by Vivian Star
"See the biggest mansion, the one in the middle?" Xair asks me, pointing at it, and I follow his gaze. Out of the four, it is the busiest with people walking in and out of the building every so often.
"Yes."
"That is our mission. No one has hung the celebration banners and lights out yet, so we aren't that late to the party," he softly tells me. "We will need to be discreet until then."
"So we are going to camp up here with Rocky?" I enquire.
Xair grins, stretching his thick arms above his head. "No, I want a bed and a mattress to sleep on. We will be staying with an old friend."
"Who?" I ask.
"Someone I trust. Don't worry," he tells me and walks off down a marked footpath without another word. I follow behind him, surprised at how quick and easy it is to make our way to the bottom of the mountain down the pathway and to the front of the city. It's empty, only a line of blue-skinned men with scary looking guns and swords line up by the side of the open gates. The gates are newer than the adjoining white brick walls that have more than a few holes in them.
Xair surprises me by stepping back, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me tightly to his side. He leans down, his lips close to my ear, enough to make me shiver. "I don't want anyone looking too closely at you. There is, no doubt, a very high reward for your return to Strixa."
"Without a doubt, my kidnapping assassin friend," I murmur back, and he laughs, the sound enjoyable to hear.
"So we are friends now?" he asks as we get closer to the gate, and my mouth feels dry as I take in the danger we are now in.
"Yes," I simply answer, unable to form much more than the one word as we easily walk right through the gates and into the city without so much as a little glance our way. I expect Xair to let me go, but he doesn't as we walk past several tent-like houses, further into the city where the tents change into ruined stone buildings with suspended fabric hung for roofs. No one looks our way, it's like we are ghosts to them in a city that is likely full of literal ghosts.
"Here," Xair commands, directing us into an alleyway that has some beautiful white flowers in pots outside a wooden door. The petals of the flowers look like they are made of pure white snow. Xair keeps me close as he reaches out and knocks on the door twice. Stars litter the sky, the sun now well and truly resting as the door swings open.
"What the actual fuck are you doing here, Xair?"
Chapter Ten
A shockingly stunning alien woman stands in the middle of the doorway, glaring at my kidnapper like he ran over her cat. The woman has white hair tied into two thick braids that hang over her shoulders. She has light blue skin, smothered in black and white markings that are not just her mating marks, they look like tattoos as well. Some of them are of planets, others of animals I just don't know but equally as beautiful. Lacy white robes cover her breasts and turn into a skirt that falls to her knees, but she wears nothing else. Her purple eyes fall to me, confusion marking her pretty face, before going back to Xair.
"I need a place to hide, and I will explain everything, Milca," Xair finally speaks, and there is still silence.
"I haven't seen you in ten years," Milca replies, and a hint of emotion in her tone makes me think she and Xair might have been more than friends once. An intense jealousy takes over me, and all I can think of is dragging Xair away from this place. From her.
And he isn't even mine. Not really anyway.
"You know why I left," Xair replies, stepping closer and placing his hand on her arm. Well, if I had a knife, I would stab his hand. My heart hurts as they look at each other. "I'm sorry for your loss, and I got revenge for us both. Returning was never part of the plan."
"And for yours. I will hide you...for him and what you did," she cryptically replies and steps aside.
"Thank you," Xair tells her, walking past, and I follow him into the small room. It's cosy and warm with several beanbag type cushions on the floor by a roaring fire in a stone fireplace. A small kitchen lines the one side and a double bed on the other. A curtain hung up on the wall is pulled back, and I can see a bath and a toilet.
"Why don't I get us some food? You can stay here as long as you need, and I will stay at my friend's. There just isn't room otherwise," Milca suggests, placing her hands on her hips. "And what's your Earthling's name?"
"My name is Savannah Jackson," I snap before Xair can answer, and turn to face Milca. I offer her my hand. "Thank you for the room."
