Twelve Days of Xanthus

Even now she felt the slow burn threatening to resurface at the sight of him. Distraction! She needed something to take her mind off the rapidly rising arousal that was threatening to rear its head.

“So we need to help you blend in and figure out how to outwit Kala. Can you get rid of the tracking chip?” Violet asked.

“I don’t know. No one has ever tried. We were told it was linked to our nervous system,” Xan said.

“If that’s true, how did you escape? Why didn’t they just flip the switch and fry you?”

“Because I was able to exit the range of detection before they realized I was gone.”

She frowned. This sounded like a scare tactic. “Have you ever seen this defense system set off?”

“Yes, once. It was not a pretty sight. Drister, a fellow slave, tried to escape. He bled from the nose, ears, and mouth before he fell to the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth until his life force was eradicated.”

“Okay, so that’s out. How do you know the system will go inactive in twelve days?”

“I once heard my mistress say this to another about a slave who’d escaped with a trade ship headed to Earth before I was born. Any longer than that and the risk of exposure to your people becomes too great.”

“Okay so we have eleven more days.” Her voice was muffled as she spoke more to herself than to him.

“Will you be able to tell when they get close?”

“Yes, my bands will grow hot, begin to emit a high pitched whine, and eventually they’ll emit a tracking signal.”

“How accurate is the signal?”

“I don’t know.”

“Right…we’ll stay here for now, until I can figure something else out.” She sank down onto the couch and waved him over. “Come over here and sit please.”

He did as she said.

“First thing we need to do is Americanize you. If you want to be unnoticeable, you need to stop referring to women as mistress. I know that it’s hard but if we want to hide we have to do it in plain sight. That means not raising any red flags to make us memorable.”

“I understand, Violet.”

“Good.” She scooted to the edge of the couch, and reached down to bring out the silver laptop she’d placed under the couch earlier.

“Do you know what this is?”

“A personal computer?”

“Yes, but it’s called a laptop. Your strange way of talking is one of the things we need to fix.”

They filled the next few hours with browsing the web as she gave him a crash course on the 20th century, pop culture, and modern day etiquette.

§ § §

Kala felt fury like none she had experienced before burn deep in her belly. How dare Xanthus escape and make her the laughing stock? She was their Queen! It was his duty to serve her as she saw fit, for as long as she deemed it necessary. She gritted her teeth and turned to watch from the window in her throne room as her crew prepared her ship for travel to Earth. She would track him down and watch as he suffered and drew his last breath. The blood that would spill onto the ground would work wonders for her pride. Among her people, reputation and perceived power were everything. She hadn’t remained Queen for so long by being outsmarted by a slave. Some of her people forgot themselves with their men, mistook lust for love, and became weak. She avoided all of that by getting rid of her man each time her defenses threatened to be breeched.

Xanthus had been the slave she’d kept the longest. He’d given her two healthy babies and obeyed her well. She’d been saddened about what she’d have to do, but now… She curled her aquamarine hand into a fist. Soon she would have him in her grasp. A wicked grin curved her dark blue lips upward at the corners. You will su

ffer, Xanthus of Zenton.

Chapter Three

He had to tell her. He’d begun to notice an almost indiscernible noise coming from his bands. Kala was closing in on him; the cabin was no longer safe. He hated to ruin the laid back atmosphere they had going in the cabin. He’d gotten to know Violet better with each day that passed, and six days in, he was smitten. At times he thought she felt the same. But he couldn’t be sure. Xanthus studied the woman beside him, and wondered for the millionth time why she was helping him. She’d even planned a mock Christmas dinner just for him.

She paused and looked up from the list she was scribbling in a notepad. “You’re staring at me again, Xan. You know how I feel about that. What’s wrong?”