by Zoey Draven
Eve had listened to it all, though it sickened her. After Khiva had told her about how little she paid them, Eve had always thought she was a monster. But this…this went beyond anything she could have imagined.
And all of the Krave suffered her sick punishments. He’d even hinted that Valerie had been whipped at one time and Eve wondered if that was why the young woman was so afraid of her aunt. Was that what happened after she’d gone to the Earth Council to report her, after Madame Allegria found out it was her?
It only made Eve want to bring her down all the more. A couple days ago, she’d come across her father’s contact at the United Worlds, which she told Khiva once he confessed everything to her. A Gharatan named Phe’vee’ka.
“We need evidence,” she told Khiva. “Anything at all.”
“There is nothing,” he told her, shaking his head. “She will have false records showing she paid us the full amount of credits as stated in the contracts. There is no proof of the abuse. Keriv’i heal fast and she will say that the bottom room is for her own personal use. Every record will show she runs a viable, clean business.”
“Valerie must have something,” Eve tried.
“She is too frightened,” Khiva murmured. “You did not see the state she was in after her own punishment all those years ago. She was young. Too young. Unlike us, she still bears those scars.”
Eve’s chest clenched and she blew out a shaky breath. She couldn’t imagine the horrors that all of them had been witness to. Softly, she murmured to him, “We’ll find a way, Khiva. To help them all.”
Later that night, Eve lit the fire in the hearth of her room. It was chilly outside and Khiva still felt slightly cold from the amount of blood he’d lost. She changed his bandages with more healing salve, pleased that his back was in a much better state than it’d been the night before. He still felt pain and Eve feared he would bear the scars for the rest of his life, despite how quickly Keriv’i healed. It would always be a reminder for him.
When she returned to Khiva, who was still sprawled on his stomach in bed, she carefully slipped in beside him and turned so she was laying on her side.
As she looked at Khiva, a thought occurred to her.
“Valerie said last night that you’d started your Rut,” she said, studying him.
“I had, shortly after you left,” he murmured. “But I do not feel it now, like my body knows the energy is needed elsewhere.”
Eve nodded. Whispering, she teased softly, “Good. We wouldn’t want you to reopen some of your wounds.”
He groaned, but his gaze was calm as he said, “You have not seen me in a Rut yet, leeldra.”
“I will though,” she responded and Khiva trilled low in his throat at her words. “And I’ll be there to satisfy you during it. During all of your Ruts.”
Khiva closed his eyes, his voice ragged as he rasped, “You like to torment me when I cannot act upon what I wish to do to you.”
She bit her lip to keep from smiling. With gentleness, she touched his bottom lip with her thumb. “We have all the time in the universe for that.”
“Once I am recovered, leeldra,” he began, “once I can mate you properly and thoroughly, you might regret those words. Because I will be ravenous.”
She flushed but chuckled. “I would never regret something like that.”
He growled, “Evelyn.”
It still made her belly flutter whenever he said her name. Eva-leen.
They watched one another and listened to the gentle crackling of the fire in the hearth.
“We will leave in three days?” he eventually asked, the question soft.
“Two nights from now,” she corrected.
“What about my visa? Madame Allegria has my documents. She will not give them up.”
Yes, Eve had figured that. “I informed Gorkan this morning about our situation. I didn’t tell him specifics, but he knows enough.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“Yes,” Eve said, nodding. “He was my father’s oldest friend. I trust him.”
“Then I will too,” Khiva said, though she knew it wasn’t an easy thing for him to say.
“I was originally going to meet him at Port Lazo, but he will come here, to Everton. He has a trader vessel, much like my father’s, and because of it, he employs many beings, from all Quadrants. He has forged visas. He says that the Port Control does not look very closely at trader vessels because they simply do not have enough time to search every single one and verify all beings on board. No one seems to care anyways, as long as the shipments come through.”
Khiva nodded. It was risky, but Eve could believe that Port Control wouldn’t be able to regulate all trader vessels. It was passenger vessels that they turned their attention to.
Then he said, “Before we go, there is something I need to do first.”
Eve took in a deep breath, already knowing what it was.
She nodded. “Let me go with you.”
“Veki. It is safer if you remain here. I can ask Valerie to sneak me inside without Madame Allegria knowing. She might even be off colony. She tended to leave after our punishments.”
“Khiva,” she said, determination coloring her tone. “I’m going with you.”
“Leeldra…”
“You know I’ll be stubborn about this,” she warned.
He inhaled a deep breath. “Pax. Alright. I can imagine you following me if I do not let you come.”
She smiled, pleased with her victory, and he shook his head in amazement.
“Already I glimpse our future,” he murmured.
She snuggled more deeply into him, careful of his back. And after she gave him the sweetest kiss, she whispered, “It’s better if you get used to it sooner rather than later.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“It looks different in the daylight,” Evelyn noted softly, next to him, as they walked quickly through the alleyway leading to the front entrance of the brothel. But before they reached the courtyard, where he knew Madame Allegria had video feeds installed, he turned them down another alley, along the side of the building.
