Adiron (Corsair Brothers 1)

If she tries to take this baby out of me, I will absolutely cut a bitch.

But for now, I have to remember my “stupid” act. I have to remember this is a woman who talks slowly in front of me because she thinks I'm too dumb to understand big words. So I keep my gaze unfocused and as helpless as possible. Calm, I remind myself. Focused. Wait for the right moment to retrieve your gun and then you can go apeshit on these assholes.

"Where's Adiron?" I ask, since that seems safe enough…and I have to know. If she's hurt him…

Shaalyn circles around me, pinching the fat of my arm and then squeezing my flank, as if I'm nothing but meat. I've suffered worse indignities, so I do my best to ignore it, especially when she touches my hair again. After a moment, though, she responds. "He's been taken to my hold until I decide what to do with him."

A prisoner, then. Okay. I feel some of the tension easing out of me. I can work with that. "Why? What did he do wrong?"

"Oh, my darling. You humans ARE simple, aren't you? I swear, I don't see the appeal in keffing one, but there are all kinds of deviants in this galaxy." She gives a delicate little shudder, her tail swishing. "Let's just say he and I are at odds with what we want in the universe."

"And what's that?" She seems chatty enough that it seems like an okay thing to ask. Of all the things I expected Adiron's murderous ex-lover to be, chatty was not one of them.

"He wants adventure and fun. Adiron wants nothing more than to make his friends happy, a warm place to lay his head at night, and a warm cunt to fuck when he wants to fuck." Shaalyn shrugs delicately. "I want credits. It's very simple, really. Wealth is power, and I like wealth. You wouldn't understand."

I like Adiron's version of the world better than hers. I think she's wrong about him, too. It wouldn't surprise me if she underestimated him, given that she's still talking to me like she would a simpleton—or worse, a dog. "Adiron is nice," I say, trying to emphasize that yes, I am dumb, and please don't think about me too hard. "You should be nice to him."

"What a sweet little thing you are," she coos, touching my hair again. I want to slap her hand away, but I don't dare. "You're going to make someone very happy, you know, and bring me lots of credits." She taps her lip with a long finger, thinking. "You were one of the slaves in the pods, were you?"

I nod, going along with her questioning for now. "They got me out early. Wanted company."

"Were you the only one?" She pets my arm, stroking me in a mockery of Adiron's gentle touches. She…really does think I'm like a dog, doesn't she?

I decide to press it even further, moving to cuddle up against her. I want to punch her a billion times, but if I pretend to be dog-like, she'll let her guard down, won't she? So I snuggle against her, even though it feels like snuggling with a snake, and she enfolds her arms around me, humming with approval. Bitch. I force myself to smile, so I don't sound like the seething hatred I feel when I answer her. "Only one what?"

She pats my back. "Human, darling. Were you the only one woken up?"

She…knows this answer, doesn't she? If she ran into Kaspar and Alice—and killed them—she knows a lot more than she's pretending. It's a test, slyly inserted into a casual conversation. I try to think of the right answer to tell her. Do I lie and say it was just me and Alice? What if she's in contact with Straik and he's found Ruth? What would Alice have told her? I consider this for a moment. I don't think Alice would have told her anything. She would have protected Helen, and she wouldn't have said anything about me on the ship…except that Shaalyn knew I was there.

Unless that was a lucky guess.

Fuck. I…don't know what to do. "Two," I finally say. "Me and Alice. She's the blonde one that was with Kaspar."

"Mmm." She keeps rubbing my back, and I don't know if that's the right answer or not.

Desperately, I look around the room, wondering if there's something I can grab to use as a weapon. I'm in Shaalyn's arms…if I can find a knife, I can get revenge for Adiron. I never thought I was the type to murder someone in cold blood, but I like this idea far too much. I have to defend myself, I reason. The tablet-like med-scanner is in its compartment on the control panel, and it looks heavy enough that I might be able to do some damage if I use it on Shaalyn's head…maybe. Then again, maybe not. Adiron's plated brow is hard as rock, and she's got the same one, and the metal-covered horns. It wouldn't be like knocking out a human. I need something stabby.