Chapter Forty-Six
I’m lying on silky black sheets in a dim room. My body is exposed, save for a gold wrap covering my breasts and a short matching skirt. My skin has been painted in glittering gold curly-cue designs, exotic and intricate. I bolt upright, and then groan at the sharp pain shooting into my head. Rubbing the back of my head that hit the concrete, I survey my surroundings. Black furniture graces the room. A table, a couch, and a giant mural of the planets take up the wall. Black curtains blow lazily in the breeze, and I leap to my feet, race outside to the balcony, confused at seeing the city from this angle. Whichever angle it is.
I’m high up—so high up, I can see the entire city at a glance. The hill yonder, I’ve never seen it. The Rydell estate is on a hill. I must have been transported clear across the city to…to…I turn around and look at the building holding me captive. Up, up, up the walls go, nearly piercing the blue sky. I would recognize those smooth crystal spirals anywhere.
I’ve been transported to the palace.
The drop down from the balcony is a good ten stories. There’s no escape. I’ll never go home. I’ll never see Mom or Daniel again. The grief, it crushes my soul. And the Renegade—how will they get the key to the Starfinder? The navigation key is at the Port—the Renegade could easily grab it after shooting out the office windows. But the ignition key is in Kalen’s room. They can’t start up the ship without it. The spies were counting on me to get it to them on the night of the escape, and I’ve completely failed.
“Finally,” a low, mocking voice says from behind. Every drop of blood freezes in my bloodstream, and I slowly turn to face Edan. He stands in the doorway to the balcony, his arms crossed, his sensuous lips tipped up in an arrogant grin. “I have you all to myself.” His voice is low, almost…musical.
I can’t breathe. Can’t move. I remember when he’d grabbed me in the garden, when he’d offered to purchase me from Kalen.
“Looks like you got your wish,” is all I can manage to say.
He smirks and steps toward me. His gaze wanders down my body, taking in every curve the way a beggar would look at a cake. My stomach hollows. I cross my arms, hiding my torso.
“I can see why Kalen was so taken with you.”
“I’m ugly.” Maybe pointing that out will stop him from coming closer. But it doesn’t.
“Ugly?” he says, his voice laced with amusement. “I wouldn’t call you ugly. Your features are unique for sure. Freckles.” He stops in front of me, traces his index finger along the top of my cheeks where my freckles are. “Hair the color of the sunset.” He runs his fingers down my hair, and I close my eyes, my stomach twisting inside out.
“Get it over with,” I say through gritted teeth. “Do with me what you like, and be done with me.”
“So willing. Is this the sort of eagerness you offered Kalen? He enjoys it more when the girls offer themselves up to him. I, personally, prefer the ones that are hard to get.” He lowers his hand from my hair and wraps his fingers around the back of my neck, his thumb stroking where my pulse beats erratically. “That’s why I wanted you. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered a slave so headstrong, so determined to get away from me.” He laughs through his nose. “Kalen must have already broken you, though. You’re not even trying to run away.”
I’m screaming inside. My legs are begging to run, but I command them to stay put, to make this the least interesting game Edan has ever played. I’ll make him want to give me back to Kalen. I’ll make this the most boring night of his life.
“I didn’t know you lived in the palace.” I try to make small talk. I try to sound brave. “I thought you were some piss-poor pilot who lost his job and was forced to live in the slums.” All lies, and not a bad enough jab to get a good reaction of him, because he just grins. “Did Prince Fyroh invite you over for a slumber party?”
His eyes widen now, clearly taken aback. “I’m his cousin.”
Oh. I had no idea Edan was related to royalty.
“I’m not poor, though I do pilot spacecrafts,” he says, running his knuckles down my arm. “My father is the poor one, only because he’s a drunk and has a bad habit of gambling his money away. My mother is the one who’s related to the king, in case you were curious. But she and my father separated years ago, leaving me to be solely responsible for him.”
I wonder why he bothers telling me something so personal.
