Vrix (The Galaxos Crew Book 2) Read online

  Griggs threw her bag down and tried to kick him in the shins. "Do not. Ever. Do that. Again."

  Vrix dodged and set his bag on the bed, grinning. He'd brought a book, just in case, but this mission didn't look to be boring at all.

  Griggs

  Griggs fumed as she scowled at Vrix, though she didn't hit him again since the blood rushed out of her head and almost knocked her down anyway. A small part of her thrilled at his easy strength, that he could toss her over his shoulder and haul her up two flights of stairs without even breaking a sweat or sounding out of breath. She wondered how far he could actually carry her.

  She shoved the thought away and dragged her bag to one of the armchairs in the room, across from the bed, and pretended to search for something as she gathered her thoughts. It was definitely comforting to be on a dicey mission with someone so strong and competent, and who didn't dither over making decisions. She could use a little more consultation before he made those decisions, but it was better than someone who locked up when faced with a tough choice. Vrix could definitely handle himself.

  And her, too, it seemed.

  Griggs's cheeks heated at the thought. She didn't have time to get distracted by the muscles in his shoulders or the oddly appealing texture of his scales against her skin. They had a mission.

  She stared at her bag, puzzled by a small package wrapped in wax paper. Someone scribbled, "You'll need this," on the paper; it looked like Jess's handwriting, but Griggs couldn't remember when the other woman had a chance to actually slip something into her bag. She frowned. It was an old-fashioned communicator, the only kind that likely worked on Caihiri.

  And what the hell were they going to do about Jessalyn? She'd been lying to them all that time, and she worked secret missions with all kinds of unsavory characters—how could they trust her? What if she was still reporting to someone at the Alliance? There was no telling how those spies communicated, or where their loyalties actually lay.

  Griggs made an irritated noise and gripped her head, staring down at the communicator. No doubt Jess meant it for reaching out to those contacts, but again Griggs hesitated. Could she actually trust them?

  The bed creaked and Griggs glanced back to see Vrix sprawled on the mattress, taking up easily two thirds of the entire bed, and he laced his hands behind his head. "Forget something?"

  For a second, she stared at him, trying to interpret his words. Did she forget something related to what? Griggs straightened, her cheeks burning, and put her hands on her hips. "I beg your pardon?"

  "You seem to be searching a very small bag with a great deal of vigor," he said, tone mild and a hint of amusement in those silver eyes. "It looks like you're either looking for something you forgot or you're avoiding something else."

  Avoiding something else, definitely. Griggs shook her head. "I'm thinking."

  "Take your time." Vrix yawned and stretched out, beating the pillow into a fluffier shape. "We have a few errands to run yet this afternoon, though, so don't take too long."

  Griggs muttered under her breath as she went back to the bag, easing to sit in the chair instead of leaning over it. She didn't want her back to him for a second, not after the way he squeezed her ass on the way up the stairs. She hadn't entirely minded, but that didn't mean she was about to invite him back for seconds.

  At least Vrix fit in with the guys on the streets outside as well as the questionable characters in the bar downstairs. She felt like she stuck out instead, and drew way too much attention everywhere she walked. For once she was the sore thumb, and Griggs didn't like it. The slave thing definitely threw her off her game. As much as she wanted to refuse and march off to find Heidi on her own, Griggs knew she couldn't succeed that way. She recognized the reality of the town around her, and the dangers presented by the illegal businesses that dominated the Caihiri economy. People disappeared all the time on Caihiri, and she wouldn't be one of them. Neither would Heidi.

  Griggs took a deep breath and looked at Vrix where he still reclined. "What errands are you talking about?"

  "Well, some of it depends on if you've got appropriate clothes."

  She frowned at the surface clothes she'd packed, then gestured at what she already wore. "Everything I have is like this."

  Vrix arched an eyebrow. "You look like a farmer, not a pleasure slave."

