The Whorehouse Oracle (2 page)

The look of disgust that
roiled over the Heratian’s face was priceless. “I fucked a
male
?”

“
I believe you told me
last night this wasn’t your first trip here, but that you’d come
many times. So, it sounds like you’ve fucked
lots
of males.”

The Heratian squeezed his hands
tightly and started to turn a little green. “Then how are new
Xhythrians born? If there are no females, then you’d have no new
shifters.”

“
Do we really need to go
through a shifter biology lesson here? As I said, there are some
who shift into the female form. If a couple chooses to become
parents, one will become female in order to produce young. Some
males choose to stay female. Some revert to their original form. It
depends on the shifter and their preferences. Some males live as
females their entire life, but it’s rare. And some, some shift into
female form to take gold from the hands of unsuspecting aliens who
are none the wiser.”

“
You lie, you fucking
whore. No wonder the Xakarrians invaded you and enslaved your race.
You’re all too fucking dangerous to be let loose on the
universe.”

“
Time
to go.” Khal wasn’t going to get angry over the name-calling.
The male was correct. He
was
a whore. Khal lifted the male’s clothing from the
floor and shoved them into his arms. But he wouldn’t agree they
deserved to be enslaved. “Before I shift into a Herra monster and
cleave your head from your body.”

“
You can’t do that. The
Xakarrians have laws that protect the aliens who come to the
pleasure cities.”

“
They’d have to find the
body first,” Khal said with a wicked smile, happy to enlighten the
off-smelling male. Khal didn’t ever want this one darkening his
doorstep. Not that he wanted any others in his room, touching him
with their vile, clinging hands. What he did to protect himself
from the outside world made him feel disgusted.

Kazru burst into Khal’s room. He
glanced at the customer Khal was trying to persuade to leave and
shouted “Out!”

No one argued with Kazru. No
one.

The male scooted from the room without
another word, his clothing used to shield his nudity. The door
closed silently behind him. Khal sat down at his vanity, his back
to Kazru. As he sat there staring, he saw the dark blue circles
under his eyes. His skin looked pale, not the typical purplish-blue
tone it normally was. Khal was exhausted, and it showed in his lean
face. Even his dark hair was drab and disinteresting.

Khal looked past his own image, no
longer staring at himself but seeking strength. He knew what was
about to come and there was no way out of it.

“
Why didn’t you warn me
they were coming? I could’ve prepared.”

“
So you could’ve had time
to move Agarri out of their reach?” Khal looked into the mirror,
shifting his gaze over his shoulder to witness the roll of emotions
cross Kazru’s animated face. Khal knew Kazru secretly loved the
sweet little prince, and also knew he would have done anything to
keep Agarri from being found by the triad. Those three males had
been Agarri’s future, and there was no way he could allow Kazru to
interfere.

“
He isn’t yours,” Khal
said in a low voice. “He’s where he belongs. Our world depends on
the success of that bonding.”

Kazru stood taller and lifted his
chin. “I wouldn’t have kept Agarri from his fate.”

Khal turned in his chair and gawked at
Kazru. “Liar! You would’ve done anything to keep him to yourself.
You and I both know that, so there’s no point in lying
further.”

Kazru scowled. “I should toss you out
on the streets. You’ve been more trouble than good since you
arrived. I let you stay here in exchange for
information.”

“
If that was the truth,
why do you force me to whore myself for your
protection
?”

Kazru lifted his hand as if he would
strike Khal in the face but thought better of it. More than likely
to prevent marring Khal’s face. Khal could’ve shifted to hide the
marks, but Kazru knew full well Khal would wear them as a badge of
honor and refuse to conceal them.

Khal turned back to his mirror, the
surface he used to see the future. He needed something, anything to
give to Kazru. If he could find a kernel of information, it could
calm Kazru down and turn his attentions away from Khal.

Maybe he’d have some peace
tonight.

Three handsome faces came into sight.
Khal’s body stiffened as he saw the males again. More and more
images had been coming to him in the past few weeks, but the ones
of three attractive males had caught most of his notice. All he
could see were faces, nothing else, which often meant the sight he
was seeing was his own. Khal clamped down on the desire building in
his chest. He had been born in squalor and hadn’t lifted himself
much higher. A whore, he wasn’t worthy of a triad of his own, so he
banked the rising lust he felt for the three males and tried to
push them from his sight.

The images didn’t want to listen to
his objections, though. The three made themselves at home in his
mind, never letting Khal ignore them.

“
Are you listening to me?”
Kazru screeched, breaking Khal’s mental ramblings and bringing him
back to the here and now.

“
Yes, yes, Kazru, as if I
could stop listening to you scream at me.”

Kazru moved to the edge of
the vanity and glared down at Khal. “You are the only being I’ve
ever met who’s able to get the better of me. I am always in
control. Always! Except when I’m around
you
. It aggravates me to no end the
machinations you concoct.”

“
Machinations? You pay me
too big a compliment, Kazru. The visions come and go, I am only a
witness.”

“
But you choose what
visions you share. Too often you don’t give me what I need, and
considering I saved you and brought you here to protect you, I
think you owe me more than you’ve given.”

“
Protect me? You protected
the prince, not me. No, you have used and abused me, set me up to
whore within these walls while Agarri was nestled on the top floor,
untouched.”

Kazru’s mouth dropped open a bit. “Is
this why you didn’t tell me of the triad? You’re jealous of the
prince.”

He
was
jealous of the prince, but not
for the reasons Kazru thought. Khal wanted the chance of love, but
who would want a common whore? Kazru had destroyed Khal’s chances
the minute he put Khal up for sale to the highest bidder. “I didn’t
tell you of the triad for the reasons I already expressed. It is
his destiny, even he knew that. If I’d told you, you would’ve taken
the prince away. And then we would never be free.”