“Have you ever considered working for Kalen?” I ask. “I hear he has a new spacecraft ready to fly next month.” I offer a timid smile. “He might be looking for a pilot.”
“I know what you’re doing.”
Son of the two moons.
“Small talk,” he purrs. “That’s cute, coming from a Human. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an alien attempt at small talk. Very impressive. Must come from your native upbringing.”
I shrug. “I hope you like a chatterbox. Getting me to shut up in my community was the trick.” Lies, lies, lies.
“You’re not a frightened rabbit at all, are you?” He finally removes his knuckles from my arm and strokes his jaw, his index finger skating along his lower lip. “You’re more like a…teeranie. Small, but vicious. I’m not sure what to make of you, Stardust.”
My nose scrunches up. “Stardust?”
“That’s the name I’m giving you. No, I don’t give a damn about your real name, so don’t bother.” He sighs in obvious disappointment. “I believe I’ve paid too much for you. You’re no fun at all.”
Perfect. Yes. Perfect.
“But I think I can make this interesting.”
Curse my rotten luck.
“Has Kalen ever introduced you to the Angry Teeranie?”
“Why would he?”
He chuckles. “You think Kalen is some pure xeno-lover? Wait till you see the club he frequents. You’ll catch a glimpse of his black heart. He’s meeting me there after work. Doesn’t even know I purchased you yet. Isn’t that great? He’ll see you like this, mine, and he won’t be able to do anything about it without breaking the law.”
“You would do that to your own friend?”
His smile stiffens. “I’ll do it for him. As a favor. He needs to realize you’re nothing but a Human, a slave, not worth losing himself over. He needs to snap to the reality where he’s an elite Tavdorian and you’re not worth the oxygen you breathe.”
“And yet you paid a lot of money for me.”
He narrows his eyes, then pulls a gold collar out of his pocket and snaps it around my neck. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of these—a shockband.
Edan grins at me. “I carry the remote in my pocket. You disobey or try to run, and I’ll shock you. It’s set at the highest level, so the pain, mind you, will be unbearable.”
I truly did have it easy at the Rydell estate.
“Where are your twins?” I snap through gritted teeth.
“They’re taking the day off. Now come along. I detest a slave who drags her feet.”
I follow him out of the palace and crawl into the back of his hoverpod while he takes the driver’s seat.
“This is going to be fun,” he says as we ascend into the air. The sky is black, the city lights glittering like too many stars. And fear…it curls around my neck, nearly choking me. “The most fun I’ve had in months. Foreplay at the club.” He looks at me in the rearview mirror and winks, and I have to look away. I have to in order to keep my sanity and not completely lose myself.
“You must really hate your friend to want to humiliate him like this.”
“Helping. Not humiliating.”
“Either way, you’re no better than a tick on a dog.”
He smirks and shakes his head. We arrive at the heart of the city. Tall skyscrapers surround us, glittering white and blue. It has to be late, but people crowd on the street. I’ve never been to this part of the city. Only in Kalen’s neighborhood, and then the slums of Zumbarrii. But never in the elite part. Store windows illuminate from within, beautiful gowns and technology on display. Acrobats perform on the sidewalk. Music drifts in from across the street. Edan pulls up in front of a lighted building with loud music blaring out. I recognize the song. It’s one Kalen often has played at his parties.
Edan turns off the engine, but instead of getting out, he crawls into the back seat with me. I withdraw into the corner. A slow grin eases on his face as I squeeze against the door as hard as I can, wishing desperately that I could disappear.
“There she is,” he says. “The timid mouse.”
I cross my arms, desperate to conceal myself, to rip off these gold shards of cloth and pull on a giant cloak.
“Now,” he says, placing his hand on my thigh. It takes every last drop of self control not to open my door and bolt. “Remember your collar,” he says. “Remember that one sign of disobedience will result in a brutal shocking.” He scoots closer, his hip brushing against mine, and his hand moves up to my hip, my bare waist. I close my eyes, unable to breathe. “I want you to appear to be a willing escort,” he whispers against my neck. His breath sends chills across my skin. “I want you to drink what I tell you to drink, and dance when I tell you to dance.”