  "That's because I'm not a pleasure slave," she said, irritation making her bristle. Sometimes she grew jealous of the spikes on his shoulders and head that rose up when he was angry, since that seemed a pretty easy way to broadcast being pissed off. "I'm a security officer. I'm not some dancing girl or hostess or fucking geisha. And I'm sure as hell not going to dress like one."

  "You have to." He sat up, expression serious. "We need actual disguises for anyone to buy this charade. Which means you have to look like a real dancing girl, and not a security officer uncomfortably playing the part. That'll get us killed."

  Griggs shook her head. "I don't think I can, Vrix."

  "Of course you can. It's just a costume. A disguise." He sat up and stretched. "They might leer at you as you walk by, but they'll only see a slave instead of a threat. I know that's small comfort, but you'll be able to go a lot more places and hear a lot more information if you're dressed how people expect a slave to look."

  Griggs looked at him, debating, and her heart started to pound. One of her worst fears was being treated as nothing more than a piece of meat or a convenience for men, some lightweight decoration they could buy or trade as they saw fit. She'd seen enough of that growing up, and she sure as hell wasn't going to walk willingly into that.

  Vrix must have seen something in her expression, because his gaze softened. "I'll be with you the whole time. We'll find Heidi and get the hell out of here before you can even get the tags off the clothes. Just give it a shot. We can go to the store I'm thinking of and you can check out the costumes, then we make a decision."

  She didn't want to feel grateful. But the fact that he noticed and acknowledged her discomfort meant a lot more than she'd ever admit. Griggs didn't know how Vrix understood her so well, but the Xaravian acted like he could read minds. She wondered if they had magic or something on Xarav, since there wasn't a scientific explanation. Griggs forced herself to stand. She was doing it for Heidi. Anything to help her friend.

  "Okay. I'll look. But nothing over the top."

  Vrix got up and headed for the door. "Great. The store is close by."

  Griggs got lost in her own thoughts as she followed him down the stairs and back through the bar, caught up in wondering whether she could trust Jess and her contacts, and who betrayed Heidi, and if all of this was a trap or ambush from any of half a dozen sides. It was exhausting, having to be suspicious of everyone. She knew she could trust Isla and Rowan, but it was starting to look like they were the only ones.

  She didn't jump when Vrix draped his arm over her shoulders, and refused to take comfort in his presence. It would be great if she could trust him, but Griggs didn't know if she had it in her to trust a male again. The risk was just too great.

  "Here we are," Vrix said, and shooed her up a set of rickety stairs to a nondescript store in a back alley. It looked like it sat on stilts, with the area underneath dark and reeking of garbage. A few feathers collected around one of the stilts as a wind rushed through the small alley.

  Griggs looked back at him as she pushed the door open. "You're kidding, right? This looks like..."

  She trailed off as she got a good look at the clothes inside. He hadn't been joking about costumes—most of them were ridiculously flamboyant, and all were skimpier than most nightclothes she owned. Griggs choked on an immediate denial as a trio of women sashayed around a counter to inspect her and eye Vrix with a rather predatory light in their gazes. "Oh my, you're in need of some respectable clothes for your little miss, aren't you, handsome?"

  Griggs wanted to spit in fury, turn on her heel, and run for the hills. The women looked as barbarous as the Xaravians, although th
ey weren't as tall and had necks at least twice as long and thin as Griggs's. But they had plump bodies and spindly legs, and long arms that looked a touch like wings from the feathers that shimmered along their shoulders. They looked a bit like gray chickens, but with humanoid faces. She didn't want to judge them, but Griggs never expected women to own and run a shop with clothes for slaves. It seemed like a complete betrayal of all females everywhere.

  Vrix didn't miss a beat, though. "She didn't come with much. I'd like to see a few styles on her. Something to show off her assets."

  The women all smiled and curtsied, dispersing throughout the shop to start taking things off racks and arguing about colors and cuts and cleavage. She might have been mistaken, but Griggs thought she heard them clucking. Griggs shook her head, sent Vrix a dirty look, and headed for the door. "No fucking way."

