Fear that man

more hurt than angry.
        “I don’t want to have to get forceful, Jack,” Sam said, placing a ridiculously small hand on the enormous shoulder. He could feel the man’s muscles looped like cables of steel beneath the shirt. “Don’t force me to get aggressive. No need for that at all, Jack. There’s something in this for you-something that I’m sure you’ll enjoy, something that will easily make it worth your time and effort.”
        “I don’t need money,” Buronto said, staring around the table, his eyes fastening on Lotus and looking up and down her tiny form, his gaze lingering on her pert breasts, her slim shoulders, the graceful curve of her neck, full lips, deep, deep eyes. But he got hung up in the eyes and looked quickly away.
        “It isn’t money,” Sam said, hunching over in a more conspiratorial manner. “It’s something you will really enjoy.” He dropped his voice even lower. “It’s the only thing that money can’t buy any more.”
        Buronto looked at him. Their eyes met and held like magnets. Sam could feel the hatred boiling in those eyes, frothing and foaming, held back only by curiosity and willpower. “The only thing I would truly enjoy at this moment,” Buronto growled through clenched teeth, “would be gutting you and ripping out your heart.”
        Lotus gasped and Coro made a choking sound. Buronto looked at them, grinned at their weakness, his broad, perfect teeth almost carnivorous.
        Sam laughed. It wasn’t easy, and he was afraid it sounded a bit forced. But he laughed anyway. He brought his hand down on Buronto’s shoulder with every bit of force he could muster, trying to make it seem casual. The friendly slap jolted the giant, and he looked at Sam with fear in his eyes as well as hatred. Good. As long as he fears me, Sam thought, as long as he misunderstands my abilities and powers, some sort of order can be maintained. But if he only knew how my hand stings! “I’m sure you would like to kill me, Jack. Oh, I’m just positive of that.” His gorge was rising. Vomit stung the back of his throat. With great concentration, he forced it back down, but the bitter taste remained in his mouth. “But don’t try it unless you count on the tables being reversed and your death being the main attraction.”
        Lotus swallowed half her drink in a single gulp, batted her eyelashes to hold back tears as the strong liquor burned down her throat.
        “But you hit it partly right, Jack. I can give you the chance to kill. Not me, of course. Others. Others who-”
        Buronto’s eyes narrowed, and he grabbed one fist in the other as if cracking a large nut. “You’re crazy!”
        “Hardly.”
        “Impossible.”
        “No.”
        Buronto looked at the three of them, searching for some sign that it was a put-on, a ruse to make fun of an Unnatural. It wasn’t entirely comforting not to find such a sign. His voice rose an octave with the excitement. “The medics would narco-dart me and keep me in drug stupor the rest of my natural life!”
        “No, they wouldn’t.”
        Silence a moment.
        “Okay,” Buronto said at length. “You have me hooked. What the hell is the deal?”
        Sam explanied. Several times, he had to threaten Buronto to keep him still and quiet enough to listen. The giant refused, at first, to believe it. Extra-galactics. Slug-forms. Raceship. Too much for him and his limited concepts. But after much cajoling and a mass of detailed testimony, he was more willing to believe though still somewhat skeptical. “Well, anyway,” Sam said, “you’ll see for yourself in-” he looked at his watch. “You’ll see for yourself in less than ten minutes.”
        “That soon?” Coro asked, his eyes popping open wide.
        “You said two hours,” Sam replied. “That gives us just eight minutes.”
        “Purgatory is supposed to be longer than that,” Lotus joked. But it wasn’t particularly funny.
        Then, abruptly, there was a fierce booming, a whine of metal cooling, and the street outside was alive with a gush of crimson flame. Centuries-old walls cracked open and tumbled before the onslaught.
        “They’re early,” Sam said.
        Buronto was on his feet, moving toward the door. They followed. The room had suddenly become a place of panic and not a place of entertainment. People shoved and kicked to be the first outside, the first to break for an escape from whatever terrible business was