Page 7 of Stolen Slave

I studied her. This close, I could see the fine tremors that shook her slight frame. Compared to the Wsoau, she was small. Compared to me, she was…

I lifted my hand and splayed my fingers. The size of my hand was greater than her head by a fingertip. She didn’t blink as I lowered my hand again.

She was marked, blind, exhausted, and terrified. I wanted to rip the collar from her tormented flesh and take her back to my ship. But I couldn’t. Not without damaging her further.

I needed the release code to free her.

I needed to kill the fleking tuber who did this to her. But first, I needed to secure her safety.

Glancing back at the hole I’d made in the building, I considered my options. The perimeter burners wouldn’t see the opening because of the building behind this one, which was why I’d left my bounty on the roof. The human female would be as safe as she’d been.

Yet, even as I rose, I hesitated to leave her.

She cocked her head in the other direction, still straining to hear. I wanted to reassure her, but without her sight or a translator, touching her would frighten her more and likely alert the keeper.

Walking away from her was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Finding the tuber who’d hurt her was the easiest. He was lounging in a basin a few rooms down. The datapad in his hands was playing a message.

“—only shipment. I suggest you take better care of your remaining asset. I told you they were delicate and wouldn’t withstand the same treatment as your females. I suggest you invest your chit in sex-bots like every other species in the systems.”

Water splashed as the Wsoau’s plates rattled with its anger.

“Fleking Quanl.” He tossed the datapad aside.

The steam-filled room muffled the sound of my phaser blast, and I watched the Wsoau slide deeper into the water, the new hole in its head plate oozing black. The stench of melted Wsoau clung to the steam. I made the mistake of trying to breathe through my mouth. The rancid taste coated my tongue.

I grabbed the datapad before it locked, not that it was necessary. He’d never enabled the security. The female’s collar access and the comms were the only things on it.

The comms history with his Quanl contact gave me very little information, unlike the human’s collar history. She’d been one of six who’d arrived here a lunar rev ago. Four had terminated the first flare. Given the number of shocks administered to them, I wasn’t surprised, but I wished I could take back the Wsoau’s quick, merciful death. Five birthers. Gone.

“Fleking tuber,” I seethed as I entered the release code.

CHAPTER FOUR

VYA

I shook, waiting for what would come next. Something had broken into my room. I was sure of it. I’d heard more than the boards breaking. I’d heard it step inside before it went quiet. And I was positive I’d felt it near me. But it hadn’t touched me.

Yet.

A shudder rocked through me, and I thought of Mila. My tears fell harder. I didn’t want to be raped. I remembered the smell of her blood and how she’d refused to stand when the next whistle had sounded. They’d shocked her and shocked her while I’d silently cried, knowing better than to make any move to stop them.

After endless weeks of enduring this hell together, she’d given up and left me alone.

I sniffled again and wished I could have followed her. I’d tried, but the things here had finally gotten smarter, alternating between beating me with a stick and using the collar.

Unsure what else to do, I reached for the bowl I knew was nearby. I drank because I knew my keepers expected me to. At least, I no longer saw the mashed-up mix of alien bugs I drank. With my eyes not working, I knew I had to be close to the end and kept praying that the next shock would be the last so I could finally be free of this nightmare.

If only they would go back to shocking me instead of beating me.

The collar around my throat made a noise. My pulse jumped in equal amounts of fear and hope. However, the device did not cause the usual searing pain. It fell away from my neck and splashed into my bowl.

A bubble of hysterical laughter escaped before I silenced myself and fished the collar out. Clutching the metal band, I set the bowl down and touched my neck. Since waking, that thing had been tormenting my raw skin.

Why had it fallen off?

I stood on shaky legs and listened.

Outside, I could hear those things making noise. Inside, though, I couldn’t hear a sound. Maybe they’d come up with some new way to punish me. Maybe one was standing right next to me to see what I’d do.

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