Abducted: Alien Mate Index Book 1: (Alien Warrior BBW Science Fiction Paranormal Romance) (The Alien Mate Index) (40 page)

We passed many strange looking females of all different exotic species, some humanoid and some not even recognizable as living beings—at least to me. It really was a zoo and I felt sorry for all the exhibits, even the ones that looked like rocks or plants or—in one case—a cross between a dolphin and a Doberman.

At last we came to a case made to look like a sitting room. There was a fireplace with blue flames dancing in the grate, a large, comfortable looking red chair with a high back and scrolled arms, and a flowered carpet on the floor. Interesting and expensive art work hung on the walls and a low table with five curved legs was set to one side of the chair.

A plate on the table was heaped with what looked like tasty little cakes in every color of the rainbow and there was a triangular cup with steam rising from it. Was it some kind of tea? I didn’t know—my eyes were drawn away from the surroundings when I saw a movement in the center of the chair.

Someone was sitting in it—a slender girl was huddled in one corner with her back to us. Her dress was almost the same deep, velvety red of the chair which was why I hadn’t seen her right away. I couldn’t see her face because she had it buried in her hands. As I watched, her slight shoulders shook and I realized she must be crying.

Poor little thing!
My heart went out to her—how homesick and scared she must be in this big, awful, weird place! Tazaxx was a monster for keeping her locked up like this.

Behind me I heard Grav breathe, “Teeny,” in a low voice not much more than a growl. I glanced back at him and saw that he was holding himself back with an iron will. Every muscle in his big body was bunched with tension and his huge hands were curled into fists. A vein throbbed in his temple, just to the side of one of his curving, black horns and a muscle jumped in his jaw. I thought he looked like he might rush forward and break the glass of the little prisoner’s display case at any minute. But somehow, he managed not to.

“She looks all right,” Sarden remarked. “But it’s difficult to see her.”

“Here…you. Come forward.” Tazaxx tapped sharply on the glass.

The girl in the chair jumped, her thin shoulders twitching with the motion. Slowly she stood and turned to face us. She had pale, almost translucent skin in the most delicate shade of sage green imaginable and a cable of thick, black hair.

I could see by her tear-streaked cheeks that I was right—she had indeed been crying. Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of violet, red rimmed now, from weeping. With her delicate coloring and jewel-like eyes, I thought she looked like a little elf or fairy.

“Come here!” Tazaxx ordered her, tapping the glass again.

Slowly, uncertainly, the girl walked forward. It wasn’t until she was right up against the glass that she really saw us—or should I say, that she saw Grav.

Her violet eyes went wide as she looked at him and I saw hope fill her thin face and flush her pale cheeks. Her mouth started to form his name but I saw him give her a short, sharp shake of his head.

Biting her lip, the girl looked down, her thin fingers twisting in the skirts of the red dress she wore.

“Hmm…” Sarden nodded. “Yes, I like her,” he said, turning to Tazaxx. “She’s young enough to train and she’ll be quite lovely when she’s grown in a few years. What’s your asking price?”

“One hundred thousand credits,” Tazaxx said, without blinking an eye.

“What?” Sarden frowned. “I thought I might get a better deal here than at the auction. It’s ridiculous to ask so much for an ungrown girl with no particular rarity or skill set.”

“But she
is
rare—not her species, per say—she’s only a common Thonilan. But there are other forms of rarity, my dear Baron Van’Dleek,” Tazaxx assured him. “This little female is the last living heir to the House of Yanux—one of the ruling families of her people. As a result, she is very rare indeed.”

“Hmm…I
do
like having girls with good pedigrees in my entourage,” Sarden said, sounding for all the world as though he was talking about some kind of purebred animal like a racehorse instead of a sentient being. “Do you have any more like that? Any more
royalty?
Perhaps we can make a deal if so.”

“Alas…” Tazaxx made a face. “I
did
have a very fine Eloim female in my collection until very recently.”

“You
did
have?” I heard the slightly strangled sound in Sarden’s voice but to his credit, he managed to keep his features blank and only mildly interested. “What happened to her? Did you sell her?”

“Unfortunately, no. She had the Crimson Death. I didn’t know it when she first came to me—it’s lucky I keep my treasures isolated or it might have spread to all of them.”

