Brida Pact by Leora Gonzales

they
were late. Valerie’s office was locked and there was no light shining
underneath the door.
    “Crap, we’re about twenty minutes behind. Do you think
Valerie thought you were a no-show and went to tell Mr. Awesome you changed
your mind?” Pixie had begun to refer to Poppy’s alien with different monikers
ever since the great shoe raid of last night.
    “I hope not! You already took all my good shoes, and the
only thing I have left waiting for me at home is a broken coffeepot and crappy
furniture.”
    “Maybe we should look for her?”
    “Maybe she’s looking for us?” both of them said at the same
time.
    “Jinx! You owe me a Coke. Let’s go find your new BFF and
meet your big green guy.”
    Pixie and Poppy linked arms and had just started walking
down the hall when they heard raised voices.
    “I cannot believe I am doing this. Not only do these humans
risk the security of our females but apparently they cannot even find them!”
This was practically yelled by a fairly deep voice. “And did you see my
match? Her intake picture was not very attractive. What if I am unable to go
through with this?”
    “Calm down, Wheaton. They said she might be running late
because of the crowd outside. And her liaison told me she hadn’t planned on
getting photographed yesterday so she may not be that bad in person. I am sure
everything will be fine.”
    Hearing heavy steps walking across the room, both women
outside stood stock-still and kept listening.
    “You are one of the senior Council members and need to be an
example for your men. There seems to be some discontent that you were one of
the first matched. If you show displeasure at your fortune, we may have a riot
on our hands. We need to show these humans how grateful we are for their
generosity. You remember our previous failures with the women we took…”
    At that last tidbit of information, both Pixie and Poppy
gasped.
    “There you are!” Valerie’s voice seemed to sound directly
beside Poppy’s ear, which caused both girls to jump into the air with a squeal.
    “Holy shit, Valerie! Don’t sneak up on people. We were
searching for you and nobody was in your office.” Poppy was still trying to
take in what the men in the room had meant when they had said “women we took.”
That didn’t sound good.
    “Are you ready to meet your future?” Valerie said with a
huge smile and hugged Poppy.
    “Yes, I think so.” Poppy was still dissecting what she’d
overheard. Unattractive? What an asshole. And on the same note, thank god she’d
decided to look a bit prettier today. Her hair was down in curls, her makeup
on, and she was wearing her “nice” jeans with a pretty top. “Nice” meaning no
stains and a newer style.
    “I’m Pixie, by the way.” Pixie elbowed Poppy when no
introduction came about. “My sister’s running low on coffee this morning and is
a little spacey.” She smiled over at Poppy and said, “Get it? Spacey? I
crack myself up.”
    Valerie smiled at Pixie. Pixie always made people smile with
her stupid little jokes and the fact she really didn’t operate with a filter.
She always watched what she said if it was going to hurt somebody’s feelings
but in situations like this she pretty much said whatever popped into her head.
    “Your warrior is right through here. I have his basic
profile and it says his name is Wheaton. He happens to be a senior Council
member so this means you might be able to come back once in a while on
diplomatic visits. Well, ladies, let’s go.”
    “Wait!” Pixie reached for Valerie’s arm just as she went to
open the door.
    Both Poppy and Valerie froze.
    “We need to freshen Pops up a bit. Let me give you my
earrings and some lip gloss. From what we overheard I would say that we need to
knock his space boots off.”
    “Overheard?” Valerie asked with a confused face.
    “Yeah. Apparently Star Lord in there thinks Poppy isn’t up
to snuff. But a little tweaking here and she’ll be perfect.” Pixie