Page 56 of Dark Gambit Reliance

What if Igor was testing her?

If she showed up at the junction of the three rivers at two o'clock, it would be like an admission of guilt. But if she actually had sex with Pavel, she could claim that she'd accepted his invitation, and that was the only reason she'd shown up.

The Veskar element wasn't a factor in her decision at all.

The problem was that Igor rarely left the compound for longer than a couple of days, and he'd left yesterday.

He didn't share his plans with her, but she'd figured that the short trips were to compel local authorities to ignore the compound. They were secluded, but they were connected to the electrical grid, so someone was aware of their existence. Also, the supply trucks lumbering over a dirt path leading to nowhere could have been noticed.

The only times Igor had left for longer than a couple of days had been when he'd gone after other Kra-ell communities, and that hadn't happened in a long time.

He'd stopped either because he'd found all the survivors and all the rest were dead or because he didn't know how to find the others.

After her class ended and Borga took over, Jade strode to the office building in search of Valstar. He would know when Igor was due back, but the trick was to make him tell her.

No one searched her as she climbed the stairs to the second floor, and Igor's guard was absent from his station.

Evidently, Valstar's life was deemed less valuable than his master's.

She knocked on his door and then opened it without waiting for his response. "When is Igor coming back?"

He regarded her with a smirk. "Why? Do you miss him?"

"No, I hope he's dead. I want to know how long of a reprieve I have. I might choose to enjoy a virile, young male in his absence." She smiled evilly. "He says that he doesn't mind if I do, but I want to test it."

When the females did the choosing, it was considered bad form to horde males within the tribe. Unlike humans, there was never a question of paternity among the Kra-ell, and every adult in the tribe was free to engage with whomever they pleased. But Igor had adopted patriarchal attitudes, and his little harem of females suitable for breeding was forbidden to engage with other males during their fertile cycles. Lucky for him, their cycles weren't synchronized like they had been on the home planet.

Valstar's eyes gleamed with arousal. "That's a new twist. You haven't been with anyone but Igor. I was starting to think that your hatred for him was an act."

"Oh, believe me. It's not an act. It was self-inflicted punishment for my failure to protect my people, but over two decades of suffering is enough. I'm ready to start living again."

"Excellent." He rose to his feet and rounded the desk. "I'm not young, but I assure you that I'm virile."

She dragged her eyes over his body, pretending to consider it. "As tempting as it is, you don't want to be the first male I test Igor with."

His eyes blazed with purple light. "You are worth the risk."

She sauntered over and put her hand on his chest. "When is he coming back?"

"Monday."

"That's unusually long. Did he find more Kra-ell tribes to raid and slaughter?"

Igor's compulsion prevented her from talking about the murders and abductions with those who didn't know about what he had done, but it didn't include those who'd committed the crimes.

Even in the old days of the Kra-ell, before the queen outlawed tribal wars and duels to the death, the stealth attack would have been considered a travesty.

Warring tribes had faced each other on the battlefield and had followed a code of honor that the Mother of All Life herself had laid down. But Igor and his lackeys had followed none of the Mother's rules, and for that, they would forever walk the valley of the shamed. However, that was a paltry consolation for Jade's loss and the years of misery and subjugation, and if she failed to avenge her people, she would end up in the same place of shame as the murderers of her tribe.

"I don't think he found any more survivors," Valstar said. "But who knows? He doesn't tell me everything."

"He doesn't?" Jade dragged her fangs over his neck.

"He went to Moscow. He wants to expand his influence."

That was way too easy, and she was starting to think that the entire thing had been staged to trap her.

"I don't really care." She pushed Valstar away and pivoted on her heel.