Cavas gave her a questioning look.
“You’re mostly human-looking. Two arms. Two legs. This alien…wasn’t. He resembled a big bug, with four legs and six arms.” She shuddered. I was told lots of horror stories about what would happen to me if I acted up or refused to take orders from our master. I didn’t want to end up in a sex house being raped by dozens of aliens every day. Cia, the slave in charge of me, said it was the second worst place a slave could end up. She also said because I was human, they might rent out my womb to birth alien babies. I believed her. At least, enough to think submitting to one alien sounded better than many. She assured me our owner didn’t want young. That was a bonus in my mind. Why bring a new life into that hell, right?”
He nodded. “That would be tragic. But what about my brother?”
“I’m getting to that. The alien who bought me returned from his trip. Then I saw him—and I just couldn’t let him touch me. He undressed and ordered me to lie on the bed.” She shook her head. “I’ve always hated bugs. The thought of allowing him to crawl on top of me was too much. I flipped out and tried to run away from him. That pissed him off. He grabbed my chain and started pulling me toward him, yelling about how he’d make it extra painful for me. So, I fought harder.”
The robot backed away and went to the wall, where it seemed to shut down.
Cavas held out his hand to her. “It’s done. You’ve been treated for all your injuries. Did the alien who bought you cause your injuries?”
She hesitated only briefly before deciding to trust him. He’d gotten her medical help, after all.
Of course, it might be a trap…but the other alien who’d looked like him had tried to save her. She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Jill let him help her sit up. His big hands were gentle. He released her as soon as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
She took stock of her body. Her clothes were torn and dirty, but her bruises were nearly faded. The cuts were sealed. Her skin wasn’t red anymore where the cuffs had broken her skin. “No,” she finally continued. “That happened later. While I was fighting bug alien, he fell and impaled his head on some stupid piece of sharp sculpture in his bedroom. This horrible screeching sound came from him, and four guards rushed into the bedroom. Two of them tried to help him, and the other two grabbed me.”
Cavas cocked his head, listening patiently.
She openly studied his eyes. They were pretty, for a cat guy. He was also huge. “When the guards tried to pull the alien bug free from the sharp sculpture…his head came off.” She watched Cavas closely, unsure how he’d react when she admitted to accidently killing the jerk who’d bought her.
“Good. That means there’s one less slave buyer.”
His response surprised her. “You’re not mad?”
“No.”
“What do you plan on doing with me?”
“I’ll get you food, give you access to a shower and clean clothing. You’re safe here. No one is going to sell or harm you. Please answer my questions first, though. My brother is missing. What do you know?”
She hoped he was telling the truth. “After the bug alien died, his guards were pretty mad. They were supposed to turn me over to the authorities for execution. One of them said they should claim his death was an accident, and sell me instead to earn money, since they were out of a job. The other guards agreed. They took me to this super nice house. I heard one of them say something about it belonging to the alien who owns the planet.”
“Yorlian Trevis.”
By his snarled tone, she could guess Cavas didn’t like whoever that was. “No one said that name. They asked to speak to the ‘overlord.’ The overlord wasn’t there, but the big red-skinned alien who answered the door bought me. I was taken into a basement and locked inside a large cage. That’s when I saw the one who looks like you. I mean, same race. His hair was black and his eyes were blue. He was already locked up down there.”
“He didn’t tell you his name?”
She shook her head. “We weren’t allowed to talk to each other. There were other red-skinned guards watching us. When the guards weren’t paying attention, the one who looked like you would use his hands, trying to signal to me. He wanted the metal decorations in my hair to pick the lock on his cage. I removed them and tossed them to him when it was safe. It worked. He got his door open, beat down both guards, and then let me out of my cage. It happened super fast. He said he was going to help me escape.”
“Crath wouldn’t have abandoned a slave. We’re protective of females. Did you happen to see any scars on him?”
She gave a nod. “He had one on his neck.” She reached up and pointed at her own to show where it was located.
That seemed to excite the lion guy. “That’s my brother. What happened next?”
“We ran. He told me that he had a shuttle hidden to get us off the planet, and he’d take me somewhere safe. He also said my timing was perfect, since they were just about to move him to a more secure location. Only…we didn’t make it. A group of aliens caught us. We both fought, but they shot him with some kind of knockout darts. Me too. Next thing I knew, I woke up in another cell. There were two green aliens that looked like toads in the cell with me. They wanted to know if I was ‘the Tressie’s life-lock.’”
“Tryleskian.”
“Sorry. I’m new with alien names. That sounds right. I told them I didn’t know. Then they asked me where he was taking me. I lied, saying I wasn’t sure. I had hoped that he’d escape a second time and maybe he’d come back to take me to his shuttle. He was my only hope.”
“I’m sure Crath would have come back for you if he were able. Are you his life-lock?”
“I still don’t know what that means.”
“His mate?”
Jill was stunned. “No! I mean, we said like twenty words max to each other. If even that. We were running for our lives.” A memory surfaced. “He mentioned his brother!” She stared up at him. “You?”
“What did he say?”
“‘My brother will help you stay safe.’ I think those were his exact words.”
The tall male sighed. “That makes sense. Crath must have meant our older brother. Cathian and some males on his crew have life-locked to human females, including our cousin. You’d call it marriage. We’ve joked that The Vorge has become a human sanctuary for females. Do you know where they took my brother?”
She tried to think, focusing on being locked in that tiny room where she was questioned. Something else clicked. “They said I might see him again if he won me in a fight. They laughed, saying that was the most likely outcome since the overlord would find weaker males to go against him to make sure he stayed alive. I was pretty beat up and not feeling well. Then the toad aliens took me to another place. It was a dark cell, and I was shivering from the cold. One gave me a blanket. I passed out, sure I was going to die. And then…I woke here.”
Cavas stepped forward and offered his hand once more. “Let’s get you cleaned and fed. Did you ever hear of something called the pits?”
She’d taken his hand to ease herself off the tall med bed, but froze at his question, staring directly into his eyes. Jill nodded warily.
He leaned in, getting close. He did have beautiful eyes. The shape and golden color reminded her of the eyes of a lion. She didn’t fear him…but she did fear the memory of Cia’s stories.
“What do you know about the pits? It’s important.”
“Cia said our master was a regular at the pits, which is also called the arena. That was another reason never to make him angry. It’s somewhere deep in the desert, where arrested criminals are sent if they’re sentenced to die. The prisoners are forced to fight each other to the death to entertain the rich. They bet large sums of money on the outcomes. Cia insisted all the men who go bring one or two of their sex slaves to the fights. It’s like a status thing, to show us off to their friends…but she warned that sometimes, it’s also how owners get rid of slaves they grow tired of or angry with. Owners bet on a fighter and offer their slaves as rewards, extra incentives to the criminals if their wagers win.” Jill shuddered. “She also told me what happens then. If it’s true, it’s a nightmare.”