Enslaved (Space Mage Book 2)

by Izzy Shows

  With that, I walked from the room. I was the only one who left. The other females stayed behind.

  The screams of the masters grew, surrounding me for a moment as I left.

  I had no regrets.

  Kaidan

  An Earth week. A short amount of time, yet it felt like an eternity. I had been playing this charade, performing as if I desired Tavixi, for a week now, and nothing had changed. Or at least, not in the way I had hoped. Tavixi had become more and more amorous, but aside from that, not much was different.

  I told myself that I shouldn't expect things to change so soon, that I had signed up to play the long game and I had to be careful, but this wasn't the kind of man I was used to being. I was used to taking action and getting results quickly, not relying on a carefully worded comment here and there, a look filled with more meaning than words could say, a gentle touch that could communicate feeling without my needing to say a single word. I was learning, but it was difficult.

  My fear of never earning my freedom grew day by day, leaving me little hope that I would ever get what I wanted. It didn't help that night after night, I was tormented with nightmares of Xiva being tortured and abused. I needed to go and rescue her, to ensure that she was safe and would never be harmed again.

  If only I could wrap her up and put her out of harm's way forever, I would be happy. But that wasn't the kind of person Xiva was; she would never be satisfied not being in the middle of things. That was what had gotten us into this damned position in the first place.

  I didn't blame her, though. I blamed myself for not being more attentive when the slavers attacked, for not paying attention to my surroundings and allowing myself to get caught up in the belief that Xiva was safe. Or that she had been safe. Neither of us had been safe after a moment.

  Xiva is capable of taking care of herself. She can make it through this, just as you can.

  I tried to let that thought reassure me, but it was difficult to listen to. I knew, objectively, that Xiva was a strong woman with many talents, that she had kicked my ass in a fight, and that she could endure whatever predicament she had been trapped in. She could have even survived this, if she had been sold to someone like Tavixi.

  It was just hard, when I thought of how slight her frame was, how light she was, to remember that she had a strength inside her greater than any I'd seen before.

  But I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on my thirst for freedom or what might be happening to Xiva, because things with Tavixi were coming to a head. With the attention I'd given her, she'd grown quite amorous, and it was becoming apparent to me that she was a woman with needs that apparently had not been met for quite a long time, and she was growing impatient.

  I kept that in mind as I lifted a piece of fruit off a platter and fed it to her at dinner, trying my best to give her the attention she needed without encouraging her to go too far. It seemed to be working for a large part of the meal, and then, all of a sudden, it wasn't.

  "I hope your day has gone well," she said, leaning closer to me as she parted her lips for the piece of meat I was about to feed her.

  "Quite well, mistress, as it always is when I am with you."

  She tittered. "Oh, Kaidan, you'll make me blush."

  I smiled for a second, and then she made her move. She brushed her hand over my shoulder, which wasn't entirely uncommon, but then her hand continued over my chest and down to the span of my abdomen. She stopped there, and I looked up to see her watching me.

  Asking for permission.

  I can't do this. I can't let her grope me like this.

  Despair filled me, because I knew I had to play along with her, but there were some things I wasn't willing to sacrifice.

  With my lips set in a grim line, I grabbed hold of her hand at the wrist and moved it back to her lap, shaking my head as I did so.

  I was afraid that this might ruin everything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want her like that.

  But she didn't say anything about it, and instead turned her attention back to the food. I was grateful that she respected my boundaries, that she didn't push me; she'd stopped as soon as I said no.

  Guilt washed through me as the realization struck me, not for the first time, that what I was doing was horribly wrong. I couldn't keep doing it, couldn't keep manipulating her like this when she didn't deserve it. She was a real person with feelings, and though she couldn't seem to grasp that there was a power imbalance between the two of us that would preclude my ever being able to truly consent to being with her, she did respect me.

  She respected when I said no.

  I can't do this. I won't keep leading her on. I can't play with her feelings like this.

  Trepidation filled me over what I was about to say, but I could see no way around it. Every minute that went by with her believing that I cared for her was a lie, a mark against my soul, and I couldn't live with it any longer.

  "Tavixi, there's something I have to tell you," I said, putting my hands in my lap and dropping my gaze. It pained me to admit it, but I couldn't look her in the eyes.

  "What?" She sounded surprised. "What could that be?"

  "I've been lying to you. I—I don't have feelings for you, not in the way you want me to. I respect you a great deal, and I do understand what you're trying to do, and I deeply regret what I said to you after that party, but I don't love you. I'm sorry."

  "I don't understand. You've been so…"

  "I thought that if I could make you love me, you might set me free. It was a cruel thing to do, and I cannot express how sorry I am for doing it," I murmured.

  Though I wasn't looking right at her, I could see out of the corner of my eye that she had gone completely stiff, and I could hear in the labored nature of her breathing that she was struggling not to cry.

  A few tense minutes passed with neither of us saying anything, and then she stood up abruptly and left the room without a word.

