Havoc

28 Dark and Darker

When Jael awoke, he was strapped to a chair.

The last thing he remembered was drinking with the aliens in their private dorm, a quiet farewell to Ali, whose body had been gone when they backtracked to retrieve it. He didn’t want to say so, but the chances were good that she had been taken—as food. The mercs would have no use for a Rodeisian corpse, and Silence’s killers only revered the death they caused personally. Which left Mungo’s roving monstrosities.

He couldn’t see anything because there was a cloth wrapped around his eyes, thick enough that he glimpsed nothing but darkness. Listening provided slightly more information; the noises were familiar enough that he must still be somewhere in Queensland. The pain at the back of his head told him he must’ve been jumped; they must’ve cracked his skull to knock him out. He’d been taken prisoner before, tortured extensively. On a few occasions, he’d been so close to death that it probably counted.

It just never sticks.

His heart raced as he tried to figure out who would’ve done this. And why. It could be someone with a grudge against Dred or some asshole who didn’t like Jael. Mary knew, he didn’t have the knack of winning people over with his endearing personality, and he’d played enforcer in the common room more than once. Soft footsteps approached, too light for it to be a big person. Inhaling, Jael drew in a familiar smell; he just had to place it.

Then he knew. And he wasn’t reassured at all.

“He’s waking up. I think he recognizes your scent.” That came from Zediah.

“I thought you were wrong,” she said softly. “I thought he just liked the garden.”

“I know when a man wants you.”

No, you really don’t. Psycho. Jael reckoned Zed had killed a lot of fellows who were completely indifferent to Vix, but Zediah’s reality didn’t allow for that being possible. In his eyes, somehow, she was an irresistible temptress. At that point, he would’ve spoken up in his own defense, except for the strips of leather wound around his head. Jael bit down, working on chewing through them. In time he’d manage it, but there was no telling what they’d do in the meantime. Trying to be surreptitious, he struggled against his bonds, but they were good and tight, more leather reinforced with durasteel.

“I don’t want you to hurt him.” Vix sounded unsure, however.

“Why not?” Jael heard a world of warning in that tone.

Don’t say you like me again. Don’t.

But since Tam had given him an inkling of how this game played out, Jael had a feeling about what came next.

“He’s always been so kind to me. I’m fond of him.”

We’ve hardly spoken.

“How fond?” Zed’s voice grew husky. “I could let you have him. Once. Then—”

“I know. He has to die, or he might come between us.”

Yeah. This is why people give them such a wide berth. How long have they been quietly continuing their murder spree inside? Vix had said that Zed used to kill the men who paid her too much attention openly; did this mean they’d simply continued in secret? He was surprised at the cunning and intricacy of this game. It was also galling to be captured by this pair. Since they didn’t seem as dangerous as the others, he’d judged them superficially.

A costly mistake.

“Let’s ask him what he prefers,” Zed murmured. “A quick death after one night with you, or a slow one as punishment for refusing you.”

Shit choice. I’ll take option C.

The blindfold came off, then the gag. Jael spat to clear the sticky, dry feel of leather cleaving to his tongue. Vix regarded him with what looked like genuine concern, and he wondered why he hadn’t noticed how absolutely mad she was before. He had picked up the complete lack of . . . anything in Zediah, but Jael wasn’t used to considering himself vulnerable since he could shake off injuries, plus he was strong and fast. Since halving his abilities with Dred, he was constantly overestimating his own strength.

That has to stop.

“You may have played this game before,” he said, “but Dred will ask questions.”

Zed seemed unmoved by the potential risks. “She’ll receive no answers. This is a dark hole, and people disappear all the time.”

“Don’t you think I’m pretty?” Vix asked.

“Zed will pull my tongue out, no matter what I say.”

The younger man smiled. “You’re smarter than the ones we usually play with. So which is it to be?”

“Neither. You unfasten me, and I’ll let this go as a misunderstanding.”

“But it isn’t one. You came to us in the garden. There’s no other reason you’d have done that if you didn’t want to play. Everyone else steers clear . . . and I saw the way your eyes followed her.”

Jael was fragging hamstrung because any repudiation of Vix controverted Zed’s reality, where she was the sun, the center of everything, and the most desirable woman in the world. But he had to try since straining against the bonds wasn’t working. It’d be nice if Dred was looking for me about now. He had no idea where they were in the cycle, if this was during downtime, or how long he’d been missing.

“You know how you feel about Vix?” he said, instead of a straight answer.

Zed nodded.

“That’s how I feel about the Dread Queen. I realize you think I was panting after Vix. And I would be, if I wasn’t already on someone else’s hook.”

Let that be just crazy enough to make sense.

The two exchanged a look, but Jael couldn’t interpret it. Then Vix said, “There’s only one way to test it.”

She straddled his lap and he pulled his head back, but her face came closer and closer until she was kissing him. The woman tasted of fresh herbs, and her lips were soft, but he wanted nothing more than to shove her off him and beat the shit out of her insane lover. He also sort of felt sorry for her because she was so obviously broken. They were like a pair of antique windup dolls locked in a permanent dance, where they circled and circled and could never leave the track. It was all he could do not to chew her lips off.

Jael had never felt quite like this. He didn’t want her on top of him, didn’t want this kiss. Mad as it sounded, he wanted to scrub every inch of himself. And it would be worse if it went further. With enough handling, she could probably make him respond, and then—his heart leapt at the horror of that thought. There were so many ways this could go wrong. Fear and revulsion warred in him, and Jael prayed for his body not to react. This was mad because desire wasn’t dictated by physiological response. Other things could trigger it; or if a person had strong self-control, they could smother what was there.

Eventually, Vix sat back, looking surprised. Maybe the other men had been so desperate for a woman’s touch that they all showed her what she wanted to see and gave her the excuse to use them, then turn them over to her lover to be murdered.

Beyond crazy.

“He’s telling the truth.”

“You’re the first,” Zed said.

Then the man actually unstrapped him, like he’d passed a bizarre initiation ritual, where the stakes were life and death. “I’m sorry we misjudged you.”

Jael could’ve killed them so easily, snapped their necks as soon as he was free. He rubbed the circulation back into his wrists as he stood up. A long moment passed while he gazed at them, mentally wrestling. In the long run, it might be better if he did. But without them to tend the hydroponics garden, food supply would diminish. So I let them go on killing their fellow Queenslanders when the mood strikes? That didn’t seem right either. In fact, the scenario appeared to have no correct solution, and he wasn’t good with philosophical matters.

“Your head wound has already healed,” Zed said.

The other man’s eyes were dark and calculating, as if he realized that they shared a secret, what used to be called mutually assured destruction. If Jael revealed what had happened, then Zed and Vix would be punished, but likely not before he revealed Jael’s fast healing. There would be problems from the others, who hated aliens and would hate a Bred thing just as much. With a half smile, he touched the spot that had hurt when he woke up but wasn’t bothering him anymore. His hair was sticky with blood.

He pushed out a breath, troubled by the impasse but unable to resolve it. “I see no reason why we can’t part as friends.”

Big fragging lie. But what else can I say? Now I get to go find Dred and pretend nothing’s wrong. If she finds out, they’ll die. That was the brightest spot of this mess; he had no doubt she’d execute these two for this. And then Queensland would suffer.

But maybe I can find a way to tell her about their . . . hobby.

“No permanent harm done,” Vix agreed. “I hope the Dread Queen appreciates your loyalty. You seem like a good man.”

“We hope to see you soon.” Zed smiled as he stepped back, waving farewell.

Jael strode past them and out the door, waiting for the surprise attack that never came. But why would it? Zed thinks he has a hold on me. And the worst part?

He does.