Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3)

by Elizabeth Kelly

  “Nothing, my king,” I said.

  I knew Quill didn’t believe me. He was my oldest and best friend and knew me better than anyone. It was difficult if not impossible to keep anything from him.

  “Come, walk with me in the garden while my mate has her scan.” Quill glanced at Sabrina. “Sadora, do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” she said.

  “No,” I said. “Stay with your mate. I am tired from the trip and will retire early.”

  I bowed to Sabrina and left the infirmary before Quill could argue.

  Chapter Three

  Ellis

  I woke slowly, feeling better than I had in weeks. My head no longer throbbed and the weird heaviness in my lungs and the urge to cough had disappeared. Even the ache in my back was gone. I stared up at the ceiling, blinking until my vision cleared.

  Was I still on the Draax ship? My stomach tightened. I had to be. Unless the Draax had turned around and returned me to Earth. That was a definite possibility, right? I couldn’t remember much of what happened after sliding into that storage space to hide, but I had confusing images of a Draax with beautiful copper eyes and a mouth that did strange things to my insides.

  And a sword, Ellis. Don’t forget about the sword he had.

  I scrunched up my face, trying to remember. After a couple of seconds, I cringed. Oh God, had I … had I thrown up on the copper-eyed Draax? If the sour taste in my mouth was any indication, I had definitely vomited on him.

  Fuck.

  I lifted a hand to my face, staring at the catheter embedded in the back of it. I followed the tube to the IV bag hung up on a metal pole next to the bed. The pink tinged liquid in the bag had to be gallberry serum.

  Gallberry serum was like goddamn gold on the black market. And hanging just above me was my ticket to surviving my next encounter with Richie. If I brought him serum, he’d not only forgive me for giving the juice to Bailey, he’d probably get down on his knees and kiss my fucking feet.

  You have bigger problems than Richie Bulchanini, you idiot.

  I licked my dry lips. Damn straight I did. I was definitely still on the Draax ship. Hospitals on Earth didn’t give gallberry serum to lowers like me. The serum was reserved for the uppers – the rich and the famous. Which meant I was trapped on a Draax ship and that was definitely a more pressing concern than Richie Bulchanini. I needed to figure out a way to sweet talk my way out of imprisonment or…

  I slapped the hand not attached to the bag of liquid gold behind my ear. The bulge of the translator was gone, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The thing was killing me, I had no doubt of that, and apparently the Draax had removed it. But why?

  I touched my throat, manipulating the spot where the voice translator was. I couldn’t feel it either and I carefully sat up in the bed and studied the room I was in.

  Well, shit. The room was too big for me to still be on the ship. I knew that right away. It housed numerous hospital beds and a few large pieces of machinery and… oh fuck me.

  I studied the Draax standing at the counter with his back to me. He was wearing a white coat that reminded me of the lab coats that doctors wore on Earth. A hologram screen was to his left and every once in a while, he would study the screen before staring at the test tube in his left hand. His right hand tapped away at a tablet on the counter.

  My heart pounding in my chest, I eased back the tape on my hand and, holding my breath, yanked the catheter from my hand. I ignored the blood oozing out of my hand and quietly slipped out from beneath the sheet.

  I was still dressed in my clothes, but the bandage that bound my small tits had been removed. I stared longingly at the bag of gallberry serum but what use was it to me? I couldn’t exactly sell it on the black market if I was on the Draax planet and I was certain that’s where I was. Why they hadn’t just tossed me out of the ship into the blackness of space, I had no idea, but I was a fool to stick around and wait for them to do whatever it was they had planned.

  Did the Draax have prisons? Probably, and I had no wish to see the inside of one. I needed to get the fuck out of here and now.

  My backpack was sitting on the floor next to the bed. I picked it up and slipped the straps over my arms, the familiar weight of it on my back comforting me a little.

  Years of fighting for survival had made me a quiet little mouse. The Draax at the counter didn’t hear a thing as I glided silently across the room to the door. My heart still hammering, blood dripping out of my hand, I eased open the door, keeping my gaze trained on the broad back of the Draax.

