by Sophie Stern
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
EPILOGUE
Chapter 1
Conquered
Sophie Stern
Copyright © 2017 by Sophie Stern
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Melody Simmons // www.ebookindiecovers.com
Contents
Conquered
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
EPILOGUE
About the Author
Alien Beast
Chapter 1
Beware of Dragons
Red Says the Dragon
For Nick
“We are Jessica Fletcher.”
Chapter 1
Quinn
Aliens have a bit of a problem with stealing.
The Taneyemms liberated the children of Craveloua. The Dreaglans borrowed the children of Taneyemm. The Martians helped the children of Earth.
And me?
I took a ship.
Stealing isn’t our fault, really. It’s part of who we are. It’s part of what makes us the lovable, wonderful creatures that have fascinated humans for millennia.
If only the rest of the galaxy saw things the same way I do.
As it is, they don’t. In fact, taking ships, even from assholes who deserve it, is completely frowned upon. I’m not keen on prison, which means my only choice is to run.
So I run.
I leave Sapphira. I leave my home planet. I take my ship and go. I expect I’ll get to see the world. I expect I’ll get to explore the planets that surround my own. I expect all have all sorts of wonderful adventures, but I don’t.
I don’t because the interstellar police are much more interested than I expected in retrieving their stolen vessel.
So I run faster, farther.
I run harder.
And that’s how I end up hiding out on Dreagle: the darkest, nastiest, most terrible place in the damn universe.
Dreagle: where anything goes as long as it’s done in secret.
Dreagle isn’t the type of place you’d take your mother on vacation. It’s not even the type of place you’d send your worst enemy on vacation.
Or to be punished.
Or to die.
It’s that bad.
Yet it’s here that I find myself wandering the dark alleys and the damp buildings. It’s here I find myself exploring, dressed in a trench coat and a hat, looking like some vintage human detective.
I’m not.
I’m definitely not.
I’m no hero. I’m no spy. I’m nothing. I’m not here to stop the evil that roams free on Dreagle. I don’t want to get involved in any of that. The only thing I want is to hide in the shadows until I figure out why everyone is so damn interested in this ship.
All I want is to be alone.
My ship is hidden in a warehouse I rented with cash. On Dreagle, money talks and people know better than to ask too many questions. As much as I hate the place, I do like that people leave me alone when I flash a growl.
Everyone is so busy committing their own sins they ignore the rest of us.
“Hey asshole,” I hear a voice and I stop walking and turn toward the sound. It’s a man, I presume, judging from the thickness of his voice. He’s standing in the shadows, like me. He’s dressed in clothes that disguise his appearance, like me.
After a quick once-over, I decide he’s not worth my time. I ignore him and keep walking. I have better places to be than talking to a loser in a back alley on a planet I hate.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” the man says again, and I hear his footsteps close behind me. I take a deep breath and count.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then I whirl around, pulling my blade as I do, and hold it to his throat.
“Hey, hey, come on now!” The man gasps, but holds perfectly still. His hands are up and his breathing is hard, fast. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say I caught him unprepared. He was expecting me to be a jerk, but he wasn’t expecting me to be armed. He wasn’t expecting me to be aggressive.
Unfortunately for him, I’m tired of Dreagle. My exhaustion has made me antsy and uncomfortable. I’ve been here nearly a month and I know it’s only a matter of time before I have to run again. It’s only a matter of time before the Sapphiran police force finds me and hauls me back to the Hidden Planet.
I should be more careful when it comes to my behavior. I shouldn’t do things that will make people remember me, shouldn’t do things that will make me stand out.
“What do you want?” I ask through gritted teeth. My blue skin already sets me apart on Dreagle. It’s easy for people to immediately know which planet I’m from. I have no interest in drawing further attention to myself. Not a lot of Sapphirans come to Dreagle. The ones who do are obviously up to no good.
“I…I…” He’s shaking. This guy is physically shaking as he looks at me. He can obviously feel the cold steel of my blade against his skin, obviously knows he can’t move at all or his life will be over.
“Spit it the fuck out before I slit your throat,” I threaten, just in case he thinks I’ve got all day. I don’t.
“There’s an auction,” the man says. Now that we’re close, it’s easy to see how small he is. I can tell he wears the clothes he does to make himself look bigger, broader. The broad rim of his hat casts a shadow over his face, but now that I’m only a few inches from him, I can see his thin, hollow cheekbones.
