by Frost Kay
The image of the bolts breaking loose and her chair tumbling around the small ship like a rubber bouncy ball flashed through her mind.
She really was going to die.
“Entering the atmosphere,” the pilot said into his headpiece. “Requesting to land.” A pause. “Affirmative.” He flipped a red switch and readjusted their course. “A storm is brewing. The landing will be rough, sir.”
“Very well,” Sloven said from his seat next to her.
“A s-storm?” Allie stuttered, swallowing the saliva flooding her mouth.
“It happens all the time. Don’t worry, my dear.”
Sweat coated her body and dripped between her breasts. “We’re going to die,” she whispered, staring at the two Kitterran guards who faced her in their own seats. The storm would rip them all right from the sky, and they’d die in a ball of fiery glory.
Sloven placed his left hand upon the fingers of her right hand and squeezed. Allie relinquished her death grip on the chair and clung to his hand like a lifeline. The king was creepy on a scale she couldn’t possibly number, but, in that moment, she didn’t care one wit.
“What sort of planet is this?” she forced herself to ask as the airship’s nose dipped down.
“It’s primarily a water-based planet like your Earth, but with much less land. There are only a handful of islands on the entire planet.”
So, drowning it was.
Her teeth began to chatter as she imagined slowly suffocating.
Stop being so morbid, Allie Sai. But she couldn’t help herself.
The ship shuddered again, and she slapped her left hand against the window to brace herself as they fully breached the atmosphere of the drowning planet. This was it.
“I stole my mama’s chocolate from her drawer and blamed it on my brother,” she blurted.
“What?” Sloven asked, confusion on his face.
“I need to confess my sins before I die.”
“You’re not going to die.”
He said it so rationally, like there wasn’t a reason for fear.
Allie glared at him. “If we make it out of this, I’m going to kill you for making me board this airship. It’s not fit to be someone’s trashcan, let alone fly passengers through space.” Stars flickered across her vision. There was only a little flimsy metal between her and the giant void that ensured a horrid death.
Sloven laughed and squeezed her hand.
One of the guards coughed. “Um, boss, she looks rather pale.”
“She’s always pale,” the other goon replied.
“Paler than usual, you twit.”
The king twisted and placed his cool hand over her clammy cheek. “Are you going to faint?”
“It’s unnatural to be so high up,” she wheezed. “If God wanted us to fly, he would’ve given us wings.”
“Charming,” Sloven replied. “But not necessary. If you don’t control yourself, you will pass out, and I know how much you hate to be vulnerable.” A small smile. “You’re also extremely curious, and I know you’d hate to miss anything.”
The bastard.
She was nosy, and, as she eyed the males surrounding her, Allie knew he was right. If she passed out, there wasn’t any chance she could escape if she didn’t even know where she was.
Digging deep, she closed her eyes and began counting in her head. Somewhere around one hundred, the ship stopped doing its impression of a pogo stick, and her breathing had evened out somewhat.
“Open your eyes,” Sloven whispered in her ear.
One at a time, she opened her eyes, and Allie was breathless for an entirely different reason. Enormous churning teal waves as big as a building crashed beneath their ship. Lightning slashed through the ominous black clouds swirling around them, just highlighting what looked to be a mountain rising out of what she could only assume was the sea. It was awe inspiring.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“My sentiments exactly.”
Allie leaned closer, her nose practically touching the window to get a better look at the land mass standing proudly like a soldier receiving an award.
“But I’m sorry for this next part.”
“Wha—”
Sloven pressed a sweet-smelling rag over her nose and mouth. Allie scrambled to pry his hand away from her face.
“It’s to keep you safe, dearest.”
Yeah, right. The lying, yellow-bellied sap-sucker. She tried to hold her breath, but only ended up gasping harder. The world took on a haze, and Allie stopped struggling. What was the point?
“That’s right,” Sloven crooned and pulled her back to lie against his shoulder. “Just let it happen. Let it go.”
