I watched her until a Driani warrior slammed into my back and broke my focus, sending me a few steps in the other direction. Darting down a different alley, I glanced back, looking for golden skin that always stuck out in a crowd like this.
Nothing.
One turn, then another, then another. Still no gold skinned bastards coming to get us. It was becoming clear that I might have overreacted, thank god. The other Coxians I had seen must have been here for the same reason we were: restock and refuel.
It would have been amazing if one little video led them here, or even if they had seen it, but we were safe now. I needed to get my head on straight, get back to Fey, and get us the hell out of here.
"Let's get out of here," Kylie said the second I reached the red door. She hadn't even gone inside. I was amazed that she hadn't gone back to the ship without me.
Although if I had been another minute she might have. The second I turned she was off, two steps ahead of me, and racing toward the ship. Or, at least as close as she could. Two wrong turns in and it was clear she had no idea where we were, or where we were going.
"Hold on," I said, hand out as I held her back the second our hangar and our massive golden ship was in sight.
Something was wrong. There were voices in there, two, and I recognized both of them.
"Take him to the ship and restrain him," Fey's father's voice echoed against the shiny walls of the hangar, and I pulled back, flattening against it as though I could blend in. "We will wait here for Myro and then we can get out of this shit hole."
"What the hell?" Kylie hissed, knife out as she looked between me and the voice, already fighting me to get in there.
"Wait," I hissed at her, barely holding her back. "That's Fey's father. Want to breathe more than the next five minutes? Get your ass behind me."
I was firm, every bit of me expressing the seriousness of the situation. She still glared back at me, knife in hand. She couldn't be serious. I knew Kylie had some fight in her, but damn.
"He's not here. He stayed there." Fey's shout smothered her determination. The light in her eyes faded and she turned toward the shout that was still echoing off the walls in a moan of panic and fear.
Two emotions that, until then, I wasn't sure Fey could feel.
"They are taking him back to Cox," Kylie flipped her knife, silver blade glinting. "We can't let that happen. If we are going to fight them then let it be now."
"With two dozen warriors out there, and you with a knife? That’s Grymm, Kylie. The motherfucker who loves to fight, who has special abilities for fighting. We’d die before we took our first step." Just the thought of what would end up happening with that was making my stomach twist.
"They are scared of humans, remember?" She stepped out, trying to see around the stacks of supplies to what was going on, but I pulled her back before she could be seen.
"You think they are. It’s a theory we have." I held her against me, her heart beating so fast it felt like a long eared Burnneer kicking against me. "We don't know that for sure."
"If you want him, you'll have to go to Earth." Fey continued, laughing like a maniac and cutting against the glare that Kylie had fixed me with. She knew I was right.
The sound of flesh against flesh echoed as we stared at each other, the sound of punch after punch hit my ears, jarring through my spine.
Fucking Grymm! The guy was ruthless. This was not the person I wanted to catch wind of Kylie's existence. I held her closer, listening as the sound of punches faded away.
"Did you really expect him to leave that planet?" Fey said with a loud laugh that was accompanied by the splashing of too much blood. "To him, it was worth the risk to lose his power to fuck all the humans he could. Those bitches are tight." His laugh burst again, surrounded by the sound of crude lust. Kylie's lips pursed angrily, the derogatory way he had spoken about her unmissed. I waved at her, shaking my head as Fey said something else, trying to tell her that was how his dad was, but her anger didn't lessen.
"Are all Coxians such assholes?" Kylie asked, still fighting against me, although halfheartedly. "We can't let them do this. We can't let them take him."
"I'll explain, Kylie, but you've got to trust me." I didn't say anything else to her, but it was enough. She sagged in my arms, not releasing her knife.
"You were still there. You will still face the punishment. Take him to the ship, we will deal with Myro later." Grymm's command was a rumble that was quickly overrun by the sound of feet and punches.
"If we go now we can take them," Kylie whispered, fighting against my hold, albeit weakly. "I know of a sure-fire way to see if they are afraid of humans. Maybe they will run away screaming."
She didn't even move that time, even though she didn't look away from the now fading voice of Fey. "Are we seriously going to stand here while they drag Fey off to another planet?"
She wasn't whining. Wasn't angry. She was asking a question that might as well have been a barb right through my heart. I knew she was right. I knew she was right all along, but I wanted to keep her safe. I was raised in a peaceful harem compared to the inner circle of fire that Fey had come from. I didn't even know
