The Whorehouse Oracle (4 page)

“
After giving the prince
shelter for so long, one would think you’d have more respect for
him,” Tyron said lowly, hearing the menace of his own voice. He
wanted Kazru to keep talking. The whoremonger was confident—too
confident. He thought he was a better male than either Tyron and
Artim, and the more he spoke, the more his mental guard
lowered.

“
It’s not the prince I
disrespect, but your cousin’s triad. But then, what did I expect
from a bunch of Kannomites? You’ve always been a bunch of reckless,
over-muscled thugs who had a greater sense of self-importance than
you deserved. Why the old kings thought they needed your brute
force to win battles, I’ll never know. Battles are fought in the
minds, not in the bodies.”

Artim chuckled, speaking up when he
was normally silent. “Yet the planet was overrun after we’d been
exiled. Had there been more muscle, perhaps we’d not be in this
situation at all. Once we find the king and save our world, we’ll
be sure to inform him of these facts.”

Tyron smiled as the look of arrogance
faded from Kazru’s face. “And on the note of our king, you’re going
to tell me everything you know.”

Kazru lifted one eyebrow. “And why
would I do that?”

“
Because you’re loyal to
our cause, even if you don’t like us,” Tyron spat. He was
continually checking the walls about Kazru’s mind, looking for weak
spots. He’d yet to find one. “You proved that by protecting the
prince all these years. And I would bet you don’t care for this
life you’re leading and want your old one back.”

“
Who says I don’t prefer
this life?” Kazru asked with a smile. “I’ve grown rather fond of
this place and the freedoms I have now that I never had in the
court of our king.”

Tyron closed his eyes and suddenly
knew the words were a lie. He almost opened his eyes, but realized
if he knew it for a lie, he had pierced Kazru’s wall. He pushed
again and the mind yielded.

Suddenly he was on a dark Lyssian
field, a starry night above him. He looked around and there was no
one around him, nothing for miles. The glowing nebulas hovering
over the planet were the only thing casting light on the deep
russet field. Where had he gone?

“
How dare you force your
way in,” Kazru whispered in his ear. Tyron spun to see the
whoremonger behind him.

Tyron lifted one eyebrow. “Tell me
what I want to know and I’ll leave you without harm.”

The whoremonger laughed. “Do you
really think I’ll make it that easy on you?”

Tyron pushed, harder this
time.

Kazru put both his hands to his head
and let out a scream. “Stop it!”

“
Tell me what I want to
know!”

Kazru looked up at Tyron, a frown
creasing his brow. “I can’t.”

“
Why? You want the same
thing we do, no matter how you lie. You want to be free
again.”

“
I can’t!”

Tyron mentally pushed again and blood
began to drip from Kazru’s nose.

“
Stop! I can’t tell you
because it’s not there!” Kazru screamed.

Tyron let up and stared at the mental
image of the whoremonger. “What do you mean it’s not
there?”

“
I don’t know what it is,
it’s like there are … missing places in my mind. I’m strong, too
strong for anyone to have wiped them clean, but then I thought I
was stronger than you, too.” Kazru chuckled and reached up to wipe
away some of the blood. “Every time I try to think of the king,
there’s just
nothing
there. Someone got to me, someone more powerful than you,
because I don’t even remember it. I’ve searched for information,
and I can’t find it in others’ minds, other males from the king’s
court. They’ve
all
been wiped clean. Do you understand what that
means?”

Someone incredibly powerful was on the
other side and that didn’t bode well for any of them. But there was
a second part to Tyron’s mission. That tool could help them stop
the Xakarrians. “I’ve heard stories of an oracle.”

Kazru grimaced. “You believe in that
old fairy tale, do you?”

“
Do they
exist?”

“
All the oracles the king
held in court were murdered.” Kazru turned away after speaking, as
if he were hiding something.

“
What are you not telling
me? Is there another?” Tyron knew in his gut there was. “Perhaps he
could help shed some light on this?”

