Hearing their whispers, Andrea left Brandy to take care of the sick women and joined them standing by the cell door.
“Yeah, that little asshole backhanded me when I went to help Staci,” she said, nodding to the brunette on the first cot. “It was obvious she wasn’t herself when the warriors strapped her into the shuttle. When every one of you seemed drugged, I realized not everyone had signed up to dissolve their bridal contract.”
Motioning to Brandy, who was wiping the brow of one of the women, she continued, “Brandy wasn’t drugged either. I asked her what was going on but she wasn’t sure. The idea of her fighting four warriors wasn’t an option in her opinion so she didn’t struggle.”
“Andrea, I hope I’m not being too nosy, but why did you dissolve your contract?” Val asked quietly.
“I’m curious too. I can’t even imagine leaving Sorin,” Melanie admitted.
“When I met Zane, I felt attraction, but as we got to know each other, I realized I thought of him as more of a brother or best friend than a possible husband.” She grinned wryly. “I friend-zoned him pretty quick.”
“Was he pissed?” Poppy couldn’t help but ask.
Andrea smiled at the women and shook her head. “No. We talked about it and have actually become really close while I’ve been here. When we found out some of the matches were incorrect, it seemed to make sense that ours was one of the mistakes. I think he may have been relieved, honestly. We act more like siblings than anything else.”
Glancing at the women who had calmed enough to fall asleep, Andrea whispered in a hushed tone, “We may not have wanted to marry but I’m sure he’s wondering where I am now. I was actually pretty bummed that I couldn’t just stay on the ship and work. We became pretty close. He’s like the big brother I never wanted.”
She shrugged. “I thought I was going to the medical unit today for an exam since I was going to be around a while longer until I was able to go back home. I’d never been to the med center so when my escort led me to Demascus, I followed him, not knowing it was the wrong direction. All of a sudden I was in a room with Demascus and he said I was being transferred immediately.”
“Hey, Melanie said that she was supposed to go to the medical unit too.” Catching Val’s gaze, Poppy saw she’d caught on too. “That’s what happened to the appointments today.”
Both women were lost and waited for Poppy to explain.
“I work in the medical unit with the doctors and we were expecting all the brides,” Poppy explained. “When none of you showed up, we weren’t sure what was happening. Rodin and Tamin left messages for your warriors. If they received the messages then they must have realized by now that you never made it.”
“Which means that someone will already have realized we are missing!” Valerie finished for Poppy.
“Exactly!” Poppy was so excited at the thought that someone had to have noticed their disappearance that she almost didn’t catch the glance Andrea sent her way. “What?”
“You’ve been working at the medical center?” Andrea asked, cocking an eyebrow at Poppy.
“Yeah, why?” Still unsure where this was going, Poppy studied Andrea’s face. She didn’t seem mad at Poppy, but more curious than anything.
“I was a nurse on Earth,” Andrea explained. “I had been hoping to help out on the ship but never got the chance to make it there. Zane even suggested I ask the Council if I could possibly stay and work here permanently.”
Poppy realized now why Andrea seemed to naturally want to hover over the incapacitated brides. Her training must have been helping her care for them as best she could. It explained all the forehead touching and pulse checks Poppy had witnessed her doing off and on all day.
Thinking for a moment, Poppy studied Andrea with all-new eyes. “Andrea, how would you like it if I took you to the medical unit and showed you around once we get back?” Seeing Andrea’s eyes light up with pleasure, she tacked on, “The place also comes with not one but two handsome doctors who are in the market for brides.”
Andrea couldn’t help but laugh. “Well now, I’m not sure I’m ready to jump into the dating pool again so quickly.” When Poppy’s face fell, she added, “But I would love to see the medical unit. Zane told me about some of the cool stuff they have and I admit I can’t wait to get my hands on a couple things.”