  He didn’t turn and I quickly glanced out into the hallway. It was a wide hallway but short with blind corners at either end. It was currently empty. Hopefully my luck would hold out just a little longer.

  I took one final look at the Draax before stepping out into the hallway. I shut the door slowly, wincing a little at the click as it closed. My hands were sweating, and I was feeling weak and a little faint. The urge to cough had returned and I swallowed it down before turning left and jogging toward the corner.

  I needed to find my way out of the building and find a place to hide. I knew it was summer on Draax so at least I wouldn’t freeze my ass off. Maybe I’d even find a –

  I stared wide-eyed at the Draax who rounded the corner. He made a startled grunt and came to a stop, his gaze sweeping over my body. His dark hair was on the longer side and he had blue eyes. I made my own sound of surprise. I’d never seen a Draax with blue eyes before. Didn’t even know that was possible.

  Ellis, get the fuck out of here!

  Right. Time to run.

  The Draax took a step toward me and I turned and raced down the hallway toward the other end. Just as I made the corner, a second Draax appeared in front of me. I tried to stop, but my shoes skidded on the smooth stone floor. I crashed into the Draax with a loud grunt and fell backwards onto my ass. The impact jarred a cough from my throat. I tried to scramble away but the Draax was quick. His big hands gripped my arms and he lifted me to my feet. I stared into familiar copper coloured eyes.

  Shit. Double shit.

  Keep your cool, Ellis. You’ve talked your way out of worse jams than this, right?

  Right.

  “Um, hey,” I said. “I’m Ellis. I met you on the ship, right? Sorry about the whole vomiting thing, I wasn’t feeling all that great.”

  The Draax cocked his head at me before saying something in his own language.

  Right. No more translators.

  I coughed again. I was so fucked I could practically taste dick in the back of my throat.

  The other Draax had joined us and he said something to the copper eyed one. The Draax shook his head before staring at my hands. A frown marred his admittedly perfect looking face and my breath caught in my throat. He was angry with me.

  It’d be hard to talk them out of killing me or throwing me in prison without a translator. Shit, why had I never tried to learn any of the Draax language? I was gonna die because of laziness.

  I realized the Draax was rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand. I glanced down and immediately felt a little woozy at the blood that was smeared across my hand and still dripping out. Which was weird, because the sight of blood – even my own – had never bothered me before.

  The ache in my back had returned and it was difficult to breathe. I coughed hard, bending over with the force of it. Shit, on top of everything else, whatever nasty lung infection I was brewing was starting to hit me hard. Weird that the gallberry serum hadn’t helped but maybe I’d only been on it for a little bit. Truthfully, I had no idea how much time had passed.

  My coughing fit finally eased but I stayed bent over as I drew in a ragged breath, not particularly enjoying the whistling wheeze my lungs made. I glanced up at the two Draax. The blue eyed one was leaning against the wall. His look didn’t scream I’m gonna chop you up into small bits with my shiny sword, but it wasn’t a friendly look either.

  I shifted my gaze to the other one. He had what almost looked
like sympathy in his copper eyes and when I realized the heavy warmth circling my upper back was his hand, I quickly straightened and stepped away.

  The blue eyed Draax’s hand shot out and caught my arm. I froze like a scared mouse as he shook his head at me. I wasn’t normally such a chicken, but I was tired and kind of terrified and definitely freezing despite my thick hoodie and the sweat that was sliding down my back.

  My legs were overcooked noodles and I locked my knees to keep from collapsing to the floor again as the blue eyed Draax tugged me back down the hallway. I staggered forward a few steps and then my locked knees gave out. Before I could hit the floor, the copper eyed Draax caught me.

  He cradled me in his arms, and I stared numbly at him as he carried me toward the room I’d escaped from. The door flew open and lab coat Draax burst out into the hallway, his eyes wide. He stared at the three of us, relief crossing his face before it turned to annoyance.

