by Amy Miles
“Your guard is hurting me.”
The creature across the room from me jerks its head and the pressure releases but only slightly.
“Thank you.” I feel completely ridiculous to be thanking this monster for lessening my pain. “And the other one?”
The creature looks down at Hyde trapped beneath at his foot. Heeee is noooot yoursss to prooooteeeect.
“Perhaps not but I insist all the same.”
Yooooouuu iiiinsiiiist? Yoooouuu haaaaveee noooo poooweeer heeereee.
I smile. “Then why did you just remove your foot from his back?”
The Roamer bares its teeth at me and a rumbling growl rises from its throat. Hyde scrambles away from its reach but cannot go far due to being chained nearby. Reyes looks at me with obvious warning but I ignore him.
Yooouuu areee a cleeeveeer oooneee. I waaassss riiiight aaabooouut yoouu.
“You obviously came to capture me. I am here now. Why keep these other people?”
The veil of skin falls over its eyes again before it answers. I watch as the slits of its nose narrow and widen with each breath it takes. Theeeyyy aaareee uuussseeefuul tooo mee.
“Yeah,” I frown, rubbing my sore wrists. Dried blood flakes away and flutter to the ground before me. “I got that.”
Yooouuu waaaant toooo seeeee yooouuur friiieeend?
“Of course I want to see him,” I snap, feeling my frustration get the better of me.
A priiiceee tooo beee paaaiiid.
“Price?” I glance around at the people sitting with me. What on earth could we possibly have that they want? “What price?”
Cooompaaaanyyy.
“Company?” My brow furrows with confusion. “I don’t understand you.”
Another bark emits from my guard. I cry out as it releases my hand and grabs my chest, my breast positioned in the middle of its palm, its fingers spread wide enough to reach my abdomen.
A vicious hiss from the creature at the door makes my guard withdraw its hand. It rises and steps away from me.
“No wait!” I cry out as it seizes Callisto by the arm. The chains at her ankles snap effortlessly, clanging as they fall to the floor. She wails and beats at its back as the Roamer tosses her over his shoulder. “What are you doing? Don’t take her!”
Marius stares up at my guard as it stomps past him and there, in the recesses of the darkened corner I finally see the other girl. She is young, too young to be stuck in this place. If she is a day over fifteen I would be surprised.
“Don’t touch her,” I scream as the Roamer reaches for her. She shrieks and beats at its enormous hand but she is easily captured and slung over its other shoulder.
I glare at the commanding Roamer. “What are you going to do with them?”
Myyyy soooldiiieeersss haaaveee neeeedsss tooooo.
“No!” I shriek and yank against my chains, realizing too late that while I was speaking my guard had reattached me to the wall. “You can’t do this! Leave the girls and take me instead!”
Hyde thrusts his head up, his gaze drilling into me as I buck wildly. Blood streams down my arms as I thrash but it is no use.
The Roamer hefts the girls higher onto his shoulder, unconcerned with their attempts to fight back. He nods at a hissed command and ducks past his commanding officer and into the hall beyond. I can hear Callisto and the other girl’s screams. They tear at me, damning me. No amount of longing to see Bastien would be worth this price, but I was never given a choice.
My hair falls in wild tangles before my eyes. It billows before me as my chest heaves with exertion. The creature approaches and kneels down before me, just outside of kicking distance.
Yoooouuu dooo noooot oooweee theeeseee giiirlsss anyyythiiing.
“They are my people. I owe them everything,” I snap. The creature seems to ponder my statement before nodding. “Bring them back. I will go with you instead.”
Noooo. It shakes its head and rises. It casts one last glance down at me before walking away. Yoooouuu aaareee nooooot acceeeeptaaaableeee.
I shudder as the wall materializes behind where Hyde once sat, appearing as if it had been there the entire time. Callisto’s screams cut off abruptly and I turn to the side and curl up into myself.
My tears finally come.
