I didn't know this section of the station. The white panels I was used to had been replaced by harsh black walls and the glowing green lights were interspersed with the same red lights that I'd seen in the holding chamber.

At a command from the first guard, the others dropped me, and I fell to the metal floor, gasping and sobbing. My chain was secured to a ring embedded in the floor and I tugged at it helplessly.

"Please—"

The guards did nothing but growl as they filed out of the room. The door slid closed, and I was plunged into darkness.

"No," I howled. "You can't do this!"

But theycoulddo this.

I was the property of the Oria Corporation. I had no say in any of this. Not my torture, not how my body was used...

Wherever they were taking me, I couldn't do anything about it.

The investor who had purchased my milk would be given full control, and I would have to submit, or— no one had mentioned what would happen to me if I didn't comply... but I didn't haveto guess. Selnar had made it clear that the only place for me when I'd outlived my usefulness was the rendering plant on the surface of the planet below the Geon VI farming station.

I didn't want that.

I'd do whatever it took to survive this.

My breasts were so heavy, and they ached with every pulse of the ship as it vibrated under me. I pulled my knees into my chest and tried to lean against the metal wall. I rubbed the back of my hand over my numb lips and moved my jaw, but everything felt strange. My tongue was thick in my mouth, and my fingers felt fuzzy…

Fuzzy?

The lights blurred in my vision as the ship thrummed and pulsed. Were the lights moving? What the fuck?—

I fell to the side, my cheek pressed against the cold metal floor. Darkness crashed over me and I fell into the void of emptiness that opened up in my mind.

Finally.

Chapter Four

My eyes opened slowly. Whatever the doctor had injected me with had hit me like a ton of bricks, but I didn't know how long I'd been asleep.

Soft music filled the room—I barely remembered what it was like to experience music playing. My existence had been almost silent since my arrival at the Geon VI space farming station.

Music... I blinked away the tears that welled up. How could I have forgotten how much I'd loved it. How could I forget something that had been such a huge part of my life.

But my life was different now. So different.

Was I even myself?

Where was the Marcelle I'd been in all of this horror?

I was lying on something comfortable... a soft mattress with a silken coverlet. I rubbed my hand over it and took a deep breath so that I could inhale the clean scent of fresh linen and flowers.

It seemed so unreal.

Like a dream of my life before I'd been abducted.

But the metal collar was still fixed around my throat. Heavy and restrictive.

Thiswas my reality.

But the heavy chain that had secured me to the floor of the ship was gone. There were no guards. No blinking lights. No machines.

I rolled onto my back and tried to make sense of what was happening. My vision was blurry, and I rubbed my eyes to clear it. Lengths of soft fabric moved in an invisible breeze that brushed over my skin.