The path became a little cleaner as they approached the barred gate. Casting a quick look around before dropping her head again, Indigo saw the gate led to a courtyard. Three purple-skinned aliens stood guard. They were about the size of an average human male, but that’s where the similarities ended. With larger features, fur, and glowing fingertips, they seemed straight out of a movie.
“We’re here to see the marshal,” Rowe announced, coming up on her left side with Paine on her right.
“He’s not taking visitors today,” one of the guards hissed, the sound low and threatening.
Paine growled, stepping forward as he bared his fangs. “We are here to see the marshal on orders from the Phaeton Council. Now.”
“Y-y-yes,” one of the smaller aliens stammered, and tugged back the one that had gotten lippy with Rowe. “Follow me. Right this way.”
Indigo looked down to hide the smile that tickled her lips at Paine’s show of dominance. Not only did she find it amusing to see him put the twerp in his place, she’d also seen how his muscles had flexed, and it was really hot. Keeping her eyes lowered until she could regain some composure, she frowned when a flashing blue light caught her attention.
A bright blue light was coming from one of the bands on her wrist. Until now, the two bands had only twinkled between white, green, and sometimes yellow. The men had explained that they were the status indicators for all of the different functions of the bands. Her vitals, her location, and her link to the Phaeton system were the only three systems the men had told her were working. With the addition of the blue light, Indigo didn’t think that was the case any longer.
Her curiosity had somehow overridden her anxiety at the situation. After a moment, she decided that now was not the time to ask about the new blue light. She put a mental pin in it to bring it up later. Following closely behind Paine, she reached for his hand. She needed his touch to keep calm as they were led to another gated area that had a wooden platform built in the corner.
“What is this place?” she whispered when the guards left them alone.
“This is where the marshal judges those brought before him,” Paine said with a nod towards the platform. “This sector still practices capital punishment.”
“Are you telling me that this is where they execute people?” A shiver snaked up her spine as she looked at the wooden structure with new eyes. “People die up there?”
“Most likely by beheading, since I do not see any type of noose—” Rowe stopped talking the minute he saw her face. “Are you well, sweetheart?”
Indigo nodded before shaking her head no, the small movement bringing nausea to the forefront. The general knowledge of what may or may not have happened had given her the heebie-jeebies, and that was before he’d uttered the word “beheading.”
“Sure. I stand a few feet away from where people get their heads chopped off all the time. Visiting places where people are executed is one of my favorite things to do.”
“Really?” Paine asked, his expression confused.
“No, not really,” Indigo said sharply before dropping her head into her hands, hiding behind them as well as beneath her hood. “I’m rambling to distract myself from how uncomfortable I feel right now. After Rowe said they chop people’s heads off here, that’s all I can think about. The fact that it literally happens right there” –blindly pointing in the general direction where the platform loomed, she groaned— “is really squigging me out.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Paine was still trying to work out what “squigging” meant when he heard footsteps approaching the foyer of the marshal’s home. When they’d arrived, he’d been more than ready to rip the guards apart for not only delaying their mission but also the sheer disrespect they’d shown Phaeton. Contrary to what they may believe, the marshal they guarded had no power beyond what the Phaeton explicitly granted him. And that power could easily be revoked and given to another.
“Paine and Rowe! So good to see you once again,” he exclaimed, his smile as false as the welcoming tone of his voice. The second lid covering his large eyes blinked erratically as if he were nervous. “I just received notice on the comm pod from Councilor Kaine that you would be paying me a visit today. I do hope there are no problems I need to be made aware. Everything has been more than calm here since your last visit, so I have nothing to report on my end.”
Rowe’s eyes narrowed on the purple alien before casting Paine a quick glance. His partner had also detected the marshal’s anxiety.
“We’re here to locate Axis,” Rowe announced. “The council believes he went off-grid during his leave. We were hoping that you might have information, even rumors or intuitions, on where he may be laying low.”
The marshal’s throat clicked a few times. His nervous chirps filled the courtyard. He paced.
“Uhhhh,” he stalled before nodding to Indigo. She’d kept behind the men, still with her head bowed. “I see you’ve brought a visitor with you to Euphoria. Who is this?”
“None of your concern,” Paine snapped. The abruptness of his response brought the marshals large flinching eyes back to him. “The council seeks information on the whereabouts of Axis. Do you have any idea where we may be able to track him down?”
“Let me see,” he chirped, fumbling with a tablet. Using webbed fingers to scroll down the screen, he shook his head. “I have no reports on your friend Axis.”
“And you are positive your men would have passed along that information?”
“Of course. We know how to do our jobs here without interference,” the marshal chuffed as if offended. “What happened before was not—”
Rowe snorted, his expression mocking. “Are you trying to claim you bore no responsibility for the humans that were kidnapped and stored on this planet right under your nose?”
“Well...no,” he squawked, the jowls surrounding his face shaking as he disagreed. “I had nothing to do with—”
“Over twenty crates filled with drugged women were on your planet. You really had absolutely no idea they were there?” Paine asked, his voice filled with sarcastic disbelief. “Perhaps it’s time the Phaeton Council installed a new marshal, considering this lack of oversight.”
