Page 9 of Rule

To my immense relief, he started to snoreagain. Shaking and shuddering, my entire body pulsing with pain, I grabbed mytoiletry bag from the bathroom, stuffed it into my backpack and headed towardthe front door, checking the clock again.

Three minutes.

Shit.

I eased out of the apartment I had calledhome for the last decade without looking back. I closed the door, the click ofthe latch excruciatingly loud in the silence, and, still dragging my backpack,hurried down the hall. I paused to press my hand against Candy’s apartmentdoor. I had said goodbye to her yesterday, but she was my only friend and Iwas going to miss her terribly.

I wiped away the tears and dragged mybackpack down the hall and down the narrow dirty stairs. Maybe the king wouldlet me hologram with Candy from time to time. I stepped out into the street.A black vehicle was just pulling up and I knew it was from the agency. No onein our neighbourhood could afford a vehicle, not even a land one.

Trying not to look like I was in agony, Iwalked slowly toward the car as a man stepped out from behind the wheel. “Ms.Fisher?”

“Yes, that’s me.” I glanced behind me atthe building door, half-expecting Alex to come busting out into the street.

“I’ll need to see some ID, ma’am.”

I rooted through my backpack for my wallet,glancing behind me again. Fuck. Where was it? I finally found it and yankedit out, showing the man my ID. He studied the picture carefully beforestudying me and I tried not to give him an impatient look. I peeked behind meagain.

“Good.” He handed my wallet back and Istuffed it into my backpack and zipped it up. He took my bag and set it in thetrunk before opening the back door. I climbed in, my breath hissing outbetween my teeth as pain sliced through my body, and breathed a sigh of reliefwhen he shut the door. I’d never been in a car before and as the man usedvoice controls to start the vehicle, I watched in fascination as the dashboardlit up. The man studied his phone and typed on the keyboard as the vehiclepulled out onto the street. I closed my eyes and rested my head against theback of the seat.

I was free.

* * *

“Evelyn, open your eyes, please.”

The voice was loud and intrusive. The handon my shoulder, incredibly painful. I forced my eyes open and stared at thewoman standing over me. She gave me an impatient look before walking away.

I sat up, my back and shoulder and kidneysscreaming in protest, and stared around blearily. I was at the InternationalSpace Station and I would never see Alex and Troy again. Deep relief sweptthrough me, and I blinked back the tears before studying the woman sitting inthe cot across from mine.

She had dark hair like me and gorgeous blueeyes and a body a little curvier than mine. I’d always been on the chubbyside, but I knew enough about the Draax to know that was an asset. They likedtheir women to be on the larger side.

The woman was staring at my shoulder. Mytop had slipped down, and I hurriedly pulled it up to cover the visible bruise.

The woman looked a little embarrassed asshe said, “Hi, I’m Sabrina. I didn’t get the chance to introduce myselfyesterday. It was pretty loud on the ship.”

I didn’t think it would be smart to tellher I was glad she hadn’t spoken to me. It was my first time on a ship and, inaddition to the pain I was in from Alex’s beating, I was fighting constantmotion sickness the entire time. I’d also been terrified that when we got tothe International Space Station, they would give us a physical and I’d be rejectedbecause of the bruising.

I hadn’t needed to worry. We’d arrivedlate, and they’d simply shown us to a room with a dozen narrow cots. The womannamed Sabrina had fallen asleep almost instantly, but I’d laid awake until nearlydawn, worrying and wondering if they would do a physical in the morning.

“I’m Evelyn,” I said. “It’s nice to meetyou.”

“Nice to meet you too.” She glanced at thecots around us. “Not many volunteers on this trip, huh?”

“Are you in the breeding program?” Iasked.

“No. I have a job as a nanny. You?”Sabrina replied.

“Breeding program.” I could hear thenerves in my voice. Sabrina must have as well because she reached across andtouched my arm.

“You okay?”

“Yes. Just, uh, a little nervous,” I said.

“Understandable, but I hear that the Draaxtreat their females very well.”

I tried to smile at her, and she squeezed myarm in a comforting way. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Yes,” I said, but even I could hear thefear in my voice.

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