Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
The warrior scoffs. “I asked the price.”
“Fifty stein for a lunar cycle’s supply.”
Fifty stein.
Sweet Mother Earth, how will I survive? I won’t be able to pay that. Nor will I be able to simply order it from the Kraa after I run away. They’d hunt me down. And the sentence for runaway slaves in this galaxy is death.
I’ll just have to learn to live with the headaches. But even that thought brings back a stabbing pain behind my eyes and makes my stomach lurch.
“Where’s this one month supply you say she’ll be sold with?” the warrior asks.
Yes, where? I swear, it’s like he’s trying to help me escape. I watch the overseer’s gaze dart toward the table and under it, I spy the padded case they carry the vials of my medicine in.
One lunar cycle’s supply. It will have to do. Maybe I can just take micro-doses and get used to the migraines. So now I just have to crawl this wall to unhook my hands—that should be easy—then grab the medicine and run.
It’s not great, as far as plans go, but I’ll figure out the rest as I go. A distraction is what I really need. Something to give me a head start.
An amplified announcement comes from the stage. The auction’s about to begin.
“Step away from her,” the overseer snaps, spying the warrior’s hand still resting on my waist. He slides it down to the top of my buttocks before he slowly pulls it away, his fingers trailing my skin like he doesn’t want to stop touching me.
Goosebumps lift on my arms, and my skin tingles where his hand was. I register the loss of his nearness like a tiny panic. But that doesn’t make sense.
The only panic I should have is over getting myself out of this place. He steps back out of the cordoned off area and folds his arms across his massive chest, subtly keeping me in his visual field while angling his body to the stage.
The caretaker lifts my roped wrists off the hook and clamps a hand around my upper arm, pinching my flesh as he roughly pulls me toward the stage. Sweet Mother Earth, this is probably my only chance.
I half-expect the purple, horned warrior to follow and bid on me. Not that I’m disappointed he doesn’t. It’s not like I’m going to walk out of here with a new master. Not if I can help it.
We stand behind the dais, waiting in the queue to go on stage. I look over involuntarily, searching for the purple warrior, but he’s gone.
And that’s when I act. I spin and whirl, using all the fighting techniques they stupidly taught me, and in seconds I’m free. And that’s when the artificial lights cut out.
Khrys
After cutting the power to the lights, I grab the medical case from under the Kraa’s table. Zandians see better in the dark than most species, but I can’t bank on the fact that I’m the only one who can see.
Still, I can’t locate the female. She’s not with her Kraa master. That part doesn’t surprise me. She had the determined look of a warrior about to wage war. I was eighty percent sure she’d try to escape.
That’s why I cut the lights—to provide a distraction, if not the means.
I also made sure she received her full dosage of medicine. Those Kraa bastards had abused the poor human—that much was obvious. If I had time, I’d make them suffer for their treatment of her, but I don’t.
I need to find the superhuman and convince her she’s coming with me.
Which shouldn’t be too hard considering I have the medicine she requires.
There. I spy a dark form moving along the wall in a decidedly unhuman way.
Fascinating.
She’s making her way right toward her Kraa masters—returning for the medicine, no doubt.
I find my way to her and grasp one of her ankles, giving it a sharp tug, so she falls into my arms. She smells sweet, like sugarfruit and the Zandian starshine. She struggles against my hold, striking me in the face with the heel of her hand.
“I have the medicine,” I tell her.
She goes still.
I flip her across my shoulder, so she’s easier to carry. “You’re leaving with me.”
Chapter 3
Kailani
His words stun me into silence. I barely register the touch of his powerful hand on the bare skin of my legs, the way my body presses into his more powerful one. He moves deliberately through the darkness. Around us, shouts of confusion and command ring out.
“Who are you?” My whisper is hoarse. I twist my torso to look around. “Put me down.”
He adjusts his grip on my body and slaps my naked ass once with his free hand—hard. “No, my marvelous little warrior. You’re mine now.”
I’ve been damaged and abused beyond imagination by my Kraa owners, but the spank from this purple warrior is different. It sends tingles into my belly and causes my nipples to harden. So does his deep velvety voice. I somehow latch onto the marvelous little warrior part rather than his assertion of ownership—the part I should be worried about.