Peddlers.

“No need for that, friend!” their contact hissed, still from the confines of the dark alley. “I have what you need…for a fair price.”

“I won’t shoot you unless you shoot at me first,” Bard told him. “Come out into the light where we can see you, friend.”

Their contact and would-be seller, who turned out to be a small Barillus male with sickly green skin, sidled out into the glaring neon light of the Pleasure House on their right. The voice of the 3-D banner above it wasn’t quite as loud as the others, but it made up for its lack of noise by strobing violently, throwing silver spears of light everywhere in a way that threatened to give Bard a splitting headache.

“Private Pleasures and Exotic Requests are our Specialty! Trollox Welcome!” the banner purred, in a sultry, feminine voice.

Bard frowned. Trollox were nine-foot-tall, troll-looking bastards—often with two or three heads apiece, all armed with razor-sharp tusks. They were nasty pieces of work and you generally didn’t want to be anywhere near them. But since this was where their contact had turned up, they had better get down to business before any Trollox customers arrived.

“You have the Yillium?” he asked the Barillus male with the pale green skin. “We’ll pay a fair price but it has to be the real stuff.”

“But of course I do, Sir Kindred. And Sir…” Their contact’s watery pink eyes flickered uncertainly over Rarev’s Leonine face. “Uh…”

“He’s a Kindred warrior, too,” Bard said, jerking his head at Rarev. “Show some respect. And then show us the Yillium.”

“Here it is.”

The male reached into a satchel hanging at his side and withdrew a sparkly, dark blue stone about as big as Bard’s fist—which was a considerable size. Since each Darkling Shot cannon only needed a small amount of the stuff to operate, it was not an inconsiderable amount.

“Hmmm…” Bard leaned down to look at the sparkling blue rock more closely. It looked good to him, but Rarev was the one who dealt with the stuff all the time, so he decided to defer to the Monstrum Kindred. “Well, Brother?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Let me take a closer look.” Rarev also leaned down, his golden eyes flashing green like a cat’s in the shifting light and shadows. At last, he looked up at their contact. “And how much would you ask for this amount?” he asked.

“Only fifty thousand creditsss!” the male hissed proudly.

Bard nearly choked.

“Fifty thousand did you say?” he demanded. “That’s a hell of a lot more than you quoted me when we communicated earlier!”

“That wasss before I checked out your credentials,” the contact snapped defensively. “And found out how rich the Kindred are. Also, if you’re willing to come across the galaxy to get it, you must really need it. So fifty thousand creditsss—take it or leave it. It’s a sssteal at this price!”

“It would be a steal at any price,” Rarev said, straightening up. “You stealing from us.” He turned to Bard. “See how the deposits in the stone sparkle silver instead of gold? This is fool’s Yillium—as worthless as the dirt under your feet.”

“Why, you little bastard!” Bard growled, looking down at their contact. “If you weren’t already so close to the ground, I’d pound you into it! You realize how far we came just to hear your bullshit? You—”

But at that moment the little male threw the fake Yillium at his head and bolted back down the alley he had come from.

Bard caught the glittering stone by reflex, curling his fingers around it in frustration.

“I’d like to go after that little bastard and pound him,” he growled. “Getting us all the way out here for nothing!”