Page 21 of Splintered Shadow
“So,” she said, setting down the empty cup, “what are we talking about?”
“You will tell me who you are, how you came to Arcos, and your objectives,” he blurted, as if he had a list ready to go. He probably did. “Do not lie or lie by omission. I will know.”
“I believe you,” she said, meaning every word. Nerves fluttered in her gut; unsure what Prince Vekele would do if he thought she held back. She was already chained to his bed. The next logical step would be the dungeon.
“I’ve told you my name: Sarah Krasinski. I’m from Philadelphia, on the planet Earth. I work in a bookstore, but you don’t really want to know that. Okay, okay. I’m not sure how I got here. My phone did a… thing. A portal or wormhole. Look, I can’t describe it better than that. I work in a freaking bookstore, not NASA. I got sucked through the portal and you know the rest.”
He tilted his head, considering her while she babbled. When she finished, he did not speak immediately.
She picked up the empty smoothie cup. The food had been filling, but she craved more. “Can I have another? I don’t know why I’m so hungry.”
“Your body is fighting an infection and using more energy than normal,” he said.
“An infection?” She glanced down at her leg. The injury appeared to be healing well.
“The parasite from the bite. Do not be concerned—”
“Parasite!” Sarah jumped up from the table, waving her hands like she could shake off the parasite. Her skin crawled with the sudden need for a scalding hot shower, lots of soap, and a vat of industrial-strength bleach. “What is it? Is it a tapeworm? It’s a tapeworm. I’ve got an alien tapeworm. How do I get it out?”
“Remain calm. It is unlikely to bond with a human.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have a parasite living in you.”
The bird laughed.
Hand to her heart, the bird tossed back its head and gave a short burst of caws that might as well have been laughing.
“Incorrect. Mine allows me to have a symbiotic relationship with the karu. We are bonded,” he said.
That didn’t sound terrible.
“Will I be bonded?”
“No. You were infected by a bite from a void beast.”
“Right, right. The murder puppies.”
He stared at her, his front eyes cloudy and unblinking.
This wasn’t weird. At all.
“Am I a prisoner?” she asked.
He took too long to answer. Eventually, he said, “You are a guest of the crown.”
Basically a prisoner. “Can we discuss the chain?”
“No.”
“You chained me to your bed,” she said.
“It is a very long chain.”
“It’s still a chain.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I’ll behave. Where would I even go? Unless there’s a spaceship right outside that door, I’m stuck. I don’t know where I am, I have no money, and no resources. Fuck, I don’t even have underwear.” As soon as she said the words, she wanted to claw them back.
Vekele tilted his head, watching her.
Great, now he was thinking about her lack of underwear.
