It had been only talk before, but now it was disgusting because he’d been right. I didn’t have to feign revulsion and he was taking the bait. Cerberus stepped forward and ignored everyone but me, just as Helion had wanted. He took in every inch of me, from my red hair to my shoes in a way that screamed desire and evil intent. “You are magnificent.” He glanced from me to Rett. “I agree to your price and will give you an additional ten thousand for your trouble.”
“Not so fast, Cerberus. I was here first.” Styx stepped in front of me, blocking Cerberus from my body. Thank God. I did not want that alien touching me, and Cerberus had been raising his hand to caress my face. Or worse. I refused to think about the worse, so I doubled down on my determination that this was the right thing. If he managed to buy himself a human female, the poor woman would be doomed.
It was Styx who was to move first. He did. Then Blade shifted as well, moving slightly to my right and behind two of Cerberus’s goons.
Rett moved slowly to my left so he, Blade, and Styx formed a semicircle in front of me with Styx as the center. Styx took a step forward, pushing the entire complement back, farther from me.
Fangs or no fangs, I decided I liked him. And Blade. A lot.
Intel had Cerberus accompanied by two aliens. Not four. I knew for a fact, five bad guys hadn’t been part of the plan.
What if those extra two could get to me? What if they slapped one of those transport dots on me and took me away, just as Lukabo had from the makeup room? My nerves were fried, waiting for the killing to start. Waiting for someone to get to me and take me away.
I was going to throw up all over my new shiny black heels. Damn it.
The tears were coming. I was shaking. My body and my nerves had taken all I was going to be able to take. Why had I volunteered for this? Why had I said I’d be bait? I wasn’t a warrior. I didn’t fight bad guys. I was a meteorologist from Chicago.
“Bahre.” I said his name, whispered it like a prayer. I needed him. Now.
Everything happened at once.
Bahre’s roar shook the room.
Someone—I assumed it was the Elite Hunter Quinn—slit the throat of the alien on Cerberus’s right side, and Rett had taken down the scary alien female on his left.
Woman or not, she was dead. So apparently their super-protective alpha male code of protecting females didn’t apply to the blue ones. She’d looked like she could break me in two and pick the meat off my bones, so I was okay with that.
And Cerberus? Bahre had him by the throat. He was in full beast mode. Huge, angry, fierce. God, it was like he had an Incredible Hulk in him. His beast loomed over the fanged alien’s face.
“Mine!” The word was more than a roar, it was a promise of death.
“Warlord Bahre, I need him alive.” The command came from Helion as he approached.
I struggled against the ropes, a small roar of my own coming from my throat in frustration when I could not break Rett’s bonds. I couldn’t see what was happening to Bahre. The stupid Hunter was in my way.
“Rett, if you don’t move out of my way, I will have Bahre beat you to a pulp,” I said, my voice ragged as I continued to tug and pull at the restraints.
Rett, the jerk, turned around, looked down, way down at me, and laughed. But he did take one step, one very small step to the side so I could see Bahre. And Cerberus, the blue dude with fangs. And the space gun he had pointed in Bahre’s ribs.
Oh God.
Why was Rett smiling and looking at me when Bahre had a gun in his gut? I tugged some more, groaned in frustration. Sweat dotted my brow from my efforts.
“Do you think that will stop me?” Bahre still held the massive alien up with just one hand, and he wasn’t even breathing hard. Holy shit. I knew Atlan beasts were supposed to be strong, but this was another level. That blue fanged creep was almost as big as Bahre.
“Warlord, put him down,” Helion ordered. “Do not rip his head off.”
Bahre growled. “That was not part of our deal.”
Helion walked right up to Cerberus, grabbed the gun out of his hand, and threw it to one of Cerberus’s blue sidekicks who were still standing right behind him.
What the hell?
Bahre noticed. “Why are they not dead as well?” He looked from Cerberus to Helion to the other large, fanged female standing behind her leader. She wasn’t old like the one who was now dead on the floor, but she was scary as hell. The Hunter, Quinn, had a pistol pointed at her, but he was not firing. He was not acting at all concerned that Helion had just handed Cerberus’s weapon to her either.
The female stepped forward, and I noticed, shocked, that she was the same size as the Prillon.
No wonder these Rogue 5 people were such a problem. They were all huge.
“I am Jillela,” she told Bahre, although it seemed the others knew her. “I am from Cerberus Legion. This Xeriman piece of shit currently known as Cerberus killed three of my top people before he bothered to challenge me for leadership. Four on one is not an honorable challenge.” She hit Cerberus in the side with the weapon Helion had just given her. “Nor is it part of our code. Cerberus Legion is mine.”
“Everyone, this is Jillela,” Helion offered as introduction. “But after today she’ll be known simply as Cerberus.”
Cerberus growled as best he could in Bahre’s hold.
Bahre looked irritated. I was just confused.
Helion waited to make sure Bahre
