Gwandole stepped back. “Follow us, humans, and do not touch anything.”
* * *
Ellis
“Oh, c’mon,” I said, “I’m not even touching that side of the glass.”
I rolled my eyes as the Emira sprayed more of the yellow liquid on the glass that separated us and wiped it clean. He stared at me and I smiled at him before deliberately licking a path along the glass.
He squealed in disgust and quickly sprayed the glass again as I rolled my eyes and walked away.
“Oh my God, they act like we’re the grossest things they’ve ever seen,” I said.
“Maybe we are,” Inara said. She was sitting on the floor of the empty room the Emira had herded us into, wiping down walls and surfaces as we passed with disinfectant spray like we were infected with the plague.
She wiped at the tears on her face and I slid down the wall to sit on the floor next to her, slinging my arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, honey.”
“It won’t be,” she whispered. “My sister will be sold by my uncle and I won’t be able to do anything to stop it because I’ll be in prison for breaking my work contract with the Draax.”
“You won’t,” I said. “When the Draax get here, I’ll tell them I was trying to escape, and I convinced you to go with me rather than ask the Draax for help with your sister.”
“I won’t lie and get you in even more trouble,” Inara said. “You wouldn’t have tried to escape if it wasn’t for me and Wendy.”
“I would have,” I said.
“Be honest with me,” Inara said.
I opened my mouth to lie and instead said, “I planned to escape but I kept putting it off.”
“Why?” Inara said.
“Galan. I kind of, maybe, am in love with him.”
Inara’s mouth dropped open. “You’re in love with Galan?”
“I think so. I’ve never actually been in love before but I’m acting stupid about him. We’ve been sleeping together for a while now.”
“Holy shit,” Inara said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he could get in major trouble for sleeping with me,” I said. “I’m a thief who’s technically a prisoner of the king and he’s the head of the King’s Guard. He shouldn’t have been sleeping with me, but we were attracted to each other and then…”
“Then?”
“Then I fell in love with him,” I said. Tears were stinging the backs of my eyes and my throat was burning. “Which is fucking stupid because he doesn’t love me, and I’ll be going to prison where I’ll die, and he’ll find another woman to spend the rest of his life with and never once think about me again. I had this plan to escape, you know? I was going to steal a bunch of supplies and then leave the castle and hide on the Draax planet, but I… I kept not doing it. I told myself it was because the war was still going on and I had plenty of time to escape, but it was because I didn’t want to leave Galan. I waited because the thought of never seeing Galan again killed me.”
I glanced at her. “That’s love, right? When the thought of not being with a person makes you wish you were dead instead?”
“I think so,” Inara said. She touched my blood-soaked hair. “Why did you leave with me then?”
“Because you needed my help. Because I failed my sister and I didn’t want you to feel like you failed yours. Because I wanted to save Wendy.”
Tears dripped down Inara’s face. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “I wanted to help you and Wendy, and I don’t regret it. I do regret believing Uzel when he said the goddamn ship was repaired.”
Inara hiccupped laughter before resting her forehead against mine. “I’m telling the Draax the truth, Ellis.”
“No, you’re not,” I said. “You’re going to tell them it was my idea.”
“I won’t do it,” Inara said.
“Oh my God, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m going to prison no matter what, remember? Think about your sister. If you play dumb, if you act like you really did think this was your best and only option, then the Draax will probably be cool with you tagging along with me. Plus, they might even be willing to figure out some way to help your sister.”
“How?” Inara said.
“Maybe they’ll talk to the cops on your behalf, get them to take your sister away from your uncle. The cops will be more inclined to help the Draax then they are us lowers.”
“The Draax won’t help me,” Inara said.
“They might.” I squeezed her hand. “Especially if you offer to bang one of them and pop out a baby.”
Inara stared at me. “Shit.”
“I know it’s not ideal but -”
“I don’t care. If it’s the only way to save Wendy, I’ll do it.”
“Okay.” I squeezed her hand again. “So, we have a plan, right? I’ll take the blame, you play dumb. Once you’re back on the Draax planet, you find the Draax you’re most attracted to and offer to have his baby in exchange for helping your sister. Easy peasy.”
“Easy peasy,” Inara said. “Except for the part where you go to prison for life.”
Her eyes watered and I tried to smile at her. “Hey, it’s all right. Maybe prison isn’t as bad as everyone says it is.”
Inara started to cry and I wiped roughly at her cheeks. “Don’t cry, honey.”
“I’m so sorry, Ellis.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who stole the juice. And the ship… remember that. This is all my fault, Inara. I was escaping and suggested you come with me to save your sister. You were upset and worried about Wendy and not thinking straight. Play that helpless girl card like your life depends on it, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Inara whispered.
“You can’t tell anyone about me and Galan. They’ll send me to Draax prison until the war ends so I won’t be sleeping with him anymore, but you have to stay quiet about Galan. Promise me. If the king finds out he was sleeping with me…”
“I won’t say anything to anyone, I promise,” Inara said.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before Inara said, “What if the Draax tell the Emirans they don’t want us back?”
