Human. He only called her that when he was seriously mad at her, Kat thought. Well, so be it. She predicted he would be a lot angrier in a few minutes.
“A person who means very much to me has been kidnapped by a group of Zzjitzzeëns. We know that he has been dragged onto a ship. Luckily, we have the ship’s identification code. We want to hire you and your men to find and rescue him.”
Dykan’s eyes darkened and he tilted his head. “You want to hire us for a rescue mission?”
“Yes, we are willing to pay you one hundred thousand credits after Lucas is back on this planet.”
“Lucas? A human?”
Kat nodded.
Dykan’s dark eyes pierced straight into hers. “No. We won’t do it. And not because we wouldn’t be able to defeat the Zzjitzzeëns. Those assholes are weak cowards, relying solely on their weapons, but we are better with weapons. And in hand-to-hand-combat, they are certainly no match for us. No, we won’t do it because we don’t want to work for you or that pathetic brother of yours. You think you can buy us, flaunting your credits in our faces, while you regard us as less than the dirt under your boots. Do you think that we will conveniently forget that you attacked us and locked us up like animals?”
Dykan grabbed the iron bars of his cell and shook them with all his might. Small parts of the ceiling started to crumble down. Kat almost stepped back, praying that the bars would hold. The dungeon was sturdy, but also very old and she knew how strong Dykan was. If he really wanted to break out the bars wouldn’t stop him for long, she feared.
“Not us. We are not interested. Find someone else to get that human back for you.”
Kat had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Why couldn’t Dykan have just agreed to helping them in exchange for the payment. That would have made things so much easier. She hated having to do this part. Kat drew in a deep breath.
“I’m giving you and your crew a choice. Either you help us to free Lucas, and in return we will pay you one hundred thousand credits for your time and troubles, or you will be imprisoned.”
Dykan snorted. “For what? You can examine us and our freighter with a fine-toothed comb, but I can guarantee you, you won’t find anything illegal. We weren’t born yesterday, Kitten. We have all our affairs in order. We made sure of that before coming to this planet.”
Kat willed herself not to lower her gaze. She needed to show strength.
“You will be charged with violating a member of the Cassidirian royal family. If found guilty, you could be sentenced to a minimum of fifty years of hard labor or imprisonment.”
Dykan gave Selvin a brief questioning look through the small hole—Selvin just shrugged—then his eyes moved back to Kat.
“We have done what? What in the demons’ moons are you talking about?” Dykan’s voice was fierce.
“Violated a member of the royal family,” Kat repeated.
“Yes, I got that part. Who did we supposedly violate?”
Kat paused to take in another deep breath. “Me,” she breathed out, pointing to herself with her thumb.
“What? You must be joking.”
“Nope.”
“Are you seriously telling me you belong to the Cassidirian royal family?” Dykan shook his head in disbelief.
Kat nodded. “My sister is Queen Ziri, the Royal Dimir of Cassidiri.”
Dykan’s face hardened. “Well, well, well. I fucked royalty.” He spat out the words. “After being inside royalty does that mean my dick is noble too?”
Kat’s cheeks colored red and she heard some low snorting from one of the other cells. At least someone found this conversation amusing.
“You loved every second you spent on my cock, Kitten. You couldn’t get enough of it,” Dykan continued. “I certainly didn’t violate you.”
“It doesn’t matter what the truth is,” Kat whispered hoarsely. “If I tell everybody you violated me, who do you think they are going to believe: the beloved and innocent sister of Cassidiri’s queen or an outlaw? And don’t forget I have two very respectable witnesses. My brother Lirid and my cousin Mitha are willing to testify you dragged me to your quarters kicking and screaming. The choice is yours. Are you willing to risk it?”
For a moment Dykan just stared at her, his eyes shifting from a dark gold to a glowing red. Then he snapped his arm through the bars, trying to grab her. Luckily, Kat had been standing well out of his reach, but she still staggered back out of reflex. Her heart pounded like crazy.
“You fucking human bitch! I regret not throwing you out of an airlock when I had the chance.”
Hate dripped from every word. It caused Kat to feel a sharp pain in her chest, but she couldn’t show him that.
“Yeah, and I regret not zapping you in your balls instead of your back. But that’s life, full of regrets. So, what’s it going to be, Dykan: credits or prison?”
Dykan chest went up and down with anger. “You’re bluffing.”
Yes, of course she was bluffing. Like crazy! She would never in a million years accuse anyone of a crime when she knew they were innocent, especially such a heinous one. Never. If Dykan called her bluff and declined the offer, she would have no other option than to let them go and face the consequences. In that case, she hoped that the fallout of this plan could be contained to her and her brother and not reach her sister. But she had to bluff herself through this just a little longer.
Kat cocked her head. “For Lucas, I would do anything. Sell my soul to the devil if needed to. Your choice, Captain.”
Dykan stared at her for a while with a blank expression, his eyes turned back to a golden glow. Then he turned around to face Selvin in the cell next to his. “I’m not going to decide this on my own. What are we going to do?”
“I vote for the credits,” Selvin answered. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life locked up in this place. And I’m not a hard labor kind of male.”
“I second that,” Boda yelled from his cell. “Furthermore, I don’t mind kicking some Zzjitzzeën asses. Even if it is to rescue a human.”
“Same here,” Sly added. “One hundred thousand credits—that sounds like a good deal to me.”
“I’m in,” a voice Kat didn’t recognize said. That must be Kadaen, Kat concluded. The only member of the crew she hadn’t met yet.
“So am I, Captain,” said Loanod.
Dykan turned back to Kat.
“Okay, you heard it. We seem to have a deal,” Dykan said emotionlessly.
Kat lowered her shoulders in relief. But they weren’t there yet.
“Now, let us out—”
“Not so fast,” Kat interrupted. “We still have one or two things to discuss.”
Dykan’s eyes narrowed. “Which are?”
“Firstly, Mitha, Lirid and I are coming with you. We want to be sure you’ll do everything in your power to free Lucas. Besides, maybe we can help. You never know.”
Dykan gave her a mocking smile. “Yeah, right. What else?”
“To make sure you won’t double-cross us, one of you will be staying here. Locked up. If you do anything to us or Lucas, he will be killed.”
Dykan growled and ground his teeth, his fangs showing. His hands were clenched into fists. Kat was glad he wasn’t able to get his hands on her. He surely would have snapped her neck.