Page 5 of Double Cut

“Yeah, and if wedon’tidentify any of them?” Louella added, propping her hands on her wide hips.

Ambassador Conquillen smiled. “My dears,you’renot tasked with identifying them. Each suitor is tasked with identifying the woman best matched tohim. All you have to do is stand there and look pretty.”

“And what if a suitor who says we’re a match is a real asshole?” Louella asked, expressive eyes narrowed.

“What if I don’t like any of them?” Elodie asked.

“The Ahn'hudi do not tolerate abuse—”

“Says them,” Louella muttered.

“Since when has a professed intolerance stopped any man?” Evangeline challenged.

“The Ahn'hudi observe a strict code of honor. Our government was quite adamant that human brides be treated with all due respect,” the ambassador answered.

“Once a woman’s married off, she’s out of the government’s protection, right?” Evangeline said.

“True, but—”

Evangeline shook her head. “No buts. I’m the one who’s going to control my life, not you, not that Argosie creep, not any alien male who thinks to use me like a broodmare.”

“Ladies, your objections are duly noted,” the ambassador said. “Enough chat, it’s nearly time to meet your suitors.”

Raquel, Phil, Paul, and Henri escorted their charges to what they called the green room which wasn’t green at all.

“Sit there,” Phil ordered.

Evangeline mulishly stood.

Phil sighed and propped his hands on his hips. “Really? Evie, you can do this the easy way or the hard way. Don’t think that because I’m gay I won’t manhandle you into obeying orders.”

He flexed a hard bicep. Evangeline chose discretion as the better part of valor. She sat in the chair and said nothing as Phil used astringent wipes to tighten her pores. Next he smoothed a silky primer over her skin, then applied cosmetics with an expert touch. When he had finished with her face, he turned his attention to her curly, chin-length hair, muttering to himself at the split ends. With efficient snips of a pair of scissors, he trimmed the ends before styling her hair into an elegant updo.

She winced when Phil tugged a little too hard on her hair as he worked to fashion the curling ginger tresses into a gleaming, red-gold confection studded with brilliant blue gems to match her eyes. Without moving her head, she eyed the royal blue gown waiting for her to don. She wasn’t sure what to make of the elegant fall of shimmering silk and softly gleaming velvet studded with blue jewels that matched those pinned in her hair.

She glanced at Louella who sat closest to her. The woman’s large, dark eyes were closed and her lips pursed as Henri painted her mouth a deep, luscious red.

“Phil, do these aliens even care about makeup?” Evangeline asked.

He pulled a final, bejeweled pin from his mouth and secured a curl, then answered, “Honey, who knows? They accept our attempts to present brides in their best light. They’re probably too busy fucking their brides after the match is made and the makeup comes off to care what she looks like.”

Evangeline flinched.

“That wasn’t particularly nice, Phil,” Raquel chided. “Just because Ahn'hudi are staunchly heterosexual doesn’t mean you need to make your charge’s worry worse than it already is.” He patted Elodie’s shoulder and directed his attention to Evangeline. “Honey, don’t mind Phil. They’re just disgruntled. There’ve been no complaints from any of the matched brides thus far.”

Evangeline latched onto Raquel’s words. “Matched brides? Does that mean there have been unmatched brides?”

Henri and Paul exchanged speaking glances as the latter tugged off Marisol’s robe and reached for her sequin-encrusted, vermillion gown. Standing defiant and unashamed of her nudity, Marisol focused her coffee-colored eyes on Evangeline, the deeply red jewels pinned in her own curls twinkling under the bright lights overhead.

Raquel answered again as he slid Elodie’s violet dress over her body. The shimmering sheath with its frosted lace overlay hugged her slender form, giving her an aura of royal elegance. He shook his head and said, “No, there haven’t been any unmatched brides since I arrived, and I’ve been here almost as long as Ambassador Coquillen.”

“How long is that?” Elodie asked.

“Oh, about eight years.”

“Take off the robe, Evie,” Phil ordered. When Evangeline hesitated, he frowned and said, “Now.”

Seething with resentment, she rose from the chair and closed her hands over the knot in the robe’s fabric belt. “And if I don’t?”

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