Keeping her fingers crossed that Andrea would rethink her stance on dating, Poppy grinned when her new friend started asking all sorts of medical questions. The smile dropped off her face when she heard the all-too-familiar tone at the door. They were apparently about to get a visitor.
The person who walked through the door was not the one Poppy wanted to see. Demascus smiled thinly at the women and his grin deepened even further when he noticed the women on the cots.
“So I see that only three of you were actually pregnant.” He whistled through his teeth, apparently pleased with himself.
Clenching her hands into fists, Val hissed, “You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
“How fucking evil are you?” Poppy yelled as she approached the bars of the cell. If he got close enough, she was going to reach through and grab his skinny little neck and strangle him herself.
Keeping back from the cell bars, Demascus glared at each of the women before again smiling thinly and folding his hands in front of him.
“I see you as a plague, Poppy. Nothing more than an insect that needs to be smashed.” Motioning to the women on the cots, he smiled. “At least I know that we have stopped the abomination of cross-breeding with you humans.”
Poppy reached beside her to where Val was standing and squeezed her arm to warn her and keep her quiet. Lord only knew what Demascus would do if he realized that they hadn’t taken the pills. Trying to figure out his plan, she needed to keep him talking.
“How do you plan to get away with this?”
“Very easily actually.” Pacing in front of the bars as if he didn’t have a care in the world, he stated casually, “I am going to be leaving Squadron Two shortly on a shuttle to join my true warrior brothers.”
“You’re going to the Verge?” Poppy remembered what Wheaton had explained to her and Val earlier. “Wheaton said you were so far down on the totem pole you couldn’t be a Council member if you joined them…are you going to be a lackey?” Smiling when she saw Demascus freeze in his steps, she took a step back when he turned to her with hate in his eyes.
“Actually I have been assured a Council position now that I have been able to carry out my plan, you stupid human.”
As Demascus spoke, he moved closer to the bars. Overcome by anger at his words, Poppy acted before thinking. Moving quickly, she struck like a snake. Grasping his tunic between the bars, she used all her strength to pull him into the unforgiving metal. Grunting when her arms were wrenched from the action, she hit any part of his body she was able to reach. The warriors who had been with Demascus had not seen her attack coming but quickly moved to save their leader once they realized he was trapped. Before they were able to free him, Poppy latched on to a chunk of his greasy hair and was furiously trying to separate it from his scalp. Banging his head against the bars separating them, she stopped when a warrior pulled out the now familiar silver cylinder. Dammit! She’d wanted to get in a few more licks before the cavalry made their move. Letting him go, Poppy tossed hair she had managed to free from his nasty pinhead to the floor.
“Who’s the stupid one now, fuckhead?” she goaded.
“You surprise me, Poppy,” Demascus wheezed. Adjusting his tunic and trying to smooth his hair, he forced a smile. “Do not worry though, I have a surprise for you as well.”
“And what’s that?” Poppy asked, her voice trembling with anger.
“Not only have I gotten the brides away from their husbands, but I was able to plant a virus in the matching code. What took years for the Council to accomplish with the profiles has been destroyed in seconds. The Phaetons have no need for Earth if they are unable to make bridal matches.�
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Poppy couldn’t believe the crazy man standing in front of her. The only thing missing from making the sight perfect was him cackling like an evil villain and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
“Our husbands will come for us, you moron. When they do, that means you’re going to get your ass kicked.” Melanie walked toward the bars as if she weighed a lot more than the hundred and thirty pounds Poppy guessed her to be.
“Seriously, little human, what exactly will your husband come here for? His profile said he preferred tall redheads with large breasts…and you are anything but.” Seeing Melanie physically deflate before his eyes at the sting of his words, Demascus laughed in her face.
“You see, none of you are what the warriors wanted. Or even needed for that matter,” he continued, turning to walk out the door. “And now they can move on from this stupid idea of human brides.”
“Demascus?” Poppy called out. When he paused to glance back, she smiled at him. “Wheaton will find you.”
