Sold to the Alien Outlaws Page 13

  My heart sinks. After all this, Kendrick never cared about me – not at all.

  I’d always had a bad feeling about him, right from the start – but now I’ve realized the truth, my skin crawls. Kendrick leans forward and runs his hand up my arm, and it’s all I can do not to yank my arm away as if his touch burns my skin.

  I know the gesture is supposed to appear comforting – but I see the lust in his eyes. He believes that I’m just a poor, helpless girl – barely better than a commoner – and he’s getting off on feeling like he rescued me; even though it was Jenna who risked her life to recover me from those fearsome Aurelians.

  Kendrick is lying to himself as much as me. He’s getting off on the fantasy of being a strong, rich nobleman who is so generously allowing a low-noblewoman - barely more than a commoner - to be whisked to safety in his trillion-dollar spaceship.

  I can see how he looks at me. He wants me helpless, scared, and most of all – grateful.

  I suddenly realize that I’ve drained my glass of champagne. Before I can even set it down, a manservant with a full replacement is there for me.

  “May I have a view?” I ask, wanting to be anywhere but this gothic dining room. Kendrick looks annoyed at first – I can tell he wanted to lead our interaction...

  …but then he nods.

  “Yes, the viewing room. You can watch your past disappearing from there.”

  He walks me down a long hallway with his hand on the small of my back. It makes my stomach crawl to feel his touch.

  At the end of the hallway we enter a massive room with a clear, glass floor. I gasp at the clear surface. Everywhere beneath us, we stand on a view of infinity. A similar glass surface looms above me, and the atmosphere burns as we approach the stratosphere.

  To the sides, more windows open to the cosmos - and I see the last glints of sunlight, and the city of Tear disappearing beneath us.

  I walk forward, shrugging off Kendrick’s hand, and I step across the hard glass.

  “I had my father build this for me for long, intersystem journeys,” brags Kendrick, as if I should be impressed that he was able to get his daddy to give him such a toy. The longer I spend with Kendrick, the more I’m coming to despise him. He’s in his mid-twenties, but he has the mind of a teenager – and I can feel his unwelcome eyes on my body.

  I say nothing, though – just watching the city disappearing beneath me. At the Aquamarine hotel – the tallest building in the city – repair crews are already in attendance; their ships hovering by the shattered windows of the penthouse.

  In a day, the repairs will be complete – and it will be as though nothing ever happened there between the Aurelians and I.

  Where are they? Is the Consortium truly siding against the Aurelian Empire as a show of protest against the jurisdictional issues?

  “Perhaps we shall be wedded in this very room,” Kendrick suddenly proclaims, and I turn in shock. He has a small, sly smile on his face – like an indulgent parent telling a child that they can have ice cream.

  “Here, Kendrick?”

  He shrugs. “Where ever I choose. Our families are an obvious fit. My father brokered the arrangement – conditional of my approval of you, of course.”

  His approval. As if I’m livestock.

  “I want what the Aurelians cannot have,” Kendrick adds, his smile turning predatory.

  His manservant made him run away that day in the garden. I can tell it pierced his fragile masculinity. He wants me not just because of the partnership between his family and mine – but also because he wants to claim what the three men who saved me can’t.

  “The city would shine like jewels below us,” I force myself to say, thinking of the most romantic thing I can ab-lib. I’m playing along – I don’t want to show my cards yet.

  But the truth is – I’ve made a choice.

  I want to be back with the Aurelians. I should have stayed and fought with them before, even when the odds were so against us. I should have risked everything for them, just like they would risk everything for me.

  I’m deeply ashamed of running away – and I feel like this cruel new twist of fate is my punishment.

  But one question remains:

  Will the Aurelians still want me?. Or do they view me as a betrayer, now? As a coward?

  The way those three aliens looked at me, I have no idea. It’s impossible to see through their cold, slate-grey eyes. The only emotion I’d been able to see clearly was their pure lust – and their desire to own me.

