Crux: Dragon Brides #1 (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

by Kate Rudolph

  "Is that what you think of me?" Courtney had never touched anything harder than pot, and she didn't waste money on booze when she was scraping pennies together for rent. Since when was she a drug addict?

  "Carly's been binging Law and Order," Kyle whispered conspiratorially. "Don't take it personally."

  "Don't take it personally? It's a personal attack! And who's Hector? You guys seriously believe I just bailed?"

  The door to her room opened, and a tall man with dark hair came out. He looked groggy and his voice was tired and rumbly. "Can you guys keep it down, I'm working nights this week."

  All three of them shot apologetic looks at Hector, who ducked back into Courtney's room and shut the door firmly behind him.

  "You gave my room to Hector the Hot Nurse?" she hissed, keeping her voice down so he didn't hear. "What the fuck? We barely know him!"

  "You barely know him," Carly shot back. "He and Kyle have gotten close. And Hector needed a place to stay after he broke up with his boyfriend. We needed the rent money. It's perfect."

  "He's in my room. Not perfect." Hector was a perfectly nice guy, Courtney was sure, but it was hard to be charitable when he was sleeping in her bed.

  "How about this, you can crash on the couch tonight and tomorrow, but we need you out of here by the weekend. Will that be enough time to find somewhere to stay?" Kyle was eager to play peacemaker.

  "Kyle!" Carly protested. She and Courtney had never quite hit it off.

  Courtney wanted to argue. She wanted her room back. She wanted her life back.

  She wanted Crux.

  But she wasn't going to get any of that. "I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can," she promised. "But first I'm taking a shower."

  Neither Kyle nor Carly argued.

  When Courtney was finally clean and ready to start putting her old life together, there was a knock at the door.

  The cops wanted to talk to her.

  They sat in the living room while Kyle and Courtney retreated to their bedroom. Courtney was on the couch while the two police officers, Marley and Angelo, stood on the other side of the room. Marley had a small notebook in the palm of his hand while Angelo was recording their meeting on his phone.

  He wasn't going to get much.

  Courtney couldn't tell them where she'd been, and she wouldn't even if she could. She was the daughter of a lawyer, and she wasn't about to talk to the cops without representation.

  Marley and Angelo were not happy when she let that be known.

  But Courtney sat on the couch and let them talk at her. They gave her more info about her disappearance, and it was dawning on her just how bad things had gone. Like Carly had said, Courtney had been gone for a month. Vanished without a trace from behind her workplace.

  Her phone hadn't pinged any satellite or cell tower. She hadn't shown up on any cameras. And there wasn't a trace of physical evidence that gave them a clue of where she'd gone.

  The cops had been sure she was dead. People didn't disappear without a trace anymore, it just wasn't possible in a world as connected as the one they lived in.

  Hell, they might even believe her if she said she was abducted by aliens. That was more believable than somehow circumventing the surveillance state.

  Courtney kept her mouth shut.

  Talk of aliens would get her committed somewhere, and she didn't need to add involuntary admittance to a mental ward to the list of shitty things that were happening.

  She had to be fired. Her manager fired people for showing up three minutes late. A whole month guaranteed she didn't have a job.

  The cops left unsatisfied, and Courtney sank back onto the couch.

  Now would be the perfect time for something to go right.

  Instead, she shifted, and one of the couch springs poked her in the butt.

  Courtney didn't care. She lay down and curled up as best she could. The couch, poky springs and all, was more comfortable than a cave floor. But she would have given it away in a heartbeat if it meant Crux could hold her.

  She wanted him so bad it hurt.

  How had her life come to this? She'd never depended on a man before, never had her heart set, especially not in a matter of days.

  He was a freaking dragon.

  He lived on another planet.

  Okay, maybe the mental ward was sounding better and better.

  Because every moment that Courtney spent away from Monster Planet, the harder it was to grab onto the details. It sounded too out there. A man dragon? Monsters that only came out at night? Alien slavers that abducted humans for their own nefarious purposes?

  She couldn't believe it.

  She wished that she had something of Crux's, some memento she could clutch so she knew it was all true.

  She had nothing. Nothing but memories and impossibly strong emotions. And it would all fade. Courtney had just arrived back on Earth, and it was already fading. One day she'd probably tell herself it was all fake, that she'd had some kind of mental break and imagined a romp with a sexy alien on a faraway land.

  But it was real. She was one hundred percent sure it was real.

  She shifted on the couch and another spring poked into her. And finally, Courtney let herself cry.

  She had no idea what was going to happen. Her life was in tatters, and she'd left her heart billions of miles away.

  She drifted off to sleep, wishing she was back on Monster Planet in Crux's arms.

  20

  "These rat bastards need to learn how to die!" Doom called over to Crux as he sent a burst of fire at a cowering slaver.

  "Is that the last of them?" Crux surveyed the room and saw smoldering heaps of dead slavers all around them. The ship had been full to the brim, and a few of them had even managed to get a few cuts in.

  But Crux wasn't alone this time, and he didn't have his hands tied by trying to keep Courtney safe.

  He wished with all his heart she was at his side.

