Daughter of the Alien Warrior - Honey Phillips Page 0,51
from here. Now.
“May I help you, Mistress?” The Trevelorian female seated behind the desk studied her curiously, her beak-like nose twitching.
“I…” She tried to think coherently and found herself staring at one of the displays. “Are any of these available for rent? For just a short time?”
“I’m afraid not, Mistress. Our holiday rentals are over for the season. Our other properties are for sale only—wait a minute. I do have one property.” The female eyed her doubtfully. “But it is very remote and only available for another week.”
“That would be perfect. I’ll take it.” She winced, still not used to having so little money of her own. “I mean, how much is it?”
From the nominal sum mentioned, she suspected that the property was not only remote but primitive, but she didn’t care. She pulled out the handful of credits that Inzen had insisted on advancing her against her salary and counted them, but it wasn’t enough. Knowing her grandmother would want her to choose Lily’s safety first, she took a deep breath and pulled off her jade ring.
“Would this be acceptable?”
“More than acceptable.” The female shook her head. “The stone is quite rare. The ring is worth far more than the rental charge, and I don’t have sufficient funds to pay you the difference.”
“Do you have enough to allow me to rent a flyer?”
Opening her desk drawer, the agent nodded. “I do, but it is still not what you are entitled to receive.”
“I don’t care about that right now.” The need to flee was searing through her veins. “Can you give me directions and tell me where to rent a flyer?”
“I can do better than that. My brother is in the rental business. I’ll call him for you so he’ll have it ready.”
“Thank you so much—?”
“I am B’gento.”
B’gento reached for her communication device but hesitated as Jade cast a nervous glance over her shoulder. She expected to see Gokan, looming in the doorway at any moment.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know. I just need some time to think.” She looked at the other female’s concerned face. “If a male—any male—comes looking for me, can you not tell him about this?”
“My dear, if someone is threatening you, we should go to the authorities.”
The authorities? After the past year, her trust in the efficacy of the police had been shaken—they wanted to question rather than act.
“I just need to get away. Please.” All those months of training, and now all she could think about was running. Her heart thudded against her ribs.
B’gento studied her a moment longer, then nodded, her orange feathers fluttering.
A few minutes later, Jade was on her way. Thankfully, Lily was still asleep in her stroller. She suspected that she was going to have a very unhappy little girl on her hands when she woke up and realized that her Dada was not there, but she needed time to think and there was no way she was leaving her daughter behind.
Lily was still asleep when Jade reached the rental depot. B’gento’s brother must have been on the lookout for her because he opened the door as soon as she appeared and beckoned her inside, closing and locking the door behind her.
“I am B’hira. My sister says that you are in trouble.”
“I really don’t know if I am or not.” Her mind was still in turmoil, struggling to explain why Gokan would have been handing all those jewels to Inzen. She straightened her shoulders. “But I don’t want to take the chance. I have to get away from here so I can think safely.”
Unlike the Trevelorian females, the males had multicolored crests. In addition to the orange his sister displayed, his crest also included shades of red and gold, and he flared it now in an impressive display as he frowned.
“You do not need to run. We Trevelorians would never permit a female and her child to be harmed. I would defend you myself.”
Despite the full array of plumage, B’hira was only a little taller than Jade and she couldn’t imagine that his thin legs or fragile feathered arms would in any way prevent Gokan if he came after her, but she was touched by his offer.
“Thank you, B’hira. I really appreciate that, but right now I just need to get away. B’gento said you could rent me a flyer to travel to the summer house?”
He sighed and nodded. “If that is the path you wish to take.”
Leading her out of the small office and into a garage space holding a