  She could find Heidi on her own. Even if it was more difficult, she could still do it—and in her own clothes, not running around half-dressed and... sparkling. Senior Security Officers and Fleet Commanders did not sparkle. Or glitter or jingle or sashay. That was for damn sure.

  Vrix caught her arm and pulled her close, lowering his voice as at least one of the women looked interested in overhearing their conversation, her feathers ruffling around her neck and ears. "Come on, Griggs. Give it a shot."

  "That shit is skimpier than my underwear, asshole. I'm not going to wear it out on the street." Her eyes narrowed as she watched the shorter woman sort through what looked like dental floss but was labeled panties. Hell no. Griggs had hips and an ass and a chest, and she wasn't going to fucking prance around in something so small it made her look ridiculous and jiggly. Not to mention she couldn't kick someone's ass in what looked like a spiderweb of thread.

  "I thought you would give this a chance." He looked like he wanted a laugh, and Griggs started to rethink that whole mind-reader thing. Because if he knew what she was thinking, he would have run for that spaceship and never looked back.

  "Yeah, well, that was before I realized you were talking about strings and beads and sequins. Because 'costume' implies fabric and sewing and some kind of coverage, don't you think?"

  Vrix wiped at his mouth, nodding when one of the women gestured at a small closet for trying on the ridiculous non-clothes. "Just a moment. She has an opinion on colors." Then he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the corner of the store, as if to discipline her. "I thought you Fleet officers faced every challenge and defeated every adversary? Never surrender, never retreat? Isn't that a motto of yours?"

  Griggs's cheeks heated again and her heart sank. A challenge. Un-fucking-believable. "Stupid clothing and partial nudity are not adversaries."

  "Questionable fashion in the pursuit of a vital mission—and rescue of a fellow officer—certainly seems like a challenge you can face down, right?" Vrix just looked at her, the challenge clear in his eyes. He didn't think she'd do it. That she was afraid of a little exposure.

  Griggs fumed and clenched her hands into fists. She wasn't a chicken. She wasn't. And she wouldn't live it down if she refused to wear those stupid clothes and they ended up not being able to find Heidi. She wouldn't forgive herself. But there was no way in hell Griggs would live it down if anyone, particularly her friends, found out she wore that kind of shit in public and let Vrix call her his slave. Isla would laugh for weeks.

  She ground her teeth until she got another headache, then practically hissed at him. "Swear, right now, on your dagger, that you will never tell anyone about this. Ever. Take it to your fucking grave, do you hear me? I want your word, as a warrior of Xarav, that no one finds out about this. That's the only way I'll do it."

  He pondered it, eyebrow arched, and as the silence stretched, Griggs's heart started to pound. What if he didn't agree? She hoped he was half the man she hoped he was, and that Vrix would swear not to tell anyone so they could get back to finding Heidi. She felt time ticking away too fast already.

  Vrix

  Vrix didn't want to laugh at her, since Griggs was so clearly uncomfortable, but seeing the self-assured and kick-ass security officer panic at the sight of a few slinky nighties and see-through skirts struck him as intensely funny. He'd never thought she would be uneasy about her body or others seeing her, and he wondered if there was something much deeper going on to fuel the insecurity. It gave him something to wheedle out of her on the long nights when they'd be staking out places where Heidi might be.

  But Vrix didn't want to see her suffer. Too much. Just a little for payback for those punches she got in earlier in the day. His ribs still ached a little. When she fidgeted and started to sweat, her eyes darting back and forth, he relented. Vrix rested his left hand on his dagger and put his right fist over his hearts. He spoke in High Xarav, so she wouldn't understand, and he spoke from both of his hearts.