  But not to own me in the cold, calculating manner of Kendrick Dulloth. No, for all their haughty demeanor and domineering manners, those three brutal Aurelians are somehow more respectful than this thin, dangerous man.

  “There is some risk to this,” Kendrick suddenly murmurs. “My family is taking a great gambit by rescuing you.”

  Kendrick steps closer to me. In his mind, I’m enjoying a fairytale ending. He is whisking me away from the evil slavers who tried to hold me as their own. He thinks of himself as the handsome prince, rescuing a poor little girl who would have been helpless without him.

  But he knows nothing.

  “I am grateful, my lord,” I say through gritted teeth, hoping that he’ll stop walking towards me if I stroke his ego. He’s looking at me like he wants something from me. The same thing as the Aurelians, most likely.

  But while I’d have given myself willingly to them, the thought of Kendrick taking what is theirs disgusts me.

  If I tell him that I don’t want him, what happens? Does his family bring me back to Tear? Will they reunite me with the Aurelians?

  I know that’s not possible. If the Dulloth family went against the wishes of the Consortium to bring me out of their grasp, there’s far more at stake than I realize. This must be a bid to become the new leaders of the Consortium itself, or something of equal significance.

  If I made my true desires known, there’s not a chance in hell that Kendrick or his family would allow me to return to Tear. If I refuse him, they might simply do something to make me want him. Gods, I’ve heard horrible tales of injections and brain surgery that increase a woman’s desire and decrease their inhibitions; turning them into obedient sex robots, but robbing them of everything that makes them who they are.

  I look up at Kendrick. He’s a few inches taller than me, and when he stands at his full height, he towers over me…

  …but not remotely in the same way those Aurelians towered over me. No, he’s like a child compared to them.

  As I watch, Kendrick gently leans forward – and to my horror, he tries to kiss me.

  I dart back before his lips can find mine, and his vision clouds angrily.

  “Please,” I gasp. “I’ve had such a terrifying day, I just need comfort right now.”

  It makes my skin crawl, but it’s better than the alternative. I step forward and hug Kendrick tightly. His body is thin and lean in my arms.

  “Y-yes, of course,” he responds, through gritted teeth. “It’ must have been such an ordeal for you before I came in.” Kendrick’s chest puffs up. I wonder what his father has been telling him all these years. His father must be the true force behind Kendrick, because it hasn’t taken me long to figure out what a weak, prideful man he is.

  As we hug, Kendrick’s hands graze down towards my bottom – and I pull sharply away from the hug before they can reach their destination.

  Kendrick’s eyes flash with anger, but I pretend I didn’t notice and give him a smile in response.

  “One last look at my old home,” I say, stepping away from him to look down at the fast-disappearing city I’ve lived in all my life.

  “Not a last look,” Kendrick promises. “We will return here - in power. My father has a plan. He always has a plan. And, remember, one day it will be me at the head of the house.”

  So, it’s true. The Dulloth family have some machinations in process. I am merely a pawn in this thing, and the only value I have is that my family landed on the greatest stores
of Liquidium in centuries. We all know that wealth can buy power in the Consortium – only the wealth my father and the Dulloth family are resting on must be even greater than I could have possibly imagined.

  “We will be wedded the moment we land on Territus. There, the Consortium’s influence is lower… and my father has laid out the plans already. Then, once we are together…”

  He shudders, and I realize Kendrick is imagining our wedding night – after the ceremony.

  A surge of disgust crawls through me. It’s impossible to see him as a sexual being after I came so close to being claimed by the Aurelians.

  It’s a combination of everything. His high cheekbones seem boyish and feminine, whereas Leon’s regal features are noble and distinguished.

  Kendrick’s lean body is small and childlike, especially when compared to Raka’s thick muscles and bulging frame.

  Kendrick has his hair in the style that is all the rage on Tear – a medium-length cut parted to the right. It looks like he spends an hour perfecting the swoop of his hair, and it’s so pitiful compared to the thick, black, shoulder-length locks of Raekon.

