by Dixon, Ruby
Disappointment flares through me. Jadzion's target isn't here. "They're gone," I whisper, looking over at him.
He rolls back his sleeve and taps his arm bracer with all the controls—the one I thought was a smartwatch. Something flashes across the screen, and then a million yellow blips that might be lettering scroll across the square face. After a moment, he grunts. "No, readings show he's still here, somewhere in this building."
Before I can reply, a throaty giggle catches in the air. It's distant and muffled, and I automatically turn toward the far end of the pool, where there are open doorways to the twin locker rooms and changing areas.
A pretty white sandal is discarded next to the women's locker room door.
Aha.
I put a finger to my lips and point at it.
Jadzion nods, his hand going to his waist as he pulls out a weapon, and we creep forward. I hesitate, because the guy we're seeking is bound to not be in there alone, if the woman's giggle was any indication. But…better one woman than thirty. It means there's only one witness to the murder…or one more person to kill. My stomach clenches queasily at the thought. The fate of the planet's on the line, but all I can think about is the jail sentence I'm going to end up with if we let her go.
But how can we kill someone innocent just because she's in the wrong place? Oh god. I feel like throwing up. This isn't who I am. Jadzion knows how the game is played, though. He's done this before. He knows the risks.
Doesn't make me feel any better at the thought of a bystander getting killed, though.
We approach the door, and Jadzion looks back at me. He presses himself against the wall, a fine sheen of sweat on his red-hued skin, and his eyes are a blaze of crimson. I must have it bad because I think he looks as sexy flushed with color as he does his pale albino white. Inside the changing room, the woman giggles again, and I flinch. Jadzion hesitates, then gestures for me to stay back.
I get that he's the interplanetary assassin and all, but the thought of staying back and hiding freaks me out. For better or for worse, I need to see what happens. I grab onto his belt and shake my head in a silent protest. "I want to go with you," I whisper.
"It might not be safe," he hisses back to me, gaze on the doorway.
Well, I knew that. He might have a gun. He might not. He might be an axe murderer. He certainly wants to blow up all of Earth. But if I stay out here…what if Jadzion beams himself to his spaceship the moment he's done? What if he goes in and like, trips on soap or something? I don't know. He's strong and smart, but he's woefully bad at human stuff. "I don't care if it's safe. I don't want to be out here alone." I totally play the girl card and give him my most helpless look. "What if some guys come out here and try to touch me while you're busy?"
He bares his teeth in angry frustration, and they're shockingly white against the deep red hue of his face. "Jenna…I do not want to put you in danger—"
"The longer we stay out here arguing, the more of a chance he has to come out here and ruin the element of surprise. If we don't go in there in the next few minutes, I'm going in anyhow."
Jadzion presses his fingers to his forehead, obviously frustrated. He hesitates and then runs his fingers along the muzzle of his weapon. It looks startlingly similar to Earth guns—black and smooth with a hand-length barrel—but I guess a killing machine is a killing machine, no matter the planet. To my surprise, he pulls the muzzle off and snaps something thin and sharp off of it—a hidden shiv. He hands the blade to me. "Protect yourself. If things go badly, make a deal to save your life. Understand?"
"Understood."
He grits his teeth as he glares down at me. "I don't know if I want to laugh, fuck you silly, or spank your ass."
"You can do all three if you play your cards right," I tell him, breathless, "But business first."
Jadzion's gaze flares with heat and his jaw clenches. Then he squeezes his eyes shut, takes a deep breath, and steps forward, indicating I should move up with him.
Here goes nothing. This might be the dumbest move I've ever made, but assassin or not, I'm not letting Jadzion go in alone. With my fingertips resting on his back, I follow him inside, shiv clutched carefully in my other hand.
We creep into the locker room utterly silently, and I'm surprised at how quiet Jadzion can move despite his bulk and size. His footsteps don't make a sound. I'm terrified of being the one that alerts the bad guys, because the floor is tile and slippery with puddles of water. It's clear that whoever's in here went swimming and came back to towel off. My feet slide a bit on the tile and I wish I'd thought to remove my darn shoes. I manage to remain quiet as I slip and slide forward, following my alien.
The sounds of grunting and moaning hit my ears, and then two steps later, I see them.
All three of them.
In front of the lockers, there's a long wooden bench used to sit on while you change clothes. Currently it's in use by a blonde woman with wet, skull-clinging hair. She's utterly naked and straddling the bench, her hands resting on the wood. Behind her on the bench is a portly guy with graying hair and a pornstache who's fucking her from behind as hard as he can. In front of Nancy—because who else can it be—is a man that's almost completely dressed in wet clothing, his pants down to his thighs, but I recognize the reddened skin and shock of white hair atop his head. As I stare, he feeds his enormous reddened cock past the woman's lips, his hand in her wet hair as he pumps into her mouth.
A threesome—not that I'm surprised to see it, yet I'm still shocked by the physicality of it.
I'm also a little shocked at the sight of the alien—with that reddish coloring and bleach white hair, for a heart-stopping moment I thought it was Jadzion…and I didn't like it. In fact, I was so jealous for that split second that it hurt. I know better and yet it still bothers me.
