Enticed by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

promising the other women they’d have their revenge, Sarissa still hasn’t talked about what she and the others went through on that ship.

While our group of women were only on the Dokhalls’ ship for a day or so, it sounds like they were stuck in their cage for much longer. Every time I ask about her abduction, Sarissa gets a distant look in her eyes and clams up. All I know is one of the women died, and Sarissa barely held the other women together.

“Do you think you were taken because you were looking for me?”

She shrugs. “Two months after you were taken, I went to the Arcav.”

My mouth drops open. “You what?”

“I’d been researching. Other women were disappearing—young, middle-class women who would be missed. But it was the same as your disappearance—no struggle, all their personal belongings at home. I approached the Arcav, and they had begun looking into it. And then I was taken.”

“The Grivath knew you had alerted the Arcav. It’s no coincidence that we were both taken. This is my fault. I’m sorry, Rissa.”

She grabs my shoulders. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not your fault. It’s the Grivath’s and the Dokhalls’, and we’re going to make them pay.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. “Okay.”

“Now let’s go see a man about a spaceship.”

I laugh, and we walk down the hill and into the marketplace. Now that I’ve been here a few times, I’m not so overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. Sarissa seems to know everyone, lifting her hand in greeting as people call her name. A blue man with thick horns calls out something in a language my translator doesn’t recognize, and Sarissa responds in the same language with a laugh.

I stare at her. “Who are you?”

She grins but pretends to zip her lips, pointing me toward the stall we need to visit. I dodge people with fur, scales, and horns, continually shocked at how many seem to recognize my cousin.

“Ah, I wondered if you might return today,” the Braxian woman says when we arrive at her kradi.

Sarissa smiles at her. “Pariv. Nice to see you. Any luck?”

Pariv nods and gestures to the kradi, where a man covered in green scales is talking to the other Braxian vendor. My heart races in anticipation as Pariv calls to him, and he turns, his yellow gaze examining us.

“This is Bacar,” Pariv says before excusing herself to attend to another customer.

Bacar steps closer to us. “You are the humans looking for the part for your thruster.”

“Yes,” Sarissa says.

“The part from an S23 thruster, typically only flown by two races in the galaxy, the Thracias and the Dokhalls?”

Sarissa’s gaze turns frosty. “Is there a problem?”

He smiles, and I tense. “No problem. Just ensuring I have the correct information.”

They gaze at each other for a long moment, and his smile widens as he displays sharp, pointed teeth.

I clear my throat. “Is the part available?”

Bacar nods, never taking his eyes off Sarissa. I shiver. Something tells me that Bacar will sell us out to anyone he can at any moment.

The sooner we get off this planet, the better.

Arix’s face flashes in front of my eyes, and I push it away, focusing on Bacar as he turns and strides back into the kradi. He returns a moment later with the piece we need, and Sarissa compares it to the broken piece in her hand.

Identical.

Except for the large crack in the one Sarissa is holding, of course.

“Perfect,” Sarissa says. “How much do we owe you?”

They begin negotiating, and I turn as someone taps me on the shoulder.

A large man stands behind me, the sun highlighting the thick fur covering his shoulders. He reminds me of a Zinta, except his features are closer to a Braxian’s.

“Can I help you?”

He nods. “Yes. And I believe I can help you.”

Sarissa finishes up with Bacar and leans close. “What exactly do you want?”

“I have information you need. About a certain chip.”

I feel Sarissa go still next to me, although her face stays blank.

“We’re listening.”

“Not here,” the furry man says, glancing over our shoulders, where our guards are likely hanging out. “What I need to tell you must be kept secret. Those guards will ensure that anything I say reaches the commander’s ears.”

The man shivers. Obviously the commander has a reputation amongst the people here.

“One of us can distract the guards,” Sarissa mutters, and I glance at her.

“Are you sure about this?”

“He said he has information about the chip. We have the thruster, but Alexis said we may not get out of here without the control chip, remember? At the very least, we can hear him out.” She frowns at him. “But no funny business.”

The man nods as if unconcerned, but his hands are trembling.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I mumble.

“I’ve got this,” Sarissa says. She waves her hand casually—a gesture she’s used since we were kids. That gesture was always followed by something that would definitely get her put in the naughty corner. “You go listen to this guy, and I’ll distract the guards.”

“What? Shouldn’t I distract the guards?”

She snorts. “They know you’re boning the king. Your dumb blonde routine isn’t going to work. They’ll be too terrified of pissing off Arix.”

The man’s eyes widen at that, and I sigh.

“Fine.”

Sarissa disappears, and I can instantly see some kind of commotion out the corner of my eye.

I turn to the furry man. “What’s your name?”

He hesitates. “Varge.”

Obviously that name is fake, but I shrug. “Talk.”

He tilts his head, gesturing for me to follow him to the edge of the market and behind a tree. “We have access to the control chip you need.”

I frown. “How? The Dokhalls took it with them.”

“Not that one. The control chip is not unique to the ship and can be easily replaced. My contact has located another chip from a retired Dokhall ship on his planet. He can get it to you within days.”

I narrow my eyes at him. I suddenly feel like I’m going to throw up,