Shared Mercy Book 5 of the Guardians Saga

Ch. 3.3 Parties and Challenges

Razz and Zilik watched Alex as she paced in a conference room with floor to ceiling windows. The vista was of red and grey striped cliffs and bushes with silver-green leaves with tiny purple flowers, as well as columnar cacti with yellow spikes.

A team of Chameleons, Iguanas, and Geckos picked cactus pears, and,even at a distance, were obviously enjoying their job and each other, laughing and eating some of the fruit. Alex spared them only a preliminary glance. They didn't need help and she could turn her attention where it was needed.

"You did put out the general announcement about my return, right?" Alex asked as she strode up to Razz and Zilik. "Why aren't any Anolis males showing up?" She tried to ignore that Razz smelled like the healing oils in the bath in her upscale quarters.

"I think that it has lost its effectiveness the second time around." Razz never paced, never wasted his energy, but he breathed deeply whenever Alex walked near him. He was clearly enjoying not just the sight of Alex, but her scent and her sound.

"I want runaway males and the challenges to their mates." Alex drummed her fingers on the hilt of her sword. A thought kept picking at her mind; the thought that Rile hadn't wanted to enter the portal.

That's silly. Rile was geared up and right behind me, of course he wanted to come.

Then came the whisper that Drake had asked him to stay and Rile had turned aside. Before she could despair, the Anolis' souls spoke to her, said she was their destiny, and their voices drowned out the horrible whisper. She knew without a doubt that here was where she fit.

"Zilik, I want a party. A big one. As big as you can afford," Alex said. "No, make that two parties. The first one is the teaser, the bait."

Zilik eyed her, clearly wondering at the change of topic, his color a bright green. "Very well. What are you thinking?"

"I want to show off Razz and every Anolis male brave enough to come with me. I want them oiled up and in the most expensive clothes you can rent. I want every Anolis female eating her liver out with jealousy. The second party is where I'll spring my trap. I want them there with their males, their harems, to show off in response. Then I'll challenge them and free their males. I'll show those fire truck females who's in charge." Alex smiled her terrible smile.

"Trac and Kress will agree," Razz said. "I will ask other males as well. Almost all of us here have the freedom collars, ah, necklaces, with the stones you gifted us." His hand went to the gold and opal creation around his own neck, the intricate latticework hiding his scars from Cla's collar.

"Lok loves organizing parties," Zilik said. "We'll need a large venue. You'll need room to fight, uh, dance."

"Remember that necklace that you bought, Zilik?" Alex smiled a genuine smile of fondness at him. "Make sure that it has a quick release clasp. I don't want to be strangled by it."

***

The night of the party, Alex fussed over Razz as he and Zilik fussed over her. She wanted them to look better than her and they wanted just the opposite. Teela had been sent off with the babies and Gila guards. Trac and Kress' mates and children were also gone with Gila guards deep in Chameleon territory.

"Y'all look magnificent." Alex breathed in and out to calm herself as she stepped back and took in the sight of Zilik and the Anolis males. Then she smiled wickedly. "Fire truck those Anolis females." She adjusted her dagger and sword.

"You look no less magnificent," Razz said. "Every inch a hero. You will be able to 'fire truck' those vicious females."

"What is this 'fire truck'?" Kress asked.