“They won’t. We’re valuable to them, remember? Any moment now, probably Krey and Adrix will come walking through that door and -”
The door slid open and Inara and I scrambled to our feet. We stared at the two Draax who walked into the room. Well, I was half-right about who they’d send.
The fear I’d been hiding from Inara about what could happen to us faded away the moment I saw Galan. I wanted to rush to him, wanted to fling my arms around him and tell him I loved him and that I was sorry I ran, but I stayed where I was. The usual warmth that was on Galan’s face when he looked at me was gone, replaced by the dark scowl of a stranger. There was a coldness in his copper eyes that I’d never seen before and my hope that he might care for me, that I hadn’t been just a female for him to fuck, disappeared.
Galan wasn’t just pissed at me. He hated me.
Chapter Nineteen
Galan
“Calm yourself, Galan,” Krey murmured as we followed the Emirans down the corridor of their ship.
“I am perfectly calm,” I said.
“Are you?”
“She lied to me. I trusted her and she lied to me and betrayed me and made me look like a froden,” I said.
My body was vibrating with anger. I had automatically defended her to the others in the council room, but in the time it took to get to the Emiran’s ship, my worry and belief that there had to be another reason she left had faded. Anger took its place. Ellis had lied to me and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t think of a single reason for why she had left other than to escape her fate.
Can you blame her? You know what will happen if she stays. If she is taken to Earth –
I shoved my inner voice out of my head. I did not want to feel sympathy for her. I wanted her to have trusted me enough to ask for my help.
<
br /> Krey sighed. “I wish she was the person you believed her to be, Galan.”
“So do I,” I said. “But she is not.”
The Emirans stopped at a door, and the one named Gwandole pushed a code into the panel next to the door. It slid open and Krey and I stepped into the room. Despite my anger with her, relief swept through me when I saw Ellis standing next to Inara. Blood matted her blonde hair to her head, but she was alive.
I schooled my features and stared silently at her. My relief at her safety was disappearing, allowing the anger and betrayal and confusion to return. My rapidly shifting emotions were playing more havoc with my stomach than space sickness did.
I loved the little human and had hoped she felt something for me as well. To realize that she didn’t, tore at my insides.
I waited for her to say something sarcastic like she always did but the silence dragged on. She dropped her gaze to her feet and my stomach clenched. I could see a large wound just above her right temple, her scalp torn wide and blood still oozing from it.
“Did the Emirans do that?” Krey pointed to her head.
“No.” She glanced quickly at me. “I tripped and banged my head in the ship.”
“Do not believe a word she says, Krey,” I said. “Every word that comes from her mouth is a lie.”
She winced and the hurt that crossed her face immediately made me want to take back what I said. Instead, I said, “What do you have to say for yourself, human?”
She pressed her lips together. “I told you I was a liar.”
“You did. I suppose it is my fault for not believing you.”
“No,” she said. “Everything that’s happened is my fault. I’m sorry, Galan. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You did not,” I said. “You mean nothing to me, human.”
Her face went white and regret poured through me. “Human, I -”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said dully. “I get it.”
The other female, Inara, put her arm around Ellis’s shoulders. “Ellis only did this to -”
“Be quiet, Inara,” Ellis said.
“Ellis -”
“I said be quiet.” A bit of colour had returned to Ellis’s face and she was giving the other female a pointed look. “Don’t say anything else.”
“Neither of you say anything,” Krey said. “Not until we are back on our ship. Move.”
They followed Krey out of the room, Ellis refusing to look at me as she passed. The Emirans gave them a wide berth and while normally I was amused by the Emiran’s queasiness about humans, this time I found nothing funny in the situation.
We walked in silence to the docking bay of the Emiran’s ship. Krey turned to Gwandole. “Thank you for rescuing our females. Once your war with the Cillades ends -”
Every Emiran in the room spat on the floor at the mere mention of the Cillades. I rolled my eyes and Krey wiped some stray spittle from his pants before opening the cargo hold of our ship. “When the war ends, we will send men to repair our broken ship.”
“Wait,” Gwandole said when Krey tried to usher Ellis and Inara onto our ship. “There is still the matter of our payment.”
“Payment?” I raised my eyebrows at Gwandole. “For what?”
“For rescuing your females. For storing your broken ship,” Gwandole said. “We should receive something in return, should we not?”
“You have received plenty from us,” Krey said. “How many times have we assisted you in your silly wars with the Cillades?”
The Emirans spat in disgust and Krey gave Gwandole a tight grin. “No doubt, our assistance will be required again in this war.”
Gwandole scowled, the middle digit on his right hand tapping away at his chest. “We will take one of the females as payment.”
“Like Krono you will,” I said, automatically stepping in front of Ellis.
“You have no use for them,” Krey said.
“Not true,” Gwandole said. “The human females sell for a hefty price in the Peleus system. Consider the price we will receive for her as payment for storing your ship.”
He studied Inara and Ellis before pointing to Inara. “We will take the big one.”
