Free Darkside Blues: SciFi Alien Romance (Dark Planet Warriors Book 4.5) by Anna Carven

Boss sat, suspended above the cantilevered platform in a hover-chair.
    Vadim Araki was old. How old, no-one really knew. Kai suspected he had at least two centuries under his belt, and it was beginning to show.
    He reached the edge of the platform and dropped to his knees, executing a deep formal bow.
    He didn’t speak. No words would help him now.
    “Get up, Kainan. Ain’t no need for that.” Vadim spoke in the coarse, guttural language of the streets.
    “Boss.” Kai inclined his head respectfully as he rose to his feet, meeting Vadim’s rheumy blue eyes for the first time. He kept his expression neutral, clasping his hands behind his back.
    The Boss’s dark lips curved into a wry smile. “I know ya had nothin’ to do with that clusterfuck on the Glory Strip, boy.”
    Kai breathed a mental sigh of relief, but outwardly, he displayed no reaction. He knew better than to reveal his innermost thoughts.  
    He couldn’t afford to. They were watching him. Always watching him. Vadim’s people stood in the shadows, blending in with their surroundings, unobtrusive amongst the lush foliage.
    They were a sinister reminder of Vadim’s pervasive influence.
    Just like Kai, he had eyes everywhere.
    “Melia was harmed,” Kai said, as a disciple emerged from the shadows, a fishing rod in one hand. He bowed as he offered it to Vadim, vanishing as quickly as he’d appeared. The Boss took the rod into his weathered hands. An incredibly lifelike silver lure dangled from the line, flashing in the sunlight.
    Vadim maneuvered over to the edge of the platform. Kai took his cue and followed closely behind, his footsteps echoing hollowly on the clear synthetic surface. Vadim took aim and cast the lure into the pond. It disappeared into the murky depths with a plonk .
    “My child is safe now,” the Boss said as he slowly reeled in his line. His thin arms shook with the effort. “Thanks to ya.” The wriggling lure flipped out of the water with a tiny splash. Vadim flicked the rod and cast it again. He wasn’t able to throw it very far. He turned to Kai. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Kainan. If I thought ya had something to do with all that, ya’d be dead by now.”
    Kai nodded. He knew that. That’s why he’d been confident enough to show up at the Tower alone. Sometimes, actions spoke for themselves. By leaving himself open and unguarded, Kai had been letting Vadim know that he trusted his Boss to do the right thing by him.
    “You should visit your daughter sometime,” Kai said quietly, surprising even himself. No-one told Vadim what to do.
    Except for Kai, occasionally. But he was the exception to the rule.
    A rattling cough escaped the Boss. His thin shoulders shook and the fishing rod trembled, threatening to fall out of his hands.
    Kai waited until the coughing subsided. The boss’s body had been pushed to its absolute limits, held together by a combination of life-prolonging medications and technology.
    No-one really knew the old man’s age, but the rumor was that he had almost two-and-a-half centuries under his belt.
    Kai had always thought it strange that the old man had decided to procreate so late in life. Melia had been born through advanced reproductive techniques, nurtured in an artificial womb until the day she was delivered. She’d never had a mother, and Vadim had never been much of a father to her.
    The Boss nodded at one of his guards, who emerged from the shadows to stand at his side. “Hold this,” he said, handing him the fishing pole. “If ya get a bite, don’t lose ‘im. This old man can’t do two things at once anymore.”
    The guard took the rod as Vadim let out a slow breath. “I don’t want her to see me like this. This,” he gestured down at his wasted body, “it ain’t natural. I don’t want the girl to remember me as a withered old zombie.” He shook his head. “I ain’t so good with the affection side of things. Ya know that, Kainan.”
    Kai said nothing. When Vadim had