Page 15 of The Death Striker's Partner
I snorted. I saw the footage and it was funny. One narrowed look from Ezid made me school my features once more. “Is that it?” He folded his arms and swayed to the left to start winding around me. “You think she’s bloodshirsty and badass enough to keep up with you?”
“She smells palatable and can be trained.” I countered. “She has potential.”
“Potential? Have you even read her file?” I turned to watch him as he tried to hide the fact he was avoiding sliding over my thick black tail. “The woman was brought here as a youngling sitter for her sister, and isn’t even needed forthatanymore now she’s living it up in the grand palace.” He shook his head with disbelief as he returned behind his desk. His tail coiled multiple times around the central support and the built-in cushioned stool for him to rest his behind on. His hands pressed together on his desk and I got the sense he was just about finished with me. “On her native planet she made hot drinks for a living. Now you want to give her a taser and take her on patrol?”
“After suitable training, yes.” I nodded firmly. “Let’s stop wasting time here Pit leader.” I leaned forward and braced my hands on his desk. He tried to hide it, but he was intimidated by me. He sat back and took his hands off the desk as if he worried I could grab them. “I need a human partner. She needs a sponsor. She’ll be thrown back to the human complex and from the footage I saw, she isn’t going to allow that as it means she won’t have a chance in hell of seeing her sister.” He blinked and didn’t interrupt, so I took that as permission to continue. “I need a human partner, and this is the first one I’ve ever scented that doesn’t make my tongue want to twist in the back of my skull. She has potential. I will ask her to become by charge, she will say yes, I’ll train her and we will be yourbestpeacekeeper unit.” I boasted, and loudly, for the entire pit to hear. Both human and Ucfeni officers turned their heads to hear my decree. “I am your strongest and most skilled officer, and under my tutelage, Hannah will become your best human officer too.”
“You realise you’d have tonotfreak the shit out of her to achieve that?” His smirk was scathing, but my patience had run out. I started to ululate a deep growl which made his grin drop and his hands come up. “It’s your shuck up waiting to happen. Fine, I’ll approve the sponsorship.” He grumbled and I stopped ululating with a victorious grin. “If she has any common sense or basic survival instincts, she’ll say no and wait for the next pairing party.”
“She will say yes.” I will give her no alternative. “Thank you Pit leader.”
“You are welcome. Now get out.” He dismissed me and I pivoted on my hips to lean towards the main pit floor. I wound my way with my head raised and my black eyes taking in the sight of my peers glaring at me.
Let them glare.
I am a Death Striker. I have been feared my entire life, and this isn’t about to change. My glossy black scales speak to an eternity of suffering felt in an instant if so unfortunate as to be injected with my venom. My eyes are the abyss looking back at you. If my black mouth and fangs come toward you, you will think I am going to swallow your soul into nothingness. Humans were not the only ones who found me terrifying. My ancestors predated on other Ucfeni, not through necessity but by preference for the hunt. That stigma has followed me around since before my venom sacks came in. I used to resist it as a youngling. I would wear vibrant clothing and paint my scales, but around puberty I gave up trying. I embodied the dark persona they placed upon me and I rose up the ranks of peacekeeper. As much as my peers hated my presence, it was better to keep me regulated and close at hand than for me to be roaming under the radar. Ezid may be a lesser male, but he was the only Pit Leaderwillingto have me.
I kept my arms loosely by my sides and slid my underbelly and tail from weight-bearing pole to pole as I wound my way up the spiral tower. I was glad to leave the tension of the pit as I ascended to the public lower level of Orna. Pit 21, my peacekeeper department, is referred to as the underbelly of Orna because it is based below the first level. The only thing below the Pit was the deadly drop to the jungle floor. This was ideal, because most of our crime took place on level 1. The Pit had various access spirals and tunnels to deploy quickly to different precincts as and when we were deployed.
Normally I was deployed to deal with gangs, assassinations, narcotics and firearms response missions. Not because I was an adrenaline junkie, but because one look at a Death Striker coming at you made most Ucfeni drop to the ground, outstretched with their belly up and their hands above their head. Very few had the pouch to try and take me on.A few did, and I recall those times fondly. As long as I tried to apprehend them first, and declared loudly that this had not worked, and I would use deadly force if they didn’t comply…I got to bite them. My Pit, leader and fellow officers, had been wary of me before I killed my first perp. When they saw the harrowed state of their corpse and watched the footage of their death, they looked at me differently.
