by Sadie Carter
“Why?”
Zoey turned to stare at her incredulously. “To escape.”
“You should sit and wait. My mate and son will locate us soon.”
“I’m not going to sit and just wait for Dex to rescue me. We could be anywhere. What if he can’t find us?”
“They will find us.”
Zoey knew Dex wouldn’t stop searching until he found her, but if she could speed things up, then she would. She continued to search the room, but it was empty. There was nothing to help her.
Looking up, she spotted a steel grate at the top of one wall that let in air and light, but there was nothing she could use to get her up there. Unless…she looked over at Liula.
“If I stood on your shoulders could you hold my weight?”
Liula gave her an incredulous look. “Why would I allow you to stand on my shoulders?”
“So I can reach that grate.” Zoey pointed up. “I don’t think I could hold you up.” The other woman was much taller and more muscular than she was, plus Zoey was still weak.
“I am not allowing you to stand on my shoulders. It is undignified and unnecessary. We need to just wait.”
Zoey pressed the base of her hands against her eyes. Lord help her.
A noise by the steel door startled her and she looked over as it creaked open. Zoey stepped up next to Liula. The older woman might be larger and probably stronger but she was no fighter and it was going to be up to Zoey to protect them both.
Damn, they were in trouble. She didn’t have the strength to swat a fly away.
A short, fat male stepped into the room, smiling widely. His teeth gleamed brightly. She swallowed uneasily. He had the look of a man who could shoot someone, get rid of the body then turn up for breakfast without breaking a sweat.
As short as he was wide, she bet he never went without his Sunday pot roast. His dark hair was oiled back, his expensive-looking suit straining over his pot belly. He looked strangely familiar. But where would she have seen him?
A thin, weasel-like male followed him. Large ears and bulbous nose gave him an almost comical appearance. But there nothing funny about the ruthless way he studied at them, as though they were cattle to be bought and sold.
They spoke to each other in a foreign language.
Liula stepped forward. “Do you know who I am? I am the Empress of Zerconia and I demand you release me.”
The weasel-like man glared at her. “Quiet,” he demanded in Standard.
“I will not be quiet. Release me at once.”
The large man slapped her across the face, sending her flying back.
Zoey grabbed Liula, pulling her back. “Hey! There was no need for that!”
The fat man snapped out something in a foreign language and two huge beings entered. They were so tall they had to bend down to get through the door, their wide shoulders touching each side. Instead of a nose, they had large, pig-like snouts and small beady eyes. Their skin was a pale gray.
One grabbed Liula while the other reached for her. His touch was surprisingly warm. Her hands were quickly tied behind her back before a gag was shoved in her mouth. Her eyes watered at the stench radiating from the gag and she desperately tried to calm her rolling stomach.
Zoey didn’t bother to fight. They’d easily overpower her and she wanted to remain conscious while they moved her. At least then she might be able to figure out where they were.
They were slung over the large creatures’ shoulders like sacks of potatoes and carried out of the room. As she was carried past the two men, Zoey noticed the fat male hand over a wad of cash.
Her memory pinged and she suddenly realized where she knew him from.
The auctioneer.
Oh shit. This wasn’t going to end well.
***
“I have it. The name of the person behind the bounty on milady.” Torex strode onto the bridge of the ship.
Unable to just sit around and do nothing, Dex had taken his warriors and headed to Molipuria to see what he could discover.
Torex handed over his tablet. Dex stared down at the information, unable to believe the name standing out at him.
“Who is it?” Koran demanded.
“Danteon.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Why are we here?” Liula asked, studying their surroundings.
They had been chained to a cold, concrete wall in a long, wide passage. The lighting was poor, the air freezing cold. Zoey’s arms were secured above her head, and already aching. Manacles surrounded her ankles and another chain secured them to the floor.
Liula pulled at the cuffs around her wrists.
“Don’t pull at them, you will harm yourself.”
“We need to escape,” Liula stated.
Now she wanted to escape. Zoey barely refrained from rolling her eyes.
“What is going on? Who are these people?” Down the wall, a number of other beings were chained to the wall.
“I think they’re slaves,” Zoey replied. “It looks like we’re going to be sold.”
“They cannot do that. We need to tell someone who we are. This is a mistake. Guard! Guard!”
“Liula, please be quiet,” Zoey hissed. “Don’t bring any attention to us.”
“What do you mean? As soon as they find out who we are they will realize the mistake they have made.”
“Do you really think they’re going to just let us go? That we’ll all sit down for a cup of tea and have a laugh before we go off on our merry way?”
“I do not feel like laughing.”
“Neither do I! Liula, listen to me. These guys don’t care who you are. All they care about is the profit they’re about to make from selling us. So please just remain quiet and do as they say.”
Zoey closed her eyes. Remain calm. Keep your cool. It didn’t help that she was terrified. “If you want to survive this, Liula then you need to start listening to me.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“I’m the person who is trying to keep us both alive.” There was a murmuring through the crowd. “Someone’s coming. Please stay quiet and we might get through this.”
