Indentured (Book 2 of the Dana Halliday series)

THE DANIFF. GO, FIGHT, LIVE. SIX OF ONE.

A Sturv pit bull looks like a hybrid of a porcupine and a Tolkien-style warg, as it turns out. It's called a daniff.

Three of the animals were being loaded up to take to the arena, from a secluded habitat isolated from the rest of the zoo. They were about the size of large wolves and had the same look of feral intelligence in their green eyes. It took a team of four Indentured Sturv to wrangle each daniff into a cage on wheels, one directing it with the cruelest rabies pole I'd ever seen—the neck loop looked like barbed wire—the other three jabbing it with cattle prod type devices. Rav helped by supervising and shouting encouraging curses in his own dialect.

"Maybe some positive reinforcement would work better," I sarcasted.

Rav only snarled at me, something that was probably not a haiku. "You'll be responsible for treating their injuries."

I elected bravado. "I've worked on feral cats. I'll be fine."

My boss shook his gray head. The last daniff, a wily, scarred old male, twisted at the last second and nearly wrenched the pole away from its captor. One of the helpers stuck his electric baton right into the creature's nose. The daniff released a howl of agonized fury, then another as the barbed loop of the rabies pole dug into his enormous neck.

Rav barked out, "Be careful! Don't hurt him!" Just like any other pet owner who was more concerned with Bitey McCujo's safety than mine. Then he muttered, "Fool. Bad enough we have to starve them for this."

I glanced at Liti, who looked like she was fighting an impulse to run. Her claws were out, and her hair was trying to bristle. I wondered if she could pick up any psychic vibes from the animals, or if it was just the scents of fear and anger and pain. That made me wonder why I'd never asked Flynt if he could sense anything from Billie, which just made me feel like shit.

I looked back over at the public area of the zoo, and sighed. It was twilight, and the oppressive heat of the day was giving way to a desert chill. My stomach was in helpless knots. Just the daniff fighting would have been bad enough without bringing the sapient species into it.

The lackeys began pushing the snarling, rattling cages in the general direction of the arena. Rav gestured at Liti and me, and we followed him back toward our own neighborhood.

Uis was rolling on the grass when we approached, an utterly bizarre sight with his six flailing limbs and long, contorting body. I had to smile despite my dread; it reminded me of all my dogs.

The I'une stood and shook himself all over, which looked too ridiculous for words. Then he came to the fence, all sinuous grace again. Rav's phone twittered, and he turned away, griping at the caller even before he put the phone to his earhole.

Liti gazed at Uis with sad, troubled eyes. "You know what's going to happen?"

"Yes." Uis smiled. "Don't worry yourself too much. My home had many dangerous creatures. I know how to defend myself."

"There are three of them," Liti advised, in a hushed, conspiratorial tone. "They are vulnerable, here." She passed her hands over her belly, smoothing her loose shirt.

"As are many dangerous foes," Uis agreed. "Thank you." He huffed and ran his long fingers through his mane of hair. "If I am to die, I wish it could be on my own world."

"Ihi," said the Fenn, with feeling.

I didn't say anything. I'd just like to be with my loved ones when the time comes. I'm not picky about the place.

The arena was set up the same as it had been for Flynt and Cua. Rav escorted the three of us to the holding area, a dingy basement kind of place that opened out into the tangle of obstacles. The way was blocked by a huge metal gate with vertical bars.