“I-I don’t know how to dance.”
He draws back just enough to search my eyes. “Oh, you know how to dance. I saw you at Kalen’s party. Do you think I’m blind?”
My mouth is cotton.
“When Kalen appears, I don’t even want you to look at him. Understand?”
I release a shuddering breath. This is going to be impossible.
“Very good.” He brushes his fingers against the nape of my neck, and I squirm. “Now, let’s see how good you are at following orders.”
He opens my door for me, and I slide out of the hoverpod. He climbs out and hands the key to a valet, then straightens his shirt. Staying close by his side, I walk up to the entrance of the club. Edan shows the door guard his card, then steps in, and I follow.
Music bombards my ears. Way louder than Kalen’s parties. Silver smoke fills the air, lights flash a thousand different colors, and people press up against each other. I struggle to keep up with Edan. He has no problem walking through the crowd, tall and strong as he is, but with my short stature, the people don’t even move for me. When I look up, Edan is gone.
My pulse skyrockets. I keep pushing through the people in the direction I saw him go, but never seem to catch up. I brace myself, waiting for the shock that’s sure to come. My hands are clammy, my head pounding from the music, and I walk faster, search more frantically. I might die for this. I might just get shocked to death right now—a strong arm wraps around my waist and throws me over a shoulder.
“Trying to get lost, are we?” Edan asks, effortlessly carrying me through the thick muck of people. “Nice try. But attempt to get lost again and I won’t hesitate to use the shock collar.” He weaves through the crowd. People part for him, no problem. Girls rush up and flirt with him, not offering me so much as a glance. He finally sets me down, and I try to catch my balance as I survey my surroundings.
We’ve arrived at a cluster of couches. The music isn’t as loud here, and instead of flashing lights, this side of the room is cloaked in a calming blue glow. Tavdorian nobles lounge on the couches, some whom I recognize from Kalen’s parties, others whom I’ve never seen before. Most of them glazed in a drunken stupor. One face that I recognize is Ket’s. She looks up, and I quickly turn away before she recognizes me. What if she tells Edan to whip me for what happened at the party? Would he do it?
An Onmarian dancer undulates in the center of the circle, wearing nothing but body paint. Her elegant, lithe body moves to the pattern of the music, enrapturing half the people in the circle.
“I don’t see why you need me to dance,” I say bitterly to Edan. “When you have someone like her to lose yourself in.”
He smirks. “I have a special place in my heart for Humans.”
I grimace. I don’t think he even has a heart. He sinks down into one of the couches beside Ket, and then pulls me onto his lap. His hand grips me around my waist, pulling me close, and I try to appear like I want to be there, like he ordered me to, but it’s so hard when I would almost rather die.
“Where’s Kalen?” Ket asks through gritted teeth. She hasn’t noticed me yet, and I wonder how often Edan brings girls to this bar that no one even pays me any attention.
“What’s wrong?” Edan asks her with an arrogant grin. “You hoping for an apology from him tonight?”
She rolls her eyes and looks at him. “He will apologize. He’ll realize how worthless that vartacian whore is and he’ll want me back. I’m starting my training to work as vizier and royal counselor with my father next month. When Kalen realizes that, he’ll be begging to get me back.”
Edan’s grip tightens around my waist, almost like he’s warning me to keep quiet. But then Ket’s eyes flit to mine, and they widen in shock.
“You’re the vartacian whore!” She looks at Edan. “What is she doing here?”
Edan shrugs. “Looks like you got your wish. Kalen got bored and I got the leftovers.”
This seems to immediately lighten her mood. Without further acknowledgement of me, her lips curve up in a smile and she quickly runs her fingers through her hair.
Edan takes a glass off a passing tray and hands it to me. “Drink this.”
