by Emma Vance
Present Day , Nisha
I scanned the walls, searching the eyes of all the guards, checking for the broad frame and piercing green eyes of my guard.
And, as if I conjured him, there he stood. In the corner of the tent, his face turned slightly towards me, instead of staring straight ahead as the guards usually did. I could feel his gaze burn my skin like a brand.
It was always like this, looking for each other in the corner of rooms, the soft scrape of skin when I walked by him and held out a hand.
Right now, he was standing on the edge of the dining tavern, the casual place in the luxury gardens where patrons went to eat and brought their body slaves. Tonight, I was purchased. I hated nights like this, where I had no choice but to go through with it. I hated when Otun saw, when I felt the murder in his gaze at my patron. I wanted to run to him then, tell him I didn’t want this, that I would run away with him and never look back.
But he knew my feelings. We had tried that plan once already, and it had nearly killed us. I couldn’t risk losing him again. I couldn’t experience my friends being murdered again. Unfortunately, they were still set on the path of escape, and I was still avoiding them.
I sighed and turned to my patron. He was unobjectionable, as far as alien males went who had purchased me. He was tall, and very humanoid looking, with long limbs, and a grayish tone to his smooth skin. His face was long, and he had dark curling hair and incongruously plush lips, like some sort of fallen prince.
He reminded me of a crow. Despite his humanoid appearance, once you looked at him, you knew he was alien. There was something otherworldly about him, something not quite right. I smiled at him, and he cast his eyes downward, nervousness radiating off him in waves. He was very timid and polite, something I wasn’t used to in the males that purchased me.
Generally, those that came to the luxury gardens for female flesh were exactly what you imagined rich assholes on Earth to be like—entitled, sleazy and having really tiny dicks. I didn’t mind, it was easier to dislike them. To keep emotions and feeling out of this. Feeling was dangerous. Feeling got you killed.
I cast a glance to Otun again, my brown eyes meeting his mottled green ones. I took a sip of the nutty tea that reminded me of chai and licked a drop off my lips. Otun’s gaze heated even more, and I allowed myself a small smile. It gave me a little thrill that I could still affect him from across the room with so little as a dart of my tongue after three years. But I wasn’t unaffected myself. My eyes roamed his muscled body. He looked like a Roman statue come to life. If Roman statues had tails, fur and long black hair.
A delicate hand laid itself on my leg, and I turned, meeting the gaze of the male beside me. He followed the direction of my gaze, straight to Otun. I inhaled sharply, doing all in my power to prevent my hands from shaking.
Did he see us exchange a glance? Did he know?
If he did, it would be easy for him to report it to Bardoa. To get Otun, or me, killed.
I laid my hand over top of his, hoping I could distract him away from whatever he thought he saw.
“Shall we head to the tent?” I asked, keeping my voice light, with an edge of flirtation. I knew if I went over the top on the seduction scale, I’d freak this nervous guy out.
His head turned back to me, and a frown furrowed his brow. “If you wish,” he said, his voice equally as light.
We rose from the table in unison, and I knew Otun watched every step I took as I exited the tavern.
Once we made it back to one of the client tents, I felt my nerves lessen. If he was going to make trouble for me, he would have done it in the tavern, wouldn’t he?
I immediately began unlacing my dress, eager to distract him away from thoughts of the guard I’d been staring at.
The alien male watched me, a strange glimmer in his round black eyes. Suddenly, his hand shot out and long fingers wrapped around my wrist like gray spiders’ legs.
“Human. I have no interest in bedding a female whose thoughts are on another male.”
I gaped at him. But he didn’t look angry. His face was calm. All traces of the timidity and nervousness he displayed earlier were gone. In its place were a quiet confidence. A sureness that he hadn’t displayed in the choosing room, nor in the dining tavern.
“What . . . what do you mean?” I struggled to find the words, to keep my voice calm. On Stryxx, the sooner you displayed your emotions, the faster an alien was taking advantage of them.
“You know what I mean. I have business on this planet. Business that means I must purchase a female for the night to keep appearances. I would have gladly bedded you, had you been the least bit interested.” He shrugged, and again I was reminded of a spider, his long limbs weaving fluidly through the air.
“I am interested, my lord,” I said, wincing at the desperation coating my words.
He smiled, or at least that’s what it looked like. His dark lips pulled up at the corners, revealing a row of jagged, milky white teeth. “I know your secret now, human. So, I’d like you to keep one of mine. We can help each other, it seems.”
I stared at him. This night was not going how I expected.
“I’m here to meet with someone. A meeting I’d rather keep private. If you assist in helping me facilitate this, I will give you something that may prove useful to you in the future.” He tilted his head, the inhuman sheen of his eyes even more pronounced than it had been earlier.
“Who are you?” I asked, suspiciously.
He did smile then, his lips stretching wide, his grin ferocious. I suddenly felt very afraid. It wasn’t a cruel smile, but one of someone who held all the winning cards and knew it.
I’d been handed the losing cards one too many times for my liking.
“I’m someone you’d very much like to be on your side, human.”