  He said something and disappeared back into the room. We followed him in and the copper eyed Draax set me back on the bed before pulling off my backpack and setting it on the floor. Lab coat Draax brought over two round green rings connected by a black chain. He opened one ring and I didn’t object when he slid it around my wrist and clicked it into place. The other ring was slid around the bed rail and I blinked in surprise when both rings turned red the moment he clicked the second ring shut.

  I studied the ring around my wrist before pulling experimentally. It immediately tightened and I flinched, convinced that the red meant it would burn me, but the metal remained cool to the touch.

  The lab coat Draax said something to me, it was clear he was reprimanding me for pulling at the ring, but I ignored him. Both rings were completely smooth with no lock I could pick. There had to be some type of mechanism that opened it, but I couldn’t see even a seam on either ring.

  I pulled again and the ring tightened further until it was cutting into my skin. Lab coat Draax huffed loudly and gave the other two Draax a can you believe this idiot look before running his finger along the underside of the ring.

  It loosened and he very clearly admonished me in his own language before turning away. The copper eyed Draax said something to him and he turned back, staring at my hand before shrugging.

  The copper eyed Draax pointed at the blood and I could hear the irritation in his voice when he spoke. The other Draax walked across the room and returned with some gauze and a bandage. He wiped away the blood and slapped the bandage over the hole before giving the copper eyed Draax an are you happy look?

  The Draax pointed to the bag of serum and the one who’d bandaged my hand immediately shook his head. The copper eyed Draax spoke rapidly, his hands jabbing in the air as he pointed to me and to the serum again. It was clear he wanted me hooked up to the IV again.

  Lab coat Draax continued to shake his head and the copper eyed Draax’s voice rose in anger. A deeper scowl crossed the lab coat Draax’s face and he pointed at the door before making a shooing motion.

  Copper eyed Draax brushed past him and stalked to the far side of the room. He opened up what looked like a fridge and returned with a bottle of pink liquid. Lab coat Draax said something but he ignored him and opened the bottle before holding it out to me.

  I took the bottle, sniffing at the opening even though I knew what it was. What else could it be? Nothing on Earth was that glorious pink colour. The sweet smell of the gallberry juice filled my nostrils. It smelled a little like fresh almost overripe strawberries.

  The copper eyed Draax made a drinking motion. I stared at lab coat Draax who rolled his eyes. I drank quickly, my eyes widening when the sweet liquid slid down my throat. I drank two big swallows before sucking in a breath and staring wide-eyed at the three Draax.

  Oh my God, gallberry juice was fucking amazing.

  I sucked back the rest of the bottle like I was dying of thirst, afraid that lab coat Draax might snatch it from me before I could finish it. I resisted my urge to lick the rim of the bottle as the three Draax watched me. My face felt flushed, energy was rushing through my body, and I was pretty certain I could run a marathon if they asked me to.

  I immediately wanted more, and I stared longingly at the fridge and then at the copper eyed Drax, but blue eyed Draax put his hand on his arm and said something before tugging him in the direction of the door. With a final look at me, the copper eyed Draax followed his friend out of the room.

  Lab coat Draax returned to the counter and, ignoring me completely, studied the test tubes in front of him again. I stuck my finger in the narrow neck of the bottle and skimmed out some of the drops of juice that clung to it before sucking them off my finger. I set the bottle on the table next to the bed and coughed a few times, but he didn’t turn around. I pulled up the sheet with my free hand, huddling under it as I studied the cuff around my wrist. I traced my finger around the smooth ring and pressed experimentally on the underside, but I couldn’t feel a spot where the metal felt any different.

  I searched for a hidden mechanism in my cuff for almost fifteen minutes. I jerked when the chime echoed through the room. I turned on my right side, cursing inwardly when I accidentally pulled on the cuff and it tightened around my wrist, to study the Draax at the counter.