An amused grin lights up her face. "I've heard your name. The whole galaxy is looking for you, no wonder you want to hide. Did big Mr. Sexy over there steal your heart and you've followed him across space?"
"Big Mr. Sexy?" I cough out, looking at Xair who holds his hands up.
"I was unaware of the nickname," he protests.
"I learnt it from a friend of mine that he has likely forgotten about," Milca tells me, and a sense of relief fills me as I understand her hidden message. She has never been that close to him. I relax and smile at her. "I will be back within an hour."
Milca leaves us alone, and I walk to one of the beanbags, collapsing onto it with a huff. Xair pulls off his boots, placing them near the door before sitting on the beanbag next to me and stretching his long legs out.
"So what is Milca's story?"
"You always want the story, don't you?" he enquires.
"Well, otherwise I wouldn't know much about our host," I answer. "I feel like I'm missing the main parts of this."
"It's complicated," he replies.
"It always is with you," I respond, making him smile.
"Sometimes people fall in love and they are not fated mates. It happens, and people develop a bond nonetheless. She was in love with Prince Cassian of Strixa, and he loved her all the same, but it was doomed. Milca was promised to marry an assassin called Dux, someone I knew from my work with the assassin guild. Cassian asked me to go and speak with him, to ask him to back off, and see if he would accept money to leave her alone. But Dux didn't want that. We fought, and I killed five of his men before he took me down. When I woke up, I was in a storage ship on a five-month mission in the middle of empty space. I had to wait to get off it before I could warn Cassian that Dux was going to try and kill him," he starts to explain, and I get the feeling this is hard for him to get out. "I travelled back to Strixa and went right to Cassian. He was killed right in front of me by Dux, who wanted me to see, and he tried to kill Milca. I managed to save her, but Dux got away, killing a lot of the Strixa guards on his way out. The last thing Cass said to me was to take Milca away, take her somewhere safe."
"And you did that," I whisper, touching his hand as I take a wild guess. I know he saw the prince as his brother, even when they weren't related.
"I did, but it looked like I ran, and of course, it seemed I had killed the prince. It was made to look that way. It was the only reason Dux kept me alive, he needed a scapegoat," he softly tells me the reason why he was locked up.
And how it was all false.
I believe him completely. I can see the emotion in his eyes, the pain in his words.
"What happened next?"
"I brought Milca with me, escaping Strixa, and found her a home in this city with her own kind. She had never been to Noveta before, and soon she loved it. A lot of people have lost their families, they struggle every day for food, and they need help. She has made a name for herself in this city as a healer and a force for good. It helped emotionally heal her, even with the loss of her chosen mate," he softly explains. "I left when I felt she was safe, and found Dux on a trading ship. I killed him before letting Rox and his men find me."
"Why didn't you tell them the truth?" I question.
"They would never believe me. I have no proof, and Milca's word would not be enough. Cass kept her a secret, never wanting one of his brothers to know about her," he explains. "I plan to be on the run for a long time, Sav... That's why I can't give you what you need. What you deserve."
Anger fills my heart like a sword cu
tting through stone as I climb up and move closer to him. I don't let him push me away as I climb onto his lap and cover his cheek with my hand. The way he closes his eyes for a brief second just gives me hope.
"I decide what I deserve, Xair," I whisper, leaning down so our lips are inches away. "Fate has thrown us together because I was lost and so were you. Both of us are weighed down by guilt and responsibility, so much so that we don't look for what we need or want. But I want you, Xair. You're a good man, with a kind soul, and you're loyal to the core. I know I could search the galaxy for the rest of my life and only ever search every man in it for you."
"Sav," he whispers, and before he can push me away, I kiss him. For a moment, I don't think he is going to kiss me back, and then he does. Oh my god, he does. Xair's lips passionately move against my own, and my body comes alive in pure pleasure as I rock against his hard cock under his trousers that presses against my core. He growls into my mouth, digging his hands into my ass and pulling me harder against him.