Four of the Emirans stepped toward her and Krey’s tail lashed out, wrapping around Inara’s waist and tugging her back until she was pressed against him. His arm joined his tail around her waist in a possessive grip and his other hand dropped to the handle of his sword.
“The female belongs to me. Touch her and you’ll regret it.” His voice was soft but already I could hear the bloodlust in it. The only thing Krey loved more than fighting was fucking.
Gwandole tapped at his chest again. “There are only two of you and,” he glanced around the docking bay, “many of us. Surely one little female is not worth this quarrel.”
“She belongs to me,” Krey said, “and you cannot have her.”
“You are outnumbered,” Gwandole said.
I rested my hand on my own sword. “There has been peace between us for many years. Will you destroy that over a woman and a broken ship?”
“Do you think you can defeat all of us?” Gwandole said.
“Yes.” Krey’s voice didn’t waver. “Try to take my female, Gwandole, and your ears will ring with the screams of your dying brothers.”
Fear flickered across Gwandole’s face and he waved the others back. “Fine. Take your females, but your king will hear of your insolence toward me.”
Krey smiled tightly at him before turning and walking toward our ship. His tail was still around Inara’s waist and she had no choice but to go with him, taking his hand when he held it out to her.
“It was good to see you again, Gwandole,” I said.
“Hmm,” he said.
I made a short bow before turning toward Ellis. “Go, Ellis.”
She walked quickly up the ramp, joining Krey and Inara in the cargo hold as I bowed again before walking up the ramp and closing the hold. The door closed with a heavy thunk and Krey backed Inara up against the wall of the ship.
“Are you all right, human?” His tail squeezed around her waist and he cupped her face, rubbing his thumb along her jawline as his gaze dipped to her breasts.
“I-I’m fine,” Inara whispered. “Thank you for, um, not letting them take me.”
Krey rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, his nostrils flaring when her lips parted. “You are welcome, little female.”
“Krey,” I said. “We must leave.”
He raked a hand through his dark hair before unwrapping his tail from Inara’s waist and stepping back. His erection was obvious against his pants, and he reached down and adjusted his crotch without shame. A smile crossed his face when Inara’s face turned red and she pulled nervously at her hair.
“I like your hair, little female,” Krey said.
“Th-thank you,” Inara said.
“Krey,” I said.
“I know.” He walked past us, and I made a come on motion to Ellis and Inara.
They followed us out of the cargo hold and as Krey disappeared into the cockpit, I pointed to the chairs that were bolted to the floor in the main cabin of the ship. “Sit down.”
They sat beside each other and Inara took Ellis’s hand as I joined Krey in the cockpit. I eased into the co-pilot seat, ignoring the nausea in my stomach as Krey steered the ship out of the Emiran’s cargo hold and blasted into space.
I let out my breath in a soft rush. “Krono, Krey, I thought you were going to murder all of the Emirans in the cargo hold.”
He grinned at me, his hands gripping the controls loosely. “It would have been too easy.”
“And stupid,” I said.
“The Emirans offer us nothing and I will gut every last one of them before I give them one of our females,” Krey said. “I do not know why Quill even helps them with their ridiculous wars against the Cillades.”
I shrugged. “Probably because his father did before him. Plus, the Cillades are dickheads.”
Krey laughed. “Look at you, using the Earth’s curse words.”
I didn’t reply and Krey glanced over at me. “Go and speak with her, Galan.”
“I have nothing to say to her.”
“Bullshit,” Krey said.
I scowled at him and stood. “She lied to me.”
“She did,” he said.
I rubbed my forehead, my tail banging against the seat before I turned and stepped out of the cockpit. Ellis and Inara were sitting where I’d left them. Ellis stared at the floor but Inara stood up as I approached.
“Do you have any gallberry juice? Ellis’s head is still bleeding, and I think she might have a concussion.”
“Not on the ship,” I said. “We will give her some when we are home.”
“How did the Emirans know to contact you guys?” Inara said.
“They recognized the royal seal on the ship you stole as Quill’s,” I said. “Ellis, we need to talk.”
“So talk,” she said.
I glanced at Inara who squeezed Ellis’s hand. She glanced at the cockpit, her face flushing, before she said, “I’ll, um, I’ll go over here.”
She walked away to the far end of the room, standing near the row of storage lockers and staring at the side of the ship.
“Why did you do it, Ellis?” I said.
“You know why,” she said.
“Look at me.”
She sighed and glanced up. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was pale, and blood still trickled out of her scalp. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Galan. But I had to leave, okay? I won’t survive a week in Earth’s prison. When I heard the king talk about the temporary peace treaty, I knew it was my only chance.”
“Why did you bring Inara with you?”
“Her sister is in trouble on Earth. Her uncle has her and he’s a bad guy. He’s going to sell her to some other really bad men in exchange for juice. Inara told me what was going on and I convinced her to come with me so she could help her sister.”
“You put her life in danger,” I said. “If she had spoken to Sabrina, perhaps we could have…”
Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 26