If she could have snorted, Allie would have. What would the scary mafia king of the universe think if he knew he was quoting a winter princess whose best friend was a talking snowman?
Oh, the irony.
She caught one last flicker of lightning before succumbing to sleep.
That dirtbag.
That dirty, rotten, no good, pile of horse manure.
Allie glared at the ceiling and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
He’d drugged her. Again. She slowly sat up and eyed the dim room. It was much the same as her last room but instead of being gray, everything was white. She scooted to the edge of the mattress, tossed the fluffy covers off, and slid off the high bed, her toes sinking into a luxurious white fur rug.
Her lips thinned even as she wiggled her toes against the silky floor covering. She didn’t condone hunting animals for sport, or for their coats, it was a waste of life, but darn her if the rug wasn’t the softest things she’d ever felt.
Allie rubbed her temples as a dull throb took up a slow tempo behind her eyes. A side effect of the drugging, no doubt.
“Bastard,” she muttered, dropping her hands. Allie smoothed her fingers down her rumpled outfit and took a few steps toward the floor-to-ceiling drapes. Her mouth popped open in awe as she drew closer. From afar, the curtains looked plain white, but, upon closer inspection, they had an entire underwater mural stitched into them. Unable to help herself, she ran her fingertips along the embroidered edge of what seemed to be a whale-like creature. The craftmanship was incredible. Being a seamstress herself, she understood the painstaking care the artist must have taken with such a project. The whale alone would’ve taken hours…
She tipped her head back and scanned the immense draperies. Such an undertaking would have taken years. Allie winced. It would have been a pain in the butt with everything being white. Abandoning her study of the embroidered art, she grabbed a handful of the fabric and pulled it to the side, determined to figure out where she was.
A hiss escaped her as light flooded in, momentarily blinding her. Allie blinked away the stars dotting her vision and gasped, her fingers clenching the fabric of the drapes.
Terror and astonishment froze her in place.
It was as if she was standing at the edge of the world with paradise only a touch away. Outside her windows, it was a sheer drop that plunged downward and melted into a picturesque beach with the kind of clear aqua water she’d only ever seen on a screen before. The water rippled into a never-ending roll of shimmering fabric as far as she could see.
Although terrified of the drop, Allie couldn’t move away. It was something out of a dream. Their family home hadn’t been too far from the beach, but it had been so polluted she’d never been able to swim in the water, but the salt smell had been etched into her mind. Would the water smell the same here?
You’re on an alien planet, you idiot. It’s pretty but how are you going to escape?
Her mood soured considerably as her thoughts turned back to the devil she’d been forced to make nice with. Why did he bring her here? Surely, it had something to do with his new product he planned on peddling to the galaxies. She pulled herself away from the windows and eyed her new prison. It may have looked like the most decadent of hotel rooms, but make no mistake—it was a cell.
She
padded across the floor and opened the closet. Her nose wrinkled as she examined the clothing hanging in the wardrobe. Silk, feathers, and gauzy fabric galore. The man wouldn’t know taste if it slapped him in the face. Curious, she pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and plucked a rubbery, hand-sized flower from among the lacy garments. What was she supposed to do with those?
A memory flashed through her mind of a Sarpe woman wearing such a thing in the Scarlet Kiss, under a see-through dress over her nipples.
Goodness gracious.
Allie dropped the flower and slammed the drawer shut with a scowl. There was no way she was wearing that rubbish. It may be acceptable in other alien cultures, but that style of dressing would not be gracing her body. If it was up to her, she’d turn the flowers into candy dishes, or something. In fact, an idea popped into her mind. Maybe she could tie them onto her hands and use them to climb the walls like a gecko.
She chuckled at herself and closed the doors to the closet, continuing her exploration of the room. Another door led to a modern bathroom with a simple tub, and a walk-in shower with more jets than Allie could count. If she had to stay with Sloven, at least she had something to look forward to.
