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His tongue lolled and his tail swished.
I’ll take that as a yes.
“Our team is ready, Captain. Now what?” Dar had told her over breakfast what roles they had to play at the gala, but she was hoping they had a bit more time before they had to land on Kardinia.
No such luck.
“We have to go down to the surface, Lia. The gala won’t start until after three ionas, but there might be some traffic along the way. Plus, we’ve already spent an iona in Kardinia’s orbit, we don’t want to draw unnecessary attention by lingering further.”
“Of course.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Let’s do this.”
Damn, I’m actually doing this.Emilia was afraid, anxious, and thrilled at the same time.
Who would have thought several days in space would change her mindset so radically? From being ready to kick Dar in the nuts and shoot him in the toe to force him to take her back home, she had switched to being ready to kick ass and shoot baddies by his side. She had either lost her mind along the way to Kardinia or lost her heart to her sweet abductor.
God help me, I’m falling in love with an alien.
CHAPTER 29
FROGS, DEVILS, AND DANCING CHICKENS
Emilia tried not to gape, but it was hard.
The wasteland of an asteroid that Kardinia had appeared from the surface, had not prepared her for what lay under the dark-gray sand.
After a glass-protected walkway had taken them from the landing pad to a set of double doors attached to a metallic cube, the high-speed elevator hidden inside had brought them here. To an honest to God underground mansion.
Thankfully, the role Emilia had to play was that of a dumb and obedient slave, so gawking at the bad guys’ lair didn’t look out of character. And what a lair it was!
Ceiling so high it was lost in the darkness beyond the blue torchlight along the marble-like walls. Floor lined with large pale-blue tiles mixed in with specks of gold that shone under the light. A massive marble staircase leading down towards a set of double doors that might as well be made of gold. One tuxedo-clad tree on either side of the staircase with a tablet in one branch, a machete in another, and a set of four eyes taking in every new arrival.
Well, hello there, Groot.
“Good cycle to you,” Dargus greeted the humanoid trees. He had been just as polite with the frog-like guards who had checked his identity by the landing pad. “Darginus Bargusguz, unarmed as required by the invite I received. I have only a Terran and a pet rabbisaurus to declare as personal possessions.”
Emilia pretended to be staring in awe at the staircase but was actually observing the tree to her right scribbling something on their tablet with an extra-long and flexible root. A secret glance at the other bouncer revealed their machete was ready to make Dar one head shorter, while the lower pair of the tree’s eyes were on Cubbie. The rabbisaurus was considered a greater threat than Emilia, apparently.
“Invitation confirmed,” the first tree announced with the voice of a man who had inhaled helium.
“You can take the bipedal pet with, but not the sexapedal,” the machete-happy tree noted with the female version of the same voice.
Emilia’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively looked at Dar.
The only thing that revealed he wasn’t as chill as his face and stance suggested was his tail, which had stopped swishing for a moment. Otherwise he was perfectly in character. From his expression of superiority and displeasure at the delay to his traditional Luvian clothes screaming, ‘I’m rich and confident enough to wear a kilt in a den of criminals’. Their cute fur baby sitting by his boot was in no way reducing his vibes of badassery.
“The rabbisaurus is my emotional support alien. Heiscoming with. Or do you wish to deprive our hosts of the chance to see a Terran and gain an invaluable trade partner?”
Emilia bit her cheek out of nerves. Did Dar seriously believe that would work? The excuse might get him and Cubbie on a plane together, but here where strength had to be valued and weakness was not tolerat–
“Sign here to declare any damage the pet causes is at your expense.” The tablet wielder extended Dar’s way the branch with the device.
“Of course. Here.” Dar placed his middle finger on the tablet, and a green light flashed.
Is he giving them the middle finger or…
“Thank you. You may proceed,” the male tree said.
“Keep both pets on a tight leash,” the female bouncer added. “No peeing inside the gala hall.”
