DangerouslyForever

by A. M. Griffin

  If she were by herself, she would’ve stood her ground and made an example out of anyone who wanted to test her independence. But she had Max and Yoshi to think about. So, as quietly and unassumingly as possible, she’d snuck them out.

  No, they wouldn’t be going back until it was time to leave.

  “Can you tell us about Lepsesthe?” Yoshi asked. “Will we have a house like Kiehle’s? Are there puppies there?” She frowned, as if remembering a thought. “I want a puppy.”

  Ally wrapped her arm around Yoshi, bringing her closer. “We’ll find a better house,” she promised. “I don’t know about puppies though. Dogs may be an Earth animal.”

  “What’s a puppy?” Max asked.

  “A puppy is a baby dog. A lot of people on Earth kept them as pets,” Ally explained. “Now those were real pets—not humans.”

  “I had one. Her name was…” Yoshi pulled her features together so tight that Ally could see how hard she was trying to remember. Then she opened her eyes wide and snapped her fingers. “Piper. My dog’s name was Piper. She was a little fat Beagle.”

  “What did she look like?” Max asked.

  Yoshi held her hands a foot apart. “She was about this big.” She ran her hands across her arms and legs. “And she had short hair all over her body. She barked like this,” Yoshi began barking, high and fast, “and she used to lick me on my face.” With that, she closed her eyes and ran her fingers over her face.

  Ally looked down at her and smiled. “It sounds like you had a very special dog.”

  Yoshi nodded. “Oh she was.” She made circles with her fingers and put them up to her eyes. “Her eyes were this big and when someone hurt me, she would shoot lasers from them.” She squinted and pointed, pretending to shoot. “Pechewn! Pechewn! Pechewn!”

  Max pulled in a deep breath and opened his mouth wide. “Oh Ally. I want a puppy too, please!”

  She held in a giggle, not having the heart to correct Yoshi about what dogs could and couldn’t do. If Yoshi wanted to believe that Piper was a superdog with special abilities then dammit, she could. “If we find a dog, we’ll get it. Piper may have been one of a kind though, so any that we find probably won’t have laser eyes.”

  “I’ll help us look for a dog.” Max scooted closer and Ally lifted her other arm so he could snuggle up against her. “Will there be a lake nearby like Kiehle’s?” he asked.

  Ally adjusted Max and Yoshi within her arms. The sun was going down. They’d need to maintain their heat for as long as possible. “We can definitely make that one of the requirements for finding a home.”

  “I never had a house before,” Max said.

  “I did,” Yoshi added. “But I don’t know if some of the memories I have are really from my house or just memories I made up in my head.”

  Ally looked at her. “Of course they’re your memories.”

  “When I told Diane about them, she said I was probably making them up.”

  Ally humphed, remembering one of the slaves in Alharad’s brothel who she never cared for. “Diane was a bitch.”

  “But she was my friend,” Yoshi said.

  Max giggled. “But she was still a bitch.”

  “Hey! No cursing. Children don’t use that kind of language.” Children also aren’t supposed to be slaves or on the run…

  “I’m not a child anymore. Kiehle said I’m a warrior in training and since I’m the oldest male now, I’m responsible for you and Yoshi.”

  Yoshi snorted. “If you’re so big and bad, tell me, can you stop me from doing this?” Without missing a beat, she lunged at Max, ripped him out of Ally’s arm and pinned him to the ground. “Gotcha!”

  Max struggled underneath her, grunting and trying to break out of her hold. “That’s only because Kiehle didn’t get to teach me how to fight yet.”

  “Yoshi. Off.”

  Yoshi smiled and rolled off triumphantly. “Remember that I can do that anytime I want,” she mumbled to him.

  Max sat up and wiped the grass from his clothes. “I wish we were still with Kiehle. He could’ve taught me how to be a real warrior.”

  “We’re better off on our own,” Ally said.

  “But he was nice to us. I felt…”

  “Safe,” Yoshi said, finishing his sentence.

  Safe.

