Nonplussed, Nayli regarded her. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because she’s running a dodgy operation. It’s not official, even if it is government sanctioned, not that I believe some arms of government aren’t dodgy... ” Kora stared off.
“That’s only your opinion,” Nayli retorted.
“Ohirins are lizards, and they’ve taken over Drypso,” Aelanna said, “and we’re being sent there as their brides. You don’t have to be a genius to work out the logic.”
Nayli also stared off, looking dismayed.
“You know lizards have two thingies, right?”
Aelanna spun her head to look her in the eye. “What d’you mean?”
Nayli caught her look and pointed to her crotch.
“Do they use them together?” Aelanna gasped. “Where does the second one go?”
“I dread to think,” Kora said tightly.
Aelanna and Nayli shuddered, then Aelanna said, “Dapkey promised me the same.” She felt betrayed and her regret at leaving Planet Earth doubled. She should have known theDheltans were too good to be true. Precisely Darren — and Lero and Blayze for the other two. Dapkey had promised that they wouldn’t be given to lizards, but Dapkey was safely on Earth, no doubt with payment from her trickery swelling her bank account. Kora was right: there was not a thing they could do about it.
Aelanna hoped Nayli had got her facts about lizards wrong for once, but knowing Nayli, there was no chance of that. She had allowed herself to be duped, the same as she had with Brad. How stupid was she?
“Well, we can’t go back, so she’s gonna get away with it,” Kora bit out.
“If you knew she was dodgy, why did you recommend the Harmonious Mates Agency in the first place?” Nayli sounded hacked off, and her tone was accusing.
“I didn’t recommend it, I only said I had signed up for it.”
Aelanna sprung off the bed, bouncing to her feet. “Whatever, I refuse to marry a reptile husband.” She crossed her arms. “I won’t go to Drypso. I’ll refuse to get on the ship.”
Kora: “You can’t go back to Earth, and even if you did, you signed a contract. Dapkey would sue you to the moon and back.”
Aelanna: “But she lied. The contract’s not valid.”
Kora smirked. “Good luck proving that.”
“But you’d get our boys into trouble if you refused. Knowing the Ohirins, they’d be court martialed,” Nayli said. “They’d end up in jail, or worse.”
“And they’ve got nowhere to go,” added Kora.
That stopped Aelanna in her tracks. She didn’t want to get her warrior — no, nother warrior, Darren — or his brothers into trouble, even if Darren and she didn’t have a future together. They could escape in Pilot Joel’s ship, but they didn’t have a planet to escape to. She’d maybe have to accept whatever husband was allocated to her — lizards or not — to save Darren. The thought made her want to vomit again, and it rose in her gullet, but she’d work something out.Somehow.
Chapter 16
New Clothes
Two days later, as they were getting ready to go down to the common room for the evening meal, Kora came bursting into Aelanna’s room.
“Come quickly, Blayze brought a suitcase full of clothes, in Nayli’s room.” She said it all in a rush, grabbed Aelanna by a hand and pulled her from the room. Dresses, pants, and tops of all different colors were scattered about. Nayli was in the bathroom, holding a red top to her shoulders in front of the mirror.
“Help yourselves, girlfriends. There’s plenty to go round,” she called. “The dresses are too long but Blayze says Darren can shorten them, and he can alter some other things.”
Hearing Darren’s name was a stab to Aelanna’s heart. He’d been around, but he was avoiding her. She could sense him close by; he was in the corridor, guarding them, but he sent Lero and Blayze when the warriors had to interact with them.
Taking her courage in both hands, she asked him in the corridor if he could shorten the two dresses she’d picked out.
Darren knocked on Aelanna’s door and she let him in. Her room was small, dimmer than the rest of the Ohirin facility, and for that alone Darren was grateful. The harsh lights outside in the corridor had been clawing at his eyes. Here, at least, the shadows softened the edges of everything.
