Page 9 of Alien Knight Steals the Bride

Her heart raced as she neared the curtain. Someone was moving around behind the thin barrier. This was it. The moment of truth. She clenched the dagger hidden beneath her cloak with clammy hands. If she didn’t get the maju water here, she doubted there would be time to go through this again. Torrin would die. Pain stabbed her heart.No. Stop thinking like that. He’s going to make it.

From behind the curtain stepped two very large, smoking hot alien men in their early thirties. One had light hair and deep brown eyes, the other dark hair and hazel eyes. The larger of the two men, the dark haired one, crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he took in her makeshift cloak.

Juliette licked dry lips and cleared her throat.Here goes nothing.“Maju?”

The man’s eyes narrowed even more, taking on a hard glint. “Maju?”

“Maju,” she agreed, relieved he understood. She didn’t want to speak any more than necessary. “Maju.”

The two men turned away from her, talking. She heard the word maju several times, so assumed they were discussing her request. Wishing she had a translator more than ever, she strained to hear any other words she might understand, but the effort was wasted.

Finally, she’d had enough and cleared her throat. Loudly. “The maju?”

“Maju?” the larger, dark haired man turned and asked her again.

“Uh…” She hesitated.I guess he’s asking for payment of some kind?She pulled out the dagger and placed it on the table, keeping one hand on the hilt. The other she placed on the cylinder. “Trade?”

The blond man walked back behind the curtain, returning moments later with two small silver cylinders, which he placed on the counter and nodded. “Maju,” he said, along with a string of words Juliette had no hope of understanding.

She watched as both men raised a hand and tapped a device inside their right ears, speaking quietly as if to themselves. The larger man touched the device in his ear again, listening. Five seconds passed. Ten. His gaze intensified on Juliette, burning through her. “You are human. From Earth. This is not a safe place for you,” he growled. “What need have you for Maju paste? Who sent you here?”

Juliette gripped the dagger, slowly pulling it off the counter. “You understand me. That’s good, I guess.” Her heart slammed as she struggled to keep her breathing calm and even. She couldn’t afford to show fear. “I need majuwater,but I’ll take whatever you have. Are you willing to trade?”

“It’s hard to say for sure under that… thing… you’re wearing, but you do not seem injured. Maju water is for serious injury,” the lighter haired man spoke, crossing his arms and scowling as he looked her up and down.”

Her soft gray eyes hardened like stone as she looked to the larger man. “I have friends, of course, watching this place. Waiting. Ready.”

“Friends in need of maju water?” the dark-haired man asked with a smirk, his hazel eyes full of suspicion.

“Yes, one of them, if you must know.” She placed the dagger on the counter once again. “And this fine dagger should more than cover the cost.”

“For maju paste, perhaps. But not maju water,” he countered. “That’s much more expensive. Rare. How did you hear about us?”

“That’s none of your business. Now, I’m willing to trade my dagger for maju water,” she shook her head, exasperated. “Take it or leave it.” Placing the dagger on the countertop once more, she waited silently, refusing to show them how afraid she was in that moment.

“But you do have something else far more valuable than that old thing,” said the lighter haired man.

“Uh… no. I don’t.” Juliette scowled.

“Yes, you do. You have information. You may have the water in exchange for the name of the person or persons who sent you here,” the dark-haired man said, smiling persuasively.

“Well,” she stalled, trying to guess at their game, “I guess he didn’t say I couldn’t tell you..”

“Exactly. We are in a referral business, after all,” the second man smiled encouragingly. “We’d be interested in setting up a direct supply chain if your man is interested.”

“Well, in that case,” she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously, “His name is Bob.”

“Excellent,” the light-haired man chimed in, leaning closer to her. “Does he have a second name? What work does he do? Where can we find him?”

“Well,” she smirked, thinking of the popular young children’s cartoon, “I don’t know his last name, but he likes to build things.”

“Hmm..” he nodded thoughtfully. “Interesting. Where is this ‘builder’ now?”

“Right,” she stalled again. Where was Bob? Where was Bob? “You know, I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” she nodded affirmatively, hoping to make her story more believable. “There are huge military bases on the back side of our moon, and Bob works there. Building stuff.”

The dark-haired man’s eyebrows rose with skepticism. “I know of these bases. They are constantly fighting there, human and non-human alike. The whole structure rings like a hollow bell with every major blast. A very dangerous place for anyone to go. Who took you to such a place?”

Now it was Juliette’s turn to be confused. Shocked. Mystified. “What?”

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