“
There is another. He’s
worthless. You won’t find what you need from him. Especially now,”
Kazru said as he turned back to look at Tyron.

“
Especially
now?”

Kazru became tight-lipped, so Tyron
prodded mentally again, ignoring Kazru’s screams. This was too
important. He searched inside, finding Kazru was telling the truth
about the king, but also finding what he needed.

Khal.

After Tyron reviewed the visions he’d
just stolen from the whoremonger, anger swelled through him. “You
son of a bitch. You whored him out to your customers?”

Tyron pulled from Kazru’s mind, not
worrying about a gentle exit. If he left a wake of damage behind,
it was too good for the male. As soon as Tyron was back in his
body, he sprinted from the room and rushed up the staircase,
without a word to his triad brothers. He sensed both Artim and
Smythe fast on his heels as he took the steps two at a time. Once
he hit the second floor, he raced to the fourth door and flung it
open. When he looked inside, he saw the oracle lying in the midst
of the broken mirror, lying in a ball, his hands and feet cut by
the shards. Tyron swooped in and lifted the male in his
arms.

“
Artim, a blanket. We need
to take him to safety,” Tyron spat.

“
Is he…?” Artim
asked.

“
The oracle? Yes,” Tyron
said as he grasped the blanket Artim handed him off the bed. The
room smelled of sex, and rage welled deeply in Tyron’s gut. “The
whoremonger has forced him to work here, paying for protection from
the Xakarrian.”

Kazru appeared in the doorway,
apparently unhurt other than a smeared mark of blood under his
nose. “Forced? Not hardly. He had a choice. He could work here or
leave.”

“
And if he left here, and
he was found out, he’d be killed. Some choice he had,” Tyron said
through clenched teeth.

“
Have we gotten everything
we need here?” Smythe asked, glaring at Kazru.

Tyron nodded.

“
Then there’s no reason to
remain,” Smythe bit out and opened the door for Tyron.

Artim exited first and waited for
Tyron in the hall. Tyron jostled the slight male in his arms and
adjusted the blanket before rushing through the opened door. They
rushed back down the stairs as quickly as they’d raced up them and
were back in the street in minutes. No one spoke as they wormed
their way through the intricate city streets and tunnels, ignoring
the curious eyes of the other shifters and aliens surrounding them.
All Tyron could envision was getting back to their ship and
avoiding the Xakarrian troops patrolling the city.

He would nurse the oracle’s wounds and
then perhaps get some answers. They needed to find the king and
fast, before whoever had destroyed the memories came after them
all.

Chapter Four

Khal awoke in an unfamiliar bed. He
sat up and looked about, but the room was cloaked in darkness. He
couldn’t determine where he was. The last thing he recalled was
Kazru leaving to meet the three males and the visions coming
unabated. There was something else, but he couldn’t grasp ahold of
it.

“
You’re awake.”

Khal turned toward the voice, but
could see nothing. He tried to hear over the erratic beating of his
own heart. Very faintly, he heard someone breathing. “Who’s
there?”

A small light turned on. It wasn’t
bright, but was still a shock to Khal’s eyes. After a moment, his
sight returned. He looked around the room and saw the most handsome
shifter he’d ever laid eyes on.

One of the three from his
visions.

Tyron.

How Khal knew the name he wasn’t sure,
but he knew it all the same. There were many things he knew without
rhyme or reason over the years, so there was no point worrying over
that. “You’re Tyron, cousin to Drayden, the male who took Prince
Agarri.”

Tyron’s eyes widened imperceptivity,
the only part of him to show any reaction at all. “And you are the
oracle no one believes exists.”

“
There are those who
believe. They just won’t admit they believe,” Khal said
sadly.

“
Why is it so wrong to
have foresight? Many have the ability to see inside minds, so why
is it such a stretch to see into time?”

