Warriors of Phaeton: Paine and Rowe

by Leora Gonzales

  Poppy gave him a look out of the corner of her eye before she nodded.

  “I have a feeling you’re trying to get rid of me, but don’t worry…I’ll find out what’s going on later,” she promised, winking at her husband before following his suggestion.

  “What is happening?” Rowe asked, the skin at the back of his neck tingling in apprehension.

  “We need to prepare for more company,” Wheaton said grimly. “Kaine, Dathrow, and Hix are on their way here now.”

  “I thought they were on duty and would not be able to make it tonight,” Paine pointed out.

  “They are.” Wheaton passed over the tablet he was holding.

  Rowe began to read, the frown on his face deepening with every line he scanned.

  “I do not understand,” he said when he was finished and had passed it over to Paine. “This is the death report of the marshal.”

  “He killed himself in his cell sometime this morning between guard changes.”

  “How?” Paine asked, his face as puzzled as Rowe felt.

  “The doctors were unable to find an obvious cause, which is why he’s in medical right now. Tamin and Rodin are trying to determine if it was poison and where he may have gotten it.” Wheaton looked over to the door when the tone sounded, indicating someone was on the other side. “That is probably them right now.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  “You understand that what you hear in this room goes no further…correct?” Kaine asked the group, his focus on the brides that insisted on staying, Indigo included.

  “What’s going on?” Her whisper was quiet enough that it didn’t get anyone’s attention, except for the man who’s lap she was sitting on.

  “I am unsure,” Paine whispered back with a shake of his head.

  “Indigo.”

  Jerking her head up, Indigo turned her attention to the councilman who’d said her name. She’d met him a few times since she’d arrived, the first time completely out of her gourd due to the gas she’d breathed in. The Phaeton who at that particular time had seemed incredibly large and scary was actually smaller in stature that either of her husbands. If she had to guess, she’d say he was also a smidge older than Paine and Rowe. Most likely clocking in around his early forties or so, considering some of the silver at his temples.

  Despite being not as muscle-bound as her guys and a bit older, he was still one of the hottest men Indigo had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

  “Hi,” she said nervously, uncomfortable with the attention everyone had turned her way.

  “Don’t look so scared, little one.” Kaine chuckled when Rowe took a step forward with his eyes narrowed and Paine curled his arm tighter around her hips. “Easy, Pheatons. I mean no insult; your bride is looking at me as if I’m the monster she envisioned when under the hallucinogen. I simply want to put her at ease.”

  Rowe nodded, the tension in his shoulders visibly loosening. Paine followed suit. The grip he had on her hips became comfortable again versus his boa constrictor-like hold moments before.

  “Unfortunately, I will not be able to give you the leave I promised just yet,” Kaine said, his focus on Rowe and Paine.

  “What?” Rowe asked, the scowl back on his face.

  “Why?” Paine once again tightened his hold around Indigo, as if whatever task the council had for him would pull them apart at that moment.

  Kaine held up his hands as everyone began to talk, the other brides calling foul while the men argued that the council was going against the protocol they had in place.

  “Will everyone be quiet for just one moment so I can explain what has happened?!” Kaine yelled, his tone exasperated. When the grumbles had died down, he began again. “I need you to find Axis on Euphoria.”

  “What?” Indigo sputtered with a laugh. “Is there a glitch in the matrix or something? Didn’t we already do that?”

  “She just made a movie reference,” Poppy whispered loudly, nudging her sister in the side. “She’s a keeper.”

  Kaine frowned in Poppy’s direction, earning a mouthed “sorry” for his efforts.

  “He shuttled back to Euphoria yesterday, this time with permission to turn off his comm pod so he could actually have a legitimate break,” Kaine explained. “He was owed the rest of his leave, and the council approved it, but that was before.”

  “Before what?” Wheaton probed, stepping forward from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “The marshal’s suicide? What good would bringing Axis back now do? He cannot question a dead man.”

  “We don’t need Paine and Rowe to bring Axis back; we need them to assist him in a mission on the ground.”

  Everyone was quiet after Kaine’s announcement, the women giving her commiserating looks while the men looked as if they wanted to argue.

  “Listen,” Kaine started, “I know this mission is neither wanted nor welcomed. I have no choice—we have no choice if we hope to make things right.”

  “What is going on?” Wheaton questioned, moving forward until he was standing in front of Kaine.

  “We’ve received new information.” Kaine looked at Indigo. “The information from your malfunctioning bands finally finished downloading an hour ago and we were shocked at what we found.”

  “What do you mean?” Rowe asked, his stance protective once again. “What kind of information did you find?”

  “Do you remember the program you promised me was disabled? The one that downloaded information from any nearby device?”

  “Oh no,” Paine murmured, shaking his head behind her.

  Rowe nodded, his mouth in a hard line.

  “It seems that the bands your bride was wearing began downloading random files throughout Euphoria, including information it picked up during the time you spent at the marshal’s compound.” Kaine rubbed his chin, his expression somber. “I am unable to share all that we’ve learned from the accidental yet fortuitous glitch on your band, but know that he’s lucky he’s already dead. The council has decided that you two will go to Euphoria, locate Axis, and clean out the marshal’s group of followers. Not only has he been extorting the traders in the market for protection money, it looks as though he’s also had his hand in with the Verge.”