NINE
My tears begin with silence and end with soul-wracking sobs. I cry for the innocence being stolen from these two girls, and who knows how many countless more that may be imprisoned on this vessel. I cry for my husband who might be lost to me. I cry for Bastien’s suffering at my expense. I cry for my people who have suffered so much, and I cry for myself.
As my sobs finally begin to taper off I look up to find Marius watching me. He offers a sympathetic smile as I wipe my nose with the back of my hand.
“It’s about time,” Hyde mutters sourly.
“Lay off, man,” Reyes growls. I turn to look at him and see him tear a strip of cloth from his shirt. He tosses it toward me but falls short. I stretch out my toes to grasp it, grateful that in this new position my chains allow me a greater range of motion, at least in my arms and legs.
As I offer Reyes a smile of gratitude, Hyde speaks up again. “I’m just saying what you’re all thinking. Don’t nobody want to hear that girl whimpering like it was her they were abusing.”
Marius sucks in a breath. “Have you lost your darn mind? She offered to take their place, or did your fool brain forget that little tidbit?”
“He’s right,” Vondran says. He clears his throat and refuses to look at me when he speaks. “We all heard it. She tried to save them.”
“Nah.” Hyde shakes his head. His shaggy hair falls over his eyes in thick strands. “What I heard was her making a deal to see her guy. I bet she’s just upset that they haven’t brought him in yet.”
My jaw clenches so hard I can feel my teeth grinding together. Anger darkens my vision. It takes all of my control to keep from blasting back at him. Thankfully, I don’t need to. The other men in the room all explode at the same time, coming to my defense.
I’m not really sure when it happened, but somehow these men joined together in my support. No, not in my support. In my defense. They were just as useless as I was to stop what happened. At least I had something to offer.
“Well if that isn’t the truth then why didn’t they take her too? She’s a heck of a lot prettier than those other two, that’s for darn sure,” Hyde growls, crossing his arms over his chest. I can tell by the way he sits against the wall that his back is tender. The Roamer’s nails must have pierced rather deep.
“I bet you would have liked that, huh?” I snap, turning to face him. “You like hurting defenseless girls, don’t you Hyde?”
His face blotches with anger. “Now, I didn’t say nothing like that.”
“But you sure implied it,” Vondran says from his corner.
“Not acceptable,” a voice rises from the distant corner. I squint to see in the darkness and realize this must be where Satal sits. I had nearly forgotten the man was even in the same room as me. He only spoke briefly before and then it was nothing not worthy to remember him by.
“What did you say?” I ask, feeling a tremor begin in my fingers and work its way up to my chest.
“You not acceptable.” It is the same statement but this time it feels all the more profound.
“Well what the heck is that supposed to mean?” Reyes asks, tossing his hands up in the air. “Way to be helpful, Satal.”
I stare into the dark, noticing the creepy green shine to the man’s eyes. The longer I stare at him the more I begin to doubt that he is a man at all. His features seem almost smashed, as if they are just not quite right. His skin is pale enough to appear to glow in the dark. His hair is cropped short yet still manages to look unruly. A small beard along his face grows in odd patches. His cheeks are gaunt, his eyes sunken. I wonder how long he has been trapped in this cage.
My voice wavers when I speak again. “How do you know that?”
/> Satal does not respond. Instead he turns to stare at the wall. I blow out an unsteady breath and run my hands through my hair. Although I have more movement of my arms and legs, my neck is still closely attached to the wall. I guess that I have no more than six inches to play with.
“Care to tell us what he’s talking about, little lady?” Vondran asks, turning his full attention on me.
I consider lying, of telling him that Satal is off his rocker but I know they suspect something. I didn’t hold myself together very well when I heard him the second time. Even Hyde is peering at me with something mildly resembling interest. I sigh and shake my head. “That’s what that Roamer said to me when he left. That I was not taken because I am not acceptable, whatever that means.”
