Melinda felt a chill creep up her spine, making her shiver. “Okay, time out,” she said. She jumped into the tub and waded over to the steps. “I don’t care if I zone out while it’s happening – that was some pretty trippy stuff I saw during it – but I don’t want to be gang-banged by a bunch of alien dragons. Nobody ever said anything about that.”
“As I said, Athan did not explain all that would be required.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Melinda threw up her hands and shook her head. “Okay, you know what? That’s it. I’m done. Turn this ship around and take me back to Earth. You guys are going to have to find someone else to be your ‘Oracle of Life.’ I’m out.”
Roth rumbled in amusement. “You never had a choice in this matter; therefore, what you want does not matter. Athan misled you. He has no intention of letting you go of your own free will.” He treated her to a salacious smile. “Which is why I will be abducting you again.”
She frowned at both his choice of words and the ominous manner in which he said them. “What do you mean?”
“I want you for myself,” he answered simply. “What was it you said? ‘A hunter keeps his prize.’ I found you, so you belong to me.”
“The only person I belong to is myself,” Melinda back in defiance.
“I could offer you a choice, now,” Roth said, ignoring her last remark. “Belong to me and be mine alone, or belong to Athan and be used by the entire Volosian race.”
It would be easier trying to escape from one man than a whole race of them, Melinda thought. “Well, at least you’re giving me a chance to decide on my own,” she muttered, words slathered with sarcasm.
“As usual, you do not listen.” Gathering up his wet clothes again, he treated her to a smug smile. “I said I could. I did not say I would.”
Chapter Six
Melinda spent the rest of the journey to Volos in her chambers. The trip seemed to pass quickly, which prompted her to ask Athan about it during one of his visits. “So, how do you do it? Are you folding space? Journey by wormhole?”
“The ship travels across space in much the same manner that we use to transport from the ship to a planet’s surface,” Athan explained. He seemed distracted as he looked around the room, his nostrils flaring. “We utilize the power of our minds.”
“You mean you just think of being in a place and bang! You’re there?” Melinda chuckled. “And how many people have you wished into cornfields?”
He turned his gold eyes on her. “I do not understand the significance of that question.”
She rolled her eyes and waved him off. “Never mind.” She sat on the couch, idly toying with an ink pen and notebook she had the Super Special Magic Wish Panel – as she had come to refer to it – conjure for her one day when she got bored and wanted to take down some of her thoughts on her present situation. I’ll turn it into my memoirs and title it ‘Life as an Intergalactic Sex Slave,’ she mused.
She had also tried to figure out how many days had passed since her abduction, at least by her own body’s clock. According to her sleep cycle, she figured it had been three days. In that time, Roth had not returned.
Melinda kept waiting for him, determined not to let him scare her like he did the last two times when he appeared out of nowhere.
She thought about his promise to abduct her again. Maybe he’s waiting until we get to their planet, she thought. Then what’s he going to do? Steal a ship and run away with me? Would he be willing to take me back to Earth?
The more she thought about Roth, the less she thought about escaping. She could still feel him inside her, the touch of his hands on her body, and the way he looked deep into her eyes.
She remembered the vision she had, how real it had been. On more than one occasion she had to refrain from asking the Super Special Magic Wish Panel to provide her with a big vibrator shaped like Roth’s cock.
Why do I want him so much? He’s a jerk and he creeps me out. He doesn’t care about me – he just wants me for himself, to be his own personal Oracle.
“…prepared for arrival,” Athan said.
Melinda shook herself and blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
“We will be arriving at Volos within the hour. We have sent word that we have found our Oracle. You will be greeted with a celebration. I have chosen the proper garments which you are expected to wear in preparation for our arrival.”
“Oh. Okay.” Melinda unfolded her legs and stood up. Her pajama top rode up over her belly a little as she stretched.
“This is going to be kind of weird for me. I’m not used to being the center of attention.” She paused. “How soon before you want me to start, you know, blessing people?”
She did not want to let on about the things Roth had told her about her duties and even wondered if he might have been the one lying just to shake her up and make her want to run away. She wanted to give Athan the benefit of the doubt.
“In two days’ time,” Athan replied. “There will be an initiation ceremony, where you will be anointed by the High Holy Council. They will then place you in the Temple of the Sacred Pool, where you will begin to present your supplicants with their blessings.”
“Sounds like a lot of pomp and circumstance,” she said dryly. “When do I get to take a break?”
“The time to rest will come,” Athan assured her. He trailed a fingertip along her cheek and smiled.
Melinda found she had to suppress a shiver at his touch, forcing herself to return his smile. She held that expression as he turned away and started toward the door. “I will return to retrieve you shortly,” Athan called back over his shoulder.
“I’ll be ready!” she said. As soon as left, Melinda dropped the cheery attitude. “Fuck my life,” she muttered.
A flash of light caught her attention. She turned around to find a dress draped across one of the sofas. She fingered the diaphanous material, layers of shimmering gauze of blue and gold, and something that looked like a belly dancer’s girdle, covered in precious stones and tiny gold bangles that jingled when she picked it up.