***
Dex slammed his fist into Dante’s face. “Where are they?”
Dante went flying backwards, landing heavily. “Dex! What are you doing?”
Dex strode forward. “Why did you do it? What could you have gained from putting a bounty on my mate?”
Dante went white and he glanced around frantically. Koran, Thor, Macon, and Boris entered the room behind Dex, spreading out around the room to cut off Dante’s exit points.
“Don’t bother calling for your guards, my men have taken care of them.” As soon as they had discovered who put the bounty on Zoey, they had changed direction, heading toward Edreinia at a breakneck speed. Luckily, he’d chosen a much smaller and faster ship than they had used last time.
“What do you mean, Dex? Why would you think I would take a bounty out on your mate? I do not know her.” Dante stood slowly.
“I know it was you. Tell me where they are and I may let you live.”
“Dex, we are family.”
“No, Zoey is my family. As is my mother.”
“What has your mother got to do with anything?” Dante asked.
“She was taken as well.”
“Taken? Dex, what are you talking about?”
“Zoey and my mother were taken from Zerconia. I assume that someone cashed in the bounty that you placed for Zoey’s capture.”
Dante looked truly alarmed. “No. Not possible. I withdrew that bounty. I haven’t paid it out. Dex, you have to believe me.”
“Why should he?” Koran growled. “You put a bounty out on his mate after he gave you refuge. You are a traitor.”
Dante swallowed heavily, looking pale. “I withdrew it as soon as I could.”
“Why put a bounty on Zoey?” Thor asked. “It makes no sense. Dex took you in when no one else would. Why would you betray him?”
“I didn�
�t want to. You have to believe me. But I owed her and this is what she wanted in return. You know that gambling is my weakness. I thought it was a sure thing. But she tricked me.”
“Who?” Dex growled.
“Fedora. I lost a bet to her. I didn’t have the credits to repay the debt. She had an alternative solution. Obviously, that was her purpose all along. As payment for the debt, I was to place a bounty on your mate.”
Dex reeled at his revelation. Fedora. She was behind this?
Dante had a gambling addiction. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a very good gambler. He had lost his heritage to his cousin Targos in a game of poker, and now he had been tricked by Fedora.
“You should have told me,” Dex told him, reeling from the betrayal.
Dante straightened. “I know.”
“Why didn’t you?” Koran snarled.
Dante blew out his breath. He attempted a smile. “You have to understand, this was before Targos’s death. I thought I would never get my kingdom back.”
“She promised you something,” Koran said with disgust.
Why had he helped this weak male? Out of a sense of friendship and duty. He had trusted Dante, had considered him a friend and he had betrayed him in the worst possible way.
“She wanted me to put a bounty on Zoey, which I did. Although I didn’t put dead or alive as she wished. In return, she would forgive my debt and after she was mated to you, Dex, she would work on convincing you to help me regain control of Edreinia. I would have done anything to get my kingdom back.”
“Including harming my mate.”
“I wouldn’t have harmed her!” he protested. “She was supposed to be brought in alive and I was going to have her held somewhere until you and Fedora were mated.”
Dex couldn’t even look at the sniveling bastard.
“I tried my best to protect your mate.”
“You expect me to say thank you?” he snarled.
Dante took a step back. “Of course not.”
Dante’s culture was steeped in honor and tradition. To go back on your word was considered a death sentence. But that didn’t mean Dex would forgive and forget.
“As soon as I returned to Edreinia, I gathered up enough credits and sent them to Fedora, and then I cancelled the bounty,” Dante explained. “I was in an impossible position. I had to do my best to fulfil my debt to both of you.”
“Your best was not good enough.” Dex stared at him coldly. He landed another blow, sending Dante flying.
Thor stepped forward, placing a hand on Dex’s arm as he took a step forward. “You can’t just kill him, Dex. What about the people of Edreinia, they would be left with no ruler.”
“They deserve a better ruler than him.”
“Agreed, but who?” Thor asked.
Dex let out a deep breath. “There was another cousin. I can’t remember them, but Father will. I will contact them once this is over.”
“In the meantime?” Koran asked.
He glanced around. “Macon, you will remain as temporary ruler.”
Macon nodded, stepping forward. “And him?” He nodded down at Dante.
“Lock him up.” Dex turned and strode away, Thor, Koran, and Boris close on his heels.
***
“Is Fedora in custody?” Dex growled as he paced the bridge of the ship.
His father nodded, his image flickering. As soon as they’d returned to the ship, Dex had contacted his father, who had remained on Zerconia, and explained everything then demanded that Fedora be taken into custody.
“She is. But I cannot believe she did this. She will not talk. All she keeps repeating is that you will be hers now.”
Dex stopped pacing to gape at him. “She cannot still believe that.”
His father frowned. “Truthfully, I believe she is delusional. All she talks about is you.”
Thor stepped up beside him. “It is possible she would talk to you, Dex?”
“I am not sure I can talk to her. Not without losing my temper.” Right now the only thing he could imagine doing was wrapping his hands around her neck. But to find Zoey and his mother he would do whatever he needed to.
