“What’s that?” she asked.
Hix reached for his discarded tunic beside their bed taking her body along for the ride at the action.
“That is my personal com-unit, one that I have had since my days on Phaeton One.” Hix pulled out an item that looked like the iPads on Earth but slightly smaller. “I have received a message.”
“A message?” Maggie wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad and Hix’s tone of voice wasn’t giving her a hint either way. “I know you smashed the other one but is there any way that this tablet can be tracked?”
“Do not worry.” Hix stroked her hair away from her face and down her back. “This one was never connected to the Verge database. The range is poor, but I am able to tune it into one of the back channels I use when visiting this sector. It is how I was able to find us a safe place to stay.”
Hix had only one free hand since the other had taken residence holding her ass again, but he made good use of it. Swiping his fingers over the screen, he frowned before dropping it back onto his tunic next to the bed.
“What?” Maggie could tell the news wasn’t necessarily good after catching the look on his face.
“The merchant who is allowing us to stay here will be returning earlier than he planned. His shuttle will be arriving tomorrow which means I need to find us other lodging.”
Maggie sat up, her legs on either side of his torso. “Well, that sucks. Do you know of anywhere else we can stay while we look for the brides?”
Hix let out a heavy sigh. “Possibly, but it will be an expensive risk to take. I have a few contacts I will try to contact in a bit.”
Maggie rubbed the chest before her, unable to keep her hands to herself. “How do you have all these contacts? I mean, aren’t you worried that your buddies back at the Verge will know who’s helping you and get them to rat you out?”
“There was so much of that question I was unable to understand…” Hix smiled up at her, his canines on display. “Do you remember when I told you I had not been with a female in many cycles?”
Maggie nodded, unsure where this was going.
“I was still routinely scheduled on missions to the pleasure planets regardless of not visiting the brothels. During my time here, I would wander the market, searching for items that would benefit my—” he abruptly cut off, his face becoming guarded.
“Benefit your?” Maggie prodded, wondering what could have caused Hix to stiffen up like he had.
Hix sat up, the action almost unseating her where she was perched on his torso. She managed to scoot back enough to be comfortable but wasn’t about to let Hix wiggle out of the conversation.
“Do you remember when I said that I was excited about getting a bride?”
Maggie nodded. “Yeah.”
“During my time here, I would shop for her.” Hix answered, shrugging his big shoulders.
Maggie’s heart squeezed at the admission. “You bought gifts for a woman you hadn’t even met yet?”
“Just small items.” Hix focused on the birthmark that decorated her skin just below her bellybutton. He traced the darkened skin with a soft touch. “I bought silks and oils, things that the vendors said a female would appreciate.”
Maggie clutched her hands to her bare breasts as her heart warmed at the gesture. “That is the sweetest thing ever.”
“There was no flavor…unless you are speaking of some of the oils I purchased,” Hix argued with a frown.
Maggie tossed her head back and laughed. The action rubbing her bottom against his lap beneath her. “Never mind. Do you still have the gifts you bought?” she asked curiously.
“After the program was suspended, I sent the items to storage on Phaeton Two. There was no point in keeping them with me any longer since they only made me angry about the opportunity I was denied. I never checked them out when I defected to the Verge.” Hix shrugged before leaning forward to drop a kiss on her shoulder. “I am assuming that they are either still there or were incinerated after I left.”
Maggie’s heart broke at the sound of sadness in his voice. What she felt wasn’t pity, no, it was so much more. His earlier talk of fate and how he believed she was sent to him came full circle. Maybe she was destined to be his? She found the more she thought on it, the more she agreed with him. How could she argue when the pull she felt toward him was unlike anything that she had ever experienced?
“Well…” Maggie steeled herself for what she was about to say. “I hope they are still there. It would be a damn shame for them to have been destroyed before you could give them to me.”
Hix whipped his head around with his mouth open. Closing it, he cleared his throat.
“I cannot wait for that day.”
Maggie leaned into his hold, wrapping her arms around his neck as he cuddled her close. “Ditto.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Maggie asked again, her worry for Hix rising the closer it approached the time he planned to leave.
“I must secure us another place to hide…even if it were unsafe to go, I would still need to try.” Hix kneeled next to the pack he had tossed down after their arrival. “I need you to rest as much as possible while I am gone.”
“I feel like all I’ve been doing is sleeping,” she argued before seeing the serious look on his face, “but I’ll try to at least take a nap.”
“Good.” Hix closed the pack after pulling out a green bottle she hadn’t noticed during her earlier search.
“What’s that?” Maggie asked curiously. It looked somewhat fancy with a wax seal around the top reminding her of an older bottle of wine.
“It is kurra juice.” Hix handed her the bottle carefully. “It is a drink similar to alcohol on Earth but is much stronger because it contains hallucinogens. Many planets have outlawed the sale of it because it is easily addictive.”
“What are you gonna do with it?” Maggie handed it back just as carefully as he had passed it over to her.