“
Even those who have the
power to see inside minds make many wary. The masses don’t like
those who are different or stronger than they are. It’s the same
reason your kind was exiled. The great Kannomite Army held too much
raw strength and power for other shifters to feel safe in your
presence. You were deemed an enemy of the state and sent away. My
kind was locked up in the palace and forced to serve the king in
secret, until our gift was a threat and my brethren were all
killed.”

“
Are you the
last?”

“
There are others,
children, who’ve not unlocked their powers yet and more to come in
new generations. But for now, I am the only one left,” Khal said
before looking down at his lap. “If I can get my power to work
right again.”

Tyron stood and walked over to the
bed. When he sat down beside Khal, a comfortable rush of excitement
swelled through Khal’s body. He wanted Tyron to sit closer. Khal’s
heartbeat picked up even more and a fine sheen of sweat coated his
brow. After so many months of seeing these three males in his
visions, having one of them within arm’s reach made him yearn to
touch every inch of the male he could.

Khal had seen them so
much, he felt as if he knew them. And he sensed he belonged to
them.
A fated mate?
Khal shook his head. He was a dirty whore. There was no way
he was one of the triad mates of worth. Khal would give his very
soul to be one, though.

“
I saw what Kazru did. Is
there anything I can do to help?”

Khal smiled at the warrior male. So
strong, so powerful, yet he was considerate. Or did he, like
everyone else, only want what Khal could offer? The smile Khal felt
on his face slipped some as he contemplated that thought. “Why did
you take me?”

“
We need your help to find
the king,” Tyron said firmly.

An ache gnawed at Khal’s chest.
“There’s no other reason?” At least Tyron had been upfront and
honest. The male hadn’t hidden his reason when asked. Was there
some credit to be given for that, even when it broke Khal’s spirit
to once again be wanted for what he could do?

Tyron looked Khal over. “I
wasn’t going to allow Kazru to continue abusing you like he was.
You should be revered, not used to whore in his
establishment
.”

“
So you pitied me?” Khal
asked, his chest aching all the more. He should feel gratitude for
being plucked from the whorehouse. But at least there, he didn’t
feel the sudden shame that was coursing through his veins now.
Tyron thought Khal unclean, it showed on his face.

“
Pity?” Tyron asked. “I
don’t know it was necessarily pity. No one should be treated like
that, forced to sell their body to others just to live under
Kazru’s protection.”

“
Yet you left all the
other whores there. Did you not think about them? Or was it that
they didn’t have the gift you needed?”

Embarrassment flooded Tyron’s face and
he stood. “With your help, we can free them all. Every last shifter
who’s under Xakarrian rule can go free.”

“
Then I should feel lucky
you saved me so I can help save the world,” Khal said, trying to
keep the bitterness from his voice. Perhaps one day someone would
love him just for him, and not want him for his gift. Today
apparently wasn’t that day.

****

Tyron stood facing the oracle, feeling
as if every time he opened his mouth, he inserted his foot. Khal
looked so lonely, so lost, and Tyron wanted to pull the male into
his arms and give him comfort. Tyron wanted to whisper to Khal that
things would be better and no one would subject him to those kinds
of horrors again.

But after the male had been forced to
allow others to touch him, Tyron didn’t want to pressure Khal with
unwanted intimacies.

No matter how much
Tyron
wanted
to
touch Khal.

There was something calling Tyron
closer, something about the small male that made his protective
instincts kick in. Tyron’s fingers itched to trail over Khal’s
skin. The need to claim Khal made his cock ache between his legs.
There was little doubt in Tyron’s mind.

Khal was his mate.

Tyron watched Khal closely, really
watching the male. Khal didn’t have the affected air of someone who
realized just how handsome he truly was. He wasn’t just handsome.
He was almost too perfect. His eyes were the brightest blue Tyron
had ever witnessed, and they were large and expressive. Pain and
heartache was reflected in those wide orbs, but there was something
else—a longing Tyron could feel down deep to his bones each time
the oracle looked his way.