My first true kiss has already been stolen from me. What else can these Aurelians take? What will I feel when they do?
I’m so tiny – that much is obvious as I sit against the huge, hulking figure of Otho. I’m torn because I know how I should feel in this situation – helpless, and terrified, and frightened – and although I truly want to hate Otho for what he did to me earlier – that brutal spanking – I find I just can’t.
He took command of me so easily as he bent me over that workbench. He drew out things from within me that I didn’t know I secretly ached for. Otho is in complete control of me. Yet, I know him… He’s an absolute beast of a warrior when the frenzy overwhelms him…
What would happen to me if he lost control?
I look up to Otho’s battle-brother.
“What’s your plan, Lazar?”
Lazar eyes, still darting from building to building, turn to focus in on me like Orb-Beams.
Those eyes are cold. Grey. Inhuman. Every time I look into those eyes, I’m reminded of how different he is to me. Our similarities – arms, and legs, and the common tongue – are overshadowed by our differences. How could I fathom what goes on in the mind of such a man? How could I even begin to imagine the effects that hundreds of years of killing, fighting, and conquering could have done to his psyche?
“We should reach out to your father,” Lazar murmurs. “You are safe. He deserves to know that. There is no reason to make him worry unnecessarily.” He turns to me, and growls: “We must secure the rights to that Orb-Material and finish the deal. That’s why we’re here.”
His eyes stare at me – filled with a heat that radiates from beneath the illusion of cold, granite indifference.
“I’ll speak to Brennan about it.”
Brennan.
Of course.
Brennan is their leader. He makes the final decisions.
I lick my lips. I have a bad feeling about this. From the very start, these Aurelians have demonstrated what they’re good at – honorable, competent, and deadly – but also what they’re not so skilled in...
Like kidnapping, and extortion.
They’re amateurs on a planet like Marn.
“My father’s been working his whole life for this,” I warn Lazar. “What if he doesn’t make a deal?”
Otho turns to face me, pulling me closer to him.
“Your father is a good many things, but one thing was clear when we met him. He knows he’s been working on you for far longer than that mine of his. If you’re part of the arrangement, he’ll make a deal.”
Really?
I believed that, too – back when I was first kidnapped.
But I’d also believed he’d take their original deal – the one they made in good faith, when they were welcomed into my father’s estate as guests.
My father’s stubbornness and arrogance came to the forefront then. Now, I’m not so certain how well I even know my own father anymore. Ever since we received news of the incredible Orb-Deposits he’d gained ownership of, he’s become a different person.
Paranoid. Nervous – as if his delusions of grandeur had changed the moment they went from delusions to real potential.
My father has been handed his dreams – and now I don’t know how easily he’ll ever give them up.
“My father,” I murmur. “I thought he’d have accept your original offer – the one you made back in my house. He’s been telling me for years that as soon as we make enough to get off this dangerous planet, we’d be gone.”
I sigh.
“To start a new life, he promised. A life in which I don’t have to look over my shoulder every second.”
Lazar looks at me with certainty painted on his face.
“Don’t worry, Natali. He will do exactly as we…”
Suddenly, Lazar’s wristwatch turns a deep, dark red – and interrupts him with urgent beeping.
Lazar stiffens. Dread fills me as Otho jumps up, too – pulling his arm from around my shoulders. His hand darts down to the hilt of his Orb-Blade, instantly ready for battle.
“What is it?” I blurt out, fear gripping me.
“Your father took the bait. We changed the signature of the rental vessel to mimic ours, knowing he might find it.”
I shiver. My father didn’t make a deal. He’s attempting a rescue.
“Let’s see what he attacks with.” Lazar almost sounds amused as he studies his digital wristwatch. “It will give us an insight into his mental state.”
Lazar presses a button on the watch. A holographic projection of a remote, abandoned building appears in front of me, projected by his smartwatch.
I watch with horrified fascination. I know this sort of thing is routine for Aurelians – but it’s not to me. To me, it’s captivating to watch real battle played out like one of the old holo shows I watch.
My mind races. So, I know my father won’t be able to rely on his Sentinels to attack, since Lazar has already demonstrated that he knows how to hack them.
That means my father will have hired real soldiers to rescue me. I have a morbid curiosity in seeing just how many mercenaries he’s hired to.
But it isn’t mercenary ships that touch down on the abandoned building. The cold breeze that blows all around me suddenly feels like nothing compared to the icy chill that radiates across my body.
Three Reavers are projected on the display – with Aurelian Law Enforcement markings emblazoned on the side of them.
As we watch, the three ships land down on the building. Otho and Lazar stare, horrified – as if unable to comprehend what they’re seeing.
From the Reavers, triads of Aurelian Law Enforcement officers jump down, rushing into the building with Orb-Blades drawn. They’re ready to massacre Otho, Lazar and Brennan – all to free me.
I knew my father loved me – that he’d do anything to protect me – but to have called in the most fearsome warriors in the universe?