Reyes shifts to look over his shoulder at Satal. “And how would he know that? That info wasn’t exactly shared with the rest of the group.”
I shrug and rub my temples. My headache isn’t bound to get any better any time soon. “How does he change forms? Who knows?”
“What else did he tell you?” Marius scoots a bit closer. I can see the tremor in his hands and feel sorry for the man. He tried to help me when I was choking. The others did nothing while he and Callisto at least attempted to save my life.
“Not much. He just said that we are special, have value to him. I assume that means that we are worth his time and effort to cart across the stars to be sent to a slave market.” I know that I sound bitter but I no longer care. What does it matter anyway? It’s not like we are getting out of here any time soon.
Marius nods slowly and turns his gaze back toward the door that is no longer visible. “Do you think they are hurting them?”
“Of course they are,” Hyde snorts. When he realizes we have all turned to look at him he sighs. “Not to be rude here, I know big shocker huh, but those guys aren’t exactly normal proportion, if ya know what I mean.”
That goes without saying. I curl my knees up into my chest and attempt to hug my knees but can't quite manage it. Instead I place them on my legs and close my eyes. Even though I know these events would have happened no matter what, I can’t help but take the blame for this. “It’s all my fault,” I whisper.
“So now you admit it?” Hyde growls.
“No.” I lower my gaze and fix him with a livid glare. “I’m not talking about what happened earlier. I’m talking about a week ago. A month ago. Half a year ago.”
I raise my hands and begin fiddling with the hem of my dress, finding this to be a safe thing to look at instead of the men surrounding me. “I should have been able to see into the future, to foresee this very thing.”
“Why couldn’t you?” Reyes asks. I look over at him and see no hint of condemnation. Only curiosity.
I shrug. “I don’t know. Every time I would look it was just this black void. No color. No light. No faces. No sound. Just...nothingness.”
“Guess much hasn’t changed for you then, huh?”
I frown and sit forward, crossing my legs before me. “What do you mean, Vondran?”
The man brushes his long greasy blond hair back from his face and for the first time I notice a small scar at the center of his forehead. It could have been a pox mark or some other wound, but Kyan has taught me to recognize the mark. “You are a seer.”
“Not a very good one if you ask me,” Hyde remarks. “Still wound up stuck in here with us, didn’t he?”
Vondran sneers at Hyde but chooses to let his comment slide as he looks back to me. “I was a seer. At least that was the gift I was born with.” He shrugs and leans back against the wall, careful not to get too close to the start of the bars. “I guess I’m not too good with following rules.”
“So you turned your back on your own abilities?” I realize that the rise in my voice probably makes me sound like a ninny but I’m utterly shocked. I can’t fathom why anyone would do such a thing. Especially when their abilities could benefit so many.
“Sure. After a while if you don’t use them you lose them.” I look to Reyes and note that his jaw has clamped down tightly. “Reyes? You got something to add?”
Vondran turns an amused glance at the man. “Yeah, Reyes. You feel like blaming my wayward path on why your sister turned whore?”
Reyes lunges forward and slams his fist into Vondran’s eye. Hyde whoops and claps his hands. “Now that’s what I call a sucker punch. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya Seer?”
Vondran snorts and covers his eye as he retreats out of Reyes’ reach. When he turns to look at me he lowers his hand. “What’s your problem?”
I sit forward, staring him down. “I’m trying to figure you out.”
“Oh yeah?” He tosses his hair back over his shoulder and presses his eye against the wall. I doubt he’s going to find any relief there. The room is so hot I feel like I’m sitting in a steam room. “Get in line, little lady.”
“How can a guy come to the aid of two girls who are about to be brutalized and yet sit there and speak so callously of Reyes sister?”
Vondran draws his face away from the wall. “Carmella chose that life. She thrived off it.” He flinches as Reyes lunges again but this time Vondran has moved out of hitting distance. “Whether you want to admit it or not, she was there because you pushed her into it.”