I accept the glass but stare at the contents warily. I don’t want to lose myself. Not tonight.
“Trust me,” he murmurs in my ear. “It’ll make this so much more enjoyable.”
I don’t want to. I need to be fully aware with what’s going on.
“Drink it,” Edan orders. “Or I’ll shock you.”
I lift the glass to my lips and chug. Maybe it would be better to lose myself. If Kalen can’t get me back, and if Edan does what he promises later, then maybe I’ll be better off being unaware.
I chug every last drop. He hands me another, and I drink it, too. Within minutes, I feel lighter, laidback, alive.
Someone makes a crude joke, and Edan laughs out loud. Despite my horrible circumstances, I find myself laughing, too.
“Ah, the alcohol is finally taking effect,” Edan says. “Now. Dance for me.”
Without making the decision to do so, I’m on my feet, dancing between his legs. He leans back in his chair and watches me, my every movement, his lips pulled up in a twisted grin, his eyes taking in every curve. I close my eyes, pretend it’s Kalen I’m dancing for instead, and hope this night ends quickly.
“Lark?”
That voice. Lucid and smooth as honey. I stop dancing, catch my breath, and look over to find Kalen striding toward us.
“Kalen!” Ket sits up straighter. “I’m so glad you were able to come!”
Ignoring her, he keeps his eyes on mine, then looks at my body, a hatred filling his eyes as he spins toward Edan, who’s grinning broadly.
“What the raging hells are you doing with her?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Edan arches a well-groomed brow. “I purchased her. Zimri said you were done with her. I paid two thousand pecs, and now? She’s mine.” He looks at me. “Did I tell you to stop dancing?” I glance at him, at laughing eyes threatening to shock me, and I quickly continue dancing.
“He sold her without my consent.” Kalen’s voice is low, barely controlled.
“Well, she’s Edan’s now,” Ket cuts in. “But I’m still available.”
“Ket’s right,” Edan sings before taking a lazy drink from his glass. “Go find yourself a new whore, Kalen. Preferably one of your favored Onmarians.”
Kalen smacks the glass out of Edan’s hands. The glass shatters on the floor, wine splashing everywhere. I stop dancing. The others in the circle stop talking. Edan looks at Kalen darkly.
“That was my first drink,” he seethes.
“I’ll pay you back for her,” Kalen says.
“I want her.”
“I’ll pay five thousand pecs.”
A shocked breath escapes me.
Edan laughs in astonishment. “You told me yourself she’s not even that pretty, Kalen. What could you possibly want with her?”
“Is it a deal?”
Edan’s eyes dance with amusement. “By the gods, the rumors are true! You really have fallen for a Human, haven’t you?” Edan laughs hysterically like it’s the funniest thing he’s heard in his life. Ket crosses her arms, her eyes aflame with hatred when she looks at me.
“How ironic,” Edan says. “Neket’s most successful slave trading company’s heir has fallen in love with a common slave. Tell me, Kalen, how does your little pet feel about you bringing in more slaves for the company? Or about you taking her from her home?”
Kalen’s jaw clenches. “I’ll ask one more time. Five thousand pecs—is it a deal?”
Edan looks at me. Shrugs. “Nah. I have big plans for her.”
A delighted giggle escapes Ket. Edan grabs my wrist and yanks me back to his lap. Grabbing my chin, he kisses me hard, and it’s all I can do not to jerk away from him.
“Ten thousand,” Kalen shouts. The others in the group gasp.
Edan breaks off contact, and I resist the urge to wipe his saliva off my mouth.
“That’s more than what ten natives are worth.”
“Is it a deal?”
Edan rolls his eyes. “I don’t need money, Kalen.”
“Then name your terms.”
Edan’s smile fades. “I want a job at the Port. I want to be the main pilot for your new ship.”
Kalen blinks. “Your records are terrible.”
“So you would take a good pilot over a slave you’re obsessed over?” He looks at me, his lip puckering in mock pout. “I guess he doesn’t love you after all.”
