Okay. So, no big escape today, but nothing exactly threatening either. It seemed silly, but the promise of a walk actually perked me up a little. Back home, I ran miles every day on the treadmill to keep myself in shape. Compared to being chained to a wall in the dungeons, a little exercise actually sounded pretty nice.
“That’s not so bad, then.” I clasped the halter of my top around my neck and let out a little sigh of relief. “Okay. I’m dressed. Let’s go.”
“Not quite yet.”
“But I thought you said we were in a—” My voice trailed right off a cliff as Apex turned, holding something small and golden in his hands. “…hurry.”
“We are. But you are not adequately dressed for breakfast.” This time, when his lips twitched, there was a smile on them. An awful one. “Not yet, at least.”
He held the golden thing up for me to see as he approached me. If I was feeling positive and generous, I might have called it a necklace. But I knew the kind of show I was going to be expected to put on over breakfast, and I definitely hadn’t forgotten how Apex was supposed to be my master now. Not after the way he’d made me kneel for him last night.
“That’s a collar.” I took a step back from him, shaking my head. “I’m not wearing it. I’m not a dog, Apex.”
“After your little stunt last night, you should feel lucky that I am not insisting on a leash as well.” As he drew closer, I could tell he wasn’t bluffing. There was a little metal loop on the front of the collar that a leash could have easily been affixed to. “You will wear it, and graciously. Queen Lieja will be expecting no less.”
I wanted to fight him on it, but I was beginning to learn how useless that was. If Apex was being honest, and this whole master and slave thing was really just an act, then of course I needed to wear it. It would keep me safe from Lieja’s wrath, especially if Apex was right about the risk of trouble lingering after my encounter with Votan and Razael last night.
But if he wasn’t being honest…if there was even a hint of reality behind our little act…
I rolled my eyes and straightened for him, holding my chin up high so he could fix the collar around my neck.
Once again, it didn’t matter. Once again, I obviously didn’t have a choice.
The collar wasn’t heavy around my neck, but it was hard to forget that it was there just the same. It’s just a necklace, I told myself. Pretend it’s just a necklace, and you’re going to some stupid influencer event. Just like you would back on Earth.
I knew better than that, though. Every necklace I’d ever worn had been a collar in its own right, and I’d been owned by whoever put it on me. Whether it was Apex claiming ownership of me, or Queen Lieja, or the stupid, corrupt sectors, in the end, it was always the same.
I always had a master, and I would always be a slave.
“How is your lip feeling?” Apex’s gaze lingered on my mouth once the collar was fastened around my neck.
“Better,” I admitted. “I don’t think it was really that bad to begin with.”
Without asking, he raised his fingers to my lower lip and gently eased it down to see the place where it had been bleeding. Just like last night. And just like last night, my breath caught in my throat.
He was so close, and even though I wasn’t on my knees this time, he still loomed over me like a black cloud. Like a god. I could feel his breath on my skin, hot and humid. The place where his fingers touched my lip was practically on fire. Part of me was hoping that he’d have his look and draw away again, but another part of me—the part of me where my inner floozy had apparently dug her claws into me overnight and completely taken root—hoped that maybe he’d dip his head down again…that maybe, once again, he’d press his lips to mine, only this time—
The door blasted open with a bang like a gunshot. Apex and I both turned sharply. Faster than my eyes could track, I felt him move his body in front of mine like he was blocking me from a sniper’s sight.
But thankfully, Votan and Razael weren’t the ones standing in the doorway. As soon as Apex’s eyes fell on the two tall, handsome, orange-skinned aliens who had just burst in, he let out a frustrated sigh and relaxed.
“Ronan. Gallix. I was not expecting you,” Apex said coolly.
“Oh, we can see that,” the yellow-haired one said with a chuckle as he strode in. His gaze lingered on me for a moment, then he came over and clapped Apex on the shoulder, grinning ear to ear like someone had just told a dirty joke. “Did we walk in on something? Because sure as the ninth moon’s tits make milk, it sure looks like we did.”
“Our apologies, Apex.” The purple-haired one, who looked like he was the same species of alien as Apex and the yellow-haired one, except for the fact that he had four arms instead of the usual two, closed the door behind him and bowed his head slightly. “When you did not arrive at breakfast on time, we became worried, and Gallix thought—”
“I thought maybe our specter friend and his new lovely little human might have gotten caught up in something,” Gallix said with another chuckle. “Only, I figured it was probably something a little less—”
“Intimate,” Ronan supplied. He gave me a tight, apologetic smile. “You must be Atlanta. We have heard much about you.”
“Mostly