  I shudder, as I realize Kendrick is not viewing me as a human, but as a possession.

  If I say ‘no’ after we are wedded – what would he do?

  I can already imagine it. He’d call for the guards with a disgusted look on his face, and they’d hold me down while he deflowered me. Even now, when it feels like we’re alone on the observation deck, I can feel the shadowy presence of his manservant nearby.

  “Please my lord, may I sleep?”

  Kendrick pauses, considering whether he’ll let me retire to my bedroom or not. Eventually, he murmurs: “Yes, I suppose – but under one condition.”

  I suppress a shudder.

  What is the condition? A kiss?

  “Anything, my Lord,” I feel a surge of anxiety as I say that – worried about what ‘anything’ might entail.

  “You call me Kendrick.” As he says that, I breathe a sigh of relief. “Though you are only a low-noble, you will be at my station soon enough – not by blood, of course, but by my family’s will. Therefore, you must get used to addressing me properly in private.”

  I force my lips into the semblance of a smile. “Yes… Kendrick.”

  He nods, and then leads me to my room.

  I have a large bedroom on this vessel, as big as the one back at my father’s manor. Every piece of space on a starship is valuable, and yet on this vessel it’s all designed to be a show of opulence. How ridiculous is it to have my own massive bed on an interstellar ship? Covered in pillows, and with my own private bathroom complete with a huge tub?

  As Kendrick leads me in, I find Jenna already there - folding my clothing and placing it in drawers. She stops as we enter, giving me a protective look as she sees my expression. Jenna walks closer to me, keeping her head down so that Kendrick will not view her as an uppity servant.

  “I would stay with you and comfort you tonight,” Kendrick murmurs, his eyes flashing, “but it would not be proper. I will bid you goodnight, and tomorrow… Tomorrow, you will never have to sleep alone again.”

  I shudder as he says that, watching him shut the door behind him.

  I nearly fall to my feet, so relieved to be finally rid of him. Jenna catches me, squeezing me in her slender arms.

  “It’s so much worse than I thought,” I sob, tears springing to my eyes. My proud, fearsome friend hugs me tightly, then sits me down on the bed beside me.

  “Tell me everything.”

  I nod, then look around the room nervously. I wouldn’t put it past the Dulloth family to be recording everything that goes on in this room.

  “A bath,” I say, “to calm myself.”

  Jenna stands up, understanding instantly. She turns the faucets to maximum and the stream of water covers up all the sounds around us.

  While video technology has improved to the point where someone could hire a lip-reader, distorted sounds still plague audio recordings – and when I speak, I hold my hand to my mouth, pretending to scratch my lip.

  “He’s a monster. I know it, deep inside.”

  “Oh, Gods! Kendrick Dulloth?”

  I nod, and feel the water gushing into the tub. It’s the perfect temperature – Jenna knows exactly what I like.

  “He views me as a possession - as an object. Jenna, I know this will sound insane… I know you’ll think I’m crazy… But I think I was meant to be with the Aurelians.”

  Jenna doesn’t look at me like I’ve gone insane. Instead, she nods, and speaks in a practiced whisper. Her mouth doesn’t move at all, as though she’s a ventriloquist. Once again, I am aw of Jenna’s hidden talents. I had no idea she knew how to hide her words from a video recording – if we are even being recorded, as I suspect.

  “Lezena, are you sure?” Jenna murmurs. “They… They were the ones who set up a slave auction. They’re rogue Aurelians, you know. They’ve turned their back on the Empire.”

  I shake my head. The water is high enough, and I dip into it, using the movements and waves of the water to cover the sound of our voices.

  “They set it up - for me.”

  Jenna gasps with sudden understanding.

  As soon as I say it out loud, it clicks into place. The thought had been percolating in the back of my head ever since the Aurelians had forced me onto the stage.

  The three Aurelians had never had any interest in the parade of women that were lauded in front of them. In fact, the one condition they’d made when agreeing to the auction was that the noble families – and their daughters – be in attendance.