  "Scorch and Pyro radioed that they've cleared their sector," Doom said as he kicked one of the dead slavers for good measure. "We have control of the ship. There may be some cowards hiding out, but it won't take long to find them."

  Doom, Scorch, and Pyro were Crux's friends from the military academy. While Crux had gone eagerly into the military, his friends were not so excited by the necessary discipline that career required. Instead they took a different path, buying a ship of their own—with a healthy investment from Crux—and hunting the slavers and scavengers who thought the system around their planet made for an easy place to hide out.

  They were just the people to call in for this job. They loved knocking heads without asking too many questions. Crux had almost called in his brothers as well, but could only imagine the potential trouble he'd be in with the king if either of them was injured.

  No, a pack of bounty hunters made for much better playmates right now.

  "I think that makes the ship yours," said Crux with a smile. "Will you keep it? Or are you happy enough with that scrap pile you call home?" He might have been an investor in their ship, but it didn't mean he'd step foot on their deathtrap. He wasn't a fool.

  Doom looked wounded. "It has the best upgrades money can buy!" he protested.

  "Maybe the best upgrades you can afford. I know exactly how many times your gravity generator has failed." It was practiced teasing, they'd been doing it for years. Luckily Doom wouldn't take it to heart.

  "This place is far too big for us. But we'll sell it for a fair profit. After we return the girls to their rightful homes." He knocked a hand against the hard metal walls and it echoed around them.

  That was another reason Crux had called them. There was no risk they'd turn around and try and enslave anyone to recover their costs.

  He and Doom took control of the flight deck and waited for the others to join them. It took some time. This had been quite an ambitious run for the slavers, and the number of humans on board was surprising. Eventually, Scorch and Pyro joined them.

  Scorch w
as a tiny warrior, but she'd been the top of their class at the academy. Apparently, she'd been hiding her insolence, because as soon as she was out, she turned into a ball of fury and fire. Her mate, Pyro, was the quieter of the two in most cases, and towered over her, but he flinched away from killing bugs.

  Slavers, of course, were another thing entirely.

  "What's the report?" Doom asked, sitting back confidently in the captain's chair.

  Crux had to bite back a grin. He gave fifty-fifty odds on whether or not the crew actually got rid of the ship.

  Scorch hopped up on a desk and let her feet dangle. "Trauma, fear, and anger from the ladies. Luckily no panic. They'd already identified their own leader and started making a list of demands between the time we freed them and killed the last of the slavers. I like them."

  "No major injuries," Pyro added.

  "We'll need to get a list of where they're all from and if they want to go home," said Doom. "It will probably take a few weeks. I'm scanning the networks for any notes of a bounty on this crew. If not, we'll report for the standard bounty from King Venin."

  Scorch groaned. "He never gives enough." Then she shot Crux a look. "No offense, your highness."

  "That kind of impertinence would get you whipped by another royal," Crux warned, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was lucky these were his friends. He hated to think how spoiled he would have become otherwise.

  Scorch just laughed. She knew he wasn't a threat.

  "And what of you?" Doom asked of Crux. "Shall we send you back home safe and sound? Would your father give a reward for your safe return?"

  "As my father is the one who sent me on this quest, I doubt it." Crux could step through a portal and be home in a matter of minutes. He'd report to his father and then be exactly where he'd started.

  Would he let his father choose a wife for him?

  How could he when he knew Courtney was out there?

  How could he not when he'd let her go for his—and her—own good?

  There was no other mate for him. Fate didn't usually offer second chances, or first ones, at that.

  His father would find him a sensible woman, someone likely to be a good queen. And his father was not normally unreasonable. If Crux and this mysterious dragon lady did not suit, he could find another bride. So long as he was actually looking, he doubted his father would force him all the way to making his vows.

  But there would never be a dragon woman that was good enough, because Crux knew exactly where his mate was, and she wasn't someone his father would ever choose for him.

  "Was that a hard question?" Pyro asked gently.

  "Let's get the women sorted out." Crux pushed thoughts of his father and his future aside. "I'm not quite ready to go home yet."

  21

  You don't have to do this. Courtney whispered the words over and over in her mind as the bus bumped down pothole-ridden streets. She'd managed to find twenty bucks in the pile of crap from the apartment and had promised Kyle and Carly she'd be back for everything once she'd sorted out a place to stay.

  And there was only one place Courtney could think to go.

  Home.

  Ugh.

  She got off the bus and waited at the stop for another. Then she changed busses yet again at the bus depot. And that bus put her on the edge of a nice neighborhood full of huge houses and judgmental neighbors.

  Home sweet home.

  Courtney walked down the sidewalk, a backpack full of basic supplies slung over her shoulder. She'd left the roller skates back at the apartment, and it had been harder than she'd imagined. Those things had saved her life multiple times.

  But she was back on Earth. She didn't need a weapon.

  That didn't make her relax.

  Courtney walked up the long black driveway and then past the manicured garden to the front door. It was just as perfect and sterile as she remembered. She didn't know why her parents insisted on this huge house when they both worked in the city and didn't need all the room.