There was another door, which was always locked from the outside. But Khiva knocked a couple times, hoping that Valerie would be near enough to hear it.
A moment later, he heard the lock unlatch from the other side. Valerie appeared on the threshold and her lips parted when she saw them standing there.
“Is she here?” Khiva asked her.
“No,” Valerie said. “I don’t know if she’s even realized you’re gone.”
“How can that be?” Khiva asked, furrowing his brow and Valerie let them step inside.
“I told her your wounds were bad, that you needed time to recover. She didn’t even blink when I told her I had to cancel your client last night.”
“She is still on Everton?” he asked lowly, exchanging a glance with Evelyn.
“Yes. But she has a charity function on Genesis in two days. She will be gone soon.”
“A charity function,” Evelyn whispered in disbelief. “She is a monster. A monster in a mask.”
A grim silence spread over them before Khiva asked, “Are the others back in the Cluster?”
“Yes,” Valerie said.
Khiva turned to Evelyn, “Will you stay here, leeldra? I will not be long. I need to speak them. Alone.”
She nodded, glancing at Valerie. “Yes, of course.”
Khiva reached out to touch her hand and then he left the side room. He exited out to the first floor, where the client entrance was, before taking the elevator up to the top, back to where he’d spent a lot of his time for the past ten years.
Dravka was in the Cluster common room when he stepped inside, as was Tavak. Ravu’s door was closed.
“Vauk,” Dravka exclaimed when he saw him enter. “Khiva.”
Tavak turned, both males immediately standing.
“I do not have long,” he murmured to them in Keriv’i. He heard movement and saw Ravu emerge from his sleepin
g quarters at the sound of the commotion. Inclining his head, he greeted, “Ravu.”
“Where have you been?” he asked, approaching the group. “Valerie did not tell us where you’d gone, just that you were safe.”
“I have been with Evelyn,” he told them truthfully. “Healing.”
“Is that her name then?” Tavak asked. “The human female you have lost your mind for?”
“Yes,” Khiva responded, seeing no reason to deny it. “She is here now, with Valerie.”
“What is happening?” Dravka asked. “If Madame Allegria found her here…it would not end well for you.”
“It does not matter. She has no power over me,” Khiva said. “I am leaving Everton. Tomorrow night. I have come to ask if you will join me, if you will join us.”
“You have lost your mind,” Tavak remarked.
“We could all leave this place, start again,” he continued, looking at all of them in turn. “We would be free again.” They all looked at him, not saying a word. “Do you not want that? A second chance, to build a life you desire? Do we not deserve to?”
Silence spread over the room and Khiva felt frustration deep in his belly.
“This might be the only chance we have,” he tried again. “You cannot possibly want this life?”
“And where will we even go, Khiva?” Dravka asked.
“A neutral colony called Dumera,” Khiva said. “That is where we will go.”
“You forget,” Ravu said slowly, “that not all of us were like you before, Khiva. We were not the Prince of Firestones. We did not come from wealth. My brother and I were motherless, fatherless. We remember well the bitterness of hunger and how cold it was during the frost season.”
“You would rather remain here because you have food and shelter?” Khiva asked, his brow bones coming together.
“Do not judge us,” Tavak murmured. “You do not know what it was like, on Kerivu. But we remember. Why would we give that security up to go to a colony we do not know, where work is uncertain, and credits might be scarce?”
“Because you are whipped and abused on a regular basis by a sadistic female who sells your body every night,” Khiva growled. “Because you have forgotten what it was like to have freedom and will.”
Tavak’s lips pressed together. He looked at his brother, but neither’s expression changed and Khiva feared that he would never be able to convince them. Not unless they wanted it for themselves. He’d known that even after the destruction of Kerivu, they’d led hard lives, drifting from transient colony to transient colony until Madame Allegria came across them. They’d needed to whore themselves for credits, long before they’d met her.
“There is no choice for us,” Ravu said. “We must stay.”
Khiva blew out a sharp breath and turned his gaze to his other friend. “Dravka?”
He knew his answer even before he voiced it.
“You know I will not leave her behind,” Dravka said softly. “I would never leave her.”
“She can come with us,” Khiva argued.
“She will not leave,” Dravka said, knowing Valerie better than anyone. “Even still, Madame Allegria would not let her leave. She would let all of us go before she let Valerie go.”
Khiva closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging. Deep in his belly, he felt as if he was betraying them all, by leaving.
“Very well,” he said softly, knowing that no amount of persuasion would make them change their minds.
From the pocket of his overcoat, which Evelyn had washed and mended, he pulled the small, translucent card, the glowing numbers showing ‘2700.’ He’d found it there once he’d put it on that morning as they prepared to leave the townhome. He’d figured that Valerie had slipped it inside when she’d brought him to Evelyn’s that night.
He handed it to Dravka, though it was for all of them.
“Take this,” Khiva told them. “Hide it from her. If you ever change your mind, use it.”