“I am going to use it to find safe lodging.” Hix tucked the bottle into his inner tunic pocket. The rounded glass stood out against his slim torso. “Because it is brewed on the outer edge planets, the Pleasure Sector does not often have access to it. Most of the shipments are sold completely before the traders have even arrived at the market, making kurra juice one of the more sought-after items for trade.”
Maggie guessed that made sense. “What about the brides? When can we start looking for them?”
“Soon, Maggie. I promise.” Hix pulled out his tablet and tilted the screen in her direction. The display showed some sort of map with three orange rings illuminated. “These are the areas that the crates were most likely delivered to. They are the only storage facilities planet-side that have armed guards for the more expensive merchandise. I doubt they are there, but I want to be positive.”
“Why wouldn’t they be there? You said yourself that the women were considered priceless.”
Hix nodded wearily, and his face showed his exhaustion. “The Phaeton patrol those areas closely to keep an eye out for black market items. I cannot imagine the Verge being dumb enough to deliver those crates where they know they could be easily discovered.”
“If the Phaeton patrol there, then why aren’t we going right now? I mean, they’ll help us, right? They’re the good guys.” Maggie was excited.
“There are good Phaeton warriors.” Hix took her hands from where she was wringing them in her lap. “But after spending time on Verge Prime, I discovered that their reach goes farther than I had ever expected. There are members of the Verge walking amongst my Phaeton brothers, simply waiting for information to pass to Verge Prime…or worse yet, waiting for a time to strike.”
“So, you don’t know who to trust?” Maggie felt her stomach drop at the idea that they could easily walk into a trap.
“There are warriors that I would trust with my life…that I would trust with your life. I just need to figure out how to get in touch with them specifically.”
Maggie wiggled her fingers at the tablet he was holding, “And there’s no way to send them a message using that?”
Hix shook his head, “This device is too old, and the ship is too far away, to pick up the transmission.”
“So, if we can’t trust the first Phaeton we see, and we also can’t stay here for long because of the Verge, what do you expect us to do?”
“First, I need to find a safe place for us. Then, I will check out the three storage yards to see if I can spot the pallets containing the crates.”
“And if you run into a Phaeton?” Maggie questioned, needing some sort of plan in place in case of the worst.
“I will have to take the chance that they will be able to help us.” Hix let go of her hands to clutch at her waist. Standing up, he picked her up easily in his arms.
Maggie wrapped her legs around his waist, still amazed at how easily he was able to move her about. She was an average-size woman which meant that she was plus-sized when it came down to brass tacks. Her one-hundred-and-eighty-pound body had never been easily carried anywhere. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Hix repeated, his head tilted to the side.
“I’m going to be a worried mess until you come back to me,” Maggie warned. “But I trust you.”
“Thank you,” Hix’s expression was soft as he stared at her. “I will be back as soon as possible. Hopefully with new clothes as well.” He wrinkled his nose at the cloak still crumpled up on the floor. “I swear it did not smell like a ramu when I stole it.”
“Wait…you stole it?” Maggie leaned back, her eyebrows raised. “And what the hell is a ramu?”
“Never mind.” Hix lowered her back to her feet, making sure she was steady before he let go. “I must set out before the market becomes too busy. I do not want to take a chance of someone finding you here.”
“Go, I’ll be fine.” Maggie pasted on a fake smile and hoped that he didn’t see how worried she was about being left alone again. It wasn’t as if she were unaccustomed to being alone. In fact, much of the time she preferred having her space…except for Claudia and Max. But, being stuck on an alien planet with bad guys searching for them wasn’t an ideal situation any way you looked at it.
“Promise me you will not leave,” Hix ordered.
“I promise.” Maggie looked around the room. “Do you want me to bar it behind you?” She was already dreading his answer considering the beam looked as though it weighed a good fifty pounds or so and hefting it high and into place was going to be a bit of a challenge. She was in good shape, but she rarely lifted anything over the weight of Max’s car seat and diaper bag.
“No, just twist the locks.” Hix pointed to the row of locks on the top and bottom of the door. Twisting the knob on the upper edge, he showed her the metal spikes that raised out of the wooden slab and slid into metal casings in the door frame. “I have the key to open it from the outside, so you need not worry about me.”
“Got it,” Maggie murmured as she studied the mechanism. The metal rods would make it hard for anyone to kick the door in, their thickness ensuring that there was no weak point along the edges. It was actually kind of genius when you thought about it, a little medieval looking but still genius.
At that moment, Maggie stomach let out a long and miserable-sounding grumble.
“There is another pack of dried selba meat to sate your hunger for now, but I will be back with more food,” Hix promised.
Maggie figured the meat he was talking about was the jerky stuff he had handed her yesterday and felt her mouth water. The meat had been a bit salty but beggars couldn’t be choosers, right? If salty jerky was what they had then that was what she would eat.
“Remember, I need you to rest while I am away. I do not know when we will have another safe place to sleep so resting is as important as eating,” Hix reiterated.
