He couldn’t possibly understand that she hadn’t left him because she wanted to.
Food was delivered while she was focused on her problems. Surprise flickered through her and she wondered if she’d been out a very long time or they fed the prisoners/slaves in this area at a different time.
The guy—Nyles—took the bread-like substance, divided it in half and held out a piece to her.
Emma studied him suspiciously for about five seconds, until it dawned on her that she was trapped in the tiny cell with him. He didn’t have to trick her. He could chase her around the cell until she dropped from exhaustion.
She got up and moved close enough to take the food and then settled uneasily an arm’s length away.
Her ass had scarcely made contact with the icy floor, however, when the outer door slid open with an order, in Sheloni, to get out.
Emma slammed the whole wad into her mouth since it instantly leapt to mind that the people outside might not be nearly as fair minded about the food as Nyles was—or ‘her’ guys.
It was so dry she thought she was going to choke to death and didn’t even have the time to stop to grab a few drops of water to help wash it down.
She was sorry she didn’t take the time when they emerged to the discovery that there was one of the Sheloni metal monsters waiting to pounce. It seized her by her neck and lifted her clean off her feet. She was too shocked to struggle even though her instincts would have been screaming at her to do so, she was sure, and then the opportunity, if there ever was one, was lost. She felt an electric jolt hit the back of her neck from the collar and the lights went out.
Her last thought as she slid into blackness was ‘so this is death’.
The terrified cries of a baby brought her from the blackness.
Not ‘a’ baby. Nye.
She sucked in a sharp breath and jolted upwards, ready to fight.
Thankfully, since she was about as useless as she’d ever been in her life, there was no threat. Nye was lying on the floor next to her.
She scooped him into her arms, bursting into tears she couldn’t control while she struggled to calm him. “Shhh, baby. Hush. Mama’s here. Mama’s here.”
He didn’t quiet appreciably until he’d worn himself out. When he had, he sniffed and leaned away to stare at her.
Without recognition.
Then his lip rolled out and he howled.
Emma felt her own chin wobble, struggled to keep from bursting into tears all over again.
He’d forgotten her?
How?
It had only been a week—maybe two. She couldn’t be sure when there were no clocks, no sunrise or sunset, no routine to mark time, but she didn’t believe it had been long at all.
Could he just not remember because he was a baby? Or had they done something to him? Or did she just look so different he didn’t recognize her?
“I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry. I couldn’t help it. I tried to keep them from taking you away. Mama’s so sorry.”
He studied her as she spoke to him and abruptly surged forward and grasped her face between both hands and kissed her all over the face.
Well, slobbered.
It took all Emma could do to keep from crying with happiness then. “I’ve missed you so much, precious. So much.”
Snuggling him close, she rocked him until he finally fell asleep.
That was the first time she had the chance to really look at him and she felt a combination of rage and grief.
He was so thin! Poor baby! They hadn’t taken care of him like they should’ve!
She raged inwardly for a while, rocking mindlessly—thinking in short hand—a random thought here and there.
The stupid things just didn’t know how to take care of him, she decided after a while. They wanted him alive.
Was that why they’d abruptly yanked her from the breeding pen?
Maybe.
She didn’t care. She had Nye back and she was going to protect him with every fiber of her being from those bastards!
She looked at the ceiling when the baby woke, crying. “He needs food you stupid bastards! He’s a baby! He has to be fed every four or five hours. His little stomach won’t hold enough to keep him much longer.”\
There was no response—at first—nothing, not verbal anyway. If a very short length of time, though, a bottle appeared through the access panel.
And food for her!
A little stunned, Emma wondered if she’d been out that long, but dismissed it and the gnawing hunger she’d begun to grow accustomed to. Taking the bottle, she sniffed it.
It smelled as repulsive as the ‘brew’ he generally ate and looked the same. She screwed the top back on and settled Nye in the cradle of her arms. He sucked suspiciously but then went to work with a will, draining the bottle so fast she knew he had to have been starving.
Poor little angel!
When he’d burped, he settled down and went to sleep again.
Emma looked at her meal longingly and finally just scooted across the floor to retrieve it since she couldn’t get up with Nye—he was too heavy—and she couldn’t bring herself to put him down.
Which was stupid. They’d just knock her out and take him if the mood struck, but it made her feel better to hold him close.
The food didn’t distract her long. She began to feel the aches and pain of her cramped position and the weight of the baby. The sleeping platform didn’t really hold a lot of appeal, though. It was as cold and uncomfortable as the floor and there was the risk, if she tried it, that she might lose her grip on the baby in her sleep and he would fall and get hurt. Finally, she just moved into the most comfortable position she could manage and drifted to sleep behind him.
She had no idea how long she slept, but she was awakened