All of their expressions were grim when they met his gaze again, but Dravka kept the credits, curling his fist around the card. He nodded.
“Evelyn has a contact in the United Worlds,” Khiva told them quietly. “We will meet him once we are settled on Dumera. We will tell him everything that she has done and see if an investigation can be opened.”
Tavak shook his head. “You think you can end this?”
“We will try. We must try,” Khiva said quietly.
He looked at all of them and raised his wrist to place it over his chest, a Keriv’i gesture, a respectful goodbye.
Dravka returned the gesture. “We will see one another again,” his friend said, inclining his head.
Khiva nodded because he felt the truth of it. “We will. Far from here.”
He nodded at Tavak and Ravu, which they returned, and then Khiva turned, striding from the room with a heavy chest. He took nothing with him.
He wanted nothing from this place.
He only wanted to be free.
“You can come with us, Valerie,” Eve said softly. “All of you could. You know that, right?”
The blonde shook her head. “It would raise suspicions at the Port Control,” she replied. “One Keriv’i might be able to leave. But certainly not four, with two human women.”
“We can try,” Eve insisted, though she knew that Valerie was right.
Valerie shook her head again. “No. She would find out. She would stop us all.”
“And what about Dravka?” Eve asked quietly. “What will happen when he’s been whipped as badly as Khiva was?”
The fear in Valerie’s eyes was so evident that Eve was almost sorry she’d brought it up. But she wanted the woman to see reason.
“She leaves him alone for the most part,” Valerie said softly. “Because I asked her to.”
Eve sighed and took Valerie’s hands. “I can’t make you come with us. And I know you’re afraid. But…if you ever decide that you need help, we will help you.”
“You’ll be so far away,” Valerie said.
Eve shook her head. “Remember these numbers. 45341.”
“45341,” Valerie whispered.
“It’s a patch number for a friend of mine. His name is Gorkan. He lives on the colony Dumera. 45341. Will you remember this?”
“I will.”
“Contact him if you ever need help and he will get the message to us. I can send a vessel or credits, whatever you need.”
And because it finally felt right, she reached into the pocket of her coat, her fingers curling around the gold metal. She pulled out a key.
Eve said, “This is a key to my townhome. Keep it.”
“I can’t,” Valerie said immediately, drawing her hand away. “She’ll find out.”
“You don’t have to live there,” Eve said. “I won’t put your name on any contracts. She won’t know. Just take the key, in case you ever need it. If you need credits, you can sell what you like.”
“I would never sell your possessions,” Valerie said quietly.
Eve smiled but it was sad. “They’re not my possessions anymore. I’ve let everything go. It’s all yours if you want it. All of yours,” she amended. She placed the key in Valerie’s palm and drew away.
Just then, Khiva came back through the door. He shook his head, telling her that none of the others would be joining them. Just as he’d suspected.
“Watch over them, Valerie,” he murmured to the blonde, putting a hand on her shoulder, “just as you have been doing.”
“I don’t do much, Khiva,” she said, her hand still clenched around the key. “I’ll try to hold her off as long as possible. But eventually she will realize you’re gone.”
“Then let her come,” Khiva said. “I do not fear her. We will soon be out of her reach forever.”
Khiva opened the door, looking at Valerie one last time and inclining his head. Eve hugged the blonde close, hoping that one day, she would would make the decision to leave behind that toxic environment, no matter the consequenc
es. She just wasn’t ready yet. She just needed to find that courage, deep inside.
But one day, Eve had no doubt that she would find it.
They left Madame Allegria’s then.
They didn’t look back once.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Later that night, Madame Allegria came.
Khiva even seemed to be expecting her, as if knowing that she would appear. They were in the sitting room in the front of the townhome, sitting together near the fireplace, though Khiva made sure not to lean against his back. They even saw her driverless car pull up to the curb.
Eve saw her bright red hair as she emerged, and felt fury just as red that she would dare to come there, to her home. Then, she thought of a way to get proof to show her father’s contact at the United Worlds.
Khiva stood from the armchair and asked, “What are you doing, leeldra?” when he saw her go over to the Nu tablet imbedded in the wall. There was also one next to the front door, but they weren’t set to record on default.
“She might say something we can show to Phe’vee’ka. We need anything that might warrant a deeper investigation.”
“She is too intelligent for that,” he told her plainly.
Eve sighed, turning to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s worth a try.”
A pounding came at the door and it didn’t stop.
It was Eve who went to answer it before Khiva could.
“Stay out of sight for now,” Eve whispered. “Let me see if I can get something out of her.”
Khiva obviously didn’t like the suggestion, but he inclined his head, which meant a lot to her. That he trusted her.
Eve unlocked the door, wanting blood.
Madame Allegria was a beautiful woman, a woman who looked twenty years younger than she really was, but whose age and jadedness showed in the glint of her color-altered eyes.
When she saw Eve, she looked her up and down, no doubt hoping to intimidate her. Her face was devoid of any wrinkles and looked so soft that Eve imagined it melting right off.