Chapter One

Nothing in the sea of colorful faces was familiar. Lisa trembled inside the cage, wrists bound and chained to the floor, forcing her to her knees. A collar was clasped around her neck, almost choking her. A weird vibration came from it, silencing her voice every time she tried to speak. Around her, the blue-green bars of energy that made up her cage buzzed and crackled. Small drones flew around her, red lasers scanning her body from every angle.

Lisa could see herself projected on the large holographic screen behind the auctioneer. Her face burned with humiliation as close-ups of her breasts and private parts were shown. There were a few catcalls from the crowd, which made her stomach churn.

"Gentlemen, please remain quiet." The auctioneer, a pale green-skinned female with a pair of bat-like wings sprouting from her shoulders, rapped her knuckles against the podium she stood at, causing the crowd to fall silent again.

The drones surrounding her moved to the energy cage beside hers, circling the hairy creature that was in it. What it was, she had no idea. Although the silently snarling mouth looked vaguely bear-like, it was only about the size of a Pomeranian. The implications of it being right next to her were clear as day, though.

She was being sold. Like an animal. That was all Lisa understood about the situation she was in. She had watched several creatures be sold already and knew her turn was coming up.

Aliens don't even exist, she thought numbly, tugging against her chains. As she did so, a sharp jolt went through her. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Her heart rate spiked as a creature that looked like a human toad peered in at her, licking its lidless eyes. She stared back, shrinking away from it. That seemed to amuse it and it licked its eyes faster.

How had she even got here? She remembered working late at the lab–she’d known that if she didn't get results from her research into how the newly-discovered geo-nuclear radiation from deep inside the Earth's core would change the human DNA sequence, her grants would dry up. There had been a rumbling sound, and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted out of a box, freezing cold and naked, by aliens, green and winged like the auctioneer. They had poked and prodded her, stuck her with needles, then snapped on these cuffs and the collar and shoved her into this cage.

"Next is this specimen from an undiscovered species," the auctioneer said, and the drones surrounded Lisa again. "Found in a primitive vessel going at light speed. Female. Genetic tests have indicated that it has a possible universal DNA, making it likely compatible with most species, and has a high level of intelligence. A translation chip has been installed, and it has received all inoculations necessary for either companionship or consumption."

Lisa's stomach jerked. Companionship or consumption? She yanked against her chains again, shaking her head wildly. Did that mean that whoever bought her was going to turn her into a sex slave or eat her? The shock from her struggling against her chains kept getting worse, making white splotches dance in front of her eyes.

"Bidding is in hadron particles only. Who will start the bidding at three quarks?"

Hadron particles. Quarks. Lisa stopped struggling. Those were familiar terms. Her area of scientific research was based more in genetics, but her brother was an astrophysicist and engineer working with NASA on more effective means of space transportation. He always said that he was going to figure out how to stop the temporal distortion that would theoretically happen if they ever did get a vessel going at light speed. He’d vowed to have his first paper on the subject written by her thirtieth birthday.

Next year, she thought. Happy birthday to me.

Except how long had it been since she was taken from Earth? She was vaguely aware that she had been kept in cryostatus. It could have been months, even years since she was abducted, and she wouldn't know until she returned to Earth. She hunched over, ignoring the bidding that had started, and ran her fingers over the collar that bound her throat. Finally, she found a small latch and began yanking on it.

"Look at that, gentlemen! Didn't I say it was intelligent? It would make an excellent pet."

Lisa glanced up to see that her efforts to escape were being shown on the screen. The auctioneer was beaming. There were a few more bids from the crowd, who were growing louder as they pressed forward.

What would Tom do without her? Her brother was smart, and he had his wife and daughter with him now to make sure he ate during his intensive study periods, but for years it had only been her and him together as they moved from foster family to foster family. He hadn't taken the death of their parents well… how would he take her disappearance?

Her fingers pressed into a slight depression at the latch and the collar dropped off. Lisa gulped in a deep breath and turned her attention to the shackles.

"Ten," somebody said.

"Fifteen."

"A hundred!"

Lisa ignored the bidding. None of it meant anything to her. For all she knew, she could be getting sold for ten cents or a billion dollars. It didn't matter, anyway. She wasn't going to stay here to be auctioned off and eaten or… Bile rose in her throat, but she choked it down, yelping as the chains shocked her again. She tried pulling at the base of them, tried manipulating her hands so she could feel the cuffs. There was a slight depression right between her wrists where she couldn't reach, and she stuck her nose in it.

