2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Racing by.
I fell onto one of the two cots in our cell and pulled my glasses off to rub my face. The black plastic frames had held up, but one of the lenses sported a crack from where I’d gotten smacked in the face. At least I was able to see well enough, not that there was much to look at. The cell was made of metal, rectangular in shape, and had two bare cots, a toilet, and nothing else.
Vince stumbled in a few minutes after me, covered in soot, blood, and general grime, much like I was. Both of our heads were shaved and our simple brown jumpsuits were ratty and thin, to the point of non-existent.
Almost two years had passed since our abduction and subsequent sale. Some of the humans who’d been kidnapped had been sold to a restaurant that catered to rare tastes, which turned my stomach, but I tried not to focus on it too much, as there was literally nothing I could do about it. Some had been sold to brothels—I actually spotted those humans every once in a while—and some to private households as servants or pets. Everyone else had been offloaded to different planets.
The only human I saw regularly was Vince. The others were distant figures ghosting through the city, trying to survive. When I did see another human, we gave each other the same helpless look. None of us was in a position to save the other.
Vince and I had been sold to a fighting ring. Not as fighters, thank god, because we were scrawny as fuck, especially since Agk, our xoi owner, saw feeding us as an unnecessary luxury, but as cleaners. We cleaned the refuse, vomit, or piss left behind by the audience and dead bodies after the fight concluded. Not glamorous, but we were alive.
Vince collapsed beside me, and I grabbed his hand, interlacing our fingers. I was perfectly content to never touch anyone or talk—I was fairly self-sufficient—but Vince needed physical reassurance to cope with our surroundings. He was a tactile person. Me? Not really, but touching didn’t bother me either, so I gave him what he needed.
“The furnace is threatening to give out again,” Vince said, dragging his free hand over his soft features. He was lovely. There wasn’t any other way to say it. Vince was lithe and attractive, even with the grime. I was shocked someone hadn’t made Agk an offer for him.
I nodded with a grunt. The massive machine had been sending out more plumes of smoke than usual and giving us error codes that we couldn’t read.
“If it dies, Agk’s going to sell one of us to pay for it.”
I tightened my hold on him.
Our owner had been threatening to sell us since he’d acquired us. The restaurants would always buy us. Given how rough a shape I was in, I doubted a brothel, except the cheapest, would purchase me. Vince probably—that was the problem with being pretty. But then again, who knew what a xoi found attractive? They were purple watermelons with horns, stuck on to toothpicks in bad spandex.
In the end, if Agk sold us, it was to become food or a whore or fodder for some kind of monster.
“Come on,” I said, tugging on him. “Let's go watch that race everyone was talking about. We can probably see it on one of the screens around town.”
Vince groaned, but I dragged him up. He needed this. He needed to do things, to see people, to pretend that there was a life after this.
We were free to leave after our work was done. We both had an implant in our arms to translate for us, track us, and prevent us from going far. If we did try to escape, the implant would shock us until we fell unconscious, leaving us vulnerable to anyone who passed by. Besides, where was there to go? There was no escape from the planet’s surface. And if I was honest with myself, I wasn’t sure if I deserved to escape, let alone survive.
I shrugged off the memories and kept walking. The dirt streets were crowded with filth and smog. The buildings were all unfinished rusty metal. Aliens of all types pressed against us while hovercrafts flew overhead. Xome was where the watermelon-head xoi called home, and it was the ass of the universe according to the residents, though it was right next to Maykian space. Mayks were wealthy aliens with supposedly wondrous technology that everyone wanted, but they did not share.
We crowded around a screen behind a force field of a shop along with other aliens. The shuttles darted between the indicated lights as the drones followed them. I didn’t know much about the universe we inhabited, except that it was larger, meaner, and a whole lot more horrible than I’d ever thought, but the technology was amazing.
I chewed on my lip, watching the race—well, a sped-up version. Vince and the rest of the crowd groaned and cheered, calling out who they wanted to win. A large busk—an alien covered in thick brown fur with two huge tusks pushing out of their mouth—shoved me to the side to see better.
“Watch it, asshole,” Vince snapped, dragging me closer.
“You watch it, puny,” the busk snarled, the pink spines on their back lifting.
Vince wasn’t intimidated—he never was. It was a wonder he didn’t have his ass handed to him on a daily basis. “Back the fuck up.”
“Make me.”
I snagged Vince before he attacked the busk and probably got beaten to a pulp. I held him against my chest and moved out of the busk’s way. “It’s not worth it.”
Huffing, Vince turned to the screen to watch the end of the race.
The crowd roared when a sleek Maykian shuttle pulled in first. However, as the racers docked at a station, the feed focused on the person who took fifth. His long white hair was shaved on one side, and his royal purple scales had a sheen like a snake. Drakcol. I didn’t know much about the species and I’d never seen one in person, but they had changed my life.
My gaze slid over the drakcol. He was handsome, with his strong chin, long nose, and full lips. His plump bottom lip had a single gold ring in the middle. That was not his only piercing. His tapered ears were pierced from tip to lobe; the lobe having long golden earrings that ending in emeralds the same color as his eyes.
Apparently, one of the drakcol princes had taken a human as their mate. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but that human was the reason we’d all been abducted. Humans had become hot ticket items to be bought and sold as the newest fad.