They carry on, completely unaware that we've arrived. Nancy's lost in the moment, and so are both men, continuing to fuck her so hard that beads of water flick over the already-slick floors. Jadzion lifts his hand, his gun rising, and just then, Nancy opens her eyes.
She gives a choked scream around the enormous red schlong in her mouth, then pulls away, nearly falling off the bench in her haste. Both men stagger, clearly confused, and then they look over at us.
“A’Dor T’Antor,” Jadzion says in a casual voice. "You will come with me, away from these humans. Peaceably."
The alien raises his hands in the air, a slight smile on his face. I notice that he's not nearly as handsome as Jadzion after all—there's a lean slyness to his features that Jadzion doesn't have, and I'm suddenly glad. I don't want anyone to be as handsome as my alien. "We can talk this through," A’Dor says. "Can I put my cock away first?"
"No. Remain as you are." Jadzion's so cold and still that I feel a flicker of worry.
"I know what you're here for. Let's discuss your price tag like civilized adults." He slowly reaches down and stuffs his cock back into his pants, ignoring Jadzion's gun. "After all, you have a price, don't you? We just need to figure out how much it's gone up."
"This is your last warning. Stop moving or I'll be forced to act." Jadzion turns to me. "Do we kill the humans or let them go? It is your planet. Your people. Your choice. My orders are to make sure that no one knows R’Etor are here, but I will leave this part to your judgment."
Oh god. I stare at the two naked people in horror. This is my call? I gape for a moment, then snap my jaw shut. This is because I wanted to come in. I knew the risks. It's my fault as much as anything else…and yet I can't be responsible for their deaths. "We let them go," I say softly. "They won't say anything, will you?"
Nancy shakes her head, wide-eyed, and so does the man. Yeah, right. I might as well send my measurements to the nearest prison in the morning, since that's where I'll be ending up. Even so, I can't let people die because of me. I just have to own my choices.
"You heard my female," Jadzion says, and flicks his gun at the doctor, who still looks too coiled and edgy, as if he's waiting to mak
e a move. "I will let your human mates live as long as you go peaceably. If you try anything, you'll put your humans in danger."
My stomach lurches, especially when Nancy starts sobbing. She clings to the other man, their naked skin plastered together as they stare at Jadzion—and me.
"I don't care about them," the “doctor” says. He shrugs. "Kill them if you like. Just let us discuss our price."
"What?" Nancy half-screams the words, and her sobbing grows louder.
I can feel Jadzion stiffen, the tension in his big body growing. I know he doesn't want to kill them. "You guys need to shut up," I hiss at the two humans. "You're making this worse."
Nancy's eyes widen as she stares at me. "Traitor! I hope you rot in prison after this!”
"We're trying to save the entire world, hello," I spit back at them. “Prison’s not on my mind right now!”
Lies. All lies. I’m thinking about prison a lot.
“You’re trying to save the world from a relationship therapist?" the man asks, clearly puzzled.
"All of you, be silent," Jadzion snarls, then adds over his shoulder, "Not you. Sorry, Jenna."
Annnd now he named me in front of them. I wave the shiv in the air, indicating that I understand. I guess I can always change my name to avoid prison. And my hair. And get a nose job. And move states. Or countries. “No problem.”
"You two humans," Jadzion says, indicating with the gun at the naked, clinging humans. "Move to the side and be silent. You, A’Dor, need to tell me where your documents are hidden. You know the ones I’m looking for."
"If I do, will you spare me?" he asks, eyes narrowing.
"No, but I will make your death as painless as possible."
The doctor thinks for a moment. "They’re in my office. Upstairs. In the safe."
"And the delivery?"
"Not scheduled for at least another day." A’Dor smiles thinly. "But I guess you knew that."
Jadzion grunts. "You will come with me while I retrieve the information and we will dispose of you quickly and quietly."
"Why don't I just give you the key?" the doctor says. "I have it in my pants, right here—"
He lunges forward, and before I can even blink, there's a soft “whuff” of noise, like something's punching through the air around us. The doctor's eyes widen and his pants fall to the ground. There's a steaming hole lasered right through his chest, and as I watch in horror, he collapses to the ground.
Dead.
Jadzion has his target.
In the split second it takes for A’Dor to fall to the ground, Nancy and the other guy rush forward, pushing past us. Jadzion moves to snag A’Dor's dead body. Nancy screams, a high-pitched shrill sound as they race past, and I follow Jadzion, because I'm not letting him get too far away from me. As I advance, the pornstached man gives me a shove in his haste to get away.
My shoe lands in a wet puddle and my feet fly out from under me. I'm aware for a split second that I'm falling backward before my head hits the tile with a terrible crack and the world goes black around me.
12
JADZION
I pace around my ship's medical chamber, watching as the surgical bot carefully stitches up the massive gash on Jenna's delicate scalp. Given a few hours in here and she'll be as right as ever, but I'm still utterly shaken by her injury.
Females are far too fragile. My Jenna seems so strong-willed and saucy that to see her laid out, unmoving, her head in a pool of blood—it rattled me to my core.