  My heart sank.

  I knew now that she would never free me, but more than that, I hated that I had hurt her.

  I was the worst kind of bastard.

  Kaidan

  I woke with a roar, my blood raging, the need to fight and kill burning inside me.

  "Xiva!" I cried, looking around wildly and not seeing my surroundings. She'd been there just a moment before, held down on a platform and being whipped in front of me, just as the male had been at the domination party. She'd been chained and powerless to protect herself, and I couldn't get to her.

  They'd been torturing her. I knew that, though I hadn't seen anything to give credence to the idea that it was more than just a punishment, but my heart told me it was true.

  "Kaidan!" A voice snapped out my name, not far away from me, and I whipped my head in its direction.

  For a minute, I couldn't see anything more than the cold room where Xiva had been chained, but reality slowly appeared around me. Tavixi was kneeling in front of me, her face all screwed up, and she was crying.

  Irritation rushed through me.

  It was clear now that I'd been having a nightmare, that Xiva wasn't really here being tortured, but it upset me that Tavixi was making this about herself. I was worried about Xiva, upset by my dream, and instead of being able to process my feelings and come down from the horror of the dream, I would have to comfort Tavixi.

  "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, my voice sounding rough to my own ears, but I was trying to be gentle.

  "You called out another female's name in your sleep," she said in between little sniffs as she cried.

  I gritted my teeth. That was what this was about? She was jealous that I'd called out for Xiva?

  "Tavixi, calm down. Listen to me," I said after taking a deep breath. "Xiva is a friend of mine. She's very important to me, and she was sold into slavery at the same time I was. I'm worried about her."

  "Do you love her?" she blurted, swiping at her eyes to dry her tears, but they kept falling.

  This time, my sigh was much
heavier, more audible, and I knew she couldn't miss it.

  "No, I don't love her. She's—she calls it being a yeva. It's a bond that's very rare, but it used to happen with her people now and then. What it really means is that we were made to fight together. We're comrades. When we fight together, nothing can stand in our way. It's a very intimate bond, but it's not romantic."

  She shook her head. "No, I heard the way you called her name. You have to love her."

  I gritted my teeth. Nothing I said was going to get through to her.

  Yes, I was attracted to Xiva. More than anything, I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her like I was dying the next time I saw her, because damn if it wasn't painful to be away from her. But, no, that didn't mean I loved her. That was ridiculous. I didn't fall in love. That crap wasn't for me.

  But now Tavixi was really sobbing.

  "I'm such a fool! To have thought I could win the affections of a male like yourself when of course your heart belongs to another."

  With a grunt, I rolled to kneel in front of her and gripped her by the shoulders.

  "Once again, I'm going to repeat that I do not love Xiva. But that's neither here nor there. You are a female of great worth, and if you left this backwards planet, you would find a million men who would love and cherish you."

  She blinked up at me, sniffling. "Do you really mean that?"

  "Of course I do."

  She gave me a little smile and seemed to have finally stopped crying. She reached up behind my neck with one hand, and I stiffened for a second, thinking she had read the wrong thing into what I'd said, but the next thing I knew, my pain collar was off my neck and lying in her lap.

  "What are you doing?" I frowned, unable to process the surprise that had rushed through me.

  "I'm letting you go," she said softly. "Your kindness, the way you cared for me, the way you've treated me, and the honesty you've given me—it's made me realize what a good male—no, what a good person you are. No one's ever treated me the way you have, and I can't keep you as a slave. It would be wrong. You're free now."

  I stared at her for a moment, unable to find words, then, as I opened my mouth to thank her, the sound of blaster shots echoed through the house.

  Without thinking, I grabbed her and yanked her against my body, then pressed both of us down to the floor and shielded her with my body.

  "Get under the bed," I whispered.

  Her eyes were wide, and she'd gone several shades paler. "What's going on?"

  "We're under attack. Get under the bed and stay quiet. I'm going to handle this."

  She scooted out from under me to get underneath the bed, and I climbed to my feet.

  Finally, a battle.

  Kaidan

  Several more blaster shots echoed through the house as I stalked out of Tavixi's room, careful to keep my footsteps silent and stick to the shadows along the walls. We were under attack, and while I might be a free man again and this was technically none of my business, I wasn't going to leave Tavixi at the mercy of some would-be assassin.

  There had been multiple shots fired, so I was sure there were several intruders in the house, but the first one made things easy for me as he ran up the stairs into the hallway right in front of Tavixi's room.

  He hesitated when he saw me, but then he had his blaster up and was shooting at me.

  I didn't even have to think about it. My scale armor sprang from my skin and locked down around me, protecting me from the blast of energy that would have torn right through me. I walked calmly toward the assassin as he kept firing, and he was in full-blown panic by the time I reached him, but it didn't matter. I took his head in my hands and twisted it sharply to one side, ending his life before he could so much as raise a finger to me.

