Kyro - A.G. Wilde Page 0,80

was sure he wasn’t mistaken. His ears perked as he approached the room, his arms hanging by his sides, ready to go into action as he drew close.

Stopping just outside the room, Kyro sniffed.

There was someone in there and it wasn’t Evren.

An intruder.

Suddenly, the weirdly open door made sense, but a feeling of dread came with that realization. Maybe her absence was not her own doing.

Retreating from the entryway to the shower room, Kyro backtracked through the bedroom.

Turning the corner, he pressed himself against the wall as he waited for the intruder to show himself.

Hopefully, whoever it was would have thought he’d left and try to exit the quarters, giving Kyro the upper hand.

He didn’t have to wait long.

A few minutes passed by and there was pure silence. But soon after, he heard a shuffle as the intruder exited the sleeping area.

Kyro moved quickly.

Moving off his position by the wall, he gripped the intruder, placing his hands around the intruder’s neck in one movement as he slammed their body against the same wall he’d just been pressed against.

It took him a second to recognize who it was, and a snarl left his lips.

“Shive.” He could feel the remnants of his chets tingling with the need to slice the male’s head off.

He should have known.

“What have you done with her?” The voice that spoke didn’t sound like his own. He shook the alien in his grasp. “Speak! If you have hurt one cell on her body you will pay with your life.”

“Stop!” Shive’s arms grasped at the hands at his neck. “It’s not what you think, Kyro. I am on your side.”

“And which side is that?” Kyro squeezed tighter, lifting the male higher against the wall. The sound of Shive gasping for breath and the scraping of his chitin against the wall were the only things that penetrated the dead silence.

“I didn’t take her. In Polvrak’s name, I tell the truth.”

Kyro narrowed his eyes. “I know you have been following her. Qrak the rules. I should have taken you out when I had the chance.”

“I speak the truth,” Shive repeated. He wasn’t struggling to break free. Instead, his arms fell and he endured Kyro’s suffocating hold. “I didn’t take her. She’s been taken by a spy. He is working for the High Tasqals.”

He was aware of his eyes widening as he released his hold on the chitinous male a little.

“Explain.”

“M’Agunt.” Shive took a breath. “M’Agunt is a spy. He’s working for the Tasqals. I wasn’t sure about it. I was working undercover based on some intelligence my team came upon. M’Agunt is no merchant. He is working for a Tasqal called Messius Proctor Tracki. The one they call His Excellence.”

Kyro released his hold some more.

Shive took another breath.

“He’s been leaking information about missions to Tracki. He told him when the humans were brought on the base.”

“Go on,” Kyro ground out. The more Shive spoke, the more the rage that was building within him felt like a fire igniting his entire being.

“Tracki was one of the Tasqals who’d paid for the humans’ abduction. He’d paid for the one who lives in these quarters. Heard she wasn’t bonded to anyone yet. They’d been keeping eyes on her, waiting for the right moment to take her away.”

A growl left his lips that had Shive pressing himself into the wall as if he wanted to put distance between them.

“If I recall,” Kyro spoke through gritted teeth, “You were ‘keeping eyes’ on her too. Explain.” He shook Shive, his hands tightening around the male’s throat once more.

“I was only trying to keep a look out. I had no real proof. I couldn’t take the matter to headquarters. It was only a hunch based on the initial communication I received. I only came here this day to warn her after I saw her with M’Agunt at the shuttle bay. He had almost gotten her to leave with him. No doubt he would have taken her to Tracki. But when I got here, she was gone.”

Kyro’s eyes narrowed. “Then why did you hide?”

“Because of this.” Shive motioned to Kyro’s arms at his throat. “I was trying to avoid this. I am aware you don’t trust me.”

“Why should I trust you? You already tried to get her into your bed. How do I know that what you say is true?” Kyro shook him.

“Because if I had her in my bed I wouldn’t be here right now.” Shive looked at him pointedly and Kyro growled low in his chest.

With one