  At this point Courtney was just, well, not happy exactly, but relieved that she had a place to go.

  If her mother let her in.

  Their last fight had been epic.

  Courtney had said things. So had her mom.

  And it had been more than six months since they'd spoken.

  She wondered if her mom even knew she'd been abducted. Or, well, disappeared. Courtney was the only one who actually knew of the abduction.

  Courtney knew she was stalling, so she forced herself to jab her finger against the doorbell and listen while it buzzed. She didn't even know if anyone was home and hoped she didn't have to spend the day waiting on the doorstep.

  She buzzed again.

  Then she heard footsteps. Her mother.

  The woman who opened the door was an older version of Courtney, eyes deeper set and surrounded by thin wrinkles. Her hair was short and sensible, and even though she was clearly working around the house, her clothes were suitable for the workday, though she'd eschewed a suit jacket, thank god. Courtney already felt inadequate, her anxiety didn't need any more ammunition.

  "Courtney." Her mother's tone was flat. Not a good sign.

  "Mom. Hi." She didn't have a grand plan or anything, and that was looking like a bad thing. Weren't parents supposed to be happy when their wayward children came home?

  "I'm not giving you any money."

  At first Courtney was sure she'd misheard. Then she blinked hard, hoping she had hallucinated. "Excuse me?"

  "I'm not giving you a cent," her mother repeated. "I cannot condone your… actions. You are welcome to stay here until you get back on your feet, but I will be inspecting your things for… paraphernalia. I will not enable you."

  "Why does everyone think I'm doing drugs? I've never done drugs!" Things had gone to shit all because of workplace politics and putting trust in the wrong guy. Then the alien abduction. There was no need for an addiction to make things worse.

  "The police came by yesterday. They warned me about you." Her mother crossed her arms over her chest, as if she had to protect herself from Courtney.

  "I didn't do anything wrong. Jesus." Courtney turned. She could probably scrounge up a friend—or a mild acquaintance—who would let her crash on their couch until she got a new job.

  But Courtney's mom reached out and clutched her arm hard enough to bruise. "Don't you walk away from me."

  Courtney stopped. "You're the one calling me a drug addict without a shred of evidence. You're the one who told me it was my fault for getting fired at the advertising firm when my boyfriend stole my project and badmouthed me to everyone. And I was really hoping you could just be my goddamned mother for a minute instead of this judgmental a—person but of course you're not. Because I'm not perfect and therefore I'm a failure."

  I was good enough for a dragon prince. The thought was a blow to her heart. It wasn't true. Crux had sent her away the first chance he got, and she'd never see him again.

  This sucked.

  "Just stay until your father gets home. I can give you lunch, how about that?" Her mother's tone turned from accusatory to conciliatory. Maybe she really was concerned for Courtney's well-being. She probably was. She still was Courtney's mother, even if they didn't understand one another.

  Her stomach growled. She'd felt bad about eating anything at the apartment, though she'd talked herself into scarfing down a yogurt before she could think better of it. She'd left a dollar on the counter as payment. But that had been hours ago, and yogurt never filled her up. "I could eat lunch," she conceded.

  Her mother's shoulder sagged in relief. "Of course. I can fix you a plate. I just need you to be honest with me about where you've been."

  That was it. Courtney couldn't take it anymore. "You want the truth. Okay. Fine. I was abducted by aliens after work. All I had was my uniform and my roller skates. I bashed an alien's head in with said roller skates. More than one, actually. We crash landed on a planet full of monsters and a drag
on prince saved me. Then I got teleported back to Earth where I found out it's been a month and everyone thinks I'm on drugs. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

  All the color had drained out of her mother's face. "Oh, baby." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "I think we should take you to the doctor. Um. In case the… aliens… left any probes. For your health."

  "I'm not crazy. This wasn't a mental break." But even Courtney could concede that the story sounded crazy.

  "I know you're not crazy, honey." Her mom's voice had gone up an octave, as if she was trying to deal with a feral animal.

  Courtney turned around to storm away when a bright white gash in reality opened up in front of her and Crux stepped through.

  She turned around just in time to see her mother slam the door.

  Crux looked at the door and then back to her. "Is this a bad time?"

  She couldn't help it. She laughed. Her emotions were a tornado inside of her, and she couldn't make sense of them. "Now I really think I'm having a mental breakdown."

  Crux stepped forward and reached out, but stopped his hand before he touched her. "I'm actually here."

  "How did you find me?" She had a million other questions, but that was the first that popped out.

  He held up the small teleporter in his hand. "Tracer gave it to me. It keeps a record of the bio print of everyone who goes through it. I locked onto your location."

  "Oh." Okay. Sure. That made sense. "Why are you here?" Did she need to space-testify in a space-trial of the slavers?

  "I had to see you." He wasn't moving back, but he still wasn't touching her either.

  "Don't you have a mate out there to go find?" It came out harsher than it should have, but Courtney had been jerked around by everyone since getting back to Earth, and it was time to jerk back a little.

  Crux flinched, but Courtney wasn't satisfied with the hit. Then he stood up straighter, like a man going to meet his doom with what little pride he had left. "I lied."