  Short work. But the killing had my blood rushing through my veins, urging me to kill again, and I felt the rage at the back of my mind, struggling to take control.

  I fought it, wishing again that Xiva were here; she was the only one who could control the rage inside me.

  But I could smell others in the house, and I knew I had little time to waste on such thoughts. I was ashamed that I had let the emotions from the nightmare and comforting Tavixi stop me from sensing the attackers. I was a better soldier than this, damn it, but I was going to make up for it by killing them quickly.

  A debt needed to be repaid. Tavixi had given me my life back, and I wasn't going to let hers be snuffed out so quickly.

  I moved through the house, stalking the halls like the silent predator I was, until I had found each and every one of them and killed them. It was almost too easy, but I disregarded that misgiving and headed back to Tavixi's room to tell her she was safe.

  When I walked in, I found an assassin standing in the middle of the room, Tavixi held tight against his body with a blaster pressed to her head. His gaze was trained on me as if he'd been waiting for me.

  I narrowed my eyes. Why take Tavixi as a shield instead of killing her and racing off into the night?

  No doubt he knows that if he kills her, you'll hunt him down and kill him. He wants to kill you first.

  It was apparent to me in that moment that I could walk away from this right now. The assassin didn't really care about me; he was only holding on to Tavixi because he was afraid of me and wanted to use her as bait so he could kill me, finish the job, and be gone.

  "Leave now," the assassin said in an oily voice. "Leave the traitor to me, and go with your life."

  "I can't do that, I'm afraid. I'll give you the same chance, though. Let her go, and I won't hunt you down, I swear."

  Tavixi whimpered as the assassin tightened his hold on her.

  "Once a contract is taken out, it is either her life or ours. I cannot leave her alive."

  So, no-go on the peaceful exit, then.

  Damn it, I wished I was Xiva. With her magic, she would have been able to kill this assassin without having to do more than lift a single finger. I wasn't going to be able to close the distance between the two of us before the male killed Tavixi. If only…

  But Xiva had taught me some of that magic. While I was teaching her Common, back on her planet, she had taught me a few spells.

  How the fuck could I forget that?

  It struck me as the dumbest thing in the world that it could have flown out of my mind, but it did make a little sense. I'd been so focused on regaining my freedom that I hadn't had time to remember something that was so new to me.

  Clenching my jaw, I glared at the assassin and focused my attention inside myself, as Xiva had taught me. There was a power well within me, something I could access if I could find the right path, then pull it out of me and into the world.

  It was harder than I had thought it would be, because I could barely remember the way Xiva had shown me to do it. It was as if the path was hidden inside me, and I had to hunt for it, which was dangerous. I could see, even with half of my attention trained on him, that the assassin was getting antsy with me just standing there.

  I had to hope I had another minute or two left before he did something.

  I pushed harder, looked deeper, and found that hidden well. It was small, but I encouraged it to grow, drew it out with mental fingers, and shoved it out in a great big push.

  The blaster in the assassin's hand shot away from him and fell harmlessly to the floor, and as soon as it did, I lunged at him, not wasting a single second. My claws were fully extended before I reached him, and one swipe to his throat shredded it to pieces.

  Tavixi fell to the floor sobbing, completely hysterical. Understandable, after what she'd just been through.

  I knelt down and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against me.

  "It's OK. Hey, it's all right," I murmured. "You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."

  She jerked in my arms, looking up at me. "Don't you understand? This isn't the first time this has happened. I'll never be safe here, not being who I am."

  "Leave with me, then. If you won't be safe on this pl
anet, then get the fuck off of it."

  She shook her head. "I can't. I won't. I won't leave until the slaves here are freed, starting with mine. You were right: I should have taken a stand a long time ago, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to finish what I started here."

  "Tavixi…"

  "You can't stay to protect me," she said. "I know you have to find your friend, but even if you didn't go, someone else would try to claim you now that I've set you free. You have to leave, and I'll find a way to survive, like I always have."

  It was a bitter pill to swallow, knowing I would be leaving her in danger. But I had to respect her decision.

  I wouldn't take her right to decide away from her. I understood now how horrible it was to lose your free will.

  Xiva

  "I'm never going to find him," I whispered as I looked at the confusing report on the vid screen. I'd been trying for a week now to find some record, any record, of Kaidan. But it seemed there was no way of finding him. Everything I tried came up short, and I was beginning to despair.

  I couldn't believe that he could be so hidden from me, but I refused to give up.

  At least I had found Walter. I looked over my shoulder at him, a smile tugging at my lips, and felt a bit of relief. I'd been worried that something might have happened to him after we'd been taken by the slavers, but he'd made it out alive.

  He'd been trying to find us all this time, but apparently there had been no trail for him to follow, and he was much better at it than I was—or that was how it looked to me, at least. I was no stranger to technology, which had been a basic part of my life on Eyrus, but the systems that Walter used on his ship had a learning curve to them, and I didn't have the patience for it right now.