“I understand,” Maggie assured him. “Go ahead and get going.”
“Are you anxious to be rid of me?” Hix teased. His eyes showed a small flicker of hurt at the question he himself voiced.
“Not at all,” Maggie said quickly. Tugging the front of his tunic, she smiled when he bent his knees to look her more evenly in the eyes. “The quicker you leave the quicker you get back.”
“That is a logical deduction.” Hix stroked her chin before running a finger over her lips. “I never did give thanks for the pleasure you bestowed upon me earlier.”
Maggie could feel every bit of her skin turn bright red, even the parts that were covered again with yoga pants and t-shirt. “Well…hurry back to me and you can show me how thankful you are.”
Hix grinned at her teasing as he stepped toward the door. “In that case, I will be back as quickly as possible.”
Maggie admired the view from behind as he turned to leave. “Be safe.”
Hix looked back once more with his hand on the knob. “I will, Maggie-mine.” Opening it just a crack, he slipped through the space without a sound.
Maggie quickly turned the locks, listening to the metal slide into place, securing the heavy door.
Chapter Nineteen
Hix weaved through the streets keeping his head low as he passed stall after stall in the marketplace. The vendors were already bustling with activity as he made his way to the outer edges of the square. Stopping off at one of the silk traders he had come to know, Hix managed to find a room for the evening. Thankfully, the merchant was more interested in the kurra juice Hix was carrying than details about why he needed safe lodging for the evening. After agreeing to return later that day, Hix passed over his payment with the promise of another bottle to come.
With his first task completed, Hix knew there was no putting off his trip to the storage fields to hunt for the containers. Since finding out that the human females were stolen brides, he was even more determined to help them as much as he could.
Hix acknowledged though that if he couldn’t locate them, they would have no choice but to flee to safety without them. Digging into the black-market sale of humans was a dangerous road to take and he refused to put his own bride in harm’s way. He knew he would have a fight on his hands to convince her to leave the sector if the brides were still missing but he would address that issue when they came to it.
The closer he came to the storage fields, the more anxious Hix became. In the past, when he was on a mission, he would have the security of his warrior brothers guarding his back. Traeger had been that brother for him, and regardless of his recent actions, Hix missed the support a fighting partner provided in a situation like this.
The first two fields he had investigated had been almost empty. With only a handful of guards wandering around the space, Hix had been able to easily tell that the humans were not in either of those areas. That left only one more secured field where they could be before Hix was completely out of possibilities.
Keeping in the shadows, Hix crept as close as possible before coming across an armed laser fence surrounding the perimeter. The presence of the additional alarm made him think that maybe the humans were being kept there after all.
Dropping to a crouch, Hix barely avoided being spotted by a guard walking the edge of the field. With narrowed eyes, he watched as the large muscled creature sniffed the air trying to detect scents that didn’t belong.
When the guard quickly turned to look his direction, Hix swore under his breath. His blaster was completely out of charge and without the long-distance weapon he would be required to fight the guard in hand-to-hand combat. He was not worried about losing the fight but simply didn’t want to waste time taking him down. No, instead he was focused on the safety of the bride that he had left hidden in the market. His bride.
Luckily, the guard was distracted by a loud pinging noise coming from the other side of the fields and went to investigate. As Hix snuck even closer to the fence line, he could see a familiar set of pallets centered inside of yet another electric fence that was barricaded in the middle. Although the pallets had been uncovered leaving the biocr
ates exposed, it looked as if they were all accounted for.
He had found them.
Scanning the area, Hix focused on the small details outlining the field’s security. He could see the laser fences were activated but they were crackling as if the connection was disrupted somewhere.
He dropped to the ground to make himself as small as possible while he continued to study the fence. If he could find the weak link in the fence, he just might be able to slip through without setting off the alarms. That would mean he would first need to handle the guards patrolling the area and that was just to start.
With the amount of security present, he would not only need a charged blaster but also another warrior or two to help him gain access. Three items which he did not have.
Seeing a group of aliens moving his direction, Hix spun around an old engine to hide. On the other side of the fence, only a few paces away from him, two of the aliens pulled out a pipe and lit the bowl. Puffing smoke, they chattered amongst themselves. Hidden only a short distance away, Hix could easily hear their conversation.
“Boro said it will be picked up soon,” the biggest one said in between draws off the pipe.
“Good,” another rasped out. “The biocrates have been interfering with the fences. I will be happy when they are gone.”
“If we split up the crates, it may help with the interference,” one of them said.
Hix held his breath and waited for the others to say something, anything, to discourage that idea. He was already going to have a hard enough time breaking into one field. He didn’t even want to contemplate having to do it twice.
“Nah, they are too heavy and I’m too lazy.” The fat one laughed. “If it is soon then that is good enough for me.”
“Agreed,” the others said quickly.
“Break’s over!” was yelled from the small building inside the perimeter, calling the men back to work.
Hix waited until they were a safe distance away before hustling back toward the market square.
Warriors of Phaeton: Hix Page 12