“The…Crimson Death?” Sarden’s voice sounded harsh and his cool, indifferent manner was slipping somewhat. “So she’s too ill to see—is that what you’re saying?”

“Oh, no—you may see her if you like. Come.”

Tazaxx led the way down the darkened hallway. Sarden’s broad shoulders were tense and his gait was wooden but somehow he kept going. I wanted to slip my hand into his and comfort him the same way he had comforted me when I told him about Angie, but I didn’t know how he would take it.

We walked past a few more lighted windows and then we came to one that was dark.

“Lights!” Tazaxx called, raising his voice and tapping on the glass.

At once, the lights came up in the case, revealing a bare room with a single raised platform in the center. On the platform lay a girl—or what used to be a girl.

Her body was bent in a position of agony—the back arched as though she had died trying to get a last breath. Her long, silky black hair was matted and dull and her golden cat’s eyes, so much like Sarden’s, were open but empty. Glazed and lifeless, they stared at us and I noticed rivulets of dried blood had leaked from their corners. Her full lips were painted red too, and gore ran down her chin.

Clearly she had died in agony.

“Gods,” Sarden whispered hoarsely. “Oh
Gods.”

“Yes, it
is
rather disturbing, isn’t it?” Tazaxx didn’t sound disturbed by the gruesome sight at all. If anything, I thought he sounded bored. “I’ve had to leave her here, unfortunately. It would be quite dangerous to unseal the room at this point. We need to give it a full sixty solar days before we break the seal and spray in the anti-viral agents.”

“She…she…” Sarden clearly couldn’t finish.

I slipped my hand into his, not caring if he wanted me to or not—I had to comfort him, to help ease the numbing pain I saw on his face. A pain I swore I could almost feel in my own heart.

“She’s been gone for about a week, I believe,” Tazaxx said. “We did the best we could for her but after a certain point, nothing but intervention by the Goddess of Mercy herself would have been enough to save her.”

“What…what are you going to do with the…with her body?” I could feel Sarden’s big frame trembling, yet still he was trying to keep from showing his pain. I understood why—we had to keep the pretense up at least a little while longer if we were going to rescue Teeny.

Tazaxx shrugged his mud shoulders stiffly, as though he wasn’t used to making the gesture and was only copying what he had seen others do.

“Burn it, most likely. It’s the only safe method of disposal when dealing with the Crimson Death.”

“Her ashes…” Sarden made a choking noise. “I need them.”

“What?” Tazaxx frowned. “Whatever for?”

“A gift to the Eloim government,” I said quickly, improvising. “My, uh, Master is entering into trade agreements with them. If he could give them…give them her ashes, it might be taken as a sign of, uh, goodwill.”

“So it could. Yes, I see.” Tazaxx nodded. “Very well. I’ll be pleased to send you the ashes—for a nominal fee of course.”

“Of course.” Sarden’s deep voice was wooden.

“And do you wish to see any other females?” Tazaxx inquired, raising one mud-eyebrow.

“No, I…no.” Sarden coughed. “Just the one. The little Thonilan.”

“Yes, indeed. I tell you what—since I couldn’t satisfy your other offer, I’ll give her to you for a mere ninety-nine thousand.” Tazaxx nodded genially, as if he was being generous.

“Yes, all right. Ninety-nine is all right,” Sarden said in a low voice. “I…I really must be going now. If you could just have her delivered to my shuttle.”

“I’d be happy to. Come right this way.” Tazaxx tapped the wall beside the lighted room with Sellah’s body in it. To my surprise, it slid open smoothly, revealing another long, dark corridor. “It’s a shortcut,” Tazaxx explained when I looked at it in surprise. “An underground passageway from my display area back to the docking accommodations where your shuttle is parked. We can arrange for payment there since you’re in such a rush.”

“Of course. Thank you,” Sarden said mechanically. I was getting really worried about him—he seemed like he was barely holding it together. I squeezed his hand and looked up at him but he didn’t respond. Even with the smart-fabric mask on, I could tell his face was set like a stone.

He’s still numb,
I thought as we followed Tazaxx through the short-cut corridor.
It hasn’t really hit him yet, but it will.
I intended to be there for him when it did. I felt so bad for him, seeing his sister like that! What a terrible, gruesome death. And she had died alone, isolated in that horrible cage with no one to help her bear the pain or hold her hand.
Poor Sellah…

I squeezed Sarden’s hand harder and felt my eyes burning. My throat was tight and somehow I couldn’t seem to swallow the lump that had formed there.