  "I swear, on my honor as a warrior of Xarav, that I will protect your honor and your life until my body returns to the sands. I will shelter you with all I own, and feed you when you are hungry. I give you all the water in my possession, and will roam the world searching for enough to quench your thirst. My tent is your tent. My blade is your blade. You are my true north, my guiding star. Anywhere in the universe, when I look for direction, I will look to you."

  The words came easily, far easier than any other oath he'd ever sworn, including the service oath he gave to Vaant. Vrix knew without question that he meant every word he gave Griggs, even if she couldn't understand them or maybe couldn't reciprocate. He'd seen nothing that indicated she wanted a relationship, and the uncertainty and fear that floated to the surface on this mission made him wonder if she was even capable of being in a relationship. More topics for conversation later.

  She gave him a narrow look, clearly not believing him. "What did you say? It sounded like gibberish."

  "Well, considering it was the highest language of my species, it carries a little more weight. I promised to keep your secrets as if they were my own. I won't tell anyone, Griggs, and I definitely won't take pictures."

  Mental pictures, on the other hand... Vrix kept a straight face, but just barely. He was really looking forward to watching her try on the different costumes. He just hoped his scales stayed under control and he didn't turn purple in front of all the employees.

  Griggs heaved a sigh and shrugged out of his half-embrace. "Fine. But I'm doing this to find Heidi, no other reason. And you can sit out here by yourself while we figure out the least embarrassing option that's still believable."

  "I'm the owner," he said, nudging her back to toward the dressing room. "I get to choose."

  She glared at him but let the three ladies hustle her into the room, and a great deal of growling resulted as they tugged off her clothes and threw them over the door into a pile. Vrix eased into one of the comfortable chairs across from the curtain, catching occasional flashes of a furious Griggs and the equally determined ladies.

  There was quite a bit of jingling from bells and other metal bits, and some stretching and snapping of fabric, followed by yelps from the security officer, and Vrix braced himself for quite a surprise. He kept an eye on the door as he waited, adjusting the chair so he didn't get a crick in his neck. After swearing the oath and realizing how much he already cared for her—maybe loved her—it made him more and more nervous to have her on Caihiri at all. Already it altered his judgment on how to proceed with finding the missing officer.

  The risk to Griggs from being on Caihiri nearly drove him mad; it was absolutely intolerable with the risk it presented to her. She could be kidnapped or hurt or the fates only knew what. She had an uncanny ability to find trouble, and then run headlong into it without stopping to think about consequences.

  Griggs squawked in the room, gritting out, "I'm not going, I'm not going," before two of the ladies hauled her out by her arms and plopped her in front of Vrix.

  His hearts nearly stopped. She looked stunning in a sequined half-shirt, her muscled midriff exposed, and matching sequined panties over
laid with a gauzy red skirt. Her legs were long and lithe and strong, smooth and oh so touchable. Vrix cleared his throat as Griggs glared at him with murder in her eyes. His gaze lingered a little too long on the creamy white cleavage, standing out over the red sparkles, and he cleared his throat again. Keeping his composure would be more difficult than he thought.

  Vrix shook his head. "I don't like the top. Try green."

  "Of course, of course." The ladies steamrolled Griggs back into the changing room despite her protests, and Vrix went back to studying the door.

  The Alliance put bounties on all the women from the Argo, and circulated their crew photos so bounty hunters would recognize them. With the number of criminals on Caihiri, there had to be some bounty hunters roaming around, and none of them would pass up a payday from the Alliance. Griggs's insubordination and un-slave-like behavior could mean disaster for them both. At least Xaravians were known for enjoying difficult women, so it wouldn't be unheard of for him to put up with an unruly servant like her.

  Griggs reappeared in a green silk bikini that was actually very flattering on her, even with the silky robes that revealed more than they hid. Small bells jingled from anklets as she stomped her foot and folded her arms over her chest. He loved her curves and the strength of her body. He rubbed his chin and debated, then gestured at the costume. "Wrap that one up, but she won't wear that out of here. Something with pants, maybe. I don't want the whole world ogling her. That's just for me."