Prideful Savage (A Warrior's Redemption #1) - Miranda Bridges Page 0,7
of Niya’s singsong voice, giving her a tired smile. “What has you so chipper?” I ask with a wink. “Did you finally convince a foreign traveler to take you away with him?”
She winks at me with her single eye, located in the center of her green forehead. “Maybe…”
Her mischievous tone, paired with the gleam in her gaze, has me raising a brow. All my humor fades to be replaced with a sense of wariness. The waitress has been working for Emji for years, so I know for a fact she’s had other invitations to leave, but this is the first time I’ve seen her like this.
I turn to face her fully and use the back of my arm to swipe the perspiration from my forehead. A few tendrils of my hair stick to my cheek, and I tuck the damp strands behind my ear, purposefully ignoring how the curled ends are no longer a golden color. My hair is a dirty blonde now, and I’m not sure there’s enough soap in the universe to remove the buildup of filth from my time here. Last time I checked, my eyes were still hazel, but if they become a dirty hazel, I’m going to lose my damn mind.
This place is nothing but a freaking trash can, and I’m slowly turning into something that belongs here. No one would ever suspect I’m part of a resistance and that I’m trained in combat and weaponry. Sometimes I don’t even recognize myself, but I keep the fire inside me stoked and warm because my people, the enslaved humans from the Terran Colony, need my help. So for now, I’m biding my time until a chance to escape presents itself. I’ll admit there are days it seems as if it will never come.
But all I have to do is remember the Galactic Court’s plan for us humans, women especially, and I’m internally ignited once again. That body of government is evil personified.
After planting my hands on my hips, I give Niya a pointed look. “What’s really going on?”
The female cyclops bats her lashes at me and grins, exposing her blunt teeth. “There’s a group of Incarus that just arrived, and they are the most attractive males I’ve ever seen!”
“I’ve heard you say this before.” I scrunch my face at her. “The last attractive male you were excited by wasn’t as salivating by the end of the night. Or am I wrong in my facts?”
She rolls her eye in an exaggerated manner, and I almost laugh. Niya caught me rolling my eyes behind Emji’s back once and has been doing it ever since. Sometimes I think she does it as an inside joke between us.
“Yeah, I said that, but this is different, Ella. These are Incarus males. I’ve heard of them but never seen one in person.”
I grin at her, unable to keep from teasing. “How can you eye-dentify them if you’ve never laid an eye on them?”
“I see what you did there.” She wags a finger at me and narrows her gaze in mock anger. “Anyway, I know because unlike you, I’m allowed to leave when my shift is over, and I saw warning notices posted about them not too long ago.”
That bit of news gets my attention real quick. I can’t really do anything about my situation right now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t look out for Niya while I’m here. She’s the first alien friend I’ve ever had, and there have been times she’s intervened when Emji wanted to work me beyond exhaustion and into illness. If there’s anything I can do to protect her, I will.
“What warnings?” I ask, my tone still calm. Whenever there’s a conflict, Niya is the first person to run for the hills, which really proves how much she cares about me, since she stood up to Emji on my behalf. But the fact she’s not disturbed by some hot species being featured on the futuristic version of a wanted poster worries me. “Are the males here the ones on the digital billboards who are currently in trouble with the law?”
She shakes her head, and I slowly release the breath I’m holding. “These guys are different and way better looking than the others,” she says. “Although, the poster did say to be careful around them.” When I frown, she shrugs and then holds out her hand, beckoning me closer. “Come with me and I’ll prove to you there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I can’t. Emji would kill me but