Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,34

for this mission can keep me on the run for another thirty days, maybe. Because I will be on the run for the rest of my life. And I want something better for Averie than that.

I steel myself. Every part of my being hates this. “Are you able to arrange passenger transport? One human female from here to Xrarar.”

The furry creature stretches its neck again, trying to look at Averie. “Oh, trouble in paradise?”

“I just need her somewhere safe.”

“She’ll be safe on Xrarar, no doubt. Bored, probably, but safe. Five hundred.”

“Three hundred.”

The fixer looks away with all four eyes. “Five hundred.”

He must realize how much I need this done.

“All right. I’ll leave now. After one twentieth of a revolution, let her know that I’m gone and that I have arranged transport for her.”

I get to my feet, then lean over the table to focus my predator eyes on the little fixer from very close. “I’ll check up on her on Xrarar in a couple of days. Any funny business with this, and I’ll come for you.”

He draws away from me, trying to disappear into the backrest of the couch. “So noted.”

I extend my fangs and smile, making sure he gets a good look at those curved crystal needles of death. “Good. Now give me my thousand credits, and I’ll get out of your face so you can relax again.”

His fur has gone black with anxiety. “Of course.”

I go back to Averie and sit down opposite from her. “I have one more errand to run. You’ll be safe. Everyone here is pretty decent. You can trust the small, furry one over there. Well, sometimes you can.”

She tilts her head in the most adorable way. “Where are you going?”

Mine! my inner instincts scream. But I suppress it. “Just to get supplies.”

She starts to get up. “I’ll come with you. I’m afraid in this place.”

“The person I’m going to see wouldn’t like that,” I invent. “He’s jumpy around females.”

“And I’m jumpy here.”

Sweet Fate, she’s a stubborn one. “It’s a very dangerous universe. Being seen in public with a hunted man is not a good idea. I’ll be right back. You didn’t order anything? Here’s a hundred credits. Should be enough for about four hundred stiff drinks.” I stand up and place a coin on the table, then walk out without looking back.

It takes all my willpower to not stop at the door and go right back to get her.

But she’ll be better off like this, not always on the run. Being hunted by the Gurandu is much worse than being wanted by the Bululg. They will not be actively hunting her. After a year or so they will write her off as a loss and close her file. The Xrararians will know that and advise her accordingly. Of course, I can never go there to check on her. The Gurandu are too close on my heels now, it will be like inviting death itself to come with me. No, it is safer if I never see her again. She can go about her life, try to piece it back together after I totally wrecked it by abducting her.

The weird thing is, I don’t regret it.

I would do it all again.

14

- Averie -

I sit and fret, not at all happy about Zaroc being gone so soon after we were jumped by those Bululg. I’ve never felt more vulnerable than right now. With him gone, it’s like being outside on a freezing winter day and then someone steals your warm coat right off your back.

I order a drink of plain water, just to not sit here without paying something. This place doesn’t have a Starbucks atmosphere, exactly. It’s plainly a place where criminals and shadowy people meet.

I don’t mind that Zaroc obviously knows how to deal with those kinds of people. But leaving me alone here, after he’s just killed four Bululg on the street outside? Not making me feel safe at all.

I have taken one sip of water when the little furry guy with the four eyes on stalks comes trundling over.

“Hello, female,” he says in a thin, braying voice. “I have a message from the red preda— the red man you came here with.”

Immediately, I stiffen. This can’t be good. “Oh. What is it?”

“He has left you behind here, but he has also arranged transportation for you. I get the feeling you were not informed? He told me to wait one twentieth of a revolution to tell you, which seemed to me a