“This thing weighs a ton!” Sighing, she put it down. She considered calling Athan back and telling him she had changed her mind and wanted to go home, but she had already agreed that once they reached Volos she would spend one cycle as Oracle until they could find a replacement.
Maybe Roth lied, she kept telling herself. Maybe it’s not going to be that bad.
Chapter Seven
When Athan returned, he stopped short and just stared at Melinda for a full minute.
“Breathtaking,” he whispered when he found his voice again.
Melinda gulped and averted her gaze self-consciously. The dress fit perfectly, attached at the shoulders with gold clips and gathered at the waist with the girdle. Full-length sleeves, open along the arms, ended at the wrists with delicately-tooled gold cuffs.
The material covered her front and back but left her legs exposed on the sides. It clung to her as she moved, showing off all her curves.
Her shoes consisted of simple sandals with thin golden cords that laced up her calves. She had piled her hair up in a bun and secured it with a pair of golden sticks provided by the Wish Panel.
“I look like I belong on a Grecian urn,” she said.
“You are beautiful,” Athan told her with a sincerity Melinda wanted to believe, but that seed of doubt Roth had planted left her wondering.
As she followed him from her rooms – her first time leaving them since arriving on the ship – Melinda decided to try another test of Athan’s honesty.
“I’m really nervous about this,” she said. “What if I’m too nervous to perform the blessings?”
“You need not worry,” Athan said, walking beside her.
“But what if I can’t enter the trance state?” she pressed. “Isn’t that kind of imperative to the ritual?”
“The High Holy Council will guide you,” he said. “They have methods.”
“Like what, exactly?”
&nbs
p; “I cannot say.”
Cannot? Melinda wondered. Or will not? She glanced around. And where the fuck is Roth?
She remembered the married man she had met online, how he had lied to her to get what he wanted. Had Roth played her the same way?
Got your ‘blessing’ and ran. Seems like every guy I ever meet is the same way – human or alien.
The ship had docked on Volos. When the doors opened, a cheer went up from the large crowd gathered at the platform. Melinda frowned.
“I thought you said there were only two thousand Volosians left,” she said. “This looks more like two hundred thousand.”
She looked around, remembering what Roth had said about the women dying from a plague, something Athan had neglected to tell her.
“And why are they all men?” This is it, she thought. This is his chance to come clean.
“You will receive your answers soon,” Athan said, shutting her down right away. “Now, no more questions. It is time to meet the High Holy Council.”
He escorted her down the ramp to the waiting throng. She heard them chanting one word, over and over.
“Oracle! Oracle!”
Four men dressed in green robes and carrying staves approached, their faces tattooed with strange symbols. Athan bowed low.
“High Holy Council of Volos,” he said, “I bring you the new Oracle of Life. Long may we receive the Blessings of Eternity.”
“Eternal Life,” the eldest of the four said. White streaks threaded through his red hair. “We shall now escort the Oracle to the Temple of the Sacred Pool.” He held out his hand to Melinda, palm up.
Hesitant, she accepted it, feeling his warm fingers close around hers. He tapped the stone beneath their feet with his staff and in a blink they disappeared from the station.
They reappeared a moment later on some pinkish stone steps at the base of a huge, sheer cliff face. A great doorway had been chiseled into the stone. Melinda frowned. It looks like Petra, she thought, recalling images of the ancient city in Jordan she had seen in movies and books over the years. She looked around but did not see Athan. She began to grow anxious again.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” she said.
“All will be well,” the red-haired Council member told her. “Come with us.”
Reluctantly, Melinda followed, lifting her skirts so she wouldn’t trip on them.
They went inside and followed a passage that opened up onto a large grotto filled with beautiful mosaic tiles, twisting columns of marble that reached high into the shadows above, and flowers that gave off a heady, almost hypnotic aroma.
A dais stood at the center of the chamber, three steps up, each step adorned with images of dragons. At the top, Melinda saw a round pool that reminded her of the tub in her room back on the ship.
Maybe that was intentional, she thought. She noted the steps descending down into the water. On the opposite side, she saw something that made her frown: a chair carved of white stone – perhaps alabaster – the back of which reclined while two large arms rose up on either side from the seat.
No, Melinda thought, remembering her last trip to the gynecologist. Not arms. Stirrups. Suddenly, she realized Roth had been telling the truth.
She would be placed in that cradle, her legs propped up and open. They’re going to drug me and have sex with me.
“Oh, hell to the no!” she said, and turned to run back the way she came – only to be blocked by Athan. She stared up at him.
“You tricked me,” she said, glaring at him in accusation. “You didn’t say they were going to fuck me. You probably have no intention of ever letting me leave, either.”
One side of Athan’s mouth twitched in a smile. “Such crude language in such a sacred place,” he murmured. “At least you will be silent through the blessings.”
“Because you plan to put me in a trance and keep me there?” she challenged. She tore off the heavy girdle and threw it to the tiled floor at his feet.
“I’m not doing it. I’ll die before I let you touch me. Your whole race will be right behind me, too, unless you can find someone else to take my place – and I hope to hell you don’t. I hope not one more woman has to be forced to cater to your whims.