“Why the fuck would I care about an auction?” I ask, but I don’t leave. I should leave. I should put my knife away and keep going back to my warehouse, back to my ship. There’s a reason the authorities are so desperate to get it back and I plan to find out why. There’s something hidden on it. That much is obvious. Whether it’s information or cargo, I’m not sure.
All I know is that since it’s Hedgar LeBlaie’s ship, it’s something bad, and I need to find it before the goons he’s paid off find me. If they get to me before I finish searching the ship, or if the police get to me, they’ll return his ship to him
unsearched. Then whatever crimes he’s committed will go unpunished.
Then whatever the hell he’s been up to will be forgotten.
“There are girls,” the little man says to me, pulling me from my thoughts. “Lots of girls,” he adds, and then I do put my blade away.
Fuck.
I’m no hero.
I’m not going to march into the auction and kill all of the bastards who are buying women. That’s not my style. That’s not who I am.
I’m discreet and I like to stay to myself. I don’t usually cause a lot of trouble, aside from the stealing habit, and I don’t usually get in anyone’s face. I like to fade into the background. I like to blend in. I don’t like people looking at me and although Dreagle has inhabitants from every planet around, Sapphirans don’t frequent the planet unless they absolutely have to.
I’d say that right now, I have to.
“I don’t want a girl,” I finally say. The man looks relieved that my knife is out of sight.
“Why don’t you come give them a look?” He suggests, waving his arm toward the building behind him. It’s run down, dirty. It’s a two-story warehouse and the sides of the building are falling apart. The wood is rotting: probably because Dreagle is always fucking damp.
“Fuck off, little man,” I say, and I turn away. This isn’t my problem. Not today. My boots splash in a puddle and I feel the water soak through the lower part of my pants. Fantastic. Now I’m pissed off and wet. What else could go wrong for me tonight?
“We have boys, too,” he calls after me. “Orchidians! Dragons! And a human female!”
At that, I stop. I turn back.
“A human?” Why the fuck do they have a human? It’s not uncommon for human males to come to Dreagle, but it’s uncommon for a woman to come here alone because of shit like this. It’s easy to get kidnapped on Dreagle. It’s easy to be stolen away, to be taken. Unless you stay in the main sector designed for visitors to the planet, you should never, ever visit Dreagle without protection.
Now I have to see.
I have to see what this man has done.
I have to see this woman.
With a heavy heart, I turn back to the man and give him a curt nod, but I don’t speak.
“No cover charge tonight,” he says quickly. “Not for you, friend. We’re friends.”
“Right,” I mumble, and I follow him inside the dark building.
I don’t know what’s waiting for me inside, but I have a feeling I’m not going to like it.
Chapter 2
Fiona
It’s cold and I’m wet. Damp. Soaked. Every part of my body is freezing and I shiver, wishing I had something to cover myself with, but I don’t. All I have is a sliver of hope that someone will save me, that my family will find me, but that’s quickly fading.
Auction.
I’m going to be auctioned.
That’s what the man in the cloak says when he tells me to shut my mouth and stand still.
“Some people want to buy the mouthy ones,” he warns me. “And I don’t think they’re the kind of people you’re going to like.” His words sound threatening, but then he lowers his voice, like he doesn’t want anyone else to know what he’s saying.
Like he’s offering me some sort of help, or hope.
“You aren’t going to want them to break you, human, and that’s what they’re going to do.” His words are quick and sharp. Once he says his piece, he leaves, closing the door to the room I’m in. It’s a cell, really. I can’t see out of the room, but I hear his footsteps echo down the deserted hallway.
His words have the intended affect and I shut my mouth tight, pressing my lips together, not wanting to make another sound. There is no help coming for me and yelling isn’t going to change that.
Sold.
I’m about to be sold.
I’m not going to live on Mirroean anymore. I’m not going to go to work or school or hang out with my friends. I’m not going to go on walks or swim in the waters of my planet. I’m not going to do anything.
I’m going to be someone’s pet.
I’m going to be someone’s slave.
There is no peace here, no acceptance of my future. There is only fear and dreading and longing for things to be different than they are.
I am nothing now.
It wasn’t always this way, and the change feels sudden. Fast. I feel like the world is spinning and I can’t quite get my balance. I feel like I’m about to fall and crash and then I’ll be able to see clearly.
Or I’ll be dead.
I don’t know.
Until this week, I was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families on Mirroean and I was engaged to marry one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. I had dresses and went to parties and had a job I really, really loved working with families who relocated to my planet.
Now I am naked and cold and scared.