“I did no such thing.” Spittle flies from Reyes’ lips. His eyes bulge and his fists clench. I have no doubt that if his manacles were to miraculously vanish, Reyes would have no qualms over strangling Vondran where he sits.
Vondran sighs. “Whatever. The point is that it was Carmella’s choice. These two little ladies were forced. I can’t say that I like that all that much.”
“I’m sure they’d agree with you,” Hyde mutters.
I ignore Hyde’s comments as I find myself trying to fathom the intricate details of Vondran’s brain. What drives him? What fuels his thoughts? I don’t trust him further than I can throw him, which in these chains wouldn’t be too far, but there is something within him that I suspect could be something akin to a conscience.
“Anyone else want to share what your abilities are, current or latent?” I ask, looking each man in the eye.
Hyde scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m not exactly feeling in the sharing mood.”
I look toward Marius and he offers me an apologetic smile. “Afraid I can’t help ya there. Don’t remember much from before the explosion.”
At least his story of amnesia isn’t changing, I muse as I look at Satal. “You do anything other than shift shapes?”
No answer. No movement. No recognition that I even spoke to him.
“What about you Reyes?” I swivel my head to look at him, noting how sore my neck has become from holding up the weight of this collar. Guess I know why they had me lying down before!
“Not much to say, really.” He rubs his hands before him, focused on them instead of anyone else. “Never was the popular kid in the family.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” Hyde mutters.
“You got a problem, Hyde?” Reyes puffs out his chest and glares at the man across the room from him.
“Nah. Not me. Just stating a fact.” His indifference seems a bit forced to me but I’m not about to stroke that ego. The last thing I want is for Hyde to think he has any sort of an upper hand.
“Fine. You guys don’t want to share, no problem. Just remember that when the time comes and I’m ready to bust out of this place we are going to need all of the help we can get.”
“And here I was thinking you could take on a whole planet by yourself, sweetheart,” Hyde snickers.
I turn and drill him with a glare. “Let me be clear on one thing. If and when we get a chance to escape you had better fall in line or get out of my way, ‘cause I’m not going to hang around and wait for your sorry butt.”
Hyde crosses his legs out before him and tucks his hands behind his head, lounging against the wall. “Spoken like a true Queen.”
The lights overhead flicker and I glance up.
“That’s new,” Marius mutters.
“What is?” I ask, turning to look at him.
He stares intently at the lights glowing on the walls. They flicker again and his gaze narrows. “What’s new, Marius?” I press when he doesn’t answer me.
His gaze lingers on the lights for another moment before he turns his head slowly to look at me. “I think we are slowing down.”
TEN
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Marius is right, though I choose the more obvious route and look overhead at the stars. Though they still flicker past at a dizzying rate there is a definite difference.
“I see it,” I whisper, craning my head back. The raw flesh at the back of my neck protests this position but I linger, desperate to discover if we are nearing our destination or simply stopping off to pick up more guests.
“Anyone else hungry?”
I lower my gaze toward Vondran, surprised by the completely random comment. He shrugs when he sees me looking at him. “What? It’s not like I can do anything about putting the brakes on this big ship so I might as well focus on something more pertinent, like the fact that my stomach is literally beginning to eat itself.”
From the corner of my eye I see Marius rub his own stomach. From the frequent growling coming from the other side of the room I can easily deduce that both Hyde and Satal are in the same condition. Reyes nods in agreement but I feel nothing but ill at ease, my stomach refusing to settle.
A clanking from behind Hyde sends him scuttling away only a split second before the wall vanishes. Three giants, each boasting a chest the width of a human sized doorway step forward. They carry tarnished domed platters. Steam licks up the sides of the metal, though I can’t tell if it is from the food or the natural sauna that I’m trapped in.
The Roamers hiss at each other, their blackened forked tongues flickering past their lips. None of us move as they walk to the center of the room and place the trays on the floor. I can feel the vibrations of each of their steps as they turn and leave the room.
