heard within the marketplace?” he asked, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to probe and see if they had information that might be helpful. Tomorrow would be soon enough to ask around the rest of the area while he gathered supplies.
“Pssst.” Click. Click. Click. Click. “Pssst.”
“There is no need to worry about the marshal any longer,” Axis assured him only to be met with more clicks and whistles, this time at a higher pitch than before.
“The Phaeton council will make sure that nothing like that happens again, either. I promise,” he vowed, feeling the weight of his own guilt at the part he’d inadvertently played in the entire situation. “We’ve been absent for far too long and have allowed corruption to settle on Euphoria, but that is going to change. I do not know yet what the council has planned, but rest assured that it will be fair to the people that rely on this trading post to survive.”
Axis wasn’t sure if the vendor believed him or not, but after a few moments, he excused himself to retire in another section of the small building they occupied.
Within a few moments, he’d finished the food on the tray and knew he needed to retire. Reclining on the pallet, he tried to relax, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. Sleep, regardless of how tired he was, was unappealing. Not only that, he knew it would be unattainable. Despite the physical exhaustion pulling his body down, his mind was unable to settle until it solved the puzzle regarding where the brides might be.
As much as he was certain they were not there, Axis didn’t want to even contemplate the alternative that Paine and Rowe had hinted at.
A vision of chocolate-brown eyes flashed in his mind. The same chocolate eyes that belonged to the female he’d spied in the marketplace. She’d visited his dreams a few times since their first meeting, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to know she was safe. He needed to find her.
“Where are you?” Axis asked aloud, his voice rumbling deep in the empty room as he continued to stare at the cracked roof above him.
*********
Nova curled onto her side, keeping her eye on the door cautiously. She really wanted to trust Clicky, but considering her past, she’d be a fool not to watch her back. He may have fed her and let her use the Phaeton healing stick thingy, but she still didn’t know his motive. For all she knew, he could truly be plumping her up to eat her. That scenario wasn’t an exaggeration, considering some of the tales she’d heard hanging around with Halla and Kalla.
Cannibalism apparently wasn’t unheard of in space, something she would have preferred to have never found out.
“I’m juicy looking too,” she muttered quietly, glaring at the door and therefore any potential maneater that thought to come through it to get to her. There had been times in the past when she’d cursed her thick ass and thighs for not fitting into a pair of jeans comfortably, but never in her life had she cursed her curves for possibly tempting an alien into nomming on her backside—and not in a good way.
The image Nova’s sleepy brain created around her thoughts made her giggle. She didn’t know if it was mental exhaustion or if she really was losing her shit, but the visual that popped into her head was hysterical—or at least it was to her as she dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.
Unable to muffle her chuckles without smothering herself, Nova let it all out. She cackled loudly, the sound breaking the silence of the room she was in.
“Psssssssssst!”
“Aaaaaghhhhh!” she screamed back as Clicky burst through the door, his bulbous eyes scanning the room frantically. His little body spun around in circles as he waved his arms frantically.
“Pssst?” Clicky stopped spinning to eye her quizzically.
She didn’t have to speak whatever the fuck language he spoke to read his expression and know he wanted to know what the hell was going on.
“Sorry,” she rushed out with her hand still over her heart. It was about to beat out of her chest at the fright he’d given her coming through the door like the Kool-Aid Man. “You scared the shit out of me, dude.” Nova couldn’t keep the reprimand from flying out of her mouth as she pointed a finger at him. “When you busted in here, I was sure that I was on the menu and you were going