Page 98 of Warrior's Captive
Anthhori.
She’d heard about it, seen some news vids and read articles in various society blogs she’d perused to begin to immerse herself in the province’s pop culture. A pleasure barge, a den of iniquity, a couple’s retreat. A place where different species mingled, and the rules were made by those with power and the wealth to enforce it. The fact that it remained neutral territory meant Ibukay and her family had no jurisdiction over what went on there—but it also meant Tai’ri and Vykhan would be free to act with impunity in order to rescue her. The only rules they would have to follow was that of their conscience.
“When will I see Shira and Ori?” she asked as they disembarked into a long, neutral hallway.
Her captors ignored her question. They escorted her down the hall, unrestrained. It wasn’t necessary. She was here of her own free will and they probably thought there wasn’t much a petite, slender, mostly untrained human could do against them anyway.
They were probably right. She knew what her job was. Get in, get to Shira and Ori, stay alive until the cavalry came.
“I thought this was a pleasure barge,” she murmured as they walked down bland, quiet hallways.
“This is a private lower deck,” her captor said.
She was surprised he deigned to reply, and tilted her head in thanks. No need to be rude.
“This is where your owner keeps his pets,” he added, and Vivian downgraded her assessment of his professionalism.
Banujani’s training must have gotten a better grip on her than she’d thought. Feeling slightly detached, she noted that she should be panicking. These clean, ruthlessly quiet halls reminded her so much of the pens, though of course in the pens space was a premium. She still didn’t know what kind of building she’d been kept in. The bunker of an abandoned warehouse, perhaps. She’d been barely conscious during her rescue.
Her heartrate spiked, her breathing coming in quick pants, and she yanked her mind away from those thoughts. Just in time, as they stopped in front of a door. Her captor—perhaps she’d call him Roboghoul #1 for all the emotion he showed—placed a hand on the palmplate, and it slid open.
It was a cargo hold. The cargo were people.
When she didn’t immediately enter, someone shoved. She stumbled once, then resumed control of her feet. A dozen people, all female from what she could tell, occupied the room. Her gaze took in the hard floors, blank walls. A water station was tucked into a corner and another narrow doorway led into toilet facilities. No privacy screen.
“Vivian!”
She spun. In the farthest corner from the door sat Shira, cradling Ori. “Shira.”
She forced herself to remain calm, neutral. They had to know how important Shira was to her, but there was no need to reinforce that knowledge. Handing these people emotional leverage would only make the situation worse.
Vivian began to walk towards Shira, and Roboghoul grabbed her. Her muscles tensed and she gritted her teeth, then forced her body to relax as she gave him an inquiring look.
He pointed his chin at the various guards posted in the room. “No escape. No trouble.”
“I understand.” Theor elsein his tone was self-explanatory.
He let her go, and she went to Shira, kneeling down. “Are you okay?”
Shira’s mouth thinned, and she snorted.
Vivian’s lips quirked. “Fair enough.”
“They feed us and there’s plenty of water. They haven’t tried to take Ori away from me.” Shira’s steely tone couldn’t quite hide the panic in her eyes. “What thefuckare you doing here?”
“Staging an intervention.”
Shira gave her a look. “Funny.” Ori rustled in her arms, nuzzling for her breasts, and she looked down. Vivian shifted her body to shield the woman as she placed the child on a nipple. “I will kill him before I let them have him.”
“I don’t think it will come to that. There are other players on the board.”
“Is there a plan other than to sit here and wait to be rescued?”
Vivian grimaced.
“Great.” Shira sighed. “In all the vids, the heroines are badass. They smuggle in weapons, dismantle the ship’s systems, take down the evil guards with chewing gum and spit.”
“Yes, my students on Earth used to try and get me to watch those too. I’m not much of a fantasy fiction reader, though.”