The resulting shock threw her back, making her scream. She collided with the energy barriers. The smell of scorched flesh and hair filled the air and she collapsed, an electric shock rocking throughout her body. She struggled to draw in breath, stars blinding her. She was aware of laughter. Her head spun and she knew she was about to pass out.

She wasn't sure what made her look up. Maybe it was desperation, hoping to find a sympathetic face in this alien crowd. Maybe she was just hoping that it was all a dream and she would look up to find herself in her lab.

What she found were distant black eyes.

At the back of the crowd stood a man–at least, she thought it was a man, given that he was bare-chested and didn't have obviously enlarged breasts. He was one of the tallest beings there, towering over those around him. His skin was devil-red, hair as black as coal with eyes just as dark. He was huge, muscles everywhere, making him wide, with a powerful body. He could easily crush Mr. July in the firefighter calendar she had back home. Dark tattoos ran down one arm and across his chest in spiked swirls.

"Bid is at two hundred," the auctioneer called. "Do I hear two twenty?"

Lisa tore her eyes away from the red-skinned man to glance at those nearest her cage. The toad was licking its eyes more fervently, a yellow flush in its cheeks as it rubbed its slimy hands together, eyeing her up and down. She may not have been paying attention to what was going on with the bidding, but she knew that this creature was the one with the winning bid. He moved closer.

"Two twenty? Two ten?" The auctioneer scanned the crowd. "Two five–two five!"

"Three hundred!" the toad called, his voice croaking just as Lisa had imagined it would. She shuddered, her mouth going dry.

Desperately she looked up again, searching the crowd. The red-skinned man wasn't there anymore and Lisa felt a wave of disappointment and despair crash on her. She didn't know why she expected him to outbid this toad, to rescue her from it. All she knew was that there were no more bids forthcoming, and the auctioneer was about to declare her sold. Whatever the toad planned for her…

The toad scrambled onto the stage as the auctioneer called out for the final bid. Sharp teeth were exposed in a smile and Lisa shrank back.

"My, my, you look like a tasty pet," the toad whispered to her.

Lisa's stomach clenched. She kicked out, foot slipping through the energy bars. It collided with the toad's face. He felt backward, and a blade impaled his chest.

There were gasps from the crowd and the auctioneer went silent. The red-skinned man was standing by the stage now, clutching the toad's shoulder as he pushed a sword through the creature's chest. A twisted, disgusted expression was on his face. The toad squealed in a high-pitched noise.

The devil twisted his blade sharply. The toad went limp. It fell to the ground as the devil withdrew his weapon. Calmly, he climbed onto the stage and neatly sliced through the top of the cage. The bars of energy died, and he reached in, lifting Lisa out. He cut the chain connecting her to the stage with one swing of his sword and threw her over his shoulder. She was in too much shock to fight against him, though she knew she should.

"Six hundred," he grunted, his voice deep. It reverberated through Lisa's chest. One of his hands was latched onto her thigh, while the other tossed a silver orb at the auctioneer. The green alien fumbled but caught it.

"Sold," she said, her voice trembling. "Enjoy your purchase. Remember that this auction house does have a five-day return policy—"

"I will not be returning my new pet," the devil said, and there was a threat in his voice that made Lisa shiver.

He stepped over the toad's body and headed through the crowd. The gathered aliens all pressed back away from him, and from her position over his shoulder, Lisa could see looks of fear and horror following them. She wanted to scream, to fight and kick and escape, but she seemed frozen.

There was an almost bitter scent around him, and yet as Lisa breathed it in, she found that it wasn't unpleasant. The hand on her thigh felt hot and heavy, and his skin against hers was doing strange things to her insides.

It must be the shock, she told herself. Endorphins because the toad doesn't have me.

That didn't mean this red-skinned man would be any better.

She tried to focus on the positives; she was no longer bound. All she had to do was find a way to free herself from this alien, and then she could make her way back to Earth and tell them what she had seen. But her mind wouldn't focus as her legs and chest alternately bounced against this red-skinned man's hard body.

All she could think of as the devil carried her away was that maybe the toad would have been a better choice.