Slipping out of the bathroom, she leaned against the end of the bed and stared ahead at the security panel on the wall. Presumably, it was what opened the doors of her prison. Allie glanced over her shoulder at the wall behind the bed. There weren’t any chains this time. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? She turned back to the security panel and then dropped her gaze to her hand. Had he given her access to leave?
“He wouldn’t be that stupid,” she said to herself. But if he was playing a game and wanted to win her trust…
Allie pushed off the mattress and strode to the scanner. She hesitated only for a moment before slapping her palm against the screen. A blue light flashed beneath her palm, and the doors to her room slid open.
“I’ll be damned,” she whispered. He’d given her access after all. Hesitantly, she peeked into the hallway, glancing left and right. Left dead-ended into a set of white curtains similar to hers.
Okay then, right it was.
She crept from her room and flinched when the doors hissed and closed behind her.
There’s no need to sneak about. He gave you access. You’re allowed to leave.
It was all fine and dandy to tell oneself it was okay, but it was another thing to be skulking around a mass murderer’s lair.
Palm scanners lined the hallway. Fourteen in all. Fourteen rooms. Rooms that led to what?
Her pulse picked up as she pressed her right hand to the nearest one. A green light flashed, and No Access scrolled across the screen. Allie exhaled when alarms didn’t go off. That was something. One by one, she tried each room. Twelve were locked to her, but two opened to her touch. One seemed like an office and the other like a workout room.
She smirked at the last one. There was no way she’d enter that room of her own accord. Cardio. That was the worst kind of torture in her book.
The hallway turned to the right and opened up into a huge room. Allie paused in the entranceway into what she assumed was the living room. It was an open-planned room with floor-to-ceiling windows lining the edge. To her left was a kitchen so pristine it looked like it had never been used, but the grandeur of the room wasn’t what made her hesitate in the hallway. She’d seen many grand homes. It was the darkness that lurked in a blood-red leather chair, smoking a pipe and reading the paper like it was a Tuesday morning that had stopped her in her tracks.
“Is hovering in doorways common for you?” Sloven asked, not stirring from behind his paper.
Allie frowned. “Not usually.”
Sloven flicked down the edge of his paper and eyed her over the rim. “Then come in and eat something. You must be hungry. I can hear your stomach from here, dearest.” Then just like that, he straightened his paper, dismissing her. “And drink you damn medicine. I won’t have you dying just because you’re stubborn.”
Her hands flew to her belly. Now that he said it, she realized she really was starving. She cautiously meandered into the room and took the seat farthest from his side and selected a pastry from a gold dish. Allie frowned as she reached for a knife and smeared jelly on the treat. What was happening? It was if she’d entered a completely different universe, and that was saying something because her world had been one big joke since she’d settled on Sars.
Allie took a bite of the scone and chewed, staring at the newspaper. That’s what was weirding her out the most. No one, and she meant no one, actually used paper anymore. It was all screens. It was only in old Earth movies that she had seen a newspaper.
It struck her as odd. What was he reading about? It wasn’t like he could get all the news in something that small.
“Are you going to stare?”
She swallowed and snapped her eyes down to her breakfast and the vial of purple medicine. Her grandmother would be so ashamed at her for rubbernecking. How embarrassing.
He drugged you. You’re allowed to be rude.
Allie rolled her eyes and made a show of inspecting her breakfast. “Did you drug my food, too?” Sloven huffed and folded his paper. She raised her gaze to his and arched a brow. “Well?”
“Have I ever drugged your food, Allie?” he asked wearily.
That line of reasoning wasn’t going to work with her. “No, but you’ve drugged me twice, poisoned and kidnapped me, and let’s not mention the beating you gave me.” Bitterness coated her tongue as she uttered the last part. Her scars seemed to heat in remembrance.
“All in the name of love.”
Allie snorted. “All in the name of revenge and possession.”