“My father wouldn’t approve.”
Edan snakes his arm around my waist, his fingers trailing the design on my stomach. “I can see why you’re so taken with her.” His eyes roam down my body. “She has an ethereal beauty that’s rare in the slaves. A certain mysterious passion.”
“He wouldn’t even let me hire you, Edan.”
“And you’re not even going to try, are you? Tell me, what’s more important to you? Your father’s approval?” He shoves me off his lap, and I stumble into Kalen’s arms. “Or this?”
Kalen grips my arms, keeping me from stumbling to the ground. The room begins to sway. Damned alcohol. I look into Kalen’s violet eyes, and that—that seems to steady the world.
“You’ve got it,” Kalen says huskily, not taking his eyes off me. “The job is yours.”
“Ha!” Edan claps his hands. “Done.”
“I’ll send the paperwork tomorrow.”
Edan lifts a finger. “I want it now. Before you leave.” He winks. “Just so you’re not tempted to go back on your word.”
Kalen’s jaw works as he stares Edan down, but he lifts his wrist and begins typing on his chatband.
“Also,” Edan adds. “The pass to get into the Rydell Trading Port.” He looks at me and grins. “Can’t have you locking me out, now.”
Kalen’s cheeks flush with anger as he types. “Very few people have access to—”
“Do you even want her back? She’s still mine, and I can take her back.”
Kalen pins him with violet eyes. “I want the paperwork of her ownership transferred to me right now, then.”
“Fair enough.”
The people in the group murmur their surprise. Others shake their heads in disapproval. Ket stares at me like I murdered her father, and I have no doubt in my mind she’d murder me if she had the chance. Others from the party have gathered around to watch.
“Done,” Kalen says. “You have the job and access to the Port, and you can bet I won’t hear the end of it from my father.” His lips twist mirthlessly. “He’s not too fond of you or your father.”
Edan stands and walks toward me. I don’t step back, despite my instinct to shrink away. He reaches around my neck and unlocks my collar, taking it off my neck. In the brief moment his eyes meet mine, he winks and mouths the words, Good luck, before returning to his place on the couch.
Kalen wraps his arm around my shoulder and we start to leave.
“I won’t be available forever,” Ket says. Kalen pauses. “Are you really going to choose that piece of nebulous waste over me?”
Kalen narrows his eyes at her. The cool detachment I find in his gaze sends chills across my skin. If he ever looked at me like that… I shudder. “Are you really going to beg me to get back with you right in front of everyone?”
Edan’s lips pull up in a smile he obviously tries to hide.
“She’s nothing, Kalen,” Ket snaps. “She’s nothing but xeno-scum, and she’s ugly.”
Wave after wave of memories flood into my mind and I’m at my community on Earth again, I’m sitting in the kitchen brewing tea and reading a book on herbal medicines and listening to Mila and Ariana in the other room—You think he would stay with a girl like her? Ariana had said. She’s too homely…even her own brother left her.
But Kalen did pick me over Ket. And Terrence is there for me now. And all these impossibly wonderful things are happening and I’m a part of it and, suddenly, I don’t feel so invisible anymore.
Or afraid.
A slave passes with a tray of drinks, and without thinking, I take two large wineglasses from the tray. Filled with courage I’d never felt in my life, I lift my chin and cross the circle—fully aware that every Tavdorian eye is on me—and I turn the glasses upside down over Edan’s and Ket’s heads. Wine pours down their hair, over their faces, soaking into their clothes. An audible gasp rings out through the circle. Ket wipes both hands down her face, then shakes the extra residue off her fingers and stands, her eyes laced with hatred. “You—you—”
Edan looks at the wine dripping down his half-buttoned shirt, then he throws his head back and laughs, a deep, hearty laugh, his eyes shining brighter than they had all night.
Ket glares at me. “You’re dead.” She lunges at me, but Kalen steps in front of her, blocking her path.
“Move out of my way, Kalen,” Ket says through gritted teeth.
