And she lost herself in the planning, trying to put her feelings for her partner away—far from her, where they belonged.
Forty-Seven
The lights in the aphrodisiac lab were dimmed when they arrived. No surprise, thought Stone, since it was almost one in the morning.
“You ready for this, partner?” Cassandra asked, looking up at him.
Stone nodded. “Absolutely.”
In the pocket of his tight leather body-slave trousers, he had a tiny tin, no larger than his thumbnail. Inside it were a colony of microscopic Nigelian rot-mites. All he needed to do was get close enough to the Pain Fruit plant to open the tin and slip it into the soil. The rot mites would do the rest. In less than twenty-four hours, the Pain Fruit plant would be wilted and dead.
Of course, if the mites spread—which was very likely—every plant in the lab would be wilted and dead very shortly thereafter. But since many of them were dangerous and had serious side-effects, Stone didn’t consider this to be much of a loss. Gozeriam had ordered the death of an innocent human female and he was trying to pin that murder on the Kindred—he deserved to lose his entire lab full of plants.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s around,” Cassandra murmured. She was wearing another one of her Mistress outfits—a black dress with a high collar and a plunging neckline that showed the sides of her breasts and even the pink curves of her areolas on either side. It was split at the bottom as well, plainly showing a pair of bright red panties which contrasted sharply with the black fabric of the dress.
Stone didn’t like the outfit one fucking bit, because he knew it was meant to attract The Beast and draw him into their trap. But what if the bastard didn’t wait until he got to the ship to strike? What if he attacked Cassandra while they were still in the palace?
He had brought this idea up to his partner and she had agreed to wear a small communications device inside her dress that could also be activated as a panic button. She had promised Stone that if The Beast tried to hurt or violate her in any way, she would immediately alert him.
This adjustment to their plan made Stone feel better—but only a little bit. He didn’t trust the murdering, raping Beast to wait until Cassandra got him out to the ship to try something. And just the thought of the other male alone with his partner made Stone’s eyes feel hot and red with Rage.
I’ll kill him if he tries to touch her, he thought, squeezing his hands into fists at his sides. Kill him just like he killed that poor, innocent female back on Earth…
“Earth to Stone! Hey, are you with me?”
Cassandra’s soft voice brought Stone out of his revenge fantasies and back to reality.
“Sorry,” he said, his voice coming out in a growl. “I was…thinking.”
“Well, I’d hate to know what you were thinking about that made you look so freaking murderous,” his partner remarked. “Take it easy, Stone—we’re at the lab to kill a plant, not a person.”
“All right. I am ready.” Stone took a deep breath and blew it out, letting his face go blank. “How do you want to try this?”
“I say we just walk right in. If nobody’s there, I’ll keep watch while you find and kill the plant. If somebody asks what we’re doing here, I’ll say I want a tour in my best demanding Mistress voice.” She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at the imaginary lab tech. “What do you mean it’s too late for a tour? I demand to be shown the laboratory at once!”
Stone felt a reluctant smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“You’re certainly an imposing Mistress, when you want to be,” he admitted.
“Thank you.” Cassandra flashed him a smile. “I’m doing my best. Come on—let’s get this done so we can move on to phase two of our plan—stealing the snuff film.”
“Agreed.” Stone nodded. “Let’s go.”
Forty-Eight
Cassie walked up to the lab and put her hand on the knob, as though she had every right to be there. She was getting used to playing a Yonnite Mistress now—the haughty sneer she could feel on her face was almost second nature.
The knob turned easily and the door opened.
“Huh—no lock?” Cassie looked up at her partner who shrugged. Well, all the better for them. It certainly made breaking into the lab easier when they didn’t have to do any actual “breaking in.”
They both walked in but as the door swung shut behind them, it emitted a short, sharp beep!
Oh crap! Cassie looked around to see if anyone had seen them. Sure enough, a man in a long white coat came bustling out from a back room somewhere.
Well, he had a body like a man’s. But his head was that of an insect—something like a beetle crossed with an army ant with long, twitching antennae and big serrated mandibles that looked sharp enough to cut a hand off at the wrist.
But when the insect man spoke to them, his voice came out in perfectly modulated tones—it even seemed to have a slight British accent.
“Yes, hello?” the insect man said to her. “What may I do for you?”
“Oh, er, hello,” Cassie began and then remembered she was supposed to be a demanding Yonnite Mistress. “I am here for a tour of the laboratory,” she said, lifting her chin high and staring the insect man directly in his bulging compound eyes.
“I’m very sorry but the laboratory is closed at this juncture,” the insect man said. “If you could possibly come back during daylight hours—”
“What?” Cassie exclaimed. “You’re denying my request? How dare you? Do you know who I am? I am Mistress Cassandra of Yonnite Six, the star of his Slimefullness’s latest hit vid, Forbidden One. He honored me at the private viewing tonight and told me I could go anywhere I wanted in the palace because he was so pleased with my work. And where I choose to go right now is here. And I want a tour!” she ended her rant.
“Yes, yes, of course, Mistress!” The insect man backed up, holding up his perfectly normal looking hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Please forgive me, I had no idea you were a person of such importance.”
“Well, I am,” Cassie said, with a toss of her head. “So please begin the tour, Mr.…”
“Dr. Sslwx,” the insect man supplied helpfully.
Cassie frowned. “All right, er, Dr. Sisselwix,” (which was as close as she could come to pronouncing his weird alien name) “Please proceed with the tour.”
“Of course, Mistress Cassandra. Right this way. I’ll be happy to show you some of our more interesting plants and tell you their uses.” The insect doctor quickly and led her to the far side of the lab. “This, is the cattellis laxis,” he began, pointing to a patch of furry gray moss that was growing on a damp stone enclosed in a lighted terrarium.
“I see. And what does it do?” Cassie asked.
“In this form—nothing,” Dr. Sslwx said. “However, if you macerate it with sugar oils from the tempa tree of Tyronious Five, it creates a serum that, when applied to the engorged male shaft of most any species, causes insatiable pain and itching.”