by Iaz Grant
Zebb wanted to press her for more information, but now that her adrenaline was wearing off, he could see just how malnourished and shaken she really was. He pushed away his curiosity for now. He nodded towards Tyler. “Follow him. He’ll take you down to the kitchen and the sleeping quarters. Get some food and some sleep, and I’ll meet you when you wake up to talk about our next plan of action.”
“Thank you,” she said. She swallowed. “Really. You saved my life. And I promise I’ll help you as much as I can.”
He nodded, grateful, as Tyler led her away.
Zebb sank into an empty seat. His sorrow weighed down upon his limbs.
“Captain,” Karliah said as she joined him. There were no other available chairs, so she squatted down so that her amber eyes were at level with his brown ones. “We scored a victory today. You killed their leader, and we’re one step closer to finding her.”
Zebb smiled thinly. “Yeah, I guess so. And now we have a new crew member to help us.”
His first mate’s lips twitched. “We’ll see just how useful she is,” she said grudgingly.
Against his will, Zebb’s grief lifted just a little, and his eyes twinkled as he smiled. Finally, he burst out laughing. It felt wonderful to laugh. “I can’t believe you, Karly. You’re jealous?”
Her ears lay flat against her head as she crossed her arms…but she smiled a little, too. “There’s no room for another non-human female on this ship. That’s my position.”
Zebb’s shoulders shook with laughter, and for the first time, he embraced the hope that cautiously began to bloom in his chest.
He’d find her. And when he did, he’d never fail her again.
----- End of Book 1 -----
Beyond
Book 2
Iaz Grant
Copyright © 2016 by Iaz Grant
All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Published by Grant Publishing
Chapter One
Helena felt like her whole world was disintegrating right before her eyes.
“Oh no, oh no.” That was the mantra she was singing. Was that hoarse, reedy voice really hers?
It did seem to be coming from her mouth with no conscious effort on her part.
She was vaguely aware of her body hitting the floor as her buyer – oh, the awful taste that left in her mouth – flung her into the vessel and leaped into the cockpit in a race off of Polentia. She tried to remember what Sordara had said his name was again…Chubbob, yes…that was what she had called him.
The flimsy excuse of a bra and skirt Xander had given her to change into provided no cover or warmth for her body. She felt the tremors begin from somewhere deep within her, and it felt like she was never going to get warm again.
Blood rushed to her head, and she felt her heartbeat thumping loudly. She could hear it, every single beat that reaffirmed that indeed, she was alive. This was her life, not some horror story that was made up to keep children up at night.
What was she going to do?
No revelation came to her; no blinding light had all the answers. There was nothing, and there was no one. She had only herself.
Why had she dared to hope?
Hope was such a fragile, intangible thing that could be snatched away at any moment. She wished with everything in her that she hadn’t seen the insignia on the ship that landed on Polentia, Juliet Seven, that she hadn’t known that it was Zebb’s craft. She had been filled with such hope and joy and now, what did she have?
Nothing, she had absolutely nothing.
She wished she had died on Polentia when the ground gave way and everything had gone crazy.
“Why am I even alive?” She thought forlornly and rhetorically to herself. Surely, being dead was a hundred times better than this…this…THIS, whatever it was. At least, then she would be numb, and there would be no possibility of things being done to her and worse still, of her having to do it to someone else. She didn’t even feel like herself anymore, it felt like her essence, what made her the person she was, had floated out of her body and she was left with the husk devoid of any substance.
By the gods, what was wrong with her? She finally thought and shook herself mentally. That line of thought was not going to do anything to help her.
Heat surged through her, hot and fast.
“I will not give up.” She thought vehemently to herself. She would find a way to escape. There was always a way, she just had to find it.
There HAD to be a way, because if there wasn’t… No, you are not going to think about that, she told herself. She just had to remain calm and think. She had a brain, didn’t she? Think, Helena. Think! She admonished herself.
She hoped Xander was dead. Surely, the gods were not so cruel as to allow such a monster of a man survives that level of destruction.
“I hope you rot in hell, you bastard,” she said bitterly.
The vessel swung sharply to the left, jolting her against the wall. Her shoulder connected afterward, making her suck in her breath. Maybe she would be lucky enough just to die on this journey. The pain in her shoulder brought her back to reality, away from her wandering thoughts.
Fearfully, she opened her eyes and took in her surrounding for the first time since she was flung in the ship.