The other two humans scattered, screaming at the top of their lungs as I scooped Jenna up off the floor. Her stillness frightened me, and instead of collecting the head of my bounty and the documents I'm supposed to retrieve, I brought her back to my ship.
I'm not about to let her die for a paycheck.
I hover over the med chamber, watching as the bots move over Jenna's head. "Status," I bark out when things are too quiet.
"Suturing is eighty percent complete," the bot chirps at me. "Stage two of four is underway. Estimated time of patient ejection from medical chamber—two hours. Estimated recovery time from procedure—twelve hours."
I groan, touching the glass that holds Jenna away from me. I know this is the best thing for her—I've seen the crude “medicine” that humans practice. Might as well slap some mud on a wound and call it a day. She won't be happy that she's on my ship, but there was no time to ask her what she wanted. Reluctantly, I pull myself away from the glass. "Chance of patient recovery?"
"Recovery estimated into the ninety-ninth percentile."
As in, there's always a slight chance there'll be problems. She's fine, I tell myself. Other than the massive knock on the head that bled and bled all over the place, she's truly fine. As for me, I should go back down planetside and retrieve A’Dor and his papers before the humans are alerted to his death. Since Jenna chose to release two of them, I need to work quickly, but I find myself reluctant to leave my mate's side.
Every moment I spend away from her is another moment wasted. I have less than a human “day” left here, and Jenna must be resting for half of it. Our time together is growing short and I'm not ready to let her go. I touch the glass, wishing it was Jenna's face, and then turn away.
If I can't spend time with her, at least I should finish the job. I smile to myself, though it's painful. Wouldn't Heriot be proud? Finishing my job with time left instead of waiting until the last minute. With a wry shake of my head, I inject a dose of antidote into my arm and wait for my color to bleed back to normal before I head down to the human compound.
* * *
A’Dor is exactly where I left him, and since I have time, I pull out my “scrub” kit and get to work on the area. I remove the head and stuff it into a sealed bag that will go into storage until I can provide it to the R’Etor government. The body, I shove the body into a disposal packet that immediately breaks down the remains until there's nothing but dust a few short minutes later. As it works, I go around the room and laser any signs of A’Dor and his presence—no blood, no finger prints, nothing that can be used to trace his presence here. I scramble any and all security feeds, destroying the documentation for the last human day cycle. It won't matter if the two humans notify their law enforcement if there is no body and no signs of one ever being here. Once A’Dor is disposed of, I put the bags into my pack and head up to his “office” to retrieve the documents.
It's clear after a few minutes of rummaging through the office that my target killed the original Dr. Neville Goodsir (he of the unfortunate name) and took his place. There are photos of a family and all kinds of identification. The man whose identity he stole was pale, true, but nothing like a R’Etor male. Are humans truly that unobservant, or do they simply see what they want to?
I wonder how Jenna sees me.
I retrieve the documents and the R’Etor hand pistols he's got in his desk and then erase all traces of myself from the room as I leave. I hurry back to my shuttle, then return to my ship, breathing the last of Earth's dirty air. Jenna's out of the medical chamber and is now resting, a bandage on her head. She looks beautiful, her long hair spilling over the bed itself, and I have to force myself not to touch her.
I'm aware of every moment that ticks past, though, because it's a moment I'm losing that I could be sharing with her. The time is too short before I have to leave.
I…don't want to leave her.
Ever.
I should have asked her if she would wish to stay with me. But…she's here. It would be such a simple thing to leave with her on board. I hate that I like that thought so much. It's not fair to Jenna…and yet I keep thinking about it anyhow.
13
JENNA
I wake up in a strange bed, the back of my head lightly throbbing. Sitting up, I look around, trying to place myself. The last thing I remember is the locker room…and slipping. Oh. Am I in a hospital, then? I touch my hair, and there's a bandage over the crown of my head. Wincing, I pry it off and touch the scalp underneath…bu
t I can't feel a wound. Okay, that's odd. I thought I'd hurt myself more if I knocked myself out, but maybe not?
I look around the sterile room and notice for the first time that it doesn't look like any doctor's office—or hospital, for that matter—that I've ever been in. The walls are a gentle, sloping gray that have all kinds of panels of what must be medical equipment running checks on my vitals. I glance down at the bed I'm on and it's wide and rather long, as if it's made for someone a great deal larger than I am. As I look around, a camera-like object detaches itself from the wall and moves in front of my face. "Scanning," it tells me. "Please remain still."
And now I know where I am—I'm on Jadzion's ship. Some of the confusion abates, and I sit calmly while the machine whirrs and chimes in front of my face.
A split second later, there's an enormous crash and a door slides into the wall. In tumbles Jadzion, stumbling in his haste to get to me. He rights himself quickly and moves to my side, shooing off the little robot. "You're awake. It didn't tell me until just now."
"I just woke up. How long have I been out?" I touch my scalp because I keep thinking it should hurt more.
"Approximately fifteen hours." When I gape, he continues, moving closer. "You had a cranial fracture and were bleeding everywhere. I had to decide whether or not to take you to my ship or to a human medical station and I chose my ship. How do you feel?"