I really wanted to hate that human, but they’d been abducted like I had. For all I knew, they hated their mate and hadn’t had a choice in the matter. In the end, it didn’t matter. I was here now, and the last two years had happened; there was no changing that.
Vince slid his arm through mine and drew my focus away from the screen. He was clinging to me as he watched the crowd with narrowed eyes. He was always nervous when we left the ring, even though if someone so much as gave me the stink eye, he would snap and growl. He was practically feral about protecting me. But he worried about someone taking us whenever we left.
It wasn’t that I didn’t worry, because I did, but at the same time, we needed to leave our cell and see sunlight, even if it was filtered through smog. But Vince wasn’t as calm as I was.
He constantly yelled and railed about Agk or the unfairness of our situation. Honestly, I was pretty sure if given the chance, he would straight-up murder Agk. Me? I wasn’t sure. Agk might deserve it, but killing him didn’t guarantee freedom and the thought of ending someone’s life, even his… My stomach churned. No. I had enough ghosts without adding another one to the horde.
Vince often talked about his past, the people he missed, his home, and whatever else he was pissed about. I would nod along, occasionally sharing, but most of the time, I listened to him without giving anything back. Talking it out helped him calm down, which he often needed. Vince sometimes was an asshole in his aggression, but it didn’t bother me—we were friends. The closest one I’d ever had. Of course, in this situation, we didn’t have much choice but to band together.
We stayed for a few minutes after the conclusion of the race, listening to the interviews, before shuffling back to the ring. Our rations, if Agk had made enough money tonight, were going to be given soon and more fights were scheduled tomorrow, so we needed rest. I slung a bony arm over Vince’s shoulders to keep him tucked against my side.
The shared space was empty when I stepped out of my bedroom in the morning. I peeked into Dontilvynsan’s room, but it was empty; he was probably occupied with navy business. He oversaw several science stations and was charged with monitoring the Immortal Planet—one of our most important studies. Monqilcolnen, Hallonnixmin, and Gilvaxtin were gone, probably exploring the station together.
Zoltilvoxfyn growled and Caleb released a sound that made me distinctly uncomfortable when I rang their door. They were fucking, again, and I had no desire to interrupt them, again . Last, I went to Kalvoxrencol and Seth’s room. The door was ajar, so I peeked inside. They wouldn’t fuck with the door open—I was safe.
Seth stood in front of a large screen depicting a tube full of green liquid. Lucy, his black cat, was in his arms. He rubbed her flabby belly, and she purred in what I assumed was cat contentment, but his focus never deviated from the screen.
I grinned and leaned against the doorframe. His and Kalvoxrencol’s kit. Seth watched the fetus almost constantly—it was an obsession. He hated being away from their growing child, though it would be some months yet before the fetus was viable.
“Watching again.” Kalvoxrencol snagged Seth around the waist, biting his neck.
“I can’t help it. What if something goes wrong?”
“Nothing is going to go wrong,” he answered. “This is common, Husband. Many couples use this service.”
“I’m allowed to be worried. That’s our kid.”
I almost stepped forward at Seth’s rough tone to protect my younger brother, who wasn’t as confident as he acted, but I controlled the instinct. Seth wouldn’t hurt Kalvoxrencol—not ever.
Kalvoxrencol kissed his cheek. “My apologies. Of course, you’re worried. This is the first time for you. For us. But…” He pointed at the corner of the screen. “The baby’s vitals are strong. Edith is monitoring them. You know she’ll never let anything happen.”
Edith was one of Seth’s closest friends, and a NAID who had gained sentience when Kalvaxrencol first took Seth from Earth over three cycles ago. She had slowly forced her way into each of our lives. I quite liked how hilarious she was, even if she did impart unwanted advice frequently.
“Wyn is checking on the baby daily,” Kalvoxrencol added.
Lucy seemed to sense the seriousness of the conversation, or Seth’s stress, because she squeaked and wiggled until her head was pressed under his chin. The cat was an odd creature that Seth had brought from his planet, and I’d only seen her a handful of times, including right now, because she wasn’t friendly. When she did make an appearance, she usually hissed at everyone and then hid.
Wyn, like he’d been summoned, appeared on the screen. His bright pink hair was shaved on both sides and braided down the middle of his scalp. His lavender scales were glorious, as were his delicate features. I had never seen a prettier person in my life, no matter the species, though he was too short for my preference. I liked taller people, regardless of their gender. Wyn sat and began to read to the fetus, who probably didn’t have ears.
Kalvoxrencol held Seth tightly in his arms as they stared at their kit. A little family in the making.
My soul hurt at the thought. Both of my younger brothers had taken mates, as had my eldest. I wanted that but hadn’t found anyone I enjoyed spending more than a few days with. As I watched my youngest brother and his mate, I felt as if I was being left behind. He, Zoltilvoxfyn, and Hallonnixmin were out pacing me. They were busy with their families, and Dontilvynsan was always busy with his duties.
This feeling was ridiculous. I wasn’t being abandoned, and I had as meaningful responsibilities as any of them. Despite it all, the feeling persisted.
I stepped back to give Kalvoxrencol and Seth privacy and headed to my shuttle, personal not racing, and slipped into the void of space.