Destin's Hold (The Alliance #5)(44)
Prymorus continued to the freighter. It had been covered with a reflective fabric, making it virtually invisible from above. Bowing his head, he stepped under the cover and strode up the platform. Within minutes, he was settled in the small room he had gutted to use for an office.
He quickly accessed his console, bringing up the vidcom and the image feeds from his team leaders. He wanted confirmation of the deaths of the women and children at the Trivators’ residences, and then he wanted to broadcast the vidcoms back to Razor, Hunter, and the Alliance Council. It would be a definitive message to the rest of the Council of what was to come.
A cold fury pooled in his veins when he watched the men he sent die instead of the helpless women and children they had been sent to kill. He couldn’t care less about the men; they were expendable. No, the fury came from the knowledge that not only had the men failed their mission, an act that would have gotten each one of them executed anyway, but Razor and Hunter had been on the Rathon when they should have been contained on Dises V. He wanted to know how they had managed to escape.
He zoomed in on each face, focusing first on the team attacking Lord Hunter’s residence. He paused, staring at the blazing eyes of the male with a long scar across one cheek – Lord Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon, the Kassisan Ambassador to the Alliance. The suspicion that Dakar, the Kassisan he had dealt with back on Dises V, was a traitor among the Drethulan ranks solidified into fact. Dakar must have helped them escape. He knew the inner workings of the transport systems on Dises V.
Prymorus’ hand clenched in an effort to keep from putting his fist through the image on the screen. Releasing a long, deep breath, he continued the video and paused on the next useful image. Facial recognition stated this was Scout, the father of Razor and Hunter. Prymorus studied the older male’s face. With a swipe of his finger, he added the male to the file for termination. Before this was over, he would eliminate each member of the Alliance Council’s families, starting with the Trivators. They would fear him. They would damn well quake in their boots wondering what he would do next.
The next image showed two additional Trivators. He immediately recognized both males – Hunter and Dagger. Dagger should have died in the fight rings. Cordus Kelman had used the Trivator for his own personal financial gain for years. It had been audacious, Prymorus would give him that, but in the end it had clearly been a mistake, one that had resulted in Kelman’s death.
He quickly ran through the male’s history. A sneer curled his lip when he discovered that the male was mated to a human female named Jordan. What infuriated him even more was the fact Jordan was the sibling of Taylor, the young human female that had escaped captivity on Dises V.
“I will strike at your heart and rip it out, female, making sure that you feel the pain as I do it,” Prymorus murmured, sliding his fingers across an image of Jesse, Jordan, and Taylor Sampson. “Now, to find the weakness of Razor’s mate.”
Prymorus brought up the next file. His lips tightened when he saw Razor’s cold face. He followed each move in slow motion, pausing when he saw the blurred image of another male come into view. Zooming in on the screen, he captured the image and tapped to process the facial recognition. Frustration burned through him when it came up negative. Continuing the feed, he paused it again when the familiar coloring of an Usoleum moved into view.
“Well, well, well, another member of the Council has joined the fight,” Prymorus murmured, studying the female’s face. The facial recognition immediately identified her. “Princess Jersula Ikera, a member of the royal house and Councilor Select for Earth.”
“General Achler,” Retris’ voice murmured behind him. “The Raftian has arrived.”
Prymorus started to close the image on his screen, then paused. The Raftian might know where Princess Ikera was at the moment. Rising out of his seat, he nodded to Retris. He folded his hands behind his back, pulling the sharp blade from the sheath he had attached at his waist.
The Raftian entered and warily stood near the entrance. The small reptilian creature’s tongue swept out and nervously ran over his lips. The male was dressed in a long dark green tunic, baggy black trousers and short black boots. His clothing was covered with building dust. Pinned to his chest was a badge showing he was a maintenance worker.
“Identify yourself,” Prymorus demanded.
“I am called Cartis. I do maintenance, and work as a Level Three builder.” the male replied in a deep, rough voice.
“Did the Jawtaw tell you who I am?” Prymorus asked, gazing at the other alien male.
“Yes,” Cartis replied with a bow of his head in acknowledgement before falling silent.
Prymorus walked around his desk and over to the other male. Lifting his hand, he used the tip of his knife to tilt the Raftian’s head back. He glanced under Cartis’ chin. A small, intricate tattoo was visible in the dim lighting of the cabin.
Prymorus pulled the knife away, drawing a thin cut under the reptilian’s chin. The tattoo was a mark showing the Raftian had spent time in a Tartarus prison colony.
“How did you escape the prison colony?” Prymorus asked suspiciously.
“There was a prison break ten revolutions of Tartarus sun ago. You’ll find it documented in file E48231. I was in Cell Level 59. A Drethulan named Drex was in the cell next to me. After we escaped, he hired me to kidnap fighters for his fight rings. We both eventually ended up on Bruttus, a spaceport located in the Tressalon galaxy, and he took over a fight arena called The Hole after killing the previous owner,” Cartis replied.