My hands sink into his hair just as the door blasts open, and I go flying across the room. My body slams hard into the stone wall, just above the fireplace, and the pain makes me go completely silent as I fall to the ground. The room spins as I look up to see Xair punching and grabbing men as they fill the room.
The last thing I see is black blurs of men ganging up on Xair before I pass out.
Chapter Eleven
"And the big, bad wolf ate her up," mum says and tickles Isabelle at the same time. She laughs, whereas Alice hides under the patchwork covers of the bed. Darcie scrunches up her face, and Chloe pretends to look bored, but I know she isn't.
"That's enough stories for today. It's getting late," Dad tells us, walking into the room. I smile at him as he walks over, kissing each one of us on our heads. As this is my room, all my sisters leave, and my parents go last. Mum leaves the door a little too open after calling goodbye, and I scoot out of bed, going to shut it. I pause when I see my mum giggling at something my dad said. He wraps his arms around her.
Mum might read us stories about love, but I think she is lucky enough to have it for real. As I close the door, I think to myself about how I want to be that lucky one day.
* * *
"Ouch," I groan, rubbing the side of my head as I blink my eyes open to see...bars? Thick white bars are right in front of my face. A spatter of blood is the only colour to them. My ears feel like they are ringing as I blink my eyes a few times, wondering how I've managed to get kidnapped. Again. I swear someone up there is having a good old laugh about all this. I grab one of the bars to pull myself up, but the second I touch it, it burns my hand like holding a hot iron bar. I scream, letting go and shuffling away across the rough grey tiles at my feet. Other than the cell I am in, the outside room is just a white-walled space with a black wooden door. Flickering spotlights line the ceiling, and two cameras are in the corners, swivelling back and forth, so whoever kidnapped me is watching.
I just hope Xair is alright. I hate to think Milca sold us out, but it was strange that she left and then all those men attacked. Dammit, if she has gotten Xair killed, I'm going to hunt her down. I might be a small human woman, or Earthling as the aliens call us, but I'm not one to let the people I care about get hurt.
"You can't touch the bars," a quiet female voice gently points out the obvious from right behind me. I spin around and see a gold-skinned woman in the corner of the room, her body covered by a brown blanket. She has black hair, cut short into a bob that stops under her chin, and sharp but feminine features. She has bright gold eyes, and she must be from the planet Tabrerth, if I'm remembering right. I only know their people as the ones who attacked the ship my sister was on and nearly killed her. That their king has my sister Alice. I know they are at war with nearly everyone in the galaxy, including Earth. And they have some strange connection to animals.
"Where are we?" I ask, pulling myself to my feet in the middle of the room. I push my messy hair behind my ears as she looks down at the ground. Her feet have many sores on them, and her hands look like she has picked her nails for a long time. Other than the fact she doesn't smell like roses, she seems okay, but it's clear she is as trapped as I apparently now am.
"The slave auctions. We will be sold as breeders tomorrow to the highest bidder. I'm sorry to say, but you will go for a lot. Human women always do," she warns me, and the air leaves my lungs like a car just smacked into me. "I've seen only one human woman in the auctions on Tabrerth, and it was a high price."
Fuck, I'm in so much trouble. Of course it had to be slave auctioneers that kidnapped me. It couldn't have been someone nicer and easier for Xair to save my ass. Maybe I should tell them I'm the Queen of Strixa's sister?
For a second I think about it, then I realise it's a bad idea. I would just go for more money that way, I bet. No, my secrets need to stay hidden for my own good. I don't remember what any of them look like or if they are even from this planet. I don't have a clue if I was knocked out long enough for them to take me off the planet altogether. But I don't hear the drum of an engine anywhere close, so I highly doubt it. For the first time, I realise how shielded from the worlds around us I was on that farm. Life was easy compared to what I now find myself in.
"I have a friend who might save me. Save us," I eventually say, sitting down on the other side of the wall, where I don't touch any of the bars. My back rests on the cold stone, and I brush some of the dust off my arm. The woman laughs, and it's a sweet sound even when it sounds empty of any hope. "What's your name?"