“Yes.”
“Dex,” Thor said quickly as his father disappeared. “It might be best if you acted like you admire her.”
“What?” He glared at Thor.
“How is he supposed to do that?” Koran asked incredulously. “She put a bounty out on Zoey, she had Zoey kidnapped.”
“I know that. But if you start demanding that she talk she is likely to close up. Pretend to go along with her. It might make her more inclined to talk.”
“I am not sure I can.” He felt ill at the thought.
“If it helps find Zoey and your mother, you will find a way. Everyone else, step back so she cannot see us.”
Thor was right. Dex forced himself to smile as Fedora appeared.
“Dex.” She stared at him with wary interest. “No doubt you are angry at me.”
“Surprised. Why did you never tell me how you felt?”
“I tried to make it obvious, but you never took any notice of me. You always saw me as a sister.”
“My mistake.” If he got through this without telling her what he really thought of her, then he would be amazed.
She stared at him suspiciously. “You ordered your father to lock me up.”
“For your own protection,” Dex replied smoothly. He was a better liar than he had thought. “My father is not happy with you.”
She appeared sad for a moment. “I did not mean for your mother to be taken. Liula has always been good to me. She was the one who groomed me for you. She wanted us to be together. Then you brought back that human.” She spat the word out like it was dirty.
Dex placed his clenched hands behind his back where she couldn’t see them.
“I believed Zoey to be my mate.”
Fedora stood, fury filling her face. “I am your mate!” There was a mad glint in her eyes. How had he not seen this? How could he have been so blind?
“Yes, of course. I see that now.”
“How could you want her? Don’t you feel the pull between us?”
“I was wrong.” It almost made him ill to say the words, but he could tell Thor was right. This was the only way to get her to talk, short of torturing her, and he could never countenance torturing a female.
“I just spoke to Dante,” Dex told her. “You were smart to use him.”
“I couldn’t be connected to the bounty. I also didn’t have the contacts to set it up. I studied Dante’s weak points. His gambling and his honor. I exploited them for my gain. I had plenty of credits from the inheritance my family left me when they died. I am sure they would approve of the way I used it.”
To trick and lie and hurt others. What a wonderful legacy.
Dex smiled at her. “And when that plan failed you came up with a new one.”
She sniffed. “That weakling Dante failed so I had to come up with another plan.”
“You could have just told me how you felt.”
She shook her head. “No, that-that creature had you under some sort of spell. I had to get rid of her.”
“Madam Tillard and her son helped you?”
“For credits. They grew tired of living on Zerconia. We do not need such disloyal citizens. Madam Tillard was always complaining about how little trade she received. How she could make her fortune elsewhere. So I gave her the opportunity. She drugged Zoey and your mother then dragged them into the tunnel beneath her boutique. Her son snuck them onboard a trade ship due to depart. Your mother was not supposed to be there. That created a problem.”
A problem. That was how she described kidnapping a woman who had taken her in and raised her as her own.
Fedora waved her hand through the air. “Do not worry about Madam Tillard and her son. I had them taken care of. They were disloyal to their betters.”
She was more insane than he thought.
“Where are Zoey and my mother now?
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Her gaze narrowed. “So you can rescue them?”
“Where are they, Fedora?” Enough. He had reached the end of his patience.
“I don’t know.” She laughed. “That’s the beauty of an auction. I have no idea who bought them.”
Rage filled him. “Cut her off. Now.” Before he did something rash. Something he might regret. Maybe.
“She sold them?” Thor asked, looking ill.
Stars knew where they were now.
Chapter Fourteen
“Zoelle? Zoelle, wake up.”
God help her. Someone really wanted her to suffer. Her arms and legs ached from being restrained for hours. She was hungry, tired, and she really, really had to pee.
“What?” Zoey asked tiredly, opening her eyes.
“More buyers are coming. Stand up straight and look respectable.”
Zoey gaped at her. “You actually want to be bought?”
“Of course. Once we have been sold, we can explain who we are and they can return us to Zerconia.”
“You are delusional.”
“What do you mean?” Even with dirty clothes, crazy, knotted hair and a distinct odor, Liula still managed to look down her nose at her.
“The types of people who purchase slaves at these auctions are not going to give a shit who you are. They aren’t going to just release us.”
“You do not know that.”
Zoey groaned. “Yes, I do. I thought I was naïve, but lady, you really take the cake.”
“I am not naïve. I am a hundred and fifty years old. I have lived far longer than you have.”
“But how long has it been since you left Zerconia? Things change. No one cares who you are. These people have no scruples. They are buying slaves, for God’s sake.”
“Why does no one do something about these auctions? They should be outlawed.”
“The Alliance frowns on them, but they can’t do anything since they’re held on planets that don’t belong to the Alliance.”
Liula stood straight. “Here they come.”
With a sigh, unable to find any interest in the group making their way down the passage, Zoey attempted to find a more comfortable position. How long did they intend to keep them tied up like this? Was it actually possible for her bladder to burst?