  Yeah, there were moments when she’d felt that way too—when she wasn’t thinking about what he was really planning to do with them. “It’ll be fine with just the three of us. You’ll see. Lepsesthe, here we come,” she said, trying her best to sound upbeat.

  “And then what?” Max asked. “Will we have to sleep outside there too? I don’t like sleeping outside. It’s all creepy. The ground is cold and hard.”

  Truth was, she didn’t like sleeping outside any more than he did.

  “And we had a real bed at Kiehle’s. Remember how soft our bed was, Yoshi?”

  Yoshi’s eyes gleamed. “It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud,” she said dreamily.

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Ally muttered.

  Max and Yoshi didn’t pay her any mind as they rattled on about all the wonders of Kiehle’s house. Right down to the food he’d served them and, of course, the toys that couldn’t fit in the bag and had to be left behind.

  “Hey, don’t knock our new adventure before we even finish it,” she said, finally interrupting them, not wanting to hear any more praise about Kiehle in all of his lying gloriousness. She held up the bag and shook it, causing the contents inside to make a clinking noise. “I have some pretty fancy stuff in here. Did you see how fast that attendant gave us those tickets when I gave him the bands? When we get to Lepsesthe, I’m pretty sure what we have in here will get us a house, and hopefully furnish it too. Any way we like. We can buy new beds, new clothes, and we won’t have anyone breathing down our necks and lying to us either.”

  Max and Yoshi exchanged looks. “He wasn’t breathing down our necks. He’s way too tall. He would have to bend down,” Yoshi said.

  “What did Kiehle lie to us about?” Max asked.

  “Everything. He lied about everything.” Ally set the bag down, feeling flustered. There was no point in arguing with children. One day they’d forget about Kiehle and so would she. “Nothing worth repeating.”

  “It’s not nice to lie,” Yoshi said. “My mother taught me that.”

  “But are you sure he was lying? Maybe you didn’t understand what he was talking about,” Max added.

  “I’m not stupid,” she said, her voice shaking. Before she knew it, her lips quivered and her eyes swelled with tears.

  Max wrapped his thin little arms around her neck and Yoshi wrapped hers around her waist. “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to make you upset,” he said as he ran a comforting hand down her hair.

  She sniffled and wiped at the tears. “Guys, I’m trying to do the best I can. I’m just a little overwhelmed. That’s all. It’s nothing you said.”

  “It’ll be better when we get to Lepsesthe,” Yoshi said. “Just you wait.”

  * * * * *

  Ally was on full alert. She needed to keep an eye on her surroundings as well as Yoshi and Max. They played without a care in the world on the floor in front of her. The depot bustled with activity. She could deal with the activity. She could even deal with myriad different alien life forms streaming past them, mingling.

  But what she could not deal with was the looks Yoshi and Max kept giving her over the dolls they were playing with. They each held one, the dolls facing each other, and from what she could tell, were having a heated discussion.

  “You ask her,” Yoshi said in a singsong voice.

  “I don’t want to. Why can’t you? You’re the oldest,” Max replied in his own animated voice.

  Ally rolled her eyes but otherwise pretended she didn’t hear them or what they were discussing. She knew all too well what they were talking about, but since her breakdown last night, they didn’t want to bring up Kiehle’s name again.

  Ally had figur
ed out a while ago that they wanted to ask her if Kiehle could come visit them when they reached their new home.

  Yoshi answered Max. “I don’t want to make her upset.”

  “Maybe we had to leave him before she killed him with her blaster. I wouldn’t want to see him dead.”

  And now they were making her out to be some kind of ruthless killer. She’d had enough.

  “Do you want to be free or do you want to see Kiehle again?”

  They exchanged glances.

  “Argh.” She dropped her head to her hands. “Listen, he was able to get into my head and steal my memories. We couldn’t stay with him anymore. It wasn’t safe.”

  “He stole your memories? How did he do that?” Yoshi asked.

  “I don’t know how. He just did.” Her head throbbed more and more with each passing second.

