They walked out, and Vi caught her breath in surprise and felt a sinking feeling in her gut. A car was parked by the hotel that obviously did not belong there.

For one thing, it hovered over the ground by a foot. Sure, she’d gotten to a whole new planet on a shuttle craft, but it definitely didn’t fit at this hotel. Maybe at The Carvada down the street but not here.

To think, a few roads over, people were lying or dying in garbage.

The vehicle was shiny white with a bubble top and dark windows so she couldn’t see inside. As they walked toward it, a hatch opened on the side, revealing an open interior with plush seats lining the edge.

Vi’s heart sank a little further as she realized her instinct was correct. The hover car was here for her, and whoever had sent the red-skinned goons to grab her, was probably pretty powerful.

Haze, I’m a gonna kill you, she thought. She would have added her fists shaking at the sky, for effect, except her hands were still tied behind her back.

One of the goons pushed her roughly into the vehicle, and she sprawled across the floor. She pulled herself upright, which was completely awkward without hands.

At this point, she almost started to cry; hot tears burned at the corner of her eyes. Greth grinned at her helplessness.

That did it. Keep smiling moron, she thought.

…Haze, you better kill these guys, she thought as she leaned back against the seat behind her, to help pull herself up.

Maybe she should start making a list, like that Arya girl did in that old TV show. What had that been called? Throne Game… something like that. Anyway, she could give the list to Haze later. …Make sure he didn’t miss anyone.

Greth sat on the other side of the car, which worked for her. At least he couldn’t lick her again. Her eyes slid away. No point antagonizing the guy.

The car said something, and her translator spit out: [Course laid in for Castle. Arrival in twenty-five minutes.]

Vi’s heart sped up.

All she could think — as they drove further away from town — is how would Haze ever find her?

* * *

They soon left the town roads and turned onto a one-lane road. Eventually, they came to a gate which swung open as they approached.

The tree line had obscured where they were headed, but the long winding driveway opened to an estate, even more ornate than the Carvada hotel. Guards lined the driveway. Glancing up, she saw several armed men on a few balconies. A chill of nerves ran through her, and she forgot to breathe.

So many guns.

The hover car came to a stop under a grand portico, and the door pulled out and up.

“Welcome to The Castle,” Layce said with a smirk.

He yanked her out of the car, but at least this time he didn’t toss her, to let her sprawl across the driveway.

Vi didn’t even spare a second to think about running, but instead, she tried to clear her head… to not panic. What might her dad have said to do in this type of situation? All she could think was: observe everything, memorize whatever details she could. At least it would keep her mind occupied.

She tried not to focus on the weapons- too distracting. Instead she glanced up and around, counting maybe seven soldiers stationed on this side of the house alone.

The guards seemed well-trained. A few had their guns trained on her and the car, but the others were still tracking their own assigned areas. Even if Haze tracked her down and created a distraction, they didn’t seem like the type to all abandon their posts and converge on the same misleading spot.

However, Haze was going to get her out… Haze was going to get her out… but it was going to have to be big.

…Possibly too big for even someone like Haze to pull off.

As if to make the hopelessness of her situation more explicit, Layce cut the rope off her hands. Obviously, there was nowhere for her to run.

Her arms prickled, uncomfortably. The goons could have done it in the car, but no, better to make her arms feel like they were about to fall off.

Layce yanked her by one arm, through the doors, and into a large, high-ceilinged lobby. Greth took up a position slightly behind them.

The lobby was beautifully done in some sort of crystal and silver that sparkled and shone.

A scantily-clad man walked up. He was blue-skinned, like the Merchant Yarda. He held his four arms out to them in welcome. He was mostly undressed, except for fine white sleeves and cufflinks on his outer arms and a loin cloth at his waist. His inner arms were naked, displaying his defined muscle. His chest was naked as well, in similarly chiseled condition.

It was the strangest, barely-there outfit Vi had ever seen. Sleeves but no shirt? And a collar around his neck. So he was a slave but a male one.

Apparently - or maybe, of course - the slave trade wasn’t just women.

