right? I mean, we already know they won’t come here, and Talis isn’t going to give me a chance to sneak away again, so this makes perfect sense. That’s our new plan.”
“Nova—”
“Nobody on this planet is going to stand up to the marshal or Cruum—not unless they have a death wish. The Phaetons are different though. You’ve said it yourself,” she said, letting go of Kalla to point a finger at Halla. “Cruum is scared of them, and if he’s scared of them, then that’s who we need to have on our side. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that jazz.”
“Nova—”
She cut Halla off with a hand in the air. “Do you have any other ideas?”
“Well,” Halla stalled with a deep frown. “No.”
“Then this is our only option.” Nova clapped her hands and let out a heavy breath, the air coming from deep within her lungs. She didn’t have a good feeling about this, but there was no way she was going to let either of them know that. After everything they’d done for her, this was where she drew the line. If it worked then great, but if not…
Well, she figured she’d find at least a little peace knowing the twins had gotten away, even if things didn’t work out on her end.
“I’ll keep my head down and ration my food. If I do everything that I’m supposed to like a good little slave, they shouldn’t find a reason to punish me, right?” The words were delivered with a fake-ass smile that matched her equally faked cheerful voice. All of them knew that was an outright lie, considering Talis was a masochist who didn’t necessarily wait for his victims to piss him off before he made his move.
“Right,” the girls agreed a lot less enthusiastically and with a doubtful look.
“I promise, everything is going to be perfectly fine. At least we have a plan now, right?”
Rule #8. Look on the bright side. Things could always be worse.
Chapter Six
Axis heard his name yelled a few seconds before he spotted the pair of warriors he was waiting for. Striding his direction, Paine and Rowe parted the crowd with their presence alone. The aliens wandering around the outskirts of the marketplace moved aside to let them through to where he’d been waiting.
It wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been mere hours ago, the day starting to end for the peddlers within the city. Even if it had been, Axis would have been able to see the men regardless. There was no missing the overly large Phaeton warriors with their matching honey-colored dreadlocks and warrior braids. Size wise, Phaetons were giants compared to most of the inhabitants on this planet, which meant they towered over everyone.
“Our communications just became fully functional,” Rowe said, adjusting the staff he was carrying so he could hold out his arm in greeting. “I’m assuming that’s thanks to you.”
Axis didn’t hesitate to return the gesture. He had much to be grateful to these warriors for. They had just found their bride only to be sent away from her to help him on Euphoria. He couldn’t imagine the frustration they must be experiencing with the separation, especially after all they’d been through.
“It is,” he answered. “I know this is the last place you want to be right now, but I’m not going to lie…I’m happy Kaine sent the two of you.”
The paired warriors shared a look.
“We’re not exactly pleased to be here,” Rowe drawled, “but we’re happy to assist in your search for the missing females. Indigo could have easily been one of the women still missing, and I know I would want all the help we could get if that were the case. That being said, we are hoping to wrap this up as quickly as possible. The last thing we wanted to do was leave Indigo so soon after…everything, but we owe it to the council to finish this.”
“It is a mission that should have been completed long ago,” Paine added, his own expression somber instead of the normal jovial one he wore. “We failed those women. The Phaetons may not have known of their existence, but the reality of their situation falls on our shoulders. The moment they signed up for the Bridal Pact they became our responsibility.”
“I agree.” Axis reached into the pocket of his tunic and pulled out his com tab. “Which is why I’m glad they sent the two of you out of all the other warriors available.