To her surprise, the interior was huge. She had expected it to be large – most of the vessels in the Alliance were – just not this large. Everywhere she looked, it seemed like she could see herself. There was glass everywhere, and her reflection was constantly looking back at her with scared and broken eyes. This was her reality; it was what she had become.
She lowered her head; she couldn’t bear to look at herself. Admittedly, she seemed to like all the filthy things that had been done to her and that she had done. Worse still, she was sure it was plain as day that she had enjoyed some of them. What kind of a sick person am I? She thought, repulsed by herself.
Absently, she noticed that the floor of the vessel was varnished and shone a beautiful red color. Someone had taken care with the cleaning and polishing, and it looked like it must have cost a tidy sum. The whole interior of the vessel spoke of wealth; she thought, looking around, from the unblemished white roof which had bright blue lights strategically strung in places to the cushion of the sofa when she felt it. A person could sink right into it; it was so soft. There was an arrangement of drinks on the other side of the room from where she was standing. A closer look confirmed her unformed thoughts; there were some of the most expensive drinks there. He must indeed have a lot of money.
The ambiance of her surrounding appealed to her sense of aesthetics.
Until that is, Chubbob spoke from the cockpit, “We will be home soon,” he said, or more accurately hissed as she wasn’t sure the sound he made could be so generously likened to speaking.
She was sure he had used the term “home” to taunt her. His bulbous head swung towards her, his depthless ugly eyes seeming to burn her skin off, leaving her soul bare to his perusal. He looked at her greedily, a predator eyeing his prey and savoring the inevitable moment in preparation for the kill.
Thankfully, he dismissed her as he had for the duration of the journey and concentrated on steering the ship.
She felt like a midget in comparison to him. Not that she was a woman lacking in height, she was taller than most women of her age and even some men. But right then, she didn’t feel like it. It would require no effort expenditure for a guy like him to crush her.
Until then, she thought, bolstering herself, she would swallow back this acrid taste of fear in her throat.
He would not feed off her fear, no matter how much it cost her.
Chapter Two
Zebb came awake with a start. When had he dozed off? The last thing he remembered was going to his cabin just to lie down and be alone. Apparently, he had fallen asleep.
&
nbsp; The remnant of a dream forced its way into his consciousness. He remembered now; he had been dreaming. His skin felt clammy and damp to the touch. He pushed himself into a sitting position, his head in his hands.
It didn’t surprise him that he had been dreaming about her; after all, she was the singular thing on his mind. There she had been in his dream, his Helena, on her knees in front of that scum of the earth, Xander. The mind could be its cruelest enemy. He tried hard to shut off any other thought or image after then. He just couldn’t bear it. Had Xander made her do all of the things he said? Oh goodness, she had enjoyed it? He felt an acid rise in his stomach. Not Helena. It couldn’t be his beautiful, untouched Helena.
“I wish I could kill him ten times over.” He thought savagely, his mind on Xander. A straight- forward death was more mercy than that devil deserved.
In the wake of that white-hot anger was despair so deep he thought he would drown in it. The lightness of heart he had felt previously with Karliah seemed like eons ago. It is hard to keep his morale up in this situation. He had no idea where she was going or what was going to happen to her. How he wish he wouldn’t think about what was going to be done to her, it didn’t help him in finding her and just destroyed him in the meantime, but the images kept on swirling in his head, and it seemed like he was powerless to stop the tide. He wondered who she had been sold to.
Sold. The word left such a foul taste in its wake. The planets were no safe place for a beautiful woman away from home. Helena was beautiful, and so much more.
He hated this feeling of powerlessness. Jerking up, he slammed his knuckle into the nearest wall.
“Goddamn it.” He cursed aloud, that hurt.
“Well, if you are done breaking your fingers…” Behind him was Karliah. When had she entered? He dismissed the question almost immediately after it crossed his mind. It was difficult, perhaps impossible, to track Karliah’s movements. She hardly made any sound as she glided from place to place.
“Leave me be.” He wasn’t in the mood for caustic remarks of any sort.
“In that case, since you are so rude, Zebulon, I will see myself out.” As she turned to leave, he felt contrite.
He had angered her. He knew because she had called him by his full name. She was only ever used “Zebulon” when she was angry with him. Every other time, it was Zebb. He felt like a schoolboy who had committed an offense and needed to be punished. This was the second time he was short with her through no fault of hers, and he knew she would never have taken it from any other person. It just made him all the more apologetic.