“Semantics, really.”
She wanted to argue further, but as her mama used to say, you can’t reason with crazy, so she took another bite of her scone, hardly even tasting the food.
“I don’t want to argue with you this morning,” he sighed. “How did you like your room?”
“The view is beautiful,” she said honestly, while toying with vial.
“I thought you’d like it. I know you were fond of your trips to the sea.”
Her throat dried, and the pastry stuck to the roof of her mouth at his comment. Just how long had he been watching her? Another thing to file as completely disturbing and never think about again. “What is this place?” she asked, changing the subject.
“This is our new home.”
“Home?” she repeated.
“Yes.” He unfolded himself from his chair and laid his pipe on the table along with his paper. “And the base for our new lab. I’d like to give you a tour myself. Are you almost done?”
Allie nodded and dropped the half-eaten pastry onto her dish. She wouldn’t pass up a tour. It was better than being locked away, and maybe she could find a way out. Sloven had given her more than enough information to pass on to her team. She uncorked the vial and tossed back the medicine before she could decided otherwise.
She brushed her hands off and stood. “Lead the way.”
He squinted at her bare feet. “You’ll need shoes.”
“I’m not wearing heels,” she said, squaring her shoulders. As much as she liked them, Allie couldn’t live in them.
Sloven chuckled and gestured to the right toward what she assumed was the front door. “There are some sandals for you.”
“Thank you.” Allie rounded the small, squatty Asian-style table and quickly put on the sandals. “I’m ready when you are.”
He pressed his hand against the middle of the door and it separated into two pieces, revealing a small, square glass room.
An elevator. Yay.
“My lady,” he murmured and held a hand out toward the elevator. “Your chariot awaits you.”
Fabulous. He was trying to butter her up. That didn’t bode well.
27
Bless Your Heart Doesn’t Mean What You Think
She’d always been one to make an entrance.
N
ever a good entrance, mind you, but an embarrassing one.
Allie burst through the elevator doors when they opened and puked all over the shiny floor, until dots appeared across her vision. “Stupid, stupid elevator,” she moaned as her body shook.
A huge hand rubbed circles between her shoulder blades. “You’re so fragile.”
She brushed Sloven’s hand away and wiped at her mouth. “And you’re determined to kill me. A glass elevator, really? Who does that?”
Somehow, she was now on her hands and knees. Avoiding her mess, she crawled to the railing on her left and hauled herself to her feet.
Allie cringed.
No less than a hundred people in lab coats stared up at her in varying degrees of interest or disgust.
Well, go figure.
Her face heated, and she waved awkwardly. Her whole life she’d been clumsy and unlucky, so you’d think it would get easier to deal with disaster after disaster. It didn’t.
“Here is your new lab.”
She pulled herself from her self-pity and glanced at Sloven and the two guards who’d appeared out of thin air. Holy bananas, where had they come from?
Ninjas. They were darned ninjas.
But Sloven’s words finally penetrated her thoughts and she gaped at him. “My lab?”
“Your lab. This was all your doing in the first place. It’s only right you have some control.”
He made no sense.
“I told you I have no skills,” she said slowly. “I’m a mixologist, not a scientist.”
“In any case, let’s take a tour.” Sloven glanced at the Kitterran thug to his right. “Get that mess cleaned up.”
Allie gingerly stepped over her puke, feeling guilty about having someone clean up her mess and followed the king down the metal stairs into the lab. It was more of a warehouse. The far side of the industrial room housed airships of all sizes. A massive door that slid upward had a jagged, black design on it that reminded her of a rotten pair of teeth. She could only imagine flying out of the room at night. It probably resembled a giant mouth ready to swallow anyone whole.
She peeked over her shoulder at the elevator. Clearly, it went all the way down to the ground floor. Her lips pressed together and her legs shook a little as they reached the main floor and the scientists closest to them launched into action. Apparently, Sloven wanted to make an entrance.