  “Are you sure?” Max asked.

  “He knew about my best friend. There was no way he could’ve known about her unless he tapped into my mind.”

  “But maybe he didn’t tap into your mind. Maybe he really does know your friend.”

  Ally shook her head. The idea of him knowing Eva was one she couldn’t entertain. “Not possible. He was talking way too crazy for any of it to be real. My best friend is not a queen on some distant planet, living happily ever after and making alien babies, making some kind of magical alien entity scour the galaxy looking for me.” She snorted. “That line would have worked on me a couple of years ago, but now? I’m not a sucker,” she said, her voice breaking on the last word.

  Max looked up at her with big brown eyes. “You said our parents would never stop looking for us. Couldn’t that be true for friends too?”

  She tilted her head. Her insides turned to goo. “I guess so. But I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case here. If I’d thought he was telling the truth, I would’ve stayed. But he proved to be more dangerous than anyone I’ve come into contact with.”

  Max opened his eyes wide.

  “Because he found a way to get to your memories?” Yoshi asked.

  “Yes.” And because I was starting to like him.

  She felt a small hand on her knee. Max sniffled. “We’re sorry, Ally.”

  She pulled him to her and motioned for Yoshi. With both of them in her arms, she squeezed and kissed their foreheads.

  “Listen, I’m trying to do what’s best for us. And what’s best for us is going somewhere we’ll be able to blend in. Have a normal life and not think about Kiehle again.”

  Max scrunched his brows together. “How would we live normal?”

  Yeah right, he’d never known what a normal life was like.

  “We could go to the mall or nail salon,” Yoshi offered.

  Ally chuckled. “Do you remember malls and nail salons?”

  She shrugged and curled a lock of hair behind her ear. “One of the ladies at the brothel said she missed going to the mall and nail salon. I thought that since she missed it so much, more than her family, that it must’ve been really good.”

  Ally rubbed Yoshi’s arm. “Yeah, they were pretty good. But I miss my family more than meandering through some shops with overpriced clothes.”

  The overhead speaker beeped, then in a monotone voice, someone said, “The transporter to Lepsesthe is now boarding.”

  “That’s us,” she said. Finally.

  While she stood, Max grabbed one of the bags, which normally shouldn’t have been an issue for an eight-year-old boy, but he’d suffered from years of undernourishment. He stumbled as he tried to put it over his back.

  “Whoa, I got this big fella.” She reached for the bag, but he took an awkward step away.

  “No. I have to do it. Kiehle said I’m supposed to take care of you two. And even though he’s not around anymore, I think I should still remember and listen to what he said. Females need protectors.”

  She put a hand on her hip. “Is that so?”

  With a determined look on his face, he finally positioned the bag on his back and straightened.

  “You’re not in charge of me. I’m older and bigger than you,” Yoshi declared.

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m the head male of our family. He said in his species, I would be making all of our decisions.” He smiled broadly.

  “You won’t be able to make decisions for me if you have a swollen mouth,” Yoshi threatened.

  Good lord. They’d apparently found Yoshi’s sore spot. She certainly didn’t like it when Max tried to tell her what to do. And it looked as though whatever Kiehle had filled his head with was sticking. She could count on sibling fighting for a while.

  She stood between them, breaking their stare-down. “Yoshi, enough. Max is becoming a man. If he wants to carry the bag, we’ll let him.”

  “But what about me?”

  Ally picked up the other bag. “Do you want to carry one?” she asked as they headed for the transport.

  “No,” Yoshi replied with a pout.

  “Then let it be. Now, no more squabbling or we’ll miss our—”

  She stopped as a male blocked her path. She remembered him from somewhere. A small alarm went off in her head.

  From the brothel? Which one?

  He was…human. No. Not quite. He was dark-skinned with short, thick hair. He stood just under seven feet and had a thick build. His features were human, but something was off. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was. But right now wasn’t a good time to be curious. Especially since he had his gray eyes locked on her.

  She glared at him. “I’m not looking for trouble.”

