Just as he was about to enter the ship himself, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. “What?” he snarled. He turned to see Blix standing there, smirking.
“I simply wanted to remind you to return the slippers. Unless you wish me to make a short visit to your lady love’s home planet someday soon?”
Xairn’s hands curled into fists and he felt his eyes growing hot—almost as though some other part of him was trying to get out. He wanted to rip the calmly smiling bastard into a thousand tiny pieces and listen to each one scream but there was no time. “If you come within a hundred light years of her again I’ll fucking kill you,” he grated. “That’s a promise, Spider.”
“One I’ll remember.” Blix nodded, still smirking. “You’re a worthy opponent, Scourge—you countered every trick I had. I can’t remember the last time anyone was able to do that. And now, the slippers if you please?”
Xairn turned to get them but Lauren was suddenly standing at the doorway of the ship. “Here they are!” With surprising speed and accuracy, she flung both of the crimson-soled slippers in quick succession. Both hit Blix in the face and the second one knocked his nose completely off. It lay twitching on the ground beside him like a slug.
“Why, you—She’s not really bonded to you!” he shouted at Xairn. “No female truly subdued by a Scourge would act like that!” He started to surge forward but Xairn put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. The thought thief stumbled and fell on his ass, an almost comical look of surprise on his noseless face.
“Thanks for the shoes,” Lauren told him, her eyes flashing. “But I’ve never been into designer footwear. Especially if it costs me my freaking life.” She looked at Xairn. “Come on, let’s get out of this crazy place!”
Xairn gave her a look of admiration and then glanced back at Blix. “Forgive me, Spider but I have to go. My mistress calls.”
“Come back!” Blix stormed, spitting into two and then three and four other Blixs in his fury. “I am calling for a re-judgment on this case. I want that female thoroughly examined. I’ll—”
“You’ll rot in the seven hells,” Xairn growled over his shoulder. “Now get the fuck out of way or I’ll fry you with the ship’s engines.” Not waiting to see if the thought thief complied, he slapped the door switch closed and turned toward the pilot’s chair. “Strap in,” he told Lauren who was already sitting in the passenger seat. “We need to get out of here quickly. The Spider wants to reopen proceedings with the Judge.”
She shivered as she pulled the safety harness in place. “I can’t believe he got so upset that I pegged him with a couple of overpriced slippers. I mean, I bit his fingers off earlier and he didn’t care about that.”
“The slippers he gave you had crimson soles—they were footwear reserved exclusively for whores,” Xairn explained as he started the ship. “Hitting him in the face with them was a grave insult.” He gave her a quick smile. “It made him angrier than anything else you could have done—you hurt his pride.”
She tried to smile back but her lovely face looked uneasy. “Good for me, I guess.”
“Hold on.” Xairn gunned the engines and the ship went racing down the long stone corridor. Both of them were thrown back against their seats. The pressure eased as the ship lifted up into the purple haze of the O’ah sky. “We’re leaving now before things get ugly.”
“Seriously, like they weren’t ugly before?” Lauren laughed but the sound ended in a sob.
“Are you all right?” He spared her a quick glance before looking back at the controls. He had to get a good distance from the planet to make sure they weren’t followed.
“I’m fine.” She lifted her chin but her voice trembled. “Is…is it safe now? Will we be okay?”
“We should be all right. It might take me a little while to find the right worm hole but I think I can promise to have you home in a fairly short time,” Xairn said.
“I see.” Lauren nodded stiffly. “Then…can I…is it safe to go to the restroom?”
He nodded. “You can unstrap your harness.”
“Thank you.” She was already fumbling with the straps and as soon as she had gotten lose, she almost ran to the back of the ship. Xairn frowned and cast a glance over his shoulder to watch her retreat. Was she really all right? Should he go to her?
He felt a surge of frustration at his uncertainty. What would a normal male—one who had been raised around females and knew how to treat them—do? Many of Lauren’s emotional responses still confused him. He could tell she was upset and hurt and he wanted to fix that somehow—to assuage her pain. But he didn’t know how. And he didn’t know if he would ever be able to learn.