“Poppy, I wouldn’t worry about him finding me. I would worry about him finding you.” With those parting words, Demascus swaggered out the door.
Chapter Thirty
Poppy huffed out an angry screech. If it was the last thing she ever did, she was going to pop that asshole in the eye.
“C’mon, ladies, we need to figure out a way out of here,” Poppy said, determined not to let him win.
As the women started to take a catalog of what they had in the cell that could be used as tools to escape, Poppy ran through different scenarios in her head. The cell was fairly big and had four cots, three of which were taken by sick brides, a toilet and a sink. An inspection of the lock showed them it was electronic and the bobby pin Val had found in her bag wouldn’t be any help in picking it. Poppy suggested using Val’s lighter and some paper to set a small fire to try to call someone’s attention. That idea was quickly thrown out. The women felt it was possible nobody would respond to the room and they could suffer from smoke inhalation or worse. After further inventory, they realized they didn’t even have anything they could use as a weapon.
At the cell door, Poppy took out her frustration on the bars and gave them a good kick. She would have done it a second time too but decided she didn’t want a broken foot on top of the mess they were already in.
After what seemed like hours, even though Val’s watch showed that it had only been about forty-five minutes, they heard another tone at the door. Shielding the unconscious women, Poppy, Val, Andrea, Brandy and Melanie waited anxiously. She didn’t know what the plan was if it was Demascus again, but she was not going to go down without a fight.
Poppy’s knees almost gave way when she was blessed with the confused face of Dathrow.
“Dath!” Poppy shouted out, rushing toward the bars. She reached out to touch him to make sure he was real.
“Poppy! What the hell is going on?” he asked. Checking behind him to make sure he was alone, he stepped quickly into the room and allowed the door to close. He tried to hug Poppy even though they were separated.
“Oh my god, Dath, you have to get us out of here.” On the verge of happy tears, she gripped him tight. “Demascus has taken all the brides and transferred us here to go back to Earth.”
He cast a glance at the beds on the far side of the room. “Are they okay?”
“They need medical attention. I think they’re losing their babies.” Poppy motioned for the women who were standing to come forward. “He kidnapped all of us and he said he’d sabotaged the computer’s matching system.”
“But why? It doesn’t make any sense,” Dathrow said, fiddling with the lock pad on the cell door.
“Maybe because he’s fucking crazy! It doesn’t matter why. Just get us out of here and to the medical unit now.” Poppy was gripping the bars now as if her pulling on the door would spring it suddenly open.
“I do not have authorization to open this. I need to find a superior officer.” Glancing at the door behind him, Dathrow was obviously torn as to whether it was safe to leave them to get help.
“Be careful who you trust. There were other warriors who helped Demascus to bring us here.” Poppy was unsure if she wanted Dathrow to leave. Hoping that she wasn’t making a mistake in letting the key to their safety leave, she pushed him from the cell door and motioned for him to hurry.
“Give me a moment. I will be right back with an officer who has clearance!” Turning and barely waiting for the outer door to open, Dathrow slipped through the small space as soon as his big body could clear it.
Before it closed, she yelled, “Message Wheaton and tell him where we are!”
Unsure if he’d heard her or not, she lingered by the bars for a moment longer before turning to the other hopeful brides. The ones who were awake had watery smiles on their faces.
“Thank god!” Val let out with a relieved breath.
Melanie was pacing and wringing her hands together. “I just hope whoever he goes to is on the good side,” she said. “There have to be good guys out there, right?”
Nodding and encouraging Melanie was something Poppy found easy to do in this case. “Yeah, there are good guys. And Dathrow is one of them,” she reassured her new friend.
The wait for Dathrow to return took only a few minutes but felt like hours. When the door opened again, he was there, accompanied by four warriors. None of the men were familiar to Poppy and she was relieved to see none of them were the thugs whom Demascus had had in his goon squad earlier.
