“Ha! I’ll buy you a muzzle—”

  “Etnil, drop it!” Kuran lunged for his Imdiko a moment too late.

  The bang was loud, setting off ringing in his ears. The flash of white light blinded him for an instant.

  When he could see again, the bag and its contents were in tatters and Etnil was motionless on the floor, ringed by sprayed blood.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Etnil!”

  His clanmate had landed facedown. Kuran knelt next to him. Already registering the horrifying fingerless ruins of Etnil’s hands, the Nobek shouted, “Stay back!” to the women who screamed and rushed toward them.

  Etnil had been leaning over, his face damned near in the bag. He’d jerked upright in response to Kuran’s shout when it had exploded, but he’d still been so close.

  His heart thundering in his ears, Kuran turned him over, a shriek gathering in his lungs in anticipation of discovering what horror his handsome Imdiko had been transformed to.

  He cried out, but it was in relief. Etnil’s face was blistered, the skin of his forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin peeled to raw, bleeding flesh…but it was far better than what Kuran had expected. Better still, he was breathing. Unconscious, but alive.

  Several members of Government Hall’s security, humans and Kalquorians, burst through the door. “Call in emergency services! Secure what’s left of that package. An explosive was in it.” As he barked orders, Kuran checked Etnil’s pulse. It felt strong, but he was no doctor.

  His hands…

  “Kuran?” Stacy knelt next to him, tears flowing as she stroked Etnil’s bloody hair. Tearful Rosa and Toni were there too, yanking clothes they’d bought from their bags to staunch the bleeding of what was left of his hands.

  Kuran set aside his relief the women were unhurt and surprise at how quickly and calmly they’d reacted despite their obvious horror. “He’s alive. As long as medical staff reaches him quickly, he should pull through.”

  He hoped. He didn’t know how hard the explosive’s concussion had hit Etnil. His head had been so close…

  Bryant. I’ll fucking kill the son of a bitch either way.

  * * * *

  Selt pounced on Hadlez the instant he came out of the treatment room. “How is he?”

  “Imdiko Etnil will recover. He was damned lucky his skull wasn’t closer to the explosive. It was fractured in two different places from the force of the blast. No sign of brain injury, thank the ancestors.” Hadlez blinked tired eyes.

  “I heard his hands are gone.”

  “They may as well be. A specialist is coming from the Fropan military station to replace the works. They’ll have to amputate his arms just below the elbows for the protheses, I hear.”

  Selt scowled. Robotic prosthetics were fashioned to function and look like real limbs, but he imagined Etnil’s rehabilitation would be an ordeal nonetheless.

  He spoke in a low tone despite how few Earthers were in sight in the hospital corridor. “It’s a good thing for him you were on the planet.” Hadlez had been in the secret bunker, inspecting its medical facility. “Did the doctors here give you any shit?”

  “None. In fact, the physicians assisting me wanted to know if I could visit later to talk medicine. They did a great job…and they laughed at Etnil’s Kalquorian barbecue jokes.”

  “What’s barb-a-coo? Wait, the guy’s joking?” Selt knew little about his boss’ Imdiko clanmate, other than he was a psychiatrist. He must be tough as hell to have found humor after what had happened to him.

  “He is, and I’d like to tell his clanmates before they start pounding down doors to get to him. It could set back our relations with the Earthers if they do so.” Hadlez started toward the waiting room at the end of the hall. “Any word on who did this to him?”

  Selt fell into step. “I have operatives accessing security vids in hopes of discovering the attacker or attackers.”

  “How different was this from the previous attempts? Other than it succeeding in mutilating someone?”

  “It was more professional. The device was made by someone experienced in what he was doing, rather than amateurs. Whoever got it into Dr. Etnil’s bag managed to do so under the noses of a security detail.”

  “Were the guards Earthers?”

  “They were. We’ll learn if they had a part in it.” Selt had to wait to discover who’d carried out the actual assault, but Kuran was already convinced he knew who’d sent the attackers after his clanmate.