“Let’s not be hasty, friends.” The marshal again blinked rapidly as he defended himself. “The storage field had been overlooked. That’s all. A simple mistake. A new deputy had been—”
“Axis,” Paine said sharply. He wanted to leave before the temptation to beat the man became too much to bear. “You have no idea where he may be?”
“None,” he answered quickly, holding out his arms. “I have nothing to hide from you or the council. I’m just doing the job that you gave me,” he finished with a bow.
Paine stiffened when he heard a tiny snort from beneath Indigo’s hood.
“Do you—” Stepping forward, the marshal reached out a purple hand towards Indigo.
Freezing at Rowe’s deep growl, he stopped his progress forward.
“Is that a bride?”
Paine frowned at the sound of envy in the marshal’s tone. It was no surprise, but still unwelcome. Since receiving protection from Phaeton, Earth and the humans that inhabited the planet had become protected. Because of that, the planet, it’s resources, and its people had become a temptation for those wanting to possess something they knew they couldn’t. The trafficking of humans as slaves or oddities is what had gotten Indigo kidnapped in the first place.
Stepping forward, he placed himself in front of her protectively. At Paine’s movement to shield Indigo, Rowe was also moving. Instead of stepping forward though, he positioned himself slightly behind her.
“She is none of your concern, and if you touch her, I will personally tear your arms from your body and make you eat them.”
Paine backed up Rowe’s words with a flash of fang.
“While your guards watch,” he added, bristling at the way a few of them licked their lips as they watched Indigo. “Whatever you can’t finish, the
y will.”
The threat of violence was enough to prompt the guards to drop their gazes to the floor. The same couldn’t be said for the marshal, however.
“I had not been made aware that you found your bride, Rowe.” The words were accompanied by the clicks of his fluttering extra eyelid. “Have you had a chance to let your favorite whores know that Paine will have to satisfy them alone now?”
Paine’s arm shot forward, grabbing the marshal by the throat before he had time to enjoy the jab he’d taken at Rowe.
“You are testing more than my limits today,” he growled. His fingers squeezed hard enough to cut off the alien’s air supply.
Struggling to breathe, the marshal clawed at Paine’s arm, which had raised him off the ground with little effort. Nothing he did made the Phaeton’s grip falter as it held the alien at his mercy.
From the corner of his eye, he watched the guards move forward slightly before falling back without protest. The deep growl coming from Rowe behind him had brought on their display of cowardice.
“It would annoy Kaine if we killed everyone here today,” Rowe said to Paine, pointing out that they would have more than just the man he was threatening to deal with if this continued.
That reminder was all that stopped Paine from squeezing the life out of the marshal dangling in his grip. The fucker deserved much more than a little hug around the neck for the looks and words he’d tossed so carelessly about in Indigo’s presence.
“Know that Kaine is the only reason you will be left breathing today. Today is all I will give you though.” Paine slowly lowered him back to the ground. “Insult our bride again and you will not be so lucky. If you have no information on Axis, then our business is done.”
The marshal fell to his furred knees, gasping for air and choking slightly as his ability to breathe was restored.
“I apologize,” he rasped, his gaze filled with hate as he looked up at Paine towering over him. “I will watch my words more closely in the future.”
“See that you do.” Dropping his head at the fury in Rowe’s voice, the marshal bowed low to the ground.
Grabbing Indigo’s cloaked hand, he pulled her after him as he left the courtyard.
“I don’t trust him,” Rowe muttered quietly.
“What do you mean?” Paine asked, looking back to see the guards helping the marshal to his feet. The marshal continued to glare. His eyes seemed to bulge a bit more than before. “You think he knows where Axis is?”
“No—yes—I don’t know.” Brushing back his dreadlocks, Rowe closed the gate as they cleared the marshal’s compound.
“Can I take this off now? It’s really hot under here,” Indigo interrupted, her hands readied to push the hood of her cloak back.
“Not yet,” Rowe said, stilling the motion. “Something tells me it’s better if you’re covered.”
“At least for now,” Paine agreed with a nod. “I did not like the way the marshal looked at you.”
“Was it just me or did that guy not like the two of you?” she asked, tipping her head back to be able to look up from beneath the rim of the hood as they walked.
“His dislike has never been so apparent before.” Clearing his throat, Rowe stopped Indigo from going farther with a hand on her shoulder. “What he said about our visits here—”
Indigo shook her head, the hood swinging back and forth. “Can we just not talk about it? I’d prefer not to hear a play-by-play, if it can be avoided.”
“You don’t want to talk about it?” Paine asked, surprised. “From what we’ve witnessed with our warrior brothers and their wives, they want to know everything they can possibly find out.”
“I prescribe more to the age-old adage regarding curiosity killing the cat.” Indigo looked back and forth between them. “The only thing that matters to me is if you plan on visiting the brothels now that we’re together…cuz I’m not going to lie, that would be a deal breaker for me. I know it doesn’t seem fair since I get all of this” –Indigo moved her hands to frame them where they were standing in front of her— “and you just get me but—”
“No need to finish that thought, love,” Rowe stopped her before she finished.