“It’s just wine,” he says.
“Wine stains.”
“You’re the vizier’s daughter. You have hundreds of other dresses to replace that one.”
She looks past Kalen at me. “It won’t be long before he tires of you, Human. And when he does, you’ll wish you were dead.”
Kalen turns toward me. “Let’s get out of here.”
“A word of advice, Kalen,” Edan calls, still laughing while wine drips down his temple. “Take better care of your things. Your father won’t hesitate to get rid of her again, and the gods know her next owner won’t be as gracious as I.” He dramatically juts his thumb at Ket, then bursts into another fit of laughter.
Kalen calls him a crude word and ushers me out of the hall. Someone shouts at him for his stupidity. Others call him foul words, xeno-lover being one of them. Kalen doesn’t slow down, doesn’t even look at me as we walk through the river of people. When we’re finally outside, away from the loud music and the suffocating smell, he turns to me and crushes me to his chest.
“I’m glad I wasn’t too late.” His voice is thick with emotion.
Laying my head against his chest, I listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He’s my safety, he’s my haven. The security of his arms sets me at ease, and I really don’t ever want to let him go. The fierceness of his embrace scares me. His devastation that he almost lost me makes me wonder if I should leave him for the Renegade and how much betraying him will tear him apart.
He pulls away slightly and caresses my cheek, his touch igniting my skin. “Lark…I’m so sorry…I didn’t know.”
“You came at just the right time.”
His eyes fill with questions. “He didn’t touch you, did he?”
“No.”
His eyes close in obvious relief. “Great. Let’s go.”
He mounts his hovercycle, and I climb on behind him, desperately wishing for more clothing than the pieces of cloth I have on. I place the helmet on my head and the hovercycle zooms into the air, flying high above the common traffic. The dread in my stomach ebbs, the wings of hope taking its place.
When we arrive at Kalen’s home, he has Tarik park his hovercycle, then takes me through a back door, down the corridors that spits us out into the courtyard. He scans the courtyard, then gestures me to follow. We can’t let his father know I’m back. Although he’ll know by morning, when he learns that Kalen hired Edan, but neither of us really want to deal with that right now.
We step into Kalen’s room, and the door slides shut behind us. He turns toward me, places his hands on my shoulders, looks at me like he’s looking at the Red Moon for the very first time.
“I can’t believe how close a call that was,” he says huskily. “Lark, if I hadn’t shown up at the club—” His voice chokes off, and he swallows convulsively, unable to verbalize the impossible nightmare. Then he draws me into a hug.
“You did show, though.” I press my hands again his back, feeling the security of his presence. “Thank you. I know what you gave up to rescue me was a lot. Perhaps too much, but—”
“Are you kidding?” He pulls away. “Lark, I would have given my life for you.”
His words steal the air from my lungs. And I don’t understand them, these feelings he has for me. This fierce passion that he would give everything to rescue me—with the knowledge that he’s losing me again.
“I have something for you.”
I stiffen as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a red card and hands it to me. I take it, reading the inscription in bold letters at the top. Freedom Card. Below is my full name and today’s date.
“Kalen…I…” I shake my head, at a loss for words.
“You’ve always been free in my eyes.” He strokes a strand of hair from my forehead. “But after what just happened—with Edan—” His voice cuts off. He inhales shakily and presses his forehead against mine. “At least now, if something happens, if mercenaries or traders somehow capture you again, you’ll have this to show them. I added your name to the database immediately after Edan signed you over to me, so even if you lose your card, your freedom is documented in the Universal Knowledge.”
He weaves his fingers through mine. The connection between us—it’s almost palpable. Our passion pulls us together, welds us like metal on metal. I wrap my arm around his waist, and I’m just now realizing how much I’m going to miss this. He cradles my head against his chest. And hope. Hope is beautiful and strong and consuming and it unfurls in my stomach like a flock of birds being set free for the very first time.
“You’re nobody’s slave,” he whispers into my hair. “You are a captive no more.”