  “No, but it appears that he is.” He nodded behind her.

  Then she remembered. Kiehle’s friend.

  The skin on her neck prickled. She spun around.

  Kiehle.

  Chapter Nineteen

  He’s going to kill me.

  She reached for her waistband.

  Shit. Empty.

  She had to check her blaster in before she could board the transport. Weapons weren’t allowed.

  He kept his murderous glare on her. “What are you planning to do? Kill me or drug me again?” he asked in low voice.

  She looked around. Where was the security in this place? Who would save her? She pulled the kids closer. “Wha…what are you doing here?”

  “I promised my brother’s mate that I would find you and return you to her safely, and that’s what I intend to do.” His voice had lost all of its…niceness. He wasn’t smiling or trying to make her laugh. He wasn’t indulging her in any way. He was mad. No, more than that—he was pissed.

  So what? She was mad too. She didn’t particularly like being lied to and plotted against. She raised her chin in a defiant move. She wasn’t a pushover. She could hold her own, even against him. “Are you still sticking to that story? Ha! I know what you’re planning to do.”

  His brows pulled together. “I never kept my intentions from you. I’m taking you to Drazlan to be with Eva.”

  She laughed so hard that it came out as an insane cackle. “Drop the act.” Looking down, she saw that Max and Yoshi were staring at her, wide-eyed. “Cover your ears,” she said to them. When they had their ears covered, she directed her anger back to Kiehle. “You’re planning to sell us back into slavery. I’m not stupid,” she said in a harsh whisper.

  He choked. “Slavery? I don’t believe in slavery.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you believe in. You’re an alien and I’ve been to enough brothels to know that you guys are greedy, controlling and will do anything to keep your credit accounts filled.”

  “When have I ever given you the impression that I am greedy, controlling or would stoop to the unspeakable to fill my account—that’s if it needed to be filled?”

  “I saw the way your brother looked at me. I see the way you look at me all the time. I know how bartering and exchanging of slaves work. I know what’s going to happen and I won’t,” she balled her fists at her sides, “I can’t go back to that kind of life.”

  A vein tw
itched in his forehead as he glared at her. “You are going to have to trust someone if you want to survive. That someone is me. I want to take you to Eva of your own accord, but if I have to, I will force you.”

  “Give it up. I’m not the little stupid human that you think I am.” She jabbed her temple with a finger. “You have some kind of mind machine and stole all my memories. That’s how you know about Eva. So if you intend to force me to leave with you then let’s get this fight started.”

  The other alien laughed, boisterous and deep. She whirled and gave him a scathing look, adding him to her list of people to kill after she got her blaster back.

  He put his hands up. “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one who stole your memories,” he said between laughs.

  “Thesan,” Kiehle hissed. “Make yourself useful and watch over the children.”

  She pulled Max and Yoshi behind her and readied for a fight. “No one’s taking them anywhere,” she snarled.

  Kiehle advanced on her so fast that she didn’t have time to react. Before she realized it, he’d scooped her up and over his shoulder.

  “Put me down,” she yelled, hitting his back.

  “I’m about to show you the reason why I watch you the way that I do.”

  “Wh-what?”

  When he didn’t answer but kept putting distance between her and the kids and the giant who stood by their side, she knew she was in trouble.

  He stopped only to ask an attendant for a private room.

  “Don’t let him take me anywhere private! He’s planning to kill me,” she yelled to the attendant.

  The attendant only shrugged, as if people were killed often under his watch.

  “Coward,” she yelled at him.

  Kiehle entered a room and shut the door. He pressed a button that she knew served as a lock. Then he turned to a wall and let her slide off his shoulder. She had nowhere to run. Her back was pressed against the wall and Kiehle was pressed against her front.

  Trapped.

  She couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt too tight. Constricted.

  She pushed him back, creating enough room between them to throw a left hook into his side. He grunted as her fist connected with a wall of muscle. “How do you like this, asshole?” She kicked his shin and when he jerked back, she balled her fist and aimed for his chin.