He got his answer almost immediately.
Movement caught his attention and instinctively, he slipped behind a huge barrel resting in the cargo yard.
Ka’Cit froze as the cargo merchant who owned the ship came into view.
A feeling of uneasiness suddenly fell across him.
He knew that merchant…he’d heard about her at least.
Her name was Herza—and she was Merssi…like him.
If a female cargo dealer wasn’t strange enough, one that was Merssi was even stranger.
Merssi females didn’t work.
They were provided for. Protected.
To see one carving a life for herself was…inspiring.
The only problem was…there was nothing even slightly redeeming about the merchant in front of him.
Phekking Herza.
Most beings didn’t know what she was, but he did.
They only saw the fact that she was Merssi and expected her to be docile—a pushover.
She’d lure beings that way, make them believe they could get ahead of her and then cut them down—most times, literally.
She was cut-throat and, in the underground, she was known to smuggle slaves for credits.
A growl started in his throat.
Herza’s tight-fitting dark clothing hung to her curves. Her long dark hair was almost to her waist, and she’d braided it and adorned it with trinkets like the ones Riv wore.
Her back was to him and her tail swished lazily in the air as she signed the cargo release form and handed it to one of the Niftrills
With a light step, she hopped on to the ship’s ramp, which was already closing.
Phek.
This might not be what it first seemed at all.
He doubted the human was registered. Hudo III had strict laws about registering refugees and they had to be sponsored. If Herza somehow found that out, she was probably going to try and smuggle the human female and sell her somewhere on the black market.
It would be easy.
There would be nothing to track the human.
This was bad, and bad timing too. He was on a job—one involving life and death, based on what he’d been told—and the star was already midway across the sky.
He checked his sat watch.
He had to help the human.
Herza wasn’t just going to let her go.
He was as sure of it as he was sure of his own tail slapping in agitation against the barrel beside him.
The human was in danger.
He couldn’t leave her to fend for herself.
She was probably scared out of her mind.
As the ramp began to seal the ship, a plan hatched in front of him.
It was a crazy one, but no one had ever accused him of being sane.
Slipping from behind the barrel, he slunk behind the various crates and stacks of cargo in his way as he headed toward the ship.
6
Nia blinked her eyes open.
Her head felt funny.
Usually when she woke up in the morning, it felt like she’d rested well, but this morning, it felt like she’d been rolling around on a rock.
There was movement as well. Her bed jostled and she groaned, thinking that Riv and Lauren were going at it so hard, they were actually making her bed shake.
“Set him down before the boss comes.”
Wait, she didn’t recognize that voice.
In an instant, her memory flooded back.
The assholes in the brown cloaks. They were carrying her, holding her arms and legs, and Nia began struggling immediately.
“Put me down you fucking idiots!”
They let go of her so suddenly, she fell on her back.
Ignoring the pain, she scrambled to her feet. There was still that pebble in her shoe, and it was a big one too, but she could hardly pay attention to it now as she tried to make sense of where she was.
There was no huge crowd or amazing shops with stalls anymore.
The aliens that had brought her here weren’t paying her any mind now, going off farther into the ship…FARTHER INTO THE SHIP?
For it was a ship. She knew for a fact that it was, as the ramp that led outside was slowly closing.
Panic shot through her as she tried to rush forward, but she was either too weak or her mind was still sluggish from the blow to her head because it didn’t feel like she was moving fast enough at all.
Just as the ramp was about to close fully, her path was blocked off by dark leather.
Nia’s gaze moved upward.
A tall alien female was looking down at her.
For a moment, Nia was caught off guard.
The alien woman was Merssi. Dark hair, blue skin, and those telltale ridges on the brow, nose, and chin—though they were nearly as pronounced as Riv and Sohut’s.
The alien’s gaze was hard and cold.
“Get back to work, Niftrill. I don’t pay you to be wasting time. There are crates to stack before we are cleared for orbit.” The female’s look was dismissive, but Nia had just about had it.
Maybe her disguise had been just too good.
She tore the hood from off her head, allowing her afro to spread free, and tore the face covering from over her nose and mouth.
She knew what she was doing was a risk, but she didn’t really have a choice, did she?
“I’m not a Nih-trill. See?” She gestured to her face. “I’m not supposed to even be here. This was a mistake. Sorry to bother you and all, but if you would kindly let me off your ship, I’d be thankful. This has all just been a mix up.”
The alien female paused, her eyes locking on to Nia.
Damn, she was a frickin’ tall female. Nia had to stretch her neck back to meet the alien’s gaze.
What’s worse, she couldn’t read what was happening behind those cold, green eyes, but she didn’t break eye contact as she continued speaking.
“Your crew thought I was one of them and forced me on board. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m sorry for the intrusion but it couldn’t be helped.”
The alien female didn’t even blink.
She pushed whatever she was holding into the hands of one of her crew, and a snarl that made Nia’s skin crawl appeared on her face.
Shit.
The alien’s fangs flashed and her eyes lit up.
“Now what do we have here?”
She
