“Make him pay,” I nodded.
“You bet,” he agreed. “What about Bion Marriage Match?”
“What? No.”
“Why not? You don’t have to actually match with anyone,” Andrew said. “You just chat with hot, rich aliens and never commit. You get paid just to sign up and accept messages.”
“That seems kind of mean,” I frowned.
“Please,” Andrew said. “Everyone does it. My sister does it, and it keeps her in designer footwear. You could definitely pay a few bills with it. I’d do it, but they only want vaginas.”
“Wow.”
“I tried to catfish,” he admitted with a pout. “Their tech is too good. My account got deleted.”
“Andy.”
“Twice.”
I laughed.
“Okay, five times, and my IP address is banned now.”
“That’s embarrassing,” I said. “You’re better than that.”
He gave me a flat look as our waitress approached. “I’m really not. And my dear, neither are you.”
CHAPTER 2
YIRI
Bruukto Shek could go fuckhimself.
Better yet, the blue cekets in the bay could fuck up his gutted corpse when I threw him overboard.
“We want a suitable match before the season ends,” Bruukto said. “Send me your offer, but make it good. She is my only daughter, after all.”
Zacal’s eyes fell on me for a brief moment before he nodded. “Of course,” he said. “Daughters don’t drop out of the sky, do they?”
Their conversation continued as Zacal escorted Bruukto to the deck, but I remained at the table, having no interest in kissing Bruukto’s ass. An alliance with the Cendaquans was invaluable, but I knew what was coming, and I couldn’t stomach it.
D'vinda, Bruukto’s precious daughter, the darling of Cendaqua, was a murderess and a faithless liar. If she were male, she would have been reviled for what she did to Rava. But she was female, and so all her sins were forgiven as long as she was willing to spread her legs for the right male.
“Don’t look so glum,” Evik said, clapping my shoulder. “You’re about to be a mated male.”
“I’d kill you if it wasn’t so much trouble,” I muttered, making my cousin laugh.
“Zacal might thank you.”
I grunted, leaning back and kicking my feet up on the table. “Got any sellah, kid?”
Evik pulled a small bundle out of his jacket and rolled it out on the table. “I’ve got some good shit from Nioria,” he said. “Works fast, lasts all night. It’s a smooth ride.”
I flicked my fingers, giving him the go-ahead to prep some for me. He babbled about the suppliers he was in contact with up and down the Eissoi Coast, and the various strains of sellah they were cultivating. The kid was a genius with the stuff. If he could stay off it long enough to convince his father of his intelligence, that would be something. Maybe someday.
Evik passed me a slim cartridge, and I held it near my mouth for my first inhale. It tasted sweet, like eslu steaks.
“What’d you think?”
