It was the least of what he deserved. Mischka turned away, unable to look at him any longer. “I’m not sure what you expect me to do. I’m in here with you. Soon to be charged with a number of crimes.”
Crimes she’d unwillingly committed but crimes nonetheless.
“Use the connection with the Jutak warrior. I saw his face, his weakness he couldn’t hide. Use the feelings he has for you against him, suare.”
Mischka spun around and glared. “Don’t call me that.”
Smirking, Gordo said, “Why not, seed sucker? It’s what you are. Lothar asked you to fuck with the Jutak. Not just his cybernetics but his head and that’s exactly what you did.”
Lies! It wasn’t like that at all and Gordo was making what she shared with Bane dirty. It was the first time she’d lain beneath a male for pleasure and not only gave it but received it. Lothar had most definitely not instructed her to do that. “You wouldn’t understand what went on between him and me.”
With a snort, Gordo locked his fingers together and cracked the knuckles in an annoying cadence. “It’s very simple. You are what you are. Tutanis.”
He spat the last word.
Mischka curled her fingers tight and straightened. Her two years away from Marenia had shown her a different way of living. One where women weren’t subjugated and left to the whims of the males of their race due to archaic laws. “I am a survivor. I survived.”
Gordo stood up and his features took on a dark cast. “You better hope Lothar doesn’t view your survival as betrayal, or you may have more to cry about than your horns.”
Her vision hazed red with remembered degradation and pain. “It is the ultimate humiliation to be hornless. You cast me into a shamed circle.”
Others had jeered and laughed at her, including the medical staff charged with her recovery. Only the vilest criminal or a female deemed unworthy was dehorned and even then it was done in a manner more benevolent than what Gordo and his friend put her through.
Gordo grinned, his eyes glittering as he taunted. “I did my duty just like you did with the Jutak.”
Duty. One he’d enjoyed and taken obscene pleasure in. Mischka couldn’t stop shaking. “You had no right.”
Just remembering those days of terror after she healed was enough to have her teeth chattering. Fear was a constant companion as she worried Lothar would throw her on the streets to earn her living in the only way a female could—with her body. Without her horns, she would have been viewed as the lowest tutanis and spit on, kicked and with a high probability of death by fucking.
“It gave you an incentive to do better. You fucked anyone Lothar told you to and with none of the sniveling you used to do before. Remember what happens to those who fail.”
Mischka bared her teeth and launched at him, fingers curled to shred his face. Gordo jumped back, tripped over his feet and fell back. She stayed on him, straddling his waist as she pummeled and clawed his face.
The surprise of her attack allowed her the advantage initially but Gordo spent years cultivating survival techniques as well. He roared in her face, eyes glowing with menace. His arm reared back with the intent to punch. Mischka turned in time taking the hit to the side of her face. Blood spewed from her mouth.
“Punan,” he spat. Bitch.
Dazed, she hesitated and he shoved her hard. In a desperate bid to avoid his second strike, Mischka kicked at him and struck his face. Screaming, he grabbed his eye, cursing her all the while.
The sound of steps ran in their direction. Panting, she moved back and away from him. Her chest tightened, muscles ached. Erratic emotions spilled over and boiled through her as she remembered him painfully removing her horns. There was no remorse in her heart for what the Jutaks might do to him.
He got to his feet and it pleased her to see him stagger back into the wall. Guards buzzed themselves in with stun blasters raised. Mischka backed far away until she was in a corner.
Gordo was screaming and pointing at her with the hand not covering his eye. “She’s crazy. She attacked me. I demand you do something.”
The two guards eyed her carefully. Probably noting the stream of blood on her face.
The first one spoke to Gordo. “Follow me. A medic will see to your injury and you’ll be placed in solitary confinement.”
“What! I didn’t start it.”
The second guard directed his attention her way. “A medic will be summoned to attend you.”
Mischka didn’t fight as once more plasti-cuffs were put on her wrists. Bane’s silk bracelet clung to life and she rubbed it painfully seeking the calmness it imbued.
As Gordo was escorted out, he continued to shout expletives and derogatory names. At one point, the guard beside her winced. She kept her head high throughout the tirade until Gordo’s voice could no longer be heard.
She wasn’t weak. And Lothar hadn’t ordered her to sleep with Bane. She’d made that selfish choice on her own.
Chapter 20
Wearing a disgusting brown jumper, Nikol sat on the small bed in what he assumed to be the holding room for prisoners, one sock covered foot planted on the floor and the other propped up on the mattress. Perhaps they worried he’d escape using his...boots? The thought caused him to smirk.
From the other side of the bars containing him, the leader of the Jutak warriors glared. This was the first time Nikol had ever seen him out of the familiar black uniform. The first time he was able to see his face unobscured other than hazy or blurred images without the mask.
He wore simple black pants and a fitted short-sleeve shirt. His dark hair fell to his shoulders and his brown eyes narrowed on Nikol in frustration. Nikol let the smirk widen and propped an elbow on his raised knee. “Is this where the interrogation begins? If so, I deny everything and know nothing. Can I go now?”
Torkel’s lips pressed tight, his jaw tense. Nikol held in a grin, enjoying this far more than he should. He was a captive after all. But it was the first time he had the opportunity to spend any length of time with the soldier who’d rose through the ranks and become one of the best Unit Leaders in Enotian military history. According to the files he’d read.
“Do you think this is a joke?” Torkel snarled, his brown eyes fierce.
“What I think,” Nikol quipped, “isn’t really important is it?”
The big Jutak crossed his arms over his chest and sneered. “After a trial convicting you of numerous crimes, you will more than likely spend the rest of your life on a prison colony. Knowing this, do you have anything to share for leniency? I can speak to the Jutak Commander on your behalf if you help us catch Lothar.”
“I have a question.” Nikol straightened his leg and turned sideways on the mattress. Sitting with his legs spread, he placed his elbows on his knees. “For a Marenian you’re missing your horns. Either they were deliberately shorn or never grew. Which is it?”
Torkel cocked his head to the side. “What do you know about me?”
Nikol forced a casual grin to his lips. “Hmm, how about this, Jutak. A question for a question. Then we both get something we want.”
The man across from him could have no idea how badly Nikol wanted the exchange. The only one he still cared about in this travesty that was his life and he couldn’t reveal even a hint of his true feelings.