“We want no other.” Paine cupped her face, pushing the hood back slightly so he could look her in the eyes. “You are it for us, Indigo.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Indigo smiled at Paine, grateful for him trying to ease her worries. The initial nerves that plagued her at the marshal’s continued to zip through her. Her warriors had only added to her nervousness the moment they’d walked into the courtyard and she’d been told what happened on the platform only steps away from where she stood.
Once the marshal had joined his men, she’d seen why the guys had warned her. Her creep meter had ramped way up the moment he’d walked into the room. There were dark intents behind his looks and words. She was sure of it. With her head down and her ears open, she knew the moment he had crossed the line.
She had no question now why her men didn’t trust the man. He’d reeked of guilt. After being in the room for only a few minutes, Indigo had picked up on the stench.
The same went for the guards. She recognized a bunch of bullies, but she now worried about what others they might meet on this mission.
“Come on then.” Gripping her hand in his, Paine tugged her forward towards the market. “I believe we promised a visit to the silk merchant, didn’t we?”
“You absolutely did,” she agreed, holding out her other hand for Rowe to take, which he did without pause.
At that moment, Indigo realized they never hesitated when it came to her. If they felt she was threatened or needed protection or comfort, there was no lag in their response. Every instance that had popped up concerning her, they’d handled swiftly and with her best interests in mind. It filled her with an odd feeling, the more she thought of everything they’d done to make her happy since that first night. It had been a long time since someone had cared for her. Feeling so much care at once threw her off a bit.
“After dealing with the marshal, I wouldn’t say no to a sweet treat either.” Rowe gestured to one of the carts moving steadily along the path. “I will go and get us some of the delicious delicacies Euphoria has to offer. I think you’ll be surprised at how much you end up liking. There’s candies and meats and I can already smell the grokl pie. Everyone has to try grokl at least once.”
“I have no idea what a grokl is, but if it comes in a pie, it can’t be too bad, right?” she chuckled, amused by his excitement.
“A grokl is one of the animals they breed for food,” Paine said out of the side of his mouth as Rowe jogged ahead to barter with the cart. “It’s a popular meat because it has no real flavor itself but is high in nutrients.”
“No flavor?” she asked, the smile she was wearing just before now gone. “Oh joy.”
Paine chuckled and bumped his shoulder into hers. “It actually is pretty tasty, depending on the way it is prepared. Since it has no flavor, it takes on the taste of what it is stewed or baked with. Don’t tell me you’re not going to at least give it a try.”
Indigo made a face at him but quickly hid it under her hood when Rowe walked back holding the pies folded in paper.
“Here, I want to see your face when you take your first bite.” Rowe handed her one pie and
Indigo shot him a worried look before tipping her head up to smile at him and accept the offering.
“Okay.” Holding the pie, she lifted it to her nose for a quick sniff.
Surprised at the buttery smell emanating from the baked good, she raised her brows. She could practically taste it on her tongue already, and the only thing that had gotten close was her nose. On Djaromir, they had nothing this close to the scent or taste of butter, which had driven her crazy. A few of the fats they cooked with weren’t too bad, but they lacked the flavor and aroma Indigo had been used to.
“Go on,” Rowe urged, pushing the pie closer to her face when she took her time
examining it.
“What’s in this ag—ahhh.” Indigo ended in a yelp when Rowe nudged the pie just enough to shove the corner of it into her open mouth as she was talking. With no choice but to bite down or choke to death, she chose the first option but glared at him for good measure.
“Well?” he asked, watching her closely as she chewed.
Indigo closed her eyes, trying to identify the different flavors that were hitting her taste buds. The grokl, or what she assumed was the grokl, thankfully had the consistency and chew of shredded chicken. The familiarity helped her look past the mystery alien meat to the actual spices cooked into the savory pie.
It was familiar…yet not.
“This has a similar flavor to a few Indian dishes I’ve had before,” she announced after swallowing the bite that she hadn’t intended to take in the first place. “Like samosas but heftier.”
Rowe bit off an entire half of his pie, moaning as he chewed. “It’s good, right?”
Indigo nodded with her mouth full and offered a bite of her pie to Paine. She hadn’t realized Rowe had only grabbed two at the vendor and felt like a pig gorging while he stood there and watched her.
Shaking his head at her, he rubbed his stomach with a smile. “I’m saving room for a few of my favorites later.”
“Your loss,” she said, shoving the rest of it into her mouth quickly. Before taking that first bite, she hadn’t thought herself that hungry, but now that her stomach had been woken up, she was ready for more.
“If you’re still hungry, I can purchase some for us to eat as we walk.” Rowe hiked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction the cart was headed.
“Rowe?” Paine interrupted, his voice low and serious.
Falling into place on the other side of Indigo without hesitation, Rowe scanned the crowd growing around them as they neared the market.
“What do you see?”
“Two of the marshal’s guards. It looks like they took time to get prepared before following us though.” Paine put an arm over her shoulder, pulling her into the curve of his body. “They are more heavily armed than they were before.”
Warriors of Phaeton: Paine and Rowe Page 21