“Lady Vardon will be so happy to hear that you’ve arrived and brought her a much sought-after gift as well. If you’ll follow me?” He led Vi and the two delivery goons to an ornate office down the hall.

Sitting at a desk in the center of the room was an elegant woman in a white suit with medium-length, blonde hair.

Vi’s mouth dropped open. The woman looked human, completely human.

Had humans somehow made it to this planet, climbed to the top of the food chain, and started a slave business in the middle of nowhere?

Vi’s mind raced. It didn’t seem possible to see a human, here, like this.

But also a woman selling women? Not cool, no matter what species. Adding you to my list, lady, she thought, indignantly.

The woman raised her hand and signaled them to come closer.

The blue slave led them inside and moved to stand by the side of her desk.

The woman glanced at Vi with a faraway expression, still not saying anything, as though her mind was on something else. The goons next to Vi fidgeted.

“Idiot,” she yelled. “I said no shooting at the target.”

That’s when Vi realized the woman wasn’t addressing them, but instead talking on some sort of hidden comm device.

The blue guy neatened her desk, straightening items, as though the blonde woman wasn’t raging out nearby. He took an empty glass off her desk and refilled it from a sideboard.

The woman continued her tirade, spinning her chair around to face the window behind her. “I wanted him alive until I had his ship and cargo. You want to explain yourself?”

The woman shook her head as she listened. Vi could catch the top of her hand gesticulating as she spoke.

“What do I care if he’d taken that idiot. You think anything Nethar could say would present me with even the slightest problems? …You’re on very thin ice with me.”

She spun around again. The woman held up a finger to the goons to indicate it would only be another moment.

There was something strange about her hand, like it was oddly shaped or deformed.

The woman sighed as she listened. “Your blubber tires me. You’d better find him, or I will send someone who can take care of you and find him. You understand exactly what I mean by that, yes?” She paused. “Good.”

She reached up and clicked something at her ear and swiped it off, tossing it on the desk.

As her hair shifted, Vi saw a second ear, slightly behind and above the first. It was pointed at the top. Then the woman’s blond hair fell back into place.

So, not human, and there would be no common ground between them. Not that Vi expected this type of person would still maintain compassion for other beings anyway.

The woman steepled her fingers together and ran a long painted nail along her lip, which is how Vi figured out what was wrong. Her hands were larger than normal with an extra long finger on each hand.

“Good, good. You’ve arrived. I’m glad that you, at least, know how to follow orders,” she told the goons. She stood up and came around her desk, to lean against it. “Please, bring it here.”

Vi was pulled forward by the two goons.

The woman reached over and twisted Vi’s head side to side, inspecting her wounds. “I had hoped we could keep it undamaged, but this isn’t too bad. Good job.”

Her comm device beeped, and the woman brought it back up to cover her double ear.

“Yes?” she asked. A smile broke across her face. “Why, Mr. Feylor, it is good to speak with you. Yes, I think we can take delivery in two months, assuming the inspections are in order.” Her wide smile showed her perfect white teeth. “Yes, I look forward to meeting you then, too. One moment, Mr. Feylor.”

She clicked her ear again.

“Twenty-Five,” she said. The blue guy came over to stand near Vi. “You will bring this to settle in with the others. Pair it with… Let’s see…” She leaned back to inspect her desk. “Seventeen is available. For now, this one will be registered as Eighty-Three. Do not brand it yet, not until we’ve removed its owner, but let me know any marks of ownership that are found. Run them by Krayath, and see if he can do a records check. I want to know exactly what I’m taking on, before I take this beyond a simple misunderstanding.”

The blue guy, Twenty-Five, nodded and pulled Vi out of the room, not un-gently but firmly. She glanced back, but the woman had resumed talking. The two goons stood uselessly, still waiting at her desk for their reward.

It looked like the woman was going to be awhile.

“Well,” the woman said into her ear. “I think we have the planet for that, assuming—”

Vi didn’t hear the last of the sentence as Twenty-Five pulled her away and down a back hallway to a set of stairs.

“Twenty-Five?” she whispered, now that they were out of earshot.

“Hush now, you know better. …Or do you? Seems I’ll need to get you accustomed to the rules here.”

Vi nodded her head and followed him silently.