As one of the warriors moved to open the cell door, Dathrow reached through the opening to hold Poppy’s hand.
“Thank goodness I checked this room.” Looking at the women behind Poppy, he whispered, “This area was marked as cargo to be transferred to the Pleasure Sector… You weren’t meant to go home to Earth.” Hearing Val gasp behind Poppy, he raised his voice so she could hear too. “My belief is that Demascus had planned for you to disappear there. I believe he was going to try to sneak you onto one of our shuttles transporting medical supplies for trade. The room next door is full of empty crates that could easily have fit two or three of you at a time.”
“We were going to be dumped at the Pleasure Sector?” Val asked incredulously.
“As far as I can tell, that is where you were headed. As a human you would have fetched a high price in the brothels, once trained. The more exotic the workers, the more money they make.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Poppy yelled.
“Poppy, I do not think we would have recovered you if that had happened. Some of the women are purchased and taken to other sectors during auctions. My guess is that Demascus planned for you to disappear.”
“He wanted more than for us to disappear. That dickhead wanted us to suffer.” She was now shaking with anger as she waited for the cell door to open.
“What an asshole!” Melanie burst out, punching her hand as though she wished it was a certain Council member’s face. “Warn a gal next time you plan to go for the jerk, Poppy. I would have liked to have gotten in a few hits myself.”
“Did he hurt you, Poppy?” Dathrow asked, concerned.
Shrugging his question off, Poppy asked, “Did you get a message to Wheaton?” She rushed through the open door as soon as the lock clicked, and gave Dathrow a full hug.
“That’s the funny thing.” Dathrow smiled at Poppy with raised eyebrows. “My band was still receiving notifications from the other ship. He must have raised the alarm searching for you ladies. I was able to message him and let him know that you are here. They were panicking because they were unable to find you anywhere on Squadron One.”
Once the women were helped from the cell, the other warriors hurried in to check on the incapacitated brides on the cots.
“What is wrong with them?” one asked when he realized that they were not simply sleeping.
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong with them. That douchebag Demascus gave us all pills that made the ones who were pregnant lose their babies.” Andrea was t
oe to toe with one of the startled warriors. Poking his chest with her finger, she yelled, “They need doctors! Now!”
Dathrow squeezed Poppy’s arm in concern.
“The baby?” he asked, his panicked gaze falling to her stomach.
“Val and I didn’t take the meds. We weren’t sure if they were okay for us or not so we pocketed them. Demascus assumed we took them when he saw they were gone.”
Before Poppy could say anything else she was pulled into a hug yet again. “Thank your god!” Dathrow whispered into her hair as he held her tight.
“Dathrow? We must move now.”
Turning around to the warrior behind him guarding the door, he nodded.
“Right.” After letting Poppy go, he walked to the warriors, issuing orders. “Pick them up gently. We need to hurry and move to a more secure location before Demascus is notified the cell has been opened.”
The warriors lifted the women like babies and carried them out of the cell. The warrior guarding the door checked both ways down the corridor before gesturing for Poppy and the rest to follow.
Poppy felt as if she’d been cast in a spy movie as they silently followed the warrior leading them down a hallway and into a room at the far end. Recognizing a supply closet, Poppy moved as far into the room as she could to make room for the ones following.
“Are we seriously going to hide in a closet?” Poppy asked, confused.
“My main concern was moving you before Demascus came back. We now have a few moments to regroup.” As the door swished closed behind Dathrow, who had been bringing up the rear, he spoke to the other men. “We need to figure out our plan. If Councilor Demascus had warriors help him abduct the women, I am unsure who to trust.”
Not being the type to be discussed without her being actually part of the discussion, Poppy popped in her two cents. “I can always point out who I saw with him. My main concern is for the brides who are hurting right now.”
When one of the men tried to speak, she held up a finger. “Is there a doctor on this ship?” She nodded to the woman he was currently holding. “We have to get them to help.”
Brida Pact Page 28
