I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(74)

“You’re making a big mistake, Enforcers,” Zilgo said. “The Cartel will not take kindly to you stealing their legitimate cargo.”

“If the cargo is as legitimate as you claim, then we’ll apologize, release you, and back on your way you’ll go, along with all of your goods,” Tedrick said in a taunting voice. “But you and I both know we’re going to find all kinds of things that shouldn’t be here.”

“I look forward to your apology, human,” Zilgo snarled.

Tedrick huffed, then turned to look at Oleg and Maeve, gesturing at the pirate crew with his head. “Take them to the brig while our friend Zilgo gives us a tour.”

The Nazhral bared his teeth, his tail stiff, and his feline ears flicking with repressed anger. Under different circumstances, I might have itched to pet his fluffy tabby cat fur. However, I felt nothing but contempt for the ruthless male with a criminal file a mile long.

He first took us to the cargo hold. Tedrick scanned the mountain of crates and containers while I browsed the ship’s manifest. At first glance, it all looked legit. But then, it always did. We were used to this old dance. These ships systematically had secret compartments and caches where they hid the really good stuff. The challenge was finding them.

By the time we finished with the cargo hold, Oleg and Maeve had rejoined us. We pursued our exploration of the vessel, looking for the illegal goods. As we cleared room after room, I started worrying they’d either successfully fooled us or truly had nothing shady happening this time. And then Tedrick saved the day when his scanner went off inside the captain’s personal quarters.

Tedrick gave Zilgo a taunting smile and gestured with his head at the section of wall that had triggered his scanner. “Why don’t you do the honors, old friend?”

Zilgo hissed at our squad leader like a feral cat, which only earned him an amused smirk from Tedrick and a chuckle from me. Mumbling and grumbling, the Nazhral tapped a few inconspicuous sections of the wall in a specific sequence, and an entire panel—the thickness of a security vault—opened, revealing a secret cache. It contained at least three kilos of Edocit Down—a misleading name, considering they weren’t feathers but actual leaves that grew on the Dryad species under specific conditions.

“They were acquired legally!” Zilgo snapped, when Tedrick whistled at the impressive haul. “I’ve got the consent letters from the donors.”

And impressive it was. ED, as it was commonly called, was a potent hallucinogenic and recreational drug that could also be turned into a lethal and untraceable poison. Edocit teenagers naturally produced them in large quantities, the delicate leaves blossoming in their vine-like hair. ED had become illegal in many places once reports of abduction began multiplying. The missing young dryads would resurface years later, looking aged before their time, once they’d stopped producing the valuable leaves.

However, as it was a very lucrative business, many Edocit families—whether poor or not—allowed their young to voluntarily sell some of their down. It either helped their financial situation or gave the teenagers a comfortable starting fund for their future. As long as the buyer could provide proof of legal purchase, he could trade those goods in peace on the planets and entertainment space stations that allowed it.

“If you have the consent forms, why did you hide your stash?” I challenged.

“Because I knew, if I left it out in the open, some annoying Enforcers or Peacekeepers would bust my balls over it,” he snapped back.

A quick check of the documents he provided appeared to confirm this was indeed legit. It pissed me off to no end. My gut screamed there was more to this, and by the look on Tedrick’s face, he also believed we were missing something.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll understand if we temporarily hold on to your ED until we can verify that all the sellers you have listed here indeed sold these voluntarily, and that they are safe and free with their families,” Tedrick said in an overly sweet fashion.

The Nazhral cursed up a storm in his language. I tuned him out as we resumed our inspection of the ship… in vain. Frustrated beyond words that we’d have to release these known criminals for lack of charges, we gave it a last hail Mary. If we could at least find some illegal upgrades to their vessel, we could get it impounded, putting them temporarily out of their shady business.

However, as soon as we entered Engineering, a wave of cold had me jerking my head towards the back of the room.

“What is it, Kaida?” Tedrick asked.

“Do you feel that?” I asked.

“No, what?”

“The intense cold coming from over there,” I said, pointing in its direction with my chin.

Tedrick and my other two teammates gave me a baffled look. A glance at Zilgo revealed nothing, his face completely closed off. With determined steps, I headed towards the back, the cold intensifying, soon followed by a familiar tingling sensation.

“Oh, my God. There’s no fucking way you’re not feeling that!” I said, looking at my team with a mix of excitement and disbelief. I shook my head in annoyance when all of them continued to give me a confused look, then shifted my focus to Zilgo. “There’s a hidden compartment behind that wall. Open it.”

Although he visibly blanched, Zilgo lifted his chin defiantly and fisted his hands on each side of his body. “There is no hidden panel here. Scan, and you’ll see. I cannot open something that doesn’t exist.”