Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

R ixx gave the machine a pat as it whirred happily, satisfied that the mechanisms were working properly after a few simple tweaks. If he had better tools and some different parts, he might have been able to improve upon the design of the machine, but for now, it would have to do.

He thought back to how garments were constructed on his home world—careful hand stitching using animal sinew—and wondered if a machine would ever be a welcome addition. The Dothveks were a tribe rooted in tradition and devoted to the old ways over allegiance to modernizing, which their enemy the Cresteks had fallen victim to, but things were changing. There was a treaty with the Cresteks and many Dothvek males—like him—had taken to the skies with the female bounty hunters.

"She's going to love it." Zala rocked back on her heels and rubbed her hands together. "Her work will go much faster now."

Rixx wished that he could give Myrria something more than faster work. The woman already worked too hard. He could see it in the wrinkle that formed between her eyes when she was deep in thought and believed no one was watching.

Footfall outside the door made him jump for the tenth time that day, but he no longer believed that the Zevrians were about to burst in each time. If they came, they would be loud and rough, pounding on the door and yelling orders. They would not arrive in a shuffling of feet or murmuring of voices. Even so, he whirled when the door opened, going instinctively into a battle crouch.

Myrria slipped inside and shut the door quickly behind her, holding up her hands when she spotted Rixx. "It's only me."

Zala was unable to hide her excitement or wait to reveal the surprise like they'd planned. "Look, Mama! Look what we did." She stole a guilty look at Rixx. "Well, Rixx did most of the work, but I helped."

Rixx smiled at the girl. "We did it together."

Zala bobbed her head up and down. "We fixed it together."

Myrria gave her daughter an indulgent smile, although Rixx detected strain on her face and a hum of something dark and tense beneath her forced grin. Then the woman's gaze landed on the sewing machine on the table, dusted and polished so that it no longer wore years of grime. "You fixed…this?"

Whatever dark emotion had been simmering inside her evaporated like morning mist as she walked toward the table and placed her fingers cautiously on the gleaming contraption.

"Rixx said it wasn't broken as bad as we thought it was." Zala vibrated with excitement as she watched her mother. "He fixed up so it purrs like a…" She glanced at him to supply the unfamiliar word.

"A glurkin," Rixx said, smiling as he thought of Pog, the green shape-shifting pet he'd shared a ship with and who purred loudly in its sleep. "A Lecithin shape-shifting creature."

"This will make my work go much faster." Myrria's voice was a reverent hush. "I'll be able to take even more work. Serena was just saying that she has more work for me if I ever get around to cloning myself."

Zala nudged Rixx with her elbow. "I think she likes it."

Myrria snapped from her daze and tipped her head to look Rixx in the eyes. "I do like it." She gave her head a brisk shake. "I love it." Then she threw her arms around him. "This might be the best present anyone has ever gotten me."

Rixx was startled by her arms wrapped around him, and even more surprised when Zala jumped into the embrace, curling her small arms around one of his legs and her mother's waist. Warmth pulsed through him, and he was sure it was as much from Myrria as from himself.

Then, just as quickly as Myrria had hugged him, she pulled away and smoothed her hands down the front of her dress. "I'll bet that you two have been so busy you haven't taken a break to eat, have you?"

Rixx had been too focused on the task of repairing the machine to think about food, but he also knew that they had finished the last of the bread that morning and there was little left in the house's meager pantry.

Zala must have thought the same thing because she shrugged it off. "We haven't been hungry, have we Rixx?"

He started to agree with her and assure Myrria that they did not need to eat, but the woman produced a paper sack from within her bag and plunked it on the table. "Madam Serena has a new cook and insisted I bring some of her pastries home to test them out. She claims that her girls should not eat any more of them or I'll have to let out all their dresses."

Zala didn't wait for a formal invitation, setting upon the paper sack and pulling out two round, puffs of bread dusted with brown sugar. She handed one to Rixx and put the other one to her nose, inhaling so deeply he thought she might suck part of the bread up her nostrils.

Myrria laughed. "Serena buys the most expensive flour and sugar since she serves treats to her clients."

"I love your bread, Mama," Zala mumbled through a mouthful, "but this is…" The rest of her statement dissolved into a sigh of delight.

Rixx did not take a bite of his roll right away. Instead, he eyed Myrria, sensing a subtle change within the woman from when she had left the house that morning. "Then your visit to your friend was successful?"

Myrria shifted her gaze fully to him, holding his eyes with her for several beats before nodding. "In more ways than one."

Rixx did not know what she meant, but there was none of the usual hesitation when she looked at him, none of the usual reserve. Something thrummed through him again, something he was certain came from her, but it carried no trace of fear.

His pulse tripped when it hit him that he was sensing desire. Her desire.

Then a sound jolted him from his confusion, and Myrria swung her head to the door where keys were jangling in the lock.