It was around then, that any human that became paired with me waswarned.In truth, only a handful of them had very unpalatable pheromone scents. A few were not unpleasant and I could have tolerated their scent. Their behaviour though? I wasn’t having a partner who treated me like a monster. Afraid to be within touching distance. Contrary to Ezid’s belief, I only actively tried to get rid of the last human after they requested I wore a shuckingmuzzlefor his own safety… The others requested a transfer themselves, and good riddance. The humans from Allico Inc were not built for law enforcement. Their Ucfeni partners did most of the heavy lifting and from what I could see? They were token partners to keep the other humans on side.
I looked around the streets as I wound my way down the yellow stone paving. As usual, all fled from the sight of me. Younglings pointed and slithered up into their mother’s arms to be ululated and carried away from the big bad Death Striker. Grown Ucfeni also twisted suddenly on their tails to duck into alcoves and side passages to get out of my way. Some days I was content with this reaction. My shifts were rather quiet, if not dull. But on other days, like yesterday, I felt the loneliness of being so isolated. I live in the heart of lower Orna, and might as well live in a desert, for the lack of company I have. Deliveries are abandoned on my porch before I can open the door. Neighbours never come to visit and flee from the sight of me.
With the life I have lived I have had to harden my glossy black scales to be as hard as rock. Yet beneath my mask, I am a very lonely beast. My subspecies of Ucfeni are rare, and I’ve never met another like me. I was an orphan on the streets and have no idea who my parents were. If they abandoned me or were murdered would be anyone’s guess. I didn’t even know if both my parents were Death Strikers, or just one. I heard rumours that there were others living with the rural tribes in the jungle, but this was the only home I’d ever known.
My dull existence gained colour yesterday. Hearing the phrase ‘The monster is trying to kill me’ made Ezid instantly decide to sendme.Of course. It wouldn’t matter if it was a stampeding Dopier or a vicious Hixran had climbed into the palace. Nothing on Thelia would survive my bite. With the Grand Palace being the origin of the distress call, they also needed the situation to be dealt with swiftly. Again, my speciality. I arrived at the palace via the emergency travel baskets that flew three units, and a half if you include me and my lack of a current partner, up to the golden jewel of Orna. Chaos had clearly ensued as we found Ambassador Rerasha coiled up on the floor and whimpering. The only other injured party was a human who was squaring up to Prince Izule. I had planed on intervening, but the human leader Allaric requested we let him deal with it.
Still, I watched. I watchedher.My tongue flicked out in memory of her succulent taste. With her bleeding, it was everywhere. My fellow Ucfeni were cupping their scent pits and tongues against the stench, but I was actively drawing more of it in. I have never smelt such a wonderful pheromone signature in my life. I watched intently as the human barked at the prince. She had quite the pouch! Izule was a Royal and the only kind of Ucfeni larger than a Death Striker. He adopted a defensiveposture, but not aggressive, so I didn’t worry for the human’s safety.
I watched as she stormed away from the Prince, the human leader in toe, and couldn’t look away. Before I knew it I was slowly moving to intercept. It’s a good job I did, as her body buckled under the strain of her injury. I caught her in both my arms and for a moment, before she fell unconscious, I saw her eyes. They were brown, but so dark they were nearly black…black like a Death Striker. Even her hair was the same shade as my scales. I sampled her directly with my tongue at her cheek and fireworks exploded behind my eyes.
The memory alone made my mouth water. I left memory lane to focus on coiling around the spiral tower to enter the only major hospital run by both Ucfeni and humans. I ignored the panicked way patients and medical professionals cowered from my sudden presence as I made my way to a very specific resting bay. I pushed the green curtain shrouding her cot bed from view to gaze down at the human. Hannah Blac.
I watched footage multiple times and concluded that she was a fierce protector. She had more of a spine than most humans I’ve had the displeasure to work with, and many Ucfeni too for that matter. The thought occurred to me she’d make a better officer too, when the idea came to me like I’d been struck by lightning. It was perfect. I would become her sponsor, having already completed mandatory sponsorship training years ago when I joined the peacekeeper force. I would get to bask in her scent every day, and have a partner I could actually stand. Better yet, she was new to Thelia, and hadn’t been poisoned against Death Strikers yet. It was perfect. All I had to do was convinceherit was a good idea.
