Tonight.

They would all pay.

He carefully approached the female. The comms in the cell blinked a steady and distinctive red. The Heronas were watching his every move. But the comms had a blind spot. Whenever Zar needed to excrete their drugs, he would wedge himself into a corner and shove his fist down his throat.

This time, the Heronas had made sure to place the cot directly in the camera’s line of sight.

Zar huffed out a breath.

He had to think of a new plan.

And fast.

He drew closer.

Closer.

As he neared her, the female lifted her neck and stared at him.

He stopped directly in front of her cot and was shocked by the beauty lying there. Slim forehead, straight nose, plump lips. Her almond-shaped eyes held thick black lashes. Dark skin clashed against her thin, white tunic.

Zar had known humans came in all colors, but he never thought he would see a brown one in person.

A human female in exchange for your Healer.

It was his mission.

The reason he was here.

Now, the female he’d gone searching for had turned up in a prison of all places. Zar did not know whether he should laugh at the irony or shake his fists at Destin.

“Ooh my—geet waay fraam meh!” The human’s feet slapped the cot and pushed against air. She thrashed as much as she could with her hands bound above her head and her legs pinned to the bedding.

Zar kept his back to the comms and tried to appear as unimposing as possible. “I will not hurt you, female,” he whispered.

Her screams grew louder.

Denizi.

Did he look that frightening?

Zar glanced down.

Blue skin. Long tail. Tattoos of his lineage.

Plutonians were known far and wide as the best warriors in the galaxy. They were trained as broods to fight with honor and fight to win. Had she heard of their prowess in battle or was she scared of what he would do to her in bed?

He scratched at the spirals on his arm, trying to keep his fingers out of his scalp. A side effect of the chemicals was hairlessness. His once-glorious locks were starting to shed.

“Human,” Zar whispered urgently, “I will not hurt you.”

“Ah!” She moved her head back and forth, hurling words in her earthen tongue.

Zar did not understand a smidge of it. He tapped his arm and waited for his interface to glow. It blinked in the dimness and then puttered out. His interface must have gotten damaged during capture. With a sigh, he took a step back.

The female’s lips snapped shut.

Zar took note and moved back another step.