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” He slurred the words out of his mouth
before his eyes rolled back in their sockets. His head fell to his
shoulder, a crooked smile curling under his snout.
    “ Enjoy
your wet dream, buddy.” Lilly patted him down, a habit borne
from years on the police force. She wasn’t surprised to find
the Treljon laser tucked into the waist of his trousers, but the
Ba’alkin dagger strapped to his walking appendage caught her by
surprise. Not street legal but definitely an effective weapon. She
slipped the dagger up her sleeve and the laser in her other boot.
“Thanks for the extra weapons, buddy. And remember to seek
medical attention for an erection lasting longer than four hours.”
    With
one last touch to his snout, she made sure he was breathing before
heading down the alley to the tavern. If all went well in the next
few of hours, she’d take down Venair Grebetz just as easily and
collect her reward for his bounty before the third moon set.

Chapter Three

    Dallas
hoped his posture gave the impression he was a man who just didn’t
give a shit—exactly the opposite of how he felt. Leaning on the
bar with one elbow, his boot hooked nonchalantly on the brass pole a
foot off the floor, he worked to tamp down the slow crawl of nerves
over his skin. He wasn’t sure what was making him edgy, but
he’d learned a long time ago to trust his instincts. And his
gut was definitely operating at yellow alert levels. Running his hand
over the scruff of his chin, Dallas spoke quietly into the
communications unit at his wrist. “Gamma Team, check.”
    He
downed his third shot of gall’s blood while one by one his men
responded in his ear with the all-clear sign. Grebetz should be
arriving shortly. With the two Drikspa in the surrounding alleys, the
Xerick on the roof across the street, out of sight of the arriving
Znedu, the Braugtot on the roof of the tavern and him and Thaegan
inside, Dallas had no doubt they were ready. Routine . Yeah,
that’s what he believed about all missions. Even the ones where
people got killed.
    He
motioned to the bartender. “Another gall’s blood and
Regeant’s ale and make them both double.” The Xerick
nodded one of his heads while the other carried on a conversation
with a Ka’al female two stools down. He didn’t even want
to imagine how they’d manage that hookup.
    “ I
think you might want to go easy on that stuff.” Thaegan stepped
up next to Dallas, speaking low and keeping his eyes facing the
mirror behind the bar. In the noise of the crowded tavern, they both
knew no one heard. Thaegan signaled the bartender. It wouldn’t
look good if he didn’t order something. “Whiskey neat.”
    Dallas
raised an eyebrow. “Do as I say not as I do?”
    “ You
Earthlings make alcohol that wouldn’t get a Ka’al baby drunk.”
    “ And
I could say the same for alien swill.” Though they both knew
the alcohol content of the local brew had nothing to do with Dallas’
ability to drink anyone under the table.
    The
bartender dropped off their drinks.
    “ Here’s
to bad guys getting justice and the good guys getting just ass.”
They lifted their glasses, quoted team gamma’s motto and downed
their respective drinks.
    Thaegan
motioned for another drink. “You know nothing’s going
down tonight.”
    “ It’s
a dry run.” Dallas took a long pull of the ale.
    “ We’re
going to get a look at Grebetz. Run the team through their paces.
Have a couple of drinks. Get laid. And do it all before the rest of
the world wakes for their morning coffee.” Thaegan laughed,
downed the second shot of whiskey and slapped Dallas on the back hard
enough to make him cough. “Relax, you’ve got half of that
crossed off your list already, my friend.” He melted back into
the anonymity of the crowd.
    But
the Ka’al’s words hadn’t convinced either of them.
Dallas felt Thaegan’s apprehension as surely as his partner
sensed his. The last two years had tested their friendship far beyond
normal bonds. Dallas