  At least make it look like an accident when you kill him, Kuran. Don’t get caught. Kuran was a good man to work for…and Selt sure as hell didn’t want his job.

  * * * *

  Kuran glared at the back of the lieutenant governor’s sandy-going-gray head as the man peered at a legal document on his vid screen. The vision of Etnil, his raw face shiny from the protective mask he had to wear until his skin finished regenerating, his arms ending in bandaged stumps, swam before his mind’s eye.

  You could have killed my clanmate. A growl rumbled from Kuran’s throat. His fists clenched as he imagined closing them around Ken Bryant’s throat. He hadn’t decided if he’d snap his neck or slowly choke the bastard to death.

  He tapped the phase device pinned to his gray uniform’s chest. Then he tapped Bryant’s shoulder.

  The man gasped and whirled the hover chair, the movement so abrupt it nearly pitched him off. He managed to balance it and gaped at Kuran.

  “How did you get in my office?”

  “I’ll ask the questions, starting with who you hired this time to do your dirty work. Who made and planted the explosive that nearly killed my Imdiko?”

  “He survived? Thank God. Hold on.”

  To Kuran’s surprise, Bryant reached across his desk and activated a sound-blocking device meant to prevent listening devices from picking up conversations. “Door, lock. There, Nobek Kuran, we can talk in private now.”

  Kuran shoved aside his confusion to snarl. “You realize now no one will hear me if I decide to kill you.”

  Bryant drew a deep breath. “I did hire men to send explosives to Stacy and the space station…completely inept fools who wouldn’t do a competent job. I never had any doubt they’d be stopped by you and those in charge of the station’s security. However, I had no part of what happened to your clanmate today. He’ll be all right?”

  Nobeks were trained from an early age to mask surprise, but it took every ounce of self-control for Kuran to not gape at Bryant. The concern in his tone for Etnil rang true.

  “Keep talking. What the hell is your game?”

  “My game is for Stacy to win the governor’s seat and refuse the Earthtiques power. Would you care to sit? I realize your breed isn’t much for relaxation, but I have a feeling this could be a long conversation.” Bryant motioned at the chair across from his desk.

  “I’ll stand.”

  “Could you at least stop looming over me?” When Kuran refused to move, Bryant sighed. “I plan to tell you everything, Nobek. I would have eventually, but I’d hoped to finish the election first to lessen the chances we’d be seen talking. It’s imperative I continue to appear to certain individuals to be at odds with Stacy for as long as possible.”

  Kuran eyed him for another beat, then stepped off a few paces. “This had better be good.”

  “I hope it is. This planet’s future depends on it.”

  “Cut the drama and talk.”

  “The best place to start is my history on old Earth. Apparently, my hopes Blythe Nelson would expose my child bride to you and Stacy succeeded. I assumed spying on Blythe gave you the information the governor needed.”

  “You gave Matara Blythe the codes to access the confidential Church files.” Kuran doubted his training kept Bryant from witnessing how thunderstruck he was.

  “You’re every bit as resourceful as I’d hoped.” Bryant’s smile was grim. “What the files failed to inform you was Holy Leader Browning Copeland had been dropping hints about marrying my friend’s daughter Eleanor since her thirteenth birthday.”

  “Eleanor Carter, daughter of Harold Carter, who was a senator. She was the child you eventually married yourself.”

  “Correct. Harold held Copeland off from doing so, thanks to certain favors he’d done for the Holy Leader that would have been problematic if they’d come to light. Harold had the distinction of being among the very few Copeland wouldn’t dare cross.”

  “A lucky man.”

  “Until he learned he was dying. Eleanor was fifteen by then. Harold begged me to adopt her and keep her safe from Copeland…including marrying her when she turned sixteen, which was frowned upon but legal in our society. He signed over guardianship to me before he died, so there was no chance of my custody over her being challenged.”

  “Are you saying you never—”

  “My marriage was never consummated, Nobek Kuran. I’ve done many things I’m not proud of, but harming my best friend’s child wasn’t among them.” Bryant’s tone was harsh.

  Kuran didn’t want to believe Ken Bryant could be decent, but his gut told him the man was being truthful. “She still ended up as Copeland’s wife.”

