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  “You little bitch!” the short male snarled, finally regaining his composure. “You’ll pay for that—for what you did to Tunard!” He nodded at his friend, who was still doubled over in pain.

  “Just stay away from me or I’ll do it to you too,” Elaina threatened with more bravado than she felt. Maybe she could make them believe she was dangerous