Sweep with Me (Innkeeper Chronicles Book 5) by Ilona Andrews

Author:Ilona Andrews [Andrews, Ilona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641971362
Publisher: NYLA
Published: 2020-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

6

The morning of the first day of Treaty Stay started with breaking up another koo-ko debate. They had convened for an early morning ritual, which progressed into a spirited discussion, which then predictably degenerated into a brawl. This time nine of the combatants had needed the regeneration chamber. At the rate they were going, we’d have a fatality before the holiday was over. I had lost only one guest in the inn, and I’d made a promise to myself to never lose another.

The day had just started, and it looked like it was only going to get worse.

“When you told me we had a new guest, you neglected to mention he was a Medamoth.” Sean loomed over me as I drank my first cup of tea.

In the depths of the kitchen, Orro moved like a dark wraith. He hadn’t made a sound since storming off yesterday.

“I have him contained in his own wing. He’s on a pilgrimage.”

“A pilgrimage or an assassination attempt?”

“A pilgrimage. He’s too high ranking to be an assassin. He’s scheduled to assume the post of a colonial governor and the Hope-Crushing Horde will be his new neighbors. He knows we brokered a peace on Nexus, and he designed this entire pilgrimage around our inn. He’s trying to figure out how to make peace with the Otrokars.”

Sean crossed his arms on his chest. “I had several Medamoths under my command on Nexus. They don’t make peace. They kill, they hunt, and they write bad poetry.”

I couldn’t resist. Auul, the planet Sean’s ancestors blew up rather than surrender to their enemies, was known as the planet of warrior poets. “So they are a poor imitation of a werewolf?”

“They are eight feet tall, homicidal, and rabid. They chase anything that moves and bite things without thinking.”

I squinted at him. “What kind of bad poetry do they write?”

Sean gave me a look and recited, “Hunt. Hunt. The scent of prey. The light of the moon. Blood on the fang. Taste the heartbeat. Rapture.”

I clapped. “That was lovely.”

“What will be lovely is when he finds out about the space chickens. There will be a massacre. And guess what? The Assembly won’t be happy about that.”

I sipped more tea. “The koo-ko are fine,” I lied.

“The Medamoths have an overwhelming prey drive. If it runs, they chase it.” Sean looked up. “Show me the Medamoth rooms.”

The inn produced a screen. On it Qoros stretched, holding a pose in a Medamoth version of yoga. His eyes were closed. He stood perfectly still, his right leg bent at the knee, foot resting against the inside of his left thigh, his arms spread wide.

“His name is Qoros, by the way.”

Sean squinted at the tattoo on Qoros’ neck. “Qoros my ass. That’s Ratharr the Vein Ripper. He led the offensive on Mrelnos, took the capital and crushed the planetary government while outnumbered three to one. He is one of the Medamoth Bloody Twelve, the best heroes of the species. If he’s a pilgrim, I’m…”

“An innkeeper?”

“Fine.”

“His brother is a mercenary who was stationed on Nexus.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.