  Bryant shocked him again. Tears welled in his eyes. “I failed to protect her. It haunts me to this day. I failed her so terribly, as hard as I tried. When Copeland insisted I divorce her, when my friends warned they’d heard he’d have me executed for treason if I resisted, I attempted to send Eleanor into hiding. It was arranged, down to surgically changing her appearance and sending her off-planet later. I would have gotten her out of the territory that night, but they came for her, they came armed and took her…”

  Bryant’s voice broke in the middle of what had become hectic babbling. He spent nearly a minute scrubbing a flood of tears from his cheeks before he was able to speak again.

  “She ended as all Copeland’s wives did: beaten, broken, and finally, dead. Until it was over, I did what I could to free her, including remaining in the bastard’s good graces. I couldn’t help her if I were in prison or a corpse. I played Copeland’s adoring acolyte so I could stay close in hopes of finding a way to rescue her. I lost a fortune in bribes, in hiring kidnappers who always failed or simply took my money and disappeared.” His tearful gaze held Kuran’s. “You’ve heard horror stories of what the original Earth was like. I’m here to tell you, you haven’t heard the half of it.”

  “What does this have to do as far as the attacks you admit you were behind?” Though Kuran thought he had a clue.

  “There are other would-be Holy Leaders waiting for their chance to come to power.” Bryant’s grief turned to gritted-teeth anger. “Maybe their sicknesses are different on the surface, but it boils down to one sin in the end.”

  “The hunger for power.”

  “And they’ll stoop to anything to get it. I’m playing two ends, Nobek.” Bryant stood and paced. “I’m sleeping with the enemy, playing their game so I can make sure they lose. I hired Fitch and King to attack Stacy and Alpha Space Station to show the Earthtiques I’m on their side and can be trusted. I was banking on those idiots to be stupid enough and you and your people to be smart enough to keep real harm from happening.”

  “I could tear your head off all the same. Someone could have been hurt.” Kuran wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily.

  The lieutenant governor didn’t acknowledge the threat. “I’m Stacy’s most logical challenger for the governorship. No one who can seriously compete has my credentials. I’m conservative, but moderate in front of the public. The Earthtiques support me because they think I’m one of them. But, thanks to the information about my marriage I’ve leaked to Miss Nelson, my campaign is fatally flawed. Stacy will win, and if the legislature goes the wrong way, she’ll be a dedicated obstacle in the Earthtiques’ path. They’ll be kept at bay for at least a little while longer.”

  Kuran was silent as he absorbed the revelations. At length, he said, “You expect me to believe that’s your endgame and you fully support Governor Nichols.”

  Bryant stopped in front of him. “Fully? I am conservative in my views, make no mistake. I want Earthers in complete charge of this planet. No alien influence, especially Kalquorian, in the near future. But Stacy has far more right than the Earthtiques, and she’s the force we need in the driver’s seat for now…as long as she’s willing to work alongside those of us who put our people over everyone else.”

  “Then you have no problem telling me the names of those who might stop at nothing to take her out of the running?”

  Bryant’s smirk was merciless. “I’ll share every word that passes from their lips straight to your ears. Incidentally, Cal Mitchell should be your top suspect for what happened to your Imdiko. He’s hinted strong measures need to be taken.”

  “What’s your price for such help?” Kuran had the sudden suspicion Bryant saw him as a pawn in the “game” he was playing.

  “I told you…this is Earth. My world, not the Kalquorian Empire’s. When we have proof Mitchell or some other human instigated the attack on your clanmate, he’s to be prosecuted through official Earth channels. No disappearances. No sudden deaths. No abrupt change of heart, as happened to Fitch and King.”

  Kuran eyed him. “Are you suggesting the empire is meddling in Earth affairs?”

  “The men I hired vanished for several days afterward. They reappeared home on Mercy. When I spoke to them, they had no memory of their activities against Stacy or your space station…they swore up and down they’d never attack anyone. They actually preached to me about the importance of accepting alien cultures.” Bryant’s smirk grew uglier. “Don’t pretend you weren’t involved.”