I crossed my arms in front of me. “Is that a threat?”
His eyes lighted over me, skimming over my body with disinterest. “Not a threat. Just information. I’m meeting someone tonight, and they will join us in this tent. If someone asks, and they will, the male joined us for sexual release.”
“Why can’t you just meet this male out in the open? Or in one of the gambling dens?”
“The same way you cannot meet your guard out in the open. Because it costs too much. Do you agree, female?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Oh yes.” That same stretch of smile that would likely haunt my dreams. “We always have a choice.”
“You know nothing about my life if you think we have the same choices,” I retorted, planting my hands on my hips. “Fine. Meet with this male. I’ll say nothing. But if it becomes a matter of life and death, I’m not lying for you.”
“Oh, little human. Didn’t you know it’s always a matter of life and death?”
“Who are you?” I repeated. “This is a pretty expensive price to pay to meet someone.” I knew what my fees were. If you weren’t buying me to fuck me, then you were wasting enough to fund a small country back on earth.
“You can call me Trayel, if it comforts you to use names. And I told you, I’m just a male here on business. My business just happens to take up half of the known galaxy.”
The male proceeded to hang a lit torch from the tent flap. I presumed it was some sort of signal for whoever he was meeting. Sure enough, another male entered the tent, prying back the tent flap carefully and stepping into the room. This one was just as tall, but with yellowish skin and blue scales clustered together on his skin like freckles. He had web-like ears, two large blue wings that hooded over his head. His cat-eyes flickered to me, and he turned back to Trayel in alarm.
He waved his long fingers in my direction. “Ignore her. She is here for pretense only. She won’t say anything.”
The yellow male snorted. “I don’t know how you have everyone in your pocket, Trayel. It’s like you own the whole galaxy.”
“I do,” Trayel said calmly. “Let’s get down to it.”
The yellow male�
��s gaze constantly flickered towards me. “Are you sure we can speak in front of her?”
Trayel turned to me. “She has other things to think about than what we talk of.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I couldn’t decide if that was a threat about Otun. I folded my arms across my chest. “I couldn’t care less what you two are up to. As long as you don’t try to both fuck me, I’ll be over here, twiddling my thumbs.” I sat down on a plush blue chair positioned at the other side of the room, near the door.
The yellow male stared at me. “What a strange female.”
“I’ve found humans often are,” commented Trayel, though I had no idea how to interpret that.
They hunkered down at a table in the corner of the tent, and poured the bitter green spirit called huka into each of their glasses. I made a face. Huka and I were not friends.
Their conversation fell into a dull drone. I caught snippets of it, though I wasn’t listening very hard. Words like auction and trade and weapon filtered through the air and around me. Hopefully I wasn’t helping some sort of megalomaniac alien terrorist as he tried to blow up the galaxy. I shook my head. No, something told me this alien wasn’t into self-destruction. He was too precise for something like that.
A low scratching sound came from the tent door. I tilted my head to see through the thin gap between the door and the tent.
Nothing but darkness.
I looked back at the two males talking. They were huddled closer now, and talking faster, as if their conversation could be stolen from them at any moment.
The scratching sound again.
I jerked my head back to the doorway, and this time didn’t see darkness. This time there were green orbs peering at me from behind a golden mask.
“Otun,” I whispered low, glancing back at the males on the other side of the tent. They didn’t look up. “What are you doing here?” I tried to keep my voice as quiet as possible.
“The male saw me,” Otun said, his voice low. “Saw us look at each other and then another male entered the tent. I was worried for you.”
“Someone will see you skulking around a patron tent,” I said, a rush of warmth flooding me at his concern but conflicting with the worry I felt at him getting caught. “He guessed at our relationship. He didn’t choose me because he wanted to have sex with me, but to cover for him meeting some other alien guy.”
Otun’s expression darkened, and his eyes darted to the two males at the other end of the tent. “Are you certain you are safe?” he asked, looking very much as if he were going to go into battle on my behalf. Those two males didn’t stand a chance if he did.
I looked at Otun through the tent flap, his hand on his blaster, ready to charge through the door and be my savior.
“Yes,” I found myself saying with a smile. “I feel safe.”
He nodded once and a voice called to me from the other end of the tent.
“Human?” Trayel’s voice was edged in warning. “Whom are you speaking with?” I turned back and Otun was gone.
“No one,” I said, looking back at his narrowed eyes.
He paused for a moment, and then resumed his conversation with the other male. After a few moments, Trayel handed him something that looked like a black orb. The yellow male pocketed it in the side of his shimmering suit, and then stood.
He nodded at me before exiting the tent.
“You did well,” Trayel said, and I jumped in my chair. I hadn’t realized he was beside me until he spoke.
“You are like a snake!” I exclaimed.
“I have no idea what that is, but I assume it is complimentary.” He brushed an invisible speck of dust off his shoulder and I stared. How I thought this male was nervous and shy I have no idea.
“I presume it was your errant guard who came to visit.”
“You got what you wanted,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself.
“I did. And I am very thankful to you.” He held something out to me, similar looking to the black orb he had given to the other male, but this one was smaller and a blazing blue.
