Warrior's Pain (Cadi Warriors Book 4)(16)

With a swift upward lunge, she struck her guard in his jaw, then kicked him between the legs. A pained groan echoed from the crowd, but was followed by an excited roar. The patrons chanted, goading Riley on. The doubled over guard quickly regained his composure and grabbed Riley, then roughly tugged her offstage, to the crowd’s displeasure.

Cyprian was on the edge of his seat, as he watched the Verrater drag Riley through the rear door. He wanted desperately to follow, to make sure nothing happened to her, but couldn’t without looking suspect.

“I’m going to find the facilities,” Cyprian excused himself from the table full of males, who were still laughing at Riley’s performance.





Chapter 3. Striking a Bargain




Riley

Riley struggled against Ratso as he pulled her through the door into the back hall. She was livid. She couldn’t believe the way they displayed her naked body for everyone to see.

What else did they do to me while I was knocked out? Perverts!

She’d been doing good maintaining her composure as she was paraded on stage, like a show pony. When she saw the disgusting reptiles she nearly lost it. And she might have, if she hadn’t been struck dumb by the sight of the red demons sharing the same table. It was hard to see with the bright lights, but Riley was certain the short haired barbarian, was Spawn, from the landing strip. The sight of the demons, Spawn in particular, had her instantly worried about June and Ion. She feared her friends were suffering a similar fate on the planet full of warlords.

Her fear and the unbelievable violation, instantly sent Riley through the roof. Her anger was a living breathing thing. All sense of self-preservation went out the window, thanks to the malfunctioning implant in her head.

“You little cunnus,” Ratso snarled.

Riley was too far gone to heed the threat. She didn’t care that Ratso gripped her arm so tight that it felt like it might break. His aggression fueled her own. Riley stomped Ratso’s foot with her boot heel, then elbowed him in the ribs, like she’d seen on YouTube. He released her, then slapped her across the face. Riley wasn’t a stranger to pain. She had countless tattoos and piercings to attest to that.

“Is that all you’ve got?” she laughed as she wiped the blood from her lip.

Ratso was already pissed by the shot to the nuts. Laughing at him added insult to injury. He pulled his fist back, and Riley prepared to duck.

“No,” Exo screamed.

Exo’s handler was rushing forward to intervene, but the foolish, sweet, Miran Sona beat him to it. Ratso’s fist struck Exo square in the chest, sending him flying against the wall. Riley watched in horror as he slid down the wall and crumpled to the floor.

“Exo,” she cried.

“What have you done?” the other guard yelled at Ratso.

Riley knelt by Exo’s unconscious body, her hands moving over his chest.

“He’s not breathing,” she screamed at the rodents.

The Miran Sona weren’t built for combat. Riley tilted Exo’s neck, pinched his flat nose, and started breathing into his mouth. After several breaths, there was still nothing. She frantically felt around his chest, but couldn’t find a heartbeat. His sternum was soft, feeling like it had been shattered by the blow meant for her.

“Exo,” she sobbed. Why did I goad the bastard? “Please. Come on. Don’t leave me here alone.”

Riley continued doing CPR even though in the back of her mind she knew it was futile.

“One and two and three and four,” she counted off the rhythm.

Riley did chest compressions till someone pulled her off Exo’s lifeless body. She turned angrily on the guard.

“Let me go,” she snarled, her voice coming out deep and guttural. “You.” She pointed to Ratso, who was being held by the other guards.

She was midstride, ready to unleash her fury, when Hoda arrived.

“I warned you about your temper,” Hoda croaked at Ratso. “Now you’ve killed one exotic, and injured another.” Hoda stood inches from Ratso, her eyes bulging in anger, as her slimy tongue licked her lips.

“Hoda, please. I will reimburse the client and the house,” Ratso begged, his mangy hair standing on end.

“Stupid Verrater. You couldn’t make that much in two lifetimes,” the frog-woman countered.

Hoda’s long tongue struck out lightening quick, and lapped at Ratso’s face, leaving a slime trail behind. The overgrown rodent instantly started to convulse and foam at the mouth. The other guards released him, then watched dispassionately as he twitched on the floor.

Riley backed up when Hoda turned toward her. She wanted to stay well out of range of the freaky amphibian’s poisonous tongue.