"Cesaita. You?" she asks, pulling her blanket around her shoulders, but she still looks cold. It is a little chilly in here, and I'm sure once the shock wears off, I will feel it sink into my system. Funny how fearing for your life and future can keep you warm.
"Savannah," I answer. "How long have you been here?"
"About two days. I lived peacefully in Noveta with my mate, who was from here. They killed him to get to me," she admits, thick emotion dripping from her tone, and I can almost taste her grief. My heart hurts for her, and I'm speechless to say anything as we stare at each other. I feel so sorry for her, but I have a feeling she doesn't want to hear me say it.
I also fear more for Xair than ever before. If they killed her mate, they might have killed him to get to me. But I refuse to believe it until I see it. There is no way Xair would have gone down easily, and I remember him fighting them all off for me. I wrap my arms around my legs, resting my chin on top of them.
"Do you have other family to live with? If we get out of here, that is," I question.
She smiles my way and slowly starts to stand. "Yes, a grandmother of my mate's. She has a house on the outskirts of Noveta, a really good place for us both to live. I worry she is getting old and shouldn't be living alone in the middle of nowhere."
The blanket falls to the ground, and that's when I see her huge baby bump under her blue silk dress that is torn in so many places. She stretches her arms above her head as I sit in shock. "You're pregnant."
"It's why they took me. I'm one of the rare fertile women left on Noveta and my home planet, Tabrerth." She reminds me of the fact that no one gets pregnant on these planets, and if they do, they are the rare one percent. Cesaita paces around the room as I'm left staring at her bump, wondering if I want children in the future, and how I might never have a choice if I'm bought from a trader. I never thought much of it, I never let myself think of any kind of future that didn't mean caring for my sisters. But my sisters aren't children anymore. Alice, the youngest, is nineteen next month, and the rest are older.
I just wish they weren't lost in the worlds and I had a good idea of how to get them back. Then maybe I could imagine a future where I'm mated to Xair and there is a little girl with Xair's eyes and skin tone, and my features and hair.
She would be stunning and no doubt spoilt by me and her dad.
Thinking of Xair as a dad makes me smile widely.
"Do you think you're having a boy or a gir
l?" I ask Cesaita when she sits back down right next to me. I'm surprised when she throws the blanket over us both, and even though we don't know each other, there is a quick friendship when you're about to be sold as a breeding slave.
"Boy. I once dreamed of him," she answers with a soft smile, which soon drops. "Can I tell you a secret? Something I don't want to be lost with me in case I am killed."
"Sure," I answer. "Your secret will be safe with me as long as I am alive."
"I've always trusted what I feel in here. It's the only connection I have to Vyuna." She places her hand over her heart. "And my soul tells me you can be trusted, Savannah. That means Vyuna guided our paths to meet."
It sounds strange how she pronounces my name, but I like it, and the more I hear of Vyuna guiding the world, the more I want to ask how we got to this point right now. I stay silent as she rests her head back against the wall. "My mate was the last male heir of the royal line of Noveta. His grandmother was their queen, and she ran with her infant daughter while the rest of the family were brutally murdered. That princess was my mate's mother, and she died in childbirth, as do many, so his grandmother brought him up alone." She pauses, picking at the seams of the blanket. "We met by accident in the city. I was hiding from my parents, who wanted to sell me, and he was searching for an army to take the throne back from one of the rebel kings—there've been many over the years. He always believed the crown was his by right, and I told him it would get him killed...so he walked away for me. We mated, and within a year, I was pregnant, and he would never have chased the throne because our child needed to be safe."
"Wow," I end up whispering back, surprised by her story but believing every word. Xair did say the last legitimate king was murdered, but I don't think he mentioned what happened to the queen or children.
"I wonder every day and night if I made a mistake. If I had let him go after the throne, would he be alive today to see our baby born?" she whispers. "Did I stop him and alter the pathway Vyuna paved?"
