Page 1 of Adtovar
Chapter 1- Adtovar
“Hi, Grandpa!”
I smiled at Willa, who insisted upon holding onto the habit of calling meGrandpa. Granted, when we first met, I appeared significantly older than her, but thanks to my recent turn through the Garoot Healer, I now looked as youthful as my human daughter. I definitely appeared younger than her mate Charick, but wisely decided not to mention that. I missed them both so much.
“How are you, sweet Willa?”
“Great!” Her blue eyes sparkled. The holographic image blooming from my wrist comm was small, but I could see her clearly, as if she stood before me, despite knowing we were light years apart. I sat in my quarters on theHistoriawhile she and her mate traveled the stars in theBardaga. Both ships were battle cruisers tasked by the governing Alliance to seek out and rescue abducted humans across the cosmos.
I shifted in my chair, glancing around my spacious quarters and noticing the mess of discarded clothes and empty food containers. I’d never been particularly neat. My duties as first mate of theHistorialeft little time for domestic concerns. I’d need to order a cleaning bot, but until then, I kept the comm pointed at my face and not the mess.
“We’re on our way to Tau Ceti to drop off three more females we recused last week,” Willa practically jumped with excitement. Tau Ceti was a planet designed specifically toaccommodate abducted humans who could not or, for whatever reason, didn’t want to return to Earth.
“Wonderful,” I beamed at her. My heart swelled with pride for my human daughter. Abducted, like so many others, she had fought and persevered. Carving out a place for herself, not only by her mate’s side but also as a beacon of hope for other abducted humans, using her own experience to help rescue and guide them.
“I hear theHistoriahas been successful as well,” she prodded with a waggle of her brows.
“Yes,” I admitted, my lips curving into an even broader smile. “Nine females so far. All are well and happily settled on Tau Ceti.”
A short time ago, I would never have imagined finding such fulfillment in rescuing abducted humans. But then again, I never expected to meet my Earth daughter, Willa. Meeting her had given me a new lease on life—a life I nearly gladly forfeited to save her. That action not only restored my youth but brought me something I had been sorely lacking. Purpose.
I had purpose once when my mate and child still lived, but the guilt over their loss had sent me spiraling down a path of despair. When the Ulkommanian captured me during the last days of the Vaktaire-Romvesian skirmish, I didn’t resist. Going through the torture they inflicted felt like just punishment for allowing happiness to slip through my fingers. Guilt consumed me for decades, but Willa and her mate Charick showed me that goodness and redemption still existed in this universe. They showed me it was possible to move on from the sins of my past and find purpose and hope in the future.
“Where are you headed next?”
Willa’s question brought me back to the present, and I met her dark blue gaze, which forced a smile to my lips.Although, the current destination of theHistoriawas certainly nothing to be happy about.
“Budak.”
“Fuck!” Charick groaned, using a favorite curse he’d picked up from his human mate.
“What?” Willa’s gaze bounced between me and Charick, the frown creasing her brows deepening. “What’s wrong with Budak?”
I watched Charick slip a comforting arm around Willa’s shoulders. “Budak is a gladiator planet. Very brutal. I spent some time there in my younger days.”
Like me, Charick spent time as a gladiator. Like me, he carried the scars and shame from the time he fought and killed merely for sport.
“Are there....” Willa swallowed hard, her face pale. “Are there human females fighting in the pit?”
Willa, too, spent time in a gladiator pit. Thankfully, she had trained as a soldier on Earth and was able to handle herself better than most.
“Not in the pit,” I told her, feeling my stomach lurch.
“Shit!” Willa muttered another favorite curse of hers.
“They are prizes,” Charick said solemnly.
Willa’s face fell, her usually bright eyes clouding with a mix of anger and sadness.
Prizes.
The word echoed in my mind, every syllable imparting a sense of dread. In the pit, prizes were females offered as a reward to victorious gladiators. During my time in the pits, as a champion gladiator, I received offers of a female prize many times. I always refused. Laying with a female slave felt like a betrayal to the memory of my mate. Plus, the sight of those females always tore at my heart. Bruised and broken from their handling, with spirits as crushed as their bodies.
“How many?” Willa demanded, the sadness in her expression shifting to anger in the blink of an eye. My human daughter was a warrior through and through.
“Only one human, from what we know so far.”
“I’ll know you’ll save her,” Willa told me with a nod of confidence. “But will you do me one favor?”