I lowered into one of the visitor chaises. It was comfortable enough for me to recline on my left and coil my tail loosely around her bed. It was clearly designed for human useas it wasn’t long enough for an Ucfeni, nor did it have a side support for a tail. I nuzzled my cheek onto the cushion and could easily sleep like this. Surrounded by her fruity scent I couldn’t name. It reminded me of Jala fruit, as it was succulent, but it was much sweeter. All I needed to do now was wait for her to wake up.
Chapter 14
Oh Goodie
Hannah.
I came to hoping someone got the licence plate of the truck that ran me over, and reversed, and ran over me again. I groaned and turned my head and opened my eyes. I saw a thin green curtain and the outline of a round window behind it. I blinked my eyes a few times and groaned as my memory returned to me. I am on an alien planet, Billie has a terrifying giant King Cobra as her sponsor (but she’s fine with that, apparently) and Ambassador Rerasha made a ragdoll of me. I hissed and reached up to touch my head, wincing at how sore it felt.Scrambled brains anyone?I parted my hair at the back of my head and felt a thin line of sutures.It must have looked worse than it was. Otherwise I’d be bandaged up from head surgery or something, right?I lifted both hands up to look at them and didn’t even see an IV.
Movement to my right startled me into sinking down in the bed and blink with alarm at the biggest mother fucking snake I have ever seen. My eyes widned and my lips parted.
“I am Peacekeeper Tumva of the 21st Pit.” He spoke with deep voice that would put most bass jazz singers to shame. His voice even seemed to vibrate when he spoke, it was so low. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I caught you when you passed out in the Grand Palace.” He bowed his head to me and I am ashamed to say I was staring at him with my eyes wideand my inside voice screeching. I’ve not seen that many Ucfeni, I know, but this guy looked like a living nightmare. Glossy black scales, eyes of living shadow with no visible pupils, and as big a frame as Prince Izule. Who, you know, seemed like a fluffy kitten in comparison to this guy. He lifted up from the chaise he’d been chilling on and damn, he seemed to be even more muscular than Izule too. Wide shoulders, ridiculously dense muscles beneath his scales that flexed with his every movement, and hands that looked strong enough to snap bone came to rest on the edge of my bed. “That incident occurred yesterday. You slept all day and night. It is now the afternoon of the following day. The doctor came around an hour ago.” He inclined his head, and I couldn’t stop staring. His mouth didn’t move very much and yet his deep voice rumbled down at me through his scaly lips. He didn’t have a hood like Izule, yet he still seemed so much bigger to me. “You suffered blood loss, but your own medical professionals infused you with more blood and fluids. Your skull was not damaged, nor your brain beneath.”
“Oh goodie.” My mouth ran away with me. It always did when I didn’t have to reign it in for Billie. “Well that’s alright then, since I’m not going to be a vegetable. I suppose that makes everything alright then, does it?” I seethed and dragged myself up to sit back against the wall. “Your Ambassador manhandled me, including my throat so I was struggling to breathe, scared me shitless, and dropped me so my head felt like it had split open, but because there’s no permanent damage it’s all good. Is it?” I wondered if it was a good idea to lose my temper with the black Ucfeni when he blinked slowly at me.
“He only dropped you after you kicked him in the pouch.” I heard an edge of amusement that lessened my frazzled nerves considerably. “And rather hard too.”
“Damn fucking right I did.” He pursed his lips together and snorted once, before he cleared his throat to regain his aloofcool. “And since you’re a peacekeeper, I’d like to press charges.” I fisted at the bedsheet with both hands as I leaned towards him and my long black hair swung forward. “He put his hands and tail on me without provocation. I wastalkingto another Ucfeni when he grabbed me.” Peacekeeper Tumva folded his arms over his chest and turned to sit on the chaise in a way that looked almost human. If it wasn’t for the bulk of his tail circling the bed I currently, and secretly, cowered in.
“You want to press charges against the Ambassador, who extracted you from the presence of a Royal who had already warned you to leave his presence, for your own safety?”