  At the mention of the Verge, a few of the brides sucked in breaths. Maggie and Poppy both looked shaken up a bit at the news.

  “That isn’t all though, and this next part is information that definitely does not leave this room…at least until we can figure out the extent of its reach.” Kaine delivered the warning with a stern look.

  “What?” Poppy asked, the smile that she’d been wearing earlier nowhere to be seen. “What’s going on, Kaine?”

  Sitting down in front of them, Kaine leaned forward on his elbows, the pose of contemplation as he stayed silent for a few moments.

  “Among the files that we recovered from the marshal, we found what looked like a trade agreement between him and the Verge. Axis was right when he claimed the marshal was hiding something the first time you paid him a visit. From what we’ve uncovered, he was not only fully aware of the Verge using Euphoria to move the kidnapped brides, he was in on it. For a price.”

  “I wonder how much they paid him to turn traitor on the Phaeton—not like it matters much now. Can’t spend your riches when you’re dead, right?” Rowe said with a shrug. “So, you want us to go in, find Axis again, and with his help clean out anyone who’d been in league with the marshal, right?”

  “No, Rowe.” Kaine shook his head, his expression grim. “I need you to go to Euphoria, find Axis, and locate the three brides that the marshal took as payment from the Verge for his deception.”

  Gasps of shock filled the air at that announcement.

  “Three brides?” Wheaton hissed, his voice shaking. “He took three human women as payment, and we are just now finding this out?!”

  “I know, Wheaton,” Kaine said, running a hand through his hair. “Believe me, I know. Actually, I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected there
was something we had missed. It is one of the reasons why I encouraged Axis take his leave on the planet in the first place. I had a feeling that there was something that we overlooked after the initial rescue mission when we recovered Hix and Maggie. I’d hoped his presence would clear things up, or at the very least give us a set of eyes on the ground that we could trust.”

  “And then you lost contact,” Wheaton said with a frown.

  “My first thought was that Axis had stumbled across something that made him a target. Luckily, I was wrong about his safety, but we are still left with more questions than answers.” Kaine rubbed the back of his neck before focusing on Paine and Rowe again. “The first step once on the ground is to locate and extract. Considering these brides have been missing for so long, we don’t know if they’re still on the planet or even still alive.”

  “Oh my God,” Indigo gasped, her hand flying to her mouth to hold back the nausea threatening.

  The shock of Kaine’s statement was like jumping into a frigid lake, leaving Indigo shaken at the implications of what most likely happened to those poor women. A tingle of anxiety began to creep up her spine as her mind flashed to her own kidnapping.

  Unable to suppress a shiver, Indigo leaned into Paine’s comforting hold a little heavier.

  “I’ve got you, love,” he whispered, his lips brushing the top of her hair. “I’ve got you.”

  Turning into him, Indigo tuned out the rest of the room as they talked about what was happening. She cupped Paine’s cheek and looked steadily into his silver-gray eyes.

  “You have to find them.”

  For a moment, it looked as though he was going to argue with her before he nodded. “I will. I promise.”

  “You too, Rowe.” Calling him over, she tugged his hand down until he was in a crouch next to where Paine was sitting with her on his lap. “You have to find them.”

  “I promise, sweetheart,” he pledged.

  “And then you come back to me and get that honeymoon the council keeps dangling in front of us.” Indigo looked up, giving Kaine a nod, who was at that moment receiving a barrage of questions from the others. “When do they leave?”

  Her question to Kaine silenced everyone.

  “Right now,” he answered with a sad smile. “The shuttle has already been prepped.”

  “The sooner you leave,” Indigo said softly, feeling the bite of tears in the back of her throat, “the sooner you save those women and come back to me.”

  Rowe tugged her out of Paine’s lap and into his arms. Kissing her breathless, Indigo forgot where she was as he devoured her mouth. Pulling away, he ran a thumb across her cheek before dropping one last quick kiss on her lips.

  “We will be back soon,” he promised. “Now, give Paine a kiss so we can get this over with.”

  Turning her to face Paine, she didn’t have long to wait before she was kissed within an inch of her life once again.

  “I’m gonna miss you,” she whispered against his moist lips, pecking him with kisses. “Be safe.”

  “Always,” he promised before letting her go to face Kaine. “I have your word we will be given time with our bride when this is finished.”

  “You have my word,” he pledged with a slight bow.

  “And the word of the council,” Wheaton said, backing him up.

  “And we’ll give them hell too,” Poppy added, the other brides speaking up with her as well.

  With a few last kisses and some long, hard hugs, Indigo watched with damp eyes as her husbands left with Kaine in the lead.

  “C’mon, honey.” Maggie pulled her close with a side hug. “Wanna have a slumber party? Not those hags because they have babies. Just us.”

  “Boooo!” Poppy threw a burp rag in their general direction, the cloth falling far short of its mark.

