Taking Liberty by Jodi Redford Read Free Book Online Page A

eased away from the wall, but Rini stayed put, her attention riveted on the lover’s tiff playing out in front of them.
    â€œYou’ve grown tired of me. I can see it.” The female Aquatican lifted a tentacle and wiped her eye. “This is what I get for putting out on the first date.”
    The guard heaved a sigh. “You’re being ridiculous.”
    â€œSo now I’m being ridiculous. Well screw you, Fimordan. Screw . You .”
    An exasperated groan filtered from Lucus. “Oh for Christ’s sake. This must be the torture Quarrel promised.” His fists thudded against the glass. “Quarrel, you sadistic son of a bitch, just kill me and get it over with.”
    Jeneet spun from Fimordan, her expression weepy. She stalked to the section of wall across from the cell and pressed a button. Another hidden door whooshed open, revealing several large coiled hoses. Gathering one in her tentacles, she walked to the glass wall and snapped the end of the hose onto one of the pronged openings.
    So that’s what they’re for . Discovering the prongs’ purpose didn’t exactly set his mind at rest. Toxic nerve gas? A flesh-eating virus? The hoses could deliver anything.
    â€œWh-what are you doing?” Rini demanded, her voice quivering with a fine thread of fear.
    The idea of Rini being afraid of anything surprised the hell out of him. In the short time he’d known her she acted like she had bigger balls than half the men he knew.
    Jeneet lifted her gaze to Rini’s. “Pumping water into your cell.” She said it like it was the most logical answer in the world. “You’re going to become living specimens in your own private aquarium. Won’t that be fun?”
    Rini blinked. Her expression reminded him of the look Roscoe always got whenever the word bath was mentioned. “But we don’t have gills. We can’t survive underwater.”
    â€œOh. Well that stinks.” Giving a sympathetic smile, Jeneet tightened the fittings before strolling to the remaining hoses. Fimordan joined her.
    â€œDo not talk to those earthlings. They can’t be trusted.”
    â€œHow dare you tell me what to do?” Turning up her nonexistent nose, Jeneet snagged the next available hose and wrestled it to the glass wall. While she clamped it in place, Fimordan dragged the third hose over.
    Lucus stared at the fourth—and final—opening. If he didn’t think of something soon, he and Rini would be belly-up in their own death tank.
    Fimordan pointed to the farthest hose. “That one doesn’t look properly fastened.”
    Jeneet swung on him, her small, beady eyes bugging from their sockets. “It is. I checked it twice.”
    â€œMaybe I should check it.” Fimordan started to move to the hose in question and got another tentacle upside his head. “Damn it, Jeneet!”
    â€œBecause I’m a female, you think you’re so much smarter than me.”
    Fimordan gingerly probed his skull. “It’s been proven that the males of our species have bigger brains.”
    Jeneet planted her tentacles on her hips and blocked Fimordan’s path. “Too bad the same can’t be said for your pleasure valve.”
    Throwing his companion a hard glare, Fimordan stalked to the final hose and twisted it onto the prongs. Once he completed his task, he returned to the room across the way and flipped down a metal lever. A rumbling gurgle pulsed through the hoses. Seconds later, water blasted from the openings. One of the geysers slammed into Lucus’s shoulder and he stumbled back, his boots sliding in the rapidly filling cell.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Jeneet screeched. “We’re supposed to wait for General Quarrel.”
    â€œWhat does it matter? He’ll be down soon enough.”
    Jeneet waved her tentacles in the air. “This is what I’m talking about. You never listen to me.”
    Lucus sent a