‘Preservation of your race…’” She snorted in derision. “You just want to live forever, revered as gods, and you don’t care how many innocent people you use to achieve that goal!”
“Calm her, Athan!” one of the Holy Councilmen snapped. “Her anger disrupts the transference properties of the Sacred Ceremony!”
“Take her out of here,” another said, waving his arms to drive them away. “Go! Before she taints this place with her negativity!”
Athan shook his head. “Pathetic,” he muttered.
“Yeah? Well, fuck you, too!” Melinda said, raising her hand with middle finger extended.
Athan reached out and snatched her by that wrist, and in another flash they vanished from the temple. When they rematerialized, they were in a small room with no windows and no furnishings, just a dark box with light that emanated from the floor.
Melinda had no time to get her bearings when a shaft of red light enveloped her. She found herself immobilized, unable to move her arms or legs. She stood there, hands at her sides, and looked at Athan. “What are you going to do to me?”
“What we have always intended to do,” Athan replied. He walked around her slowly, looking her over as he flexed his fingers. “You will be prepared. You will be ensconced at the Temple. And you will provide what we need.”
He stopped in front of her and shook his head. “What a foolish child. Your life is but a fraction of a heartbeat, a tiny speck of dust compared to the vastness of our existence. We have always been here, and we shall always remain. We have never bargained for our time. It is there for us. It is ours. We are entitled to it.”
“You’re going to run out of it one day,” Melinda ground out through her teeth. She felt a pressure on her jaws, forcing her to keep her head up in one position. It did not stop her from finding her voice or using it.
“Resources dry up. You lost your women and you can’t reproduce. That’s why you want to live forever – because you have no one to continue your legacy.” She chuckled. “And you called me ‘pathetic.’”
She saw his gold eyes flash, saw his cheek twitch from the willpower it took to keep his rage in check. “The blessings begin at dawn,” he announced. “The same moment that your autonomy ends.”
Melinda squinted as he disappeared with a quick, bright flash. As purple and green spots danced before her eyes, she let out a sigh.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. More than that, she wanted to go back to Earth, to her stupid, useless life where no one gave a shit about her enough to notice her.
“I don’t want to be ‘special,’” she whispered. “I want to go home.”
Chapter Eight
Melinda strained against the force field surrounding her, trying once more to break free, only to give up with a moan of frustration. Closing her eyes, she sobbed at the futility of her situation.
This can’t be happening, she thought. All my life, I’ve never been able to catch a break. What did I do to deserve this? I’ve never hurt anyone. I go out of my way to help other people. I swear, it’s like someone out there has it in for me…
Another pop of bright light made her open her eyes again. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Roth standing before her.
“Oh my God,” she groaned, awash with relief at the sight of him. “Where have you been? You’ve got to get me out of here! You were right, everything you said about Athan is true, he’s just going to use me – please, you’ve got to help me!”
“I will,” Roth said, “but only when the time is right.”
Melinda stared at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” she mumbled, still unable to speak clearly. “Oh my God, you’re just as sick as he is! You’re messing with my head, lying t
o me – you’re probably gonna be one of the first in line at the temple when the ceremonies begin, ready to nail me again!”
Roth rushed up on her, coming within inches of the stasis field. “I am nothing like Athan!” he snarled, pointing to himself. “You know nothing of me, nothing of what I have experienced, the things I have lost!”
She scoffed. “Do you see me right now?” she asked. “Do you see where I am? I just lost the only thing I have left: my freedom. What did you lose?”
Roth stared at her for another long moment. He raised his hand again, this time making a sweeping gesture. The red light around Melinda disappeared, and she found she could move again.
“Thank you,” she said.
He paced away from her, dragging his fingers back through his white-blond hair.
“Long ago,” he said, his voice lower now, “I had been the leader of a four-member party of Volosian explorers, a scientist trained in botany and agriculture. We were sent to study your Earth. We found a race of people who were dying, starving to death. I taught them how to grow crops and how to irrigate. As a show of their gratitude, they gave me a name.”
“Quetzalcoatl,” Melinda provided. When he turned to look at her again, she nodded. “Athan told me about it. He didn’t say you were the one who did all that.”
“Did he tell you of Meztli?” Roth asked. She shook her head and he snorted. “Of course not. Meztli was a Human woman. Her name meant ‘moon.’ They called me ‘Morning Star.’ As far as I was concerned, she was all that existed in the heavens and on Earth.”
Damn, that’s pretty romantic, Melinda thought, surprised. And here I thought he was just some manipulative bastard…
“What happened to her?”
“I married her,” Roth replied, a smile curving his lips. “She had been married once before, but her husband had died, leaving her to raise their two young children on her own. I took her as my personal Oracle, caring for her and her family. She had been unlike any other woman I had met in that time – intelligent, clever, witty. Shortly after she became my wife, she conceived a child. Never before had a mating between a Human and a Volosian resulted in conception. We believed it to be a rare mutation of the gene which made her an Oracle, bringing our races one step closer together.”
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