Ransom

“Astaria. Seriously. You cannot solve every problem you have by stabbing someone.”

“History proves otherwise. What now? Finish them all off in the medical chamber?”

“No. We are going to the faye world.”

“But you said they weren’t going to leave the ship.”

“They won’t. They’re going to help us navigate to the world.”

“Why? Why would you take me to a place where they just want to mate me?”

“There’s no place they don’t want to mate you, Astaria. Besides, the place sounds…”

“Rich,” I finish the sentence. “You want to lay waste to their world. You have to consider that they’ve considered that possibility and this is a trap. Not for me. For you.”

Blackmane’s brows rise. “For me?”

“This may not be about me at all,” I say, suddenly inspired. “Think about it. They want me to breed and breed, and yet here they are, aboard your ship, unsupervised. Roaming about. Determining where you go next. Drawing you into their territory.”

“You’re a suspicious little thing,” he chuckles.

“You should be a suspicious big thing,” I warn him. “I’m not the only treacherous creature on this ship.”

“I think they’ve come here for you because they believe in the power of bloodlines. You are special, Astaria. Not easy, but special. You’re worth the injuries they are incurring.”

“So I’m forgiven.”

“You are not forgiven,” Blackmane snorts. “You are going to stay in this cell and you are going to think about what you have done. You’ve stabbed the same man twice, Astaria, without provocation or warning. You’re becoming even more unhinged.”

“Unhinged? I assure you I am very well hinged, sir. In fact, you would be very hard pressed to find someone more well hung than me.”

“You are going to stay here until I have calmed down enough and the ship is satisfied that you have been disciplined — and I warn you now, Astaria. You will be making a public atonement for that scene tonight. And you’ll be apologizing to Redpelt personally. And painfully.”

I suppose that’s fair. And it could all be a lot worse. At least he’s not sending me off to be a human cow with the faye. I sit back down on the bed, dripping his seed between my thighs.

“Do I get anything to wear? While I’m freezing here?”

“You can have a robe. And some socks. But nothing else. You are still in trouble. A lot of trouble. Understand?”

I nod in a way I hope seems contrite. Gotta throw the guy a bone, and not a literal one, this time.

Chapter Eleven

Astaria

“Get that leg. No. The other leg.”

I wake to hushed voices and a bag already over my head. Oh hell, the faye are actually trying to abduct me. They’ve lost patience, and they’re making a very big mistake.

I am being bound up by tight tape, hand and feet, mouth besides, the tape wrapping over the bag and also my lips. They should be more careful not to actually kill me.

It’s impossible to move as I am abducted yet again. They’ve done a good job of getting to me without me being able to hurt them. And unlike before Blackmane got hold of me, I am not wrapped in weaponry. It is just me and a useless single layer of clothing that contains practically nothing in the way of self-defense.

I wait for them to pick me up and carry me away, but they don’t. Instead, they make the world melt. The bag comes off my head just in time for me to see it happen. One moment I am in my cell, and the next my cell is somewhere inside their ship. They must have used a teleporter or similar. We knew their technology was superior from the moment they appeared out of dark space. This is the first time they have revealed anything of their true capabilities.

“Don’t worry, princess,” Savork rasps through his shiny new electronic voice box. “No harm will come to you as long as you spread your thighs.”

He looks like an ethereal creature, but he sounds like a common creep. Spread my thighs. What a grotesque little troll he is at heart, no matter how refined and ethereal he might look.

“Blackmane will come for me.” I don't know why I say that. I don’t need Blackmane to come for me. I can make these assholes regret this all on my own. In fact, far from being afraid, I am already starting to feel excited. They’ve done something very stupid and declared open season on themselves. I can do anything to them with the clearest of consciences, which is very useful because Blackmane was almost starting to make me feel guilty for hurting others.

“He won’t because he won’t be able to find you. Ever. Our realm is not in another place. It is in another reality, one twist of a fractal away from the common realm. We have not left his ship. And we have never been on his ship.”