  “I’ll deny it to my last breath. I’m delighted to hear they had such a spontaneous change of heart.” Kuran’s tone lowered in warning.

  “Would Stacy share in your opinion? Does she have any idea of what happened to them?”

  Kuran glared at him. “The blood of the man or men who hurt my Imdiko is mine to claim. I have every right.”

  “Your vengeance outweighs the good of Earth? Particularly a crime committed on Earth? Then you prove our fears, Kalq.” Bryant stepped close, challenging him. “I’m ready to hand you information on my planet’s enemies to maintain Earth’s freedom from the monsters who destroyed its predecessor and started a war. A war, I remind you, that killed a large number of your people. But you won’t get shit if you refuse to help me on my terms. If nothing else, you should keep Stacy and what she would expect of you at the forefront of your mind.”

  It was unthinkable Etnil’s attackers should have a chance to walk free. To continue breathing. But Bryant was right where Stacy was concerned. She’d be appalled to discover what Kuran had done to the men Bryant had hired. As much as she loved Etnil, she’d prefer a trial for his attackers over Kuran exacting the vengeance he was due.

  “You’ll have to come clean to the governor. She has to be in the loop as far as what you’re hoping to accomplish,” Kuran growled. “Remember, she needs me watching over her, keeping her safe.”

  “Which she might reject, should she learn how far you went where Fitch and King were concerned. I wonder if she’d be more upset you treated them as you did or the fact you kept it from her?” Bryant stepped back, putting space between them. He didn’t drop his gaze. “We have an agreement. You’ll allow Earth to deliver justice on our terms. In exchange, I’ll share the plans of the Earthtiques with you, and I won’t tell Stacy what you’ve been doing behind her back.”

  “I hate blackmailers. They’re cowards,” Kuran growled.

  “And I’m no fan of Kalquorians. Thank the prophets we don’t have to like each other to work together for the good of Earth.”

  Kuran wished he had skipped the conversation and snapped the man’s neck as he’d first been tempted.

  * * * *

  Selt fought off a grin as Blythe uttered a little scream. She turned scarlet when she recognized him. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

  The Nobek waved at the shuttles parked on the lot outside the Earther hospital. “Like what? In public? In broad daylight? You’re jumpy, Matara Blythe. Maybe you’ve ruffled too many feathers lately.”

  “Or maybe you Nobeks should learn to be polite and make a little noise when you approach.” She finger-combed her long blond hair as she spoke. Selt wondered if it was for his benefit.

  The dinner she’d had in the company of his clan had gone well, as far as he could tell. His clanmates were as fascinated by the tough little reporter as he. The biggest question, besides whether Blythe found them attractive, was if a clan of spies could manage dating a woman eager to break news ahead of everyone else.

  He forced himself to put business before hopes of pleasure. “Listen, be careful of Speaker Mitchell. In fact, avoid being alone with him at all costs.”

  “Why? What did he do? Is he behind the attack on Dr. Etnil?” Her eyes brightened in rabid interest. Selt found it disconcertingly entrancing.

  “You were at the press conference. There aren’t any suspects at this time.”

  “Cal Mitchell is a known opponent of Governor Nichols. Etnil and his clan’s relationship to her…not to mention his clanmate Kuran’s continued presence as head of on-planet security…is a major issue. Come on, Selt.” She batted her eyelashes at him and sidled close. “Off the record, what have you heard?”

  “This is serious.” Selt did his best to ignore her warmth and delicious scent. His cocks twitched a warning, telling him he was failing. “Whether we discover Mitchell had any part of it…and there’s no proof he did…he isn’t someone to mess with. Bad things have happened around him.”

  “All the more reason to discover the truth.” She pouted adorably. “If you won’t give me straight answers, why am I talking to you?”

  “I’d hoped it was because you found me as attractive as I find you.” He was happy to set aside less pleasant subjects. “On behalf of my clan, I invite you to another dinner, drinks, and whatever entertainment we can dredge up on our little station? If you’re free tomorrow night.”