“What is it?” I asked, not taking it from him.
He dropped it in my lap. I nearly jumped out of my chair.
The glowing ball shimmered blue, as if it were filled with glittery liquid.
“Press the button in the centre when you need to engage it. I hope you use it to escape this forsaken place. But if you cannot,” his voice lowered, a hint of roughness entering it. “Then use it to end your suffering. It will create quite the explosion, be prepared for that.”
He brought his long fingers up to rub his forehead, his eyes looking pinched.
“A bomb,” I said, staring down at the vibrant blue orb in my lap. “You’ve given me a bomb.”
“I’ve given you a way out,” he said, his eyes looking distant. “Use it well.”
For a moment, I thought he would still demand to sleep with me. But he moved to the tent exit and looked out. “I’m going to leave before that disgusting ball of slime, Bardoa, figures out why I’m here. Good luck, human.”
“Why would you help me?” I asked, confused, waiting for the penny to drop. Otun was the only person I’d ever met here that had cared to help me. Not that I thought this male cared about me at all. It felt like when he looked at me, he was seeing someone else.
“I have a soft spot for humans,” he said finally. “But I’m no savior. You helped me, I return the favor. And we both keep each other’s secrets.” He nodded to the door, in reference to Otun.
He glanced at the blue bomb he’d given me earlier. It was burning a hole in my lap.
“Break a leg, human.”
Then he left the tent.
Chapter Fifteen
Nisha
A few minutes later, Otun slipped inside the tent and found me sitting there, gripping the sapphire ball.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said lightly, glancing at the object in my hand. “Otun, do you know what ‘break a leg’ means?”
“Of course I do. Is that question a trick?”
I stared off, thoughtfully. “To humans, it means good luck, not that you will actually break a leg. It’s something you say to someone when you want them to do well.”
Otun shook his head, a small smile on his face. “I will never understand human expressions.”
“Yes. Most of you aliens don’t. Which is why it’s so strange…”
“What is?”
“Never mind.” I had no pockets on my dress or anywhere to store the orb. “Can you keep this safe for me?” It was smaller than my fist and looked like a marble in Otun’s large hand.
“Of course.” He took it and frowned. “Are you certain that male didn’t harm you?”
I smiled up at him. “He didn’t touch a hair on my head. Though he gave me the means to harm myself, if I need it.” I looked down at the bomb in his hands. He followed my gaze there.
“You wouldn’t do that, would you?”
There was so much fear laced through his voice that I looked up at him. “No, Otun. I wouldn’t. But I’m not ruling out using it if the humans get captured. I’ll throw it into the pit myself. No one should have to die that way.”
He closed his hand around the bomb. “Let’s not worry about that until it happens. If it happens.”
My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I know you are afraid, Nisha.” His hands came up and gripped my shoulders, pulling me to him. “But this doesn’t have to be like the last time. A Dragorian ship is different from that rusted pile of scrap metal we tried to fly out of here last time. And the Dragorians are different too. They are not a bunch of idiot males. This might be different.” He took a deep breath, as if steeling himself to say the words. “This time, escape might be a real chance.”
I tried to push away from him, but he held me fast. “You don’t think I want to escape?
I cried furiously. “You think I don’t want to be far away from here, free and not force
d to line up every night to be chosen by aliens for the right to fuck me? Of course, I want to escape. But not at the expense of all those human lives. Not again. It’s not worth it.”
“Freedom is worth it, Nisha,” Otun said quietly. “And I know you agree.”
I balled my hands into fists and pummelled him with them. He stood still, taking my anger, not moving a muscle. I stopped and sobbed into his chest. His hands stroked my back, the fingers tracing down my spine.
“I can’t lose everyone. Not again. Not for the third time.”
I’d lost my family when I’d been stolen and sold here. I’d lost my friends when we’d tried to escape. And now, Otun was talking about leaving as well. “Otun, promise me you won’t try to escape,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I couldn’t bear it if you were gone too.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Salana. I’m staying right here. I would never leave you.” He said the words so fiercely, I had no doubt that he meant them. But on this planet, it didn’t matter how much we meant or wanted something, sometimes we didn’t have a choice.
“I don’t want to be afraid anymore that I cannot protect you. I cannot promise I will not try and escape, because all I think of is getting you to freedom. But I can promise that I will take you with me, that whatever happens, we will be together.”
I didn’t respond, my heart sinking at his words. I knew he meant well by them, but I just wanted things to stay as they were. At least I knew that I would see him again, and that eventually we would be together.
He held me a moment longer and then pulled me towards the bed. I tumbled down beside him and he stroked my face, murmuring sweet words in his Kenari language that sometimes my translator didn’t pick up, like when he called me Salana. In the late hours of the night he kissed me, his lips gentle, his tongue brushing against mine with soft intent.
That night when we came together it was slow and deep, our bodies sliding in tandem, arching in a familiar rhythm that excited me as much as it calmed me.
And when I flew apart for a moment, I did feel free, and the realization hit that as long as I was with Otun, perhaps I always was.