  “Whores!” Pixie mock yelled from beside her sister.

  Indigo laughed, allowing herself to be distracted by the women around her, even as her thoughts lingered on the mission her husbands had been given.

  She hoped they found the missing women quickly. It made her heart ache to think her nightmares could be these other women’s fates this whole time.

  Epilogue

  Axis tore a chunk of meat from the bone he was gnawing on, popping the morsel into his mouth as he perused the stalls in the center market square. Aliens bustled about, bartering with anyone that stopped even for a moment in front of their goods.

  Even though it seemed he was in the middle of chaos, Axis felt at ease. Here he could shake off the mantle of being the Phaeton Council’s interrogator, a heavy responsibility that gained more weight the longer he held the role.

  The moment he’d docked his shuttle at the landing field, he’d powered down his comm pod to avoid any further interruptions—this time with the reluctant approval of the council.

  He had a few errands to perform for them while here, but they were small things that wouldn’t take him long. The first was making sure that the inhabitants knew that the marshal was no longer in power. He figured the brothels and market square would most likely breathe a sigh of relief at the news. He had a strong suspicion that the marshal had been blackmailing quite a few of them. He was also tasked with locating and destroying the tech disrupting the Phaeton’s communications on Euphoria.

  Now that particular task he was going to take his time with. While the jammer was active, his band was useless, which would give him a bit of peace and quiet again. He’d eventually take care of it, of course, but just not quite yet. He felt a little bad about deliberately cutting their line of communication, but he also knew he needed a break before he lost is mind.

  The council knew how much he’d needed this time away from his duties, and he wasn’t taking any chances. Kaine and the council had called him back once already, and he wasn’t about to cut his vacation any shorter than it had already been.

  Even now, the last mission still lingered with him. The explanation he’d received from the council hadn’t done anything to answer the questions that had been swimming though his mind. What had they sent him down to observe in the first place? Kaine had said that he was only to report back if something had been out of the ordinary, but considering he was on Euphoria, that could mean any number of things. The entire planet was filled with out of the ordinary.

  So, here he was, back on Euphoria, hoping to enjoy the rest of his leave in peace.

  Out of the corner of his eye, a small cloaked shape caught his attention as it weaved through the vendor stalls.

  Tossing the bone away, he followed with curiosity. A figure like that wouldn’t normally have caught his attention, except for the fact that whoever it was reminded Axis of Paine and Rowe’s bride.

  They moved like a human.

  Ducking behind a row of animal skins, he scanned for a glimpse of skin or fur that would put his mind at ease as he studied his mark.

  When a small, pale hand emerged from the sleeve to grab a piece of fruit off a nearby cart, his heart almost stopped dead in his chest. Despite the temporary tattoos on her hands that indicated she worked in one of the brothels, he was certain the person he was spying on was human.

  “What the…” Axis looked around, scanning the crowd for threats but seeing none.

  With purposeful strides, he moved quickly and efficiently. Grabbing the hand, he pulled the cloaked person behind him even as they began to struggle.

  “Let go!”

  Once secluded in an alleyway, Axis pushed the woman against the wall. The voice he’d heard had definitely been female.

  “Where did you come from?” he questioned as he pushed the hood of her cloak back.

  The face looking up at him made his jaw drop. Never before had he seen such a beautiful female.

  Even with the split lip and blackened eye she was glaring at him through.

  “I promise I was going to pay for it,” the female pleaded as she frantically began to search the pockets of the cloak she was wearing.

  Axis dropped her arm
, her tears causing him upset as he felt the need to calm her.

  “Shhhh, sweetling,” he murmured as he patted her shoulder awkwardly. Looking around again, he didn’t see anyone searching for the female he’d hustled away. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

  “I’m nobody,” she whispered, her gaze shooting to the ground where it stayed focused, even as he tried to get a better look at her. “Please, let me go.”

  “Go where?” he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he’d found a human. A female human. Wandering alone in the market of Euphoria.

  “Please.” Twisting her wrist in his grip, she pulled with all her might. “They’ll punish me if they think I’m trying to run away again.”

  Fearing he was going to hurt her, Axis loosened his grip only to curse when she slipped her hand right out of his hold.

  “Wait!” he yelled after the woman as she darted in front of a cart, barely managing to miss the large wheels that could have caused her serious harm.

  Running after her, Axis tried to keep her in his sights. but with her size and the crowd, it wasn’t long before he’d lost her. Realizing he needed not only weapons but also his communicator, he made his way as quickly as he could back to the shuttle. Once aboard, he quickly booted up the comms, preparing a message for the council. He’d figured out what Kaine meant by “out of the ordinary.”

  They needed to know there was a human living on Euphoria.

  His vacation would have to wait. He had a new mission now, and it was simple: find her.

  Look me up!

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  About Leora Gonzales

  I am an original Kansas girl who misses the Sunflower State every day. I spend my time reading and writing making sure my two kids don’t kill themselves or each other. My addictions include tattoos, cursing, good food and good company (not necessarily in that order). I believe that tough moments in life can be combated with good humor, and I find a reason to laugh or smile daily.