“Wait! Karly, I’m sorry.”
She knew he was counting on the fact that the use of his nickname for her would soften her. She felt sorry for her friend. Already, his skin had an unhealthy tinge to it and his eyes were sunken, with bags underneath. He had been eating like a bird since they set out and she couldn’t recall when last his hair got a decent brushing. He was under a lot of strain, and she wished there was something more she could do to help.
None of the compassion she was feeling towards him came through on her face as she turned back to face him. She stood still, the only sign of movement from her from her tail which was swishing from side to side.
“Are you going to bite my head off if I suggest we sit down?” She said, addressing him.
In typical Karliah fashion, she didn’t wait for any affirmative gesture from him before plumping down on a sofa. Still standing, he could just hear her saying that the fact that he was on his feet affected her in some way.
He sat with his back against the wall and his eyes closed. She didn’t say a word, and he didn’t expect her to. She was his friend and with her, he didn’t have to scramble for words to fill the silence. He also didn’t have to pretend to be strong when he was feeling anything but.
***
“Captain, she is awake.”
Tyler was at the door, his wide-eyed look alternating between him and Karliah. Unflinchingly, she fixed her eyes on him until he was visibly squirming. Sometimes, Zebb thought Karliah took great pleasure in making the boy uncomfortable.
“Thank you, Tyler,” He spoke up, so the poor boy felt permitted to take his leave.
He sighed. Tyler had been referring to the red-skinned woman they had rescued off Polentia. He hoped she had information, any nugget that could help them locate Helena and save her quickly.
He glanced at Karliah. She had a bored, uninterested look on her face. Any mention of the Brakoni woman inspired that reaction.
He could tell already it was going to be interesting, both of them having to be in the same space, even for a limited period.
He stood up and proceeded to the general area of the ship where the woman would be, with Karliah beside him.
Chapter Three
“The momentum of the ship was slowing down.”
Terror gripped Helena in its stronghold as the realization dawned on her. Her situation had seemed just a bit less threatening as long as they were in transit. Oh, how she missed Sordana. Her toughness and the fire in her heart had been a source of strength while her care had been like a balm to Helena’s aching heart. Simply being with her had made a bad situation a bit bearable. She wondered where Sordana was and who she had been sold to. She prayed her friend had not been killed in Polentia.
She was tired, so tired of thinking. It was continually draining her while doing nothing to help with her situation except even making more terrified.
It seemed like no time had passed before she caught sight of a building akin to a palace through the window of the vessel. It rose, as if from nothing, in all its glory. The exterior of the building was painted white and stood out. It was just impossible to miss.
It appeared that apart from beautiful women, the beast had a penchant for other wonderful things of comfort. And well, he could afford them, she thought sourly.
The ship descended on a landing pad and the beast – she refused to refer to him as Chubbob or any other name in her head - pushed some buttons around on the dash. Everything was so silent, even breathing seemed to have a sound. At least, it was until he decided to pollute it by talking.
“Stand up” If there were voices from the pit of hell, she was positive they would sound just like that. He was looking at her again. God, she hated it when he looked at her just like that.
Meekly, she stood up and walked towards him. She didn’t want to incur his wrath. She had been brave with Xander and stood her ground, it hadn’t gotten her anywhere. As they stepped off the ship, she raised a hand to shade her eyes. The natural brightness of the day was starkly different from the artificial one in the vessel and hurt her eyes. She darted her eyes left and right, looking for possible means of escape.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said, accurately reading her thoughts. “This is a secluded stretch of land; the township is ways from here.”
But, of course, it was a secluded stretch. She merely sighed. Even crying required more energy than she had at the moment.
A young lady was waiting to receive them. Helena wondered how she had known to be there at the exact time they arrived, not that it mattered. Even from a distance, Helena could see she was human. She looked beautiful with well-toned skin and beautiful black hair that was lifted with every sigh of the wind. She was wearing an embellished black gown with sequins on the neckline and a slit on the side that was a compelling contrast against her skin and made her shine all the more for it. Helena thought she looked regal and wondered who she was.
She was probably another human plaything he collected; she thought sadly.
On closer look, she guessed her age to be around 20, 21. She had an oval-shaped face and eyes like that of a goddess, generously lashed and full. She could see clearly why Chubbob would want a girl like her.