For some reason, those words make my body burn.
I’m just nervous, I think. My fate lies in his hands now. Those strong, capable hands.
The Zandians like humans for mates, Leylah told me. Would this being like to have me? For the first time in my life, the idea of mating is not unwelcome.
To disguise my nerves, I sip again from the fluid tube he’s provided. Already there is a pack affixed to my arm, flashing red lights. It’s giving me medicine, they said, which can help me heal from my weakness.
I follow the purple warriors who beckon. My hands are bound loosely with magna-cuffs; there is enough slack to hold my water tube and lift it to my mouth. Not enough to fight, should I need to do so.
Of course, surrounded by several powerful warriors—armed—I’d stand no chance.
Plus, I begged asylum. So I keep my pace to theirs, and
go where they lead.
Drayk
“How in the veck did she get onto our ship?” I run a hand over my jaw and scowl. “We have better protocol than that.” The beautiful human was nearly dead when I found her. A thought that makes me as angry as the security breach.
“It was unexpected.” My second in command, Tarak, sighs. “The goods were unguarded for a few minutes during shift change. She must have used that time to get into the crate.”
“And the motion sensors? The holo-feed?”
He clears his throat. “Ah, it seems—disengaged temporarily.”
“We can not let that happen again. If it were some other being, better armed?” I shake my head. “We must revisit our security training.”
Ark, our security lead, drops his head. “I disengaged to avoid alarms during loading because”—he lifts his chin and meets my eyes—“I will ensure this never happens again. I swear it.”
“Yes, you will.” I glare at him, then nod. A forgiveness and an expectation at the same time.
I glance down the galley and turn to Tarak. “Do you believe her story?”
“Even if it’s true that she stabbed you accidentally, she’s still lying about something.” He grimaces. “Human trait.”
“I’m going to find out what it is,” I promise. “And then I’m going to teach her that humans begging asylum don’t lie to Zandians.” My cock hardens at the thought of punishing the lovely stowaway.
“She could be a spy.”
“It’s unclear why she would attack me. She was desperate to get away. That much rings true.”
“She’s exquisite.” Ark, looks down the hall, as if trying to catch a glimpse of her. He’s not wrong—that perfect ebony skin, her gorgeous eyes and long lashes, her full, pretty lips? Yeah, she’s the prettiest vecking female I’ve ever seen. “And think of our luck—other crews go out and encounter danger and battle to obtain human females. Us? They come right to us, like magnets! Without any effort!” He chuckles. “If we stayed longer, maybe we’d have obtained two or three.”
I withhold my urge to snarl at him. For some reason, I feel protective of her already, even though I’ve known her for all of a few moments, and she’s a deceptive stowaway who poisoned me and then tried to pretend it was an accident. “She’s trouble, is what she is. If the Ocretions know we took off with one of their slaves from Romon-3, at this time? Tension is high enough already between us. They could follow us and attack.” I pause. “And right now, Ark, I need you to review safety protocols and ensure that we have no further breaches while she is on board.”
Ark raises his hand and strides off.
Tarak scoffs. “They’d not be so foolish to attack, the Ocretions.”
I shake my head. “They are vain and power-hungry, and rumors are spreading about humans on our planet. Rumors of humans being free of enslavement. If that information spread to their slaves, it could cause mass attempts at escape or rebellion.”
“Still, this is a Class 3 warship. We’re already out of their air-space, and cloaked. They’ll never find us.”
“That may be so. But they could take out their aggression on another Zandian ship.” I sigh. “But she’s already here. And if they believe her dead, there is no reason to return her.”
“Would you really return her anyway?” Tarak’s voice is wry.
“Veck, no.” I chuckle. “I’ll never give anything to an Ocretion. Especially not something as valuable as a human female they’ve lost due to their own stupidity.”