“Here we are. I’ll just go get Floosh to see to the financial transaction and fetch your purchase,” Tazaxx remarked as we came out into the warehouse where Sarden’s small shuttle was parked. “I’ll return shortly.”

He left us alone, disappearing back through the door we had come from, and for a moment we just stood there.

“Sarden…” I said at last but he didn’t look at me.
“Sarden.”

At last he turned his head.

“Yes?” he asked in a low, toneless voice. “What is it?”

“Sarden,
please.”
I stood on my tiptoes and put my arms around his neck, trying to bring him down to me, trying to ease his pain.

At first he didn’t seem to know what I was doing but then he bent down, letting me hug him even if he didn’t exactly hug me back.

“Sarden,” I said again, pressing my face to his neck. “Honey, I’m so sorry.”

He fell to his knees then, his arms wrapping around my midsection, his face pressed between my breasts. I put my arms around him tight—wishing I could take the pain for him. For a long moment, we stayed like that, with Sarden holding me silently. He didn’t cry but I could feel the ache of grief inside him—I swear I could.

“I failed her,” he said at last, his deep voice hoarse with agony. “She’s been gone a whole week. I should have come sooner. I should have found her before she got sick. I—”

“There was nothing you could have done,” I whispered. “You tried—you did everything you could.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said fiercely, pulling away. “I never should have left her in the first place—I should have fought for my place on the throne. But I told myself it wasn’t worth it—that the Eloim people wouldn’t want a half-breed ruling them. I left the responsibility and burden to Sellah and that idiot, Hurxx, who didn’t protect her. Who let her get taken…”

“I’m so sorry.” I felt tears running down my cheeks and couldn’t seem to stop them.

“Don’t be.” Sarden’s eyes glittered as he looked at me. He cupped my cheek in his palm. “I thank you for your tears, Zoe, because I cannot shed them myself.”

“Why not?” I asked, swiping at my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“I can’t let myself grieve until I get vengeance.” He stood and looked down at me, his voice a low, menacing growl. “Vengeance on the pirates who took her in the first place…and on my fool of a cousin, Hurxx, who should have protected her and didn’t.”

“And Tazaxx?” I asked, knowing he was probably somewhere on that list.

Sarden nodded. “But not now—later when he’s least expecting it. After Grav has had time to take his ward to safety.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Grav rumbled. He hadn’t said a word this whole time but I could see the terrible compassion on his face. “There are no words for the pain you must feel,” he told Sarden. “I will help you take vengeance for Sellah’s death if you wish.”

“Thank you.” Sarden nodded formally. “I will take you up on that offer.”

“Here we are. I believe this is the female you purchased?” It was Floosh—or POC as I had been calling him in my head. He waddled in from the back door with Teeny in tow. Her eyes got wide when she saw Grav but she didn’t say a thing.

Sarden and Grav shot each other one last meaningful look but Sarden didn’t utter another word else except to thank POC for bringing the girl.

“If you would like to follow me to my Master’s back office, we can arrange for the payment,” POC said to him.

“Fine. I’ll come.” Sarden squared his shoulders. “My new acquisition will be safe with my Protector.”

“As you wish.” POC waddled towards the door on his tiny little feet and Sarden followed him.

“I’m coming too,” I said, hurrying to stay with him. As we left the vast, echoing room, I turned my head and saw Teeny rush into Grav’s arms.

“Grav! You came! You came for me!” she whispered breathlessly. He laughed and swung her around, looking happier and less scary than any time I could remember since I’d met him in the VIP lounge.

“Teeny! Didn’t I promise I would always come for you? Didn’t I swear it on my life?” He squeezed her very gently to his broad chest and she covered his rough face in kisses. She looked like a little girl greeting an adoring uncle—I couldn’t believe the big, tough Vorn (or Vorn half-breed? I still didn’t know what he was) had such a soft heart.

The sweet little reunion almost made me feel a little better. Then I looked at Sarden’s broad back and felt worse again. Poor guy! And he wasn’t even going to let himself grieve until he killed everyone responsible for Sellah’s death.

He could say that but I knew the truth—there’s no way to put off that kind of deep grief. When it comes knocking, you have to open the door because you can’t keep it out.