Kazru shook his head. “You think our
fair prince is going to free us? He’s not strong
enough.”

“
Those males he left with
are. And through them, Agarri will grow stronger, too. An army will
rise, buoyed by their love of the prince.”

Kazru turned to leave but paused by
the door. “Wait. How did Agarri know of the prophecy?”

Khal ignored the question, not sure
how to wiggle out from under Kazru’s thumb on that one. He stared
into the mirror, hoping for something to come, and come
fast.

Kazru walked closer and placed his
hands on Khal’s shoulders. He began rubbing Khal’s shoulders,
roughly, painfully. Khal tried to swallow his fear, knowing Kazru
was more powerful than he let on.

Kazru looked into the mirror. “You saw
all that in here, hmm?”

Khal glanced into the looking glass
and up to Kazru’s face. The fury swelling there frightened Khal.
He’d never seen Kazru so angry.

Kazru lifted a bottle of
cologne from the top of Khal’s vanity and walked away several
paces. He then spun on his heel and hurtled it at the mirror,
smashing both to pieces. “There, try to see in that,
whore
.”

Khal felt tears prickle the backs of
his eyes as he looked in shock at the shattered remnants. He rose,
anger flooding him. Turning to Kazru, he felt a tide of rage
filling him like never before.

White light burst in his vision and he
froze, his sight gone. Blinded, he couldn’t see, but images came
racing forward, filling his head instead of the mirror. Khal
screamed, the pain intense as they swelled in his brain.

When they were gone, he dropped to his
knees, darkness claiming him moments later.

Chapter Two

Tyron gazed ahead into the inky
nothingness of space. How he missed the colors of Xhythria, his
home where everything seemed so alive and warm. The stars were
something he’d always looked to as a child, wondering at their
brilliance. Back then, he’d hoped to one day reach the stars,
thinking them far superior to the life he lived. Now, the stars
just seemed cold and barren. All he wanted to do was return to his
home world and get his life back. Soon they would retake Planet X,
as the Xakarrians now called it. After the insurrection, the
shifters had been enslaved, all because they’d been considered too
dangerous.

Soon they’d see just how dangerous
shifters could be when they rose up to squash the alien invaders
who’d overrun the place—then he could have all the sights and
sounds of home he missed.

Smythe and Artim walked on deck, Artim
carrying a bowl of protein fibers in his palm. He shoved the bowl
into Tyron’s grasp. “Morning. Eat up. We’re almost
there.”

Tyron glared at the horrid-looking
food. Most of their ships weren’t equipped with true galleys, as
the vessels hadn’t been built for long-distance travel. It was the
best they could do in the situation, as they didn’t have the funds
to build more ships as of yet. He grabbed the bowl and pushed the
spoon around the mush. “Do you think we have time for a real meal
before we leave the planet’s surface? Hell, one of the worst inns
on Xhythria is better than this poor excuse for food.”

Artim grimaced and shook his head.
“Think more of our mission than your stomach. We’ve not the time to
worry about a meal. Everything your body needs is in that
bowl.”

“
Not everything,” Tyron
quipped. “We should delight in the food we eat. A sumptuous meal
can be quite satisfying.”

“
You ate your fill before
we left the base. That feast to welcome the prince should’ve sated
you for now. And you can eat a proper meal again once we get back.
Until then, you’ll eat what’s in that bowl and be happy,” Artim
said, staring out the window.

“
I might eat it, but I
won’t be happy,” Tyron answered. “You don’t always have to be such
a buzz kill, Artim.”

Artim sighed. “I just want you to
focus. We’re heading into a very dangerous situation and who knows
what might happen. If anything were to happen to either of you
…”

Tyron stopped that train of thought
immediately. “What? You might be forced into another triad with two
males not as understanding as the two of us?”

Artim growled. “That’s a fairly good
reason for me not to want the two of you hurt. I’m just now finally
starting to be able to handle your presence.”

“
Nothing will happen to
either of us. We are three strong, brave Kannomite warriors, sent
on this mission by Drayden himself. My cousin wouldn’t send us if
he didn’t have complete confidence in our success.”

“
I know we’re strong,”
Artim spat. “
When
we’re focused.”

Smythe laughed. “I’ll never understand
how we were combined in a triad. The spoiled noble versus the
righteous monk—and me to sit suffering amidst your constant
battles.”

“
Suffering?” Artim asked.
“You usually take his side and gang up on me, so I don’t see that
as suffering. And I’m not righteous. Nor am I a monk. I only remind
you both of your duty. I alone am the voice of reason
here.”

“
Artim, loosen up. We’re
stuck on a base, far from home. That’s enough of a reminder of our
duty. I can’t wait to go back home.” Tyron lifted the spoon and
swallowed a mouthful, the thick fibers not going down easily. Once
he got the paste to pass the lump in his throat, he smiled. “Does
that make you happy now?”

Artim glared at Tyron. “That you are
fed and won’t be griping later about your empty stomach?
Yes.”

Tyron shook his head. If Artim stayed
as uptight as he was now, he worried the male would suffer apoplexy
someday soon. Lifting the spoon one more time, he took another bite
of what they tried to pass off as food. He couldn’t stand another
bite and tossed the bowl onto the control panel and checked course.
“We should arrive in Xhythrian airspace tonight. I say we should do
a little reconnaissance first before we go straight to the
whorehouse and find Kazru.”

There was another part to this mission
he hadn’t shared with the other members of his triad, one his
cousin didn’t want Tyron to attempt. But if there was a chance they
could gain the upper hand, how could Tyron ignore it?

It was Smythe’s turn to argue. “We
have a direct mission. Go to the whoremonger and get inside his
head, looking for information on our missing king.”