  They’d have known that I was going to be in the theatre that night, and now I realize that the alien warriors had arranged things specifically so that I would have to be in the same room with them.

  Somehow, the Aurelians had instantly and instinctively understood the political dynamics of the Consortium – knowing that their demands would be answered. When they spotted me – they’d demand I was given to them… And they’d known all along the Consortium would agree.

  How hard would that be to know? A government willing to trade dozens of their common women would surely be willing to give up one low-noble.

  “That doesn’t make them good people. It just means they… They want you.”

  “Kendrick Dulloth doesn’t want me. He just wants to feel powerful. And the Aurelians don’t just want me. They need me. I felt something between us – and I know how that sounds, but don’t call me a fool.”

  “I would never call you a fool,” Jenna promises, standing behind me and massaging my tight, sore shoulders. She kneads out tension that I didn’t realize I was carrying – and the tightness melts away under her expert touch.

  My father hired Jenna when we first became low-nobles. She’d been taken from a rough life and found herself serving in decadence. I am always impressed by the talents she has; being both tough and practical, yet also able to blend effortlessly into the world of nobility.

  “Thank you, Jenna, for saving me,” I murmur, not hiding my words any longer. Even though the police of Tear came in afterwards, Jenna had no way of knowing that I’d wanted to remain with the Aurelians. She’d watched me being sold to three brutal, barbaric alien warriors, and while most people would have frozen up and mourned me for being gone, she’d stolen a spaceship and mounted a rescue all by herself!

  “It is my honor to serve you,” says Jenna, and I feel the love in her voice. I would do anything to keep her safe, and I know she’d do the same for me. She is the only friend I’ve ever had that I’ve felt comfortable sharing my deepest secrets with. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have gone crazy a thousand times over.

  “I am to be wedded tomorrow. On Territus,” I say, and I smile for any cameras that might be recording us, to pretend that I’m excited by the idea.

  Jenna’s hand clenches painfully on my shoulder muscle, sharing my pain at having to lie about such a thing. Then she massages the knot into nothingness. />
  “You will look so beautiful,” she tells me. “There’ll be no man who deserves you.” Even though she’s kneeling behind me, I know that Jenna isn’t hiding her words any more either, as she starts to wet my hair.

  No man deserves me. No single man.

  But three might.

  Jenna’s code translates her message easily to me. She’s not going to let me get wedded, not without a fight.

  But what can we do? There must be a thousand guards on this ship.

  “The Dulloth family is rich and powerful. You’re incredibly lucky, Lezena. There’ll be so much security at the wedding, and nobody will be able to get in the way of your love,” she murmurs, and I let her words percolate in my mind.

  The wedding will have too much security. The window of escape will be between when I’m wedded… and before I am bedded.

  I shudder at the thought of Kendrick pawing me in bed, groping at my body. I wish there was another way, but I have to trust Jenna.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, and fear grips me.

  Tomorrow, we’re going to find a way to escape Kendrick.

  Where can I find a weapon?

  11

  Raka

  “We need you to leave the planet,” says the Representative of the Consortium. He’s tall for a human and wears an expensive suit, obviously expensively-tailored and hand-made. His eyes are blank and cold, calculating everything.

  “We’re not leaving this fucking planet without her,” comes Raekon’s telepathic communication. It’s as loud as if he yelled it out across the room, but to all outward appearances, he’s standing as still and silent as a statue – looming to my right as I negotiate with the humans.

  The Representative is right. The Aurelian Empire will not let the killing of nine agents be forgiven, and us staying on the planet risks an all-out war between the Human Alliance and my former Empire. Thankfully, there’s a diplomatic solution. The Consortium of Tear can claim that the three of us three killed all nine of the Aurelian Law Enforcement Agents. That will allow a war to be avoided, for we are rogue Aurelians, and as long as the government of Tear does not shelter us for too long, they cannot be held accountable for our actions.