Narrowing his eyes at the men he considered to be on his shit list, a term Lady Juniper had taught him the value of, he let out a low growl.
“That is assuming you are able to get the women safely off this vehicle?” he asked, his voice holding as much sarcasm as he could possibly put into it. Sparx waited to see if either one of the escorts would say anything to his digging and wasn’t disappointed when Trex shot him a glare.
Good, Sparx thought. He’d have absolutely no problem teaching the uppity Phaeton warrior what happened when disrespect was shown to a warlord.
“Her injury was not our fault,” Trex snapped, climbing out of the door to stand toe-to-toe with Sparx.
“It is completely your fault,” he bit back, leaning down to get as close to the shield guarding the other man’s face as possible.
In the span of a few seconds, he observed multiple expressions through the transparent barrier. Anger. Guilt. Regret. And then anger again. Sparx wasn’t surprised that the anger won out in the end.
“She’s big and clumsy,” Trex snarled, bumping his chest into Sparx as he tried to defend himself. “I refuse to take the blame for her inability to walk without hurting herself.”
Without pause, Sparx reached forward and grabbed the Phaeton by the shoulders. Spinning him around, he hooked the warrior’s chin into the curve of his large bicep and squeezed.
“Warlord Sparx,” Colby interjected, his voice one of reason as Sparx shook with anger at the man he was currently choking.
“I-I-I didn’t-t-t,” Trex sputtered, his hands slapping ineffectually at the arm around him.
“What was that?” Sparx asked, loosening the hold a bit to hear what the other man was trying to say. “Was that an apology?”
“I didn’t know,” he gasped out between breaths. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were the warlord here.”
Sparx shook his head and tightened the hold he had on the warrior once again, figuring now was as good a time as any to teach the man a well-deserved lesson.
“That was the wrong response,” Colby informed the other Phaeton, who was simply watching things as they happened without trying to defend or assist his brethren in any way.
“What is the right response?” the other Phaeton asked, his voice nervous as he inched back towards the door of the vehicle.
“First,” Sparx said, dropping Trex to the ground where the other man huddled gasping for breath, “your apology should not have been to me but to the women you so carelessly put in danger. You were instructed to wait inside your shuttle until we had arrived for transport. Did you not think of why we told you that was needed? You are lucky that one injury is all you are being held responsible for.”
“The warlords would have surely called for your lives, if there had been more,” Colby added with a nod, his words obviously not helping to calm matters.
“She fell on her own,” Trex grumbled as he moved to his feet. Jerking off his helmet, he threw it to the ground like a child having a tantrum. “Even if you had been there, it would have happened. Like I said before, she’s big and awkward. The last few days that ugly bitch has actually been the one to cause injury within the group.”
Sparx ground his teeth together as Trex kept talking, obviously not knowing when enough was enough.
“—your planet is desperate enough to take whoever we bring. The dumb ones. The sick ones. The ugly ones. Even the fat ones who can’t walk without hurting themselves or someone else.”
“Oh no.”
Colby’s words didn’t even register as Sparx swung his fist at the target it front of him. Clocking the Phaeton directly in the jaw, the other man went down like a bag full of ore. He waited for a moment to see if Trex would get up, which he didn’t.
Not shocking.
Letting out a disappointed grunt, Sparx turned around to face the other Phaeton. “Am I going to have a problem with you as well?”
“No, sir,” he said immediately, shaking his head. “I was not aware of the additional protocol regarding our landing. I was only assigned to this mission yesterday, and that was only as pilot. Once I realized how bad it was outside the shuttle, I suggested moving back inside but was met with resistance from Trex.”
“Name?” Sparx asked, holding out his hand to shake.
“Bonner, sir.”
“Welcome to Djaromir,” Sparx said, before nodding down to the Phaeton still slumped by their feet. “He, however, is not welcome.”
“Understood.” Bonner raised the arm of his space suit and tapped on the small screen displayed there. “We have permission to depart, as soon as you’ve dismissed us.”
“What do you need for me to dismiss you?” He was more than ready to get them safely off his planet, now that their jobs were completed—hopefully, before they asked about the volunteers who were requested back on Phaeton One.
“A ride back to the shuttle?” Bonner asked, his voice and expression both hopeful. “I don’t think I can haul Trex all the way back on my own, and if I did, it would just delay our leaving—”
“Fine,” Sparx growled, already mentally done with their conversation. “Once we’ve seen to the women, I will have Colby take you back to your shuttle.”
Bonner let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Warlord Sparx.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Sparx muttered, moving around the Phaeton to begin helping the women out of the vehicle. “You haven’t seen his driving.”
Chapter Ten
“What’s going on?” Rue unbuckled her belt and leaned as close to the door as possible without falling out.
“What are they saying?” Jessie asked, trying to see out the narrow opening as well without being seen.
“Can we unbuckle yet?” Tabitha whined a second before releasing the latch with an exaggerated sigh of relief. “What’s wrong with your face?”
“My nose itches,” Lucy said, twitching it to see if it would help.
“Seriously?” Rue asked with a chuckle. “It looks like some big bad miner