  He hit a button on the tablet in front of him and another hologram screen popped up. A dark-haired Draax spoke briefly to him and lab coat Draax nodded a few times before, weirdly, bowing. The hologram screen disappeared and the Draax rummaged through a drawer before standing next to my bed. He had a small black square box in his hand as well as more gauze and a clear bottle of liquid.

  I didn’t object when he removed the bandage on my hand, cleaned away the dried blood with the liquid and the gauze and then placed the box slightly above the hole in my hand. There was a small pinch and I stared in amazement at the catheter sticking out of my hand. The Draax slid the thin needle out and dropped it into a container attached to the wall before reconnecting the tubing on the IV. He made a few adjustments and walked away.

  He returned only a few minutes later, holding a small gun like object in his hand. Although it looked much newer and cleaner than the last one I saw, I knew exactly what it was and, again, I didn’t object when he pressed it behind my right ear and injected me. He pressed it in the hollow of my throat and injected it there as well. I winced at the sharp pain as he dabbed gauze at my throat and behind my ear.

  At least he hadn’t put the translator where the old one was. The area behind my left ear felt a little tender, not to mention weirdly wet and sticky, but when I reached up to touch it, the Draax grabbed my arm and pulled it away.

  “Do not touch the area, human”

  I would have fallen off the bed if I hadn’t been cuffed to it. I hadn’t expected to be able to understand him so quickly. When Emilio injected my first translators, it took almost four days for them to actually start working.

  I reached to touch the area again and the Draax scowled in annoyance. “Do not touch it, I said. For the love of Krono, are the translators not working?”

  He tapped on the spot behind my ear and at my throat. I coughed before saying, “It works. I was just, um, surprised. The other translators took days to work.”

  “Yes, well, they were old models. The new ones the Vokine developed in the last six moons work instantaneously.”

  He frowned again. “This is a ridiculous waste of both serum and translators.”

  “Then why do it?” I said snottily.

  Christ, it was like I wanted to be murdered by the Draax.

  “Because my king told me to do so,” he said.

  Okay, not the answer I was expecting. “Uh, why did the king tell you to do it?”

  “No doubt, Galan was in his ear the moment he left here.”

  “Is Galan the guy with the copper eyes?”

  “Do you always ask so many questions, human?” Lab coat Draax said.

  “What’s wrong with asking questions?”

  “What is your name?”

&
nbsp; “Now look who’s asking the questions,” I said.

  He huffed in annoyance. “Fine, do not tell me your name. It matters not to me. You will be on your planet in a prison cell by this time tomorrow anyway.”

  I swallowed hard. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  His annoyance turned to amusement. “Do you think we are stupid? We found the bottles of juice you stole from the shipping container in your backpack.”

  I didn’t reply and he softened a bit. “Why were you stealing them? Are you what the humans call a lower?” He looked me over. “Your clothes are ragged and smelly, and it has obviously been a while since you bathed. You must be a lower. Did you steal them for the black market?”

  Like I was going to incriminate myself. I pressed my lips into a thin line and would have crossed my arms across my chest if the left one wasn’t cuffed to the bed. “I’m innocent. I was set up.”

  He laughed. “You are funny, human. My name is Sigan. What is yours?”

  “Ellis,” I said. “Why is it so sticky behind my ear?”

  “The old translator was leaking flux fluid into your brain. I opened up the area, removed the faulty translator and flushed the wound with gallberry serum. It is still open to allow the last of the flux fluid to drain out. Although…”

  He stepped closer, rummaging in the pocket of his lab coat and producing some more gauze. He tore open the packaging and wetted the gauze with the clear liquid before bending my ear forward. I winced when he cleaned the area, even though he was gentle.

  “It should not be painful, human,” he asked. “You just drank some juice and the serum should be helping as well.”

  “It’s more that it’s cold,” I said.

  He grunted in reply and finished swiping the area clean. I stared at the black and pink stained gauze in his hand as he stepped back. “It looks better. I believe the fluid has drained out completely and the wound can be closed.”

  He left and returned with a silver pen-like object in his hand. “This will hurt a little.”