Alien Paladin's Redemption - Mina Carter Page 0,62

to Nyek, he’d always been arrogant and boastful. That he hadn’t changed was evident in his expression as he looked at Nyek.

“Still using our family name, runt?” He chuckled. “Mind you, I am not surprised. It is the only claim to greatness you will ever have.”

“What do you want, Tavik?” Nyek asked, keeping his voice calm and level. Like most bullies, Tavik always looked for a reaction from his victims. Nyek had long since learned not to give him one.

But still, concern swirled in his chest. If his brother was close, he might stumble on this place, and Nyek didn’t have the manpower or armament to protect the females under his care. If Tavik found out about them…

“Can’t a litaan contact his brother now? Not even to congratulate him on his promotion?” Tavik leaned forward, a leer on his face. “So whose cock did you suck to get sub-commander, Nyek? Because we both know you don’t have what it takes to get there on your own… Not a Vesh like you.”

He leaned back with a sneer and Nyek had never hated his own face so much in his life.

“Vesh I might be,” he threw back. “But at least I do not dance at the beck and call of a deranged stovantar like our father.”

Tavik laughed. “Of course, you would cast shade on our father. Especially given his ascension. He is the prophet of Ursal-Kai… and we know full well how to deal with blasphemous traitors like you.”

Nyek’s eyes widened, a burst of surprise rolling through him. Their father had always been religious, even verging on fanatical. Every transgression during their childhood had been seen as an affront to the gods and, whether it had been Nyek’s fault or not, he had been punished for it. As their father had grown steadily more insane, even the most minor transgressions had become more severe in his eyes, and so had the punishments.

So it did not surprise him that Ravel had slid into the kind of insanity that led him to believe he was actually a prophet of Ursal-Kai. The most vicious and hardline of the Latharian gods, followers of Ursal-Kai were the worst of the purist movement, and it seemed the rest of his family had joined their ranks.

“I am sure you do. But the question still remains as to why you contacted me. I want nothing to do with you, nor you me. So, there must be a reason for this call.”

Tavik’s eyebrow rose slightly on the left as it always did when he was being smug and knew something Nyek did not.

“Well, actually, brother… you contacted me first. Nice little trick with the trans-dimensional gate. That nearly threw us, but with our seers on board, we managed to track you.”

The only ships he’d contacted recently were the pirate ships…

“You finally went rogue and left the empire.” Realization colored his voice. His brother had been on the pirate ship.

“Those on the side of god and justice are often mislabeled by unbelievers.” Tavik leaned forward in a burst of movement. “You have something I want.”

Nyek arched his own eyebrow.

“I am sure I have nothing you could not have achieved on your own merits and skills,” he replied, unruffled. He was familiar with this guessing game and refused to participate. To do so risked handing Tavik more information than he currently possessed.

“We know you have females with you. You will hand them over to us or we will destroy you.”

Nyek let his expression set into bland lines. “I think you might have been drinking too much of the ceremonial wine, brother, or did you forget the plague? The Lathar have no women.”

Tavik’s slow smile was triumphant, his eyes sparkling with malevolence. “Oh, I am more than aware of that. But you have human females with you. You will hand them over.”

Draanth. He knew. How he knew about the humans, Nyek had no idea, but he did, which made this situation all the more dangerous.

“If I had such females, which, given my lowly status within the empire is highly unlikely, I would have taken a vow to protect them and thus would never hand them over to you.”

“Vows to the false emperor are invalid!” Tavik spat, his temper flaring immediately. It always did when he didn’t get what he wanted. “You were brought up as a follower of Ursal-Kai. You should bow to the will of your god, as mandated by your prophet!”

“I do not follow Ursal-Kai.” Nyek lifted his chin. “I am Vesh