Spider's Game ((Book One) #Wattys2016 Winner!)

Chapter 3 part 2-The Terms

"I'll divulge my intentions in time. First, you need a modicum of history." Silvia turned her back to them. "You see, Mr. Trehar and I established a variety of acquaintance a year ago."

Succubus has no problem calling Henri by a formal name. How firmly do they own him?

"I didn't know then that he had friends of your caliber, Berrick. My brother ferreted that out. My brother is a font of wisdom and a memory that knows no equal. Mr. Trehar and I got along straight off, and when I broached the subject of a meeting with his brother, he accommodated my desires."

"Answer my question. Why am I here," Berrick asked.

Silvia turned to him and smiled a quick cruel smile. "Such impatience. Has no one ever told you the voyage is worth more than the destination? I thought we might be friends."

"This is not a voyage. This is a trap. One more time—what's all this about?"

"My brother and I work together." Silvia tapped her finger on the ruby hanging against her collar bone. "And have been contained here for many years. The confinement grows tiresome. We'd like to leave Yahal. The lure of other planets grows too strong to ignore. You see, we came from one of the unclaimed worlds and were brought here as children. I crave new sights and different sorts of people. Halis' research implies that now is the perfect time to leave. So we found someone who could help us get off of Yahal. We found you Berrick."

Berrick stared at her perfect mouth as it shut. Her eyebrows lifted, waiting for his response.

"I'm no pilot."

Silvia laid her hand on Henri's shoulder. Henri flinched and then his head tilted toward her hand, like a beaten dog craving the caress of his mistress.

"There are pilots in plenty, Berrick. Space-trains leave hourly. However, first we must obtain the papers necessary for such a journey. You can find us names, valid ids, and anything else we need to get off Yahal. And you have the power to strike the whole trip from records, so we cannot be tracked. We must be untraceable."

"Find someone else," Berrick said.

"No. We won't do that." Silvia smiled again, and her teeth were sharp. Henri stared up at her face a goofy smile on his own. "It'd take little effort for you to do as instructed. Pull a few strings, and talk to a few people. I was told you were intelligent. Don't be blind to the benefits of aiding us."

Or the veiled threats of what happens if I don't.

"No," Berrick said.

"Now, Berrick," Henri said. "Be reasonable, hear the lady out. She has a proposition."

Propositions, trades, and bargains were part of Henri's makeup. He thought in neat columns. This had been true since their boyhood, but it had never made Henri seem so soulless to Berrick as it did in that instant.

"I do indeed." Silvia stared at both of them with her dark eyes. "We need your services, Berrick, and we're capable of paying exorbitantly for them. Perhaps even enough to fund you leaving this backwards little world for your own fresh start. I'm willing to pay off your honor though there is little that's dishonorable about helping two people who are down on their luck."

"If you're not allowed off the planet, there is good reason," Berrick said.

"Ah, one would think so. In a perfect world that would be the case, but this is not a perfect world, as I'm sure you've noted. After the tragedy your family has undergone, I thought you might understand that sometimes the law stands in the way of what is right. In the way of happiness and contentment. We are simply another family in dire need of aid."