Before I could get out a word, she wound her arm through mine and gripped me tightly. She spun me toward a hallway that didn’t lead to my room but elsewhere in the prison.
“Come on!” she said. “There’s something I want you to see.”
“Harper…”
She smiled up at me, so warm, so caring, so gorgeous.
I didn’t have the heart to let her down.
“Lead the way,” I said.
I shot a furtive glance over my shoulder in the direction of the stairs to Krial’s apartment and was relieved not to find Annas staring back at me.
Annas didn’t let things like this slide and would take it upon herself to get back at me. I was certain of that. She could make Krial’s soul look pristine white in comparison.
I let Harper lead me down the seemingly infinite hallways, my mind focused on my problem of how to keep Harper safe without also having to give her up.
The hallways became busier with foot traffic as we took a corner and approached a large open room with a huge glass front that looked out on the surrounding alien landscape.
It was red and orange with faint hues of yellow, a violent and harsh arid desert. Jagged mountains jabbed at the sky like bodkin needles and another prison building—or maybe it was the same we were now standing in—arched around from the left.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Harper said, beaming broadly.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Yes, it is.”
Harper caught me looking at her, smiled, and pulled her eyes from me shyly. I didn’t think I’d ever seen that look on her face before.
We stood before the thick window and gazed out. There were other prisoners, all staring at us, jealous I had such a beauty on my arm.
A couple tried to catch Harper’s eye but she never took them off me or the landscape sprawled before us.
“What’s your homeworld like?” Harper said.
“Homeworld? I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
“You lived on a colony?”
“No.”
“Then where did you live?”
“On a ship, mostly. Sailing through space from one system to another.”
“Oh.”
She seemed disappointed by my revelation. It wasn’t that uncommon in this day and age. Krial always had something for us to do.
“What about your homeworld?” I said. “Earth. Does it look like this?”
“No. Well, parts of it do. The deserts. But it’s not red. It’s yellow. And we don’t have mountains like these on Earth. At least, I don’t think we do. Most of Earth is covered with water, the rest of it is land. There’s ice at the north and south poles.”
“You must miss it.”
“Yes,” Harper said with a hint of melancholy. “I never realized how much home meant to me before I was abducted.”
“Do you think you’ll ever get back?” I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. I already knew what the likely answer was. A resounding “No.”
I placed my hand on hers and together we paced along the window until we walked its entire length. It was a popular spot with the other prisoners. Between my cell and the fighting pits, there wasn’t much else I’d seen of the prison.
“Hey, Harper,” another of the inmates said.
Harper turned and it took a moment for her to recognize him.
“Ajar,” she said coolly. “Nice to see you’re still… alive.”
There was no doubt something had happened between them. She was a Prize and had likely slept with a lot of prisoners over time.
Just the thought of that brought a sour taste to my mouth.
“How are you doing?” Ajar said, pointedly not looking at me. “You look good. Really good. Listen, I know it’s been a while, and I’ve struggled to win a fight since last time, but do you think you could throw me a free one?”
Harper’s jaw stiffened and she turned to lead me away.
“Let’s go,” she said.
We turned to leave.
Ajar grabbed her by the arm.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m talking to you.”
The moment his hand touched her arm, my hand snapped around his wrist and twisted him off her.
Ajar’s eyes bulged and he moved with the twisting motion to prevent his arm snapping in its joint.
“I’m only asking!” Ajar said.
“So, go ask somewhere else,” I said icily.
I released his arm and led Harper away.
“You stupid slut!” Ajar bellowed, clutching his arm defensively. “The next time I win a fight, I’ll make sure you never forget our time together! Do you hear me?”
His shout got the attention of the other prisoners. More than one saw Harper and their eyes lit up with recognition. They opened their mouths to utter something I wasn’t interested in hearing.
We couldn’t just stand there. Not with them gathering around like a swarm of angry locusts. They could mass and attack all at once. I might be a good fighter but no one could stand against that onslaught.
I took us down the hallways and headed directly for the Prize Pool. There were always guards on duty there. They patrolled the rest of the prison but it was impossible to ascertain when they would be passing by at any given moment.
“I’m sorry about that,” Harper said as we came to a stop outside the Prize Pool. “I didn’t know… I thought…”
She didn’t know what to say. Her eyes crinkled up with anger and tears shimmered in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I took her in my arms and shushed her comfortingly.
“It’s all right. It’s not your fault.”
She calmed in my healing embrace and turned quiet.
“I never wanted to be in this place,” she said. “I was abducted. And then they… they… They forced me to be with these… things! Most days there was one that claimed me. I hated it. I hate every single one of them.”
I pressed her head to my chest to help calm her. Her madam, Lily, didn’t need to hear what she was saying.
She quietened and relaxed. She didn’t raise her head as she drew a breath and said her next few words.
“Except for you,” she said. “I never wanted to be