Now I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.
When my family decided to go on a last-minute trip before the wedding, I was excited. Visiting Orchid has always been a dream of mine. All of the water on the planet is purple. It’s incredible. At least, I thought it would be. I didn’t actually get to see it, so I still don’t know.
When we landed on Dreagle, I knew something was wrong. We’d made a wrong turn. The pilot had gotten lost. Hell, maybe he’d just needed to make a last-minute stop. I didn’t know.
Then the ship was boarded and I was taken.
Men came for me, blindfolded me. They hauled me away as I heard my mother and fiancé screaming for me, crying for me. Had they been taken, too? Was it just me? What was going to happen to them? What was going to happen to any of us?
I felt a pinprick of pain at my wrist, and then nothing. Everything faded away and went black. Noise disappeared and I was floating, then I was asleep.
When I woke up, I was in a dark, empty room. It was dry, but it was empty. There was nothing there. The guards wouldn’t speak to me, no matter how much I yelled, but I heard them outside of my door many times. Finally, I stopped yelling and started listening. I found out they planned to hold me until the auction. Well, it’s auction day.
And now I’m here.
Now I’m locked away.
Now I’m about to be given away, for money, to a man I know nothing about.
I’m about to be given away to someone who could be a monster or a murderer or a maniac.
I’m about to be sold as a slave.
I finally sit down. I know I’ll be punished. I assume I will, at least. It makes sense. People who issue orders expect to be obeyed. He told me to stand here, but it’s dark, and the room is cold, and I’m terrified.
I don’t want to be here.
I lean my head against a wall and wish for Mirroean. I think of the waters, of the beaches, of the sun. I think of the boardwalks and the friendly atmosphere. I think of everything I had and everything I no longer have.
And then I fall asleep.
“Hello?” I hear a voice and I wake from my brief nap. I didn’t even know there was anyone else here. I thought I would be alone in the darkness forever. When did other people arrive? “Hello?” The voice comes again. “I can hear you breathing.”
“Shh,” I whisper. “They’ll hear you.”
“Yeah. Right. What else could they do to us?” She sniffles. “It can’t get any worse than this.”
“You two are fucking idiots. Shut up,” a third voice sounds.
Of course there are other girls. Did I think I was the only one? That they’d hold some sort of special auction just for me? That’s a naïve way to think. Of course there are others, but how many? Is it just us three? Are there others?
I’ve been too shocked by my situation to consider what happened to me. Knowing there are other girls who have been captured makes me feel sick. Knowing there are other females who have been hurt, who are going to be killed, makes me want to puke.
My stomach lurches, but I haven’t eaten in a long tim
e, and I don’t throw up.
“I’m scared,” the first voice comes again. “I’m Angel.” Her voice waves, and I wish there was something I could say to comfort her, but the truth is that I’m scared, too. I haven’t quite resigned myself to my fate. I haven’t quite come to terms with the fact that my life is over now.
It’s all downhill from here.
“Sweetie, you’re about to dance with the devil,” the other woman says. “So you might as well drop the innocent act.”
“It’s not an act,” Angel sounds scared. She’s close to me, judging by the sound of her voice. I reach my hand out, silently searching for hers. When I find it, her skin is cold and clammy.
Like mine.
I grip her hand, holding onto it like it’s the only thing keeping me together because it kind of is. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, or to Angel, or to the other girl, and that scares me.
It could be anything, but we’re on Dreagle, so it’s going to be bad.
This isn’t going to be some happy ending where a magical prince swoops in to save me. In real life, there are no heroes. In real life, no one comes to save the princess. In real life, the princess has to save herself or die trying.
Angel stops talking and as I hold her hand, her breathing eventually slows.
“I’m scared, too,” I whisper. My voice seems to echo in the darkness.
“You should be,” the other girl says.
“What’s your name?”
She sighs, but finally answers. “Greta.”
“I’m Fiona,” I tell her, and I realize Greta is too calm. Does she know what’s happening? Has she lived on Dreagle? Was she taken from another planet? Maybe she can give me information that will help me escape, that will help all of us escape.“Do you know what’s going to happen to us?”
“I’ve heard enough stories to know exactly what’s going to happen to us.”
“Please,” I beg her, hating how my voice quivers. “You have to tell us.”
Greta hesitates and I know she’s wondering how much she should scare us. She’s terrified. That much is obvious. Oh, she’s trying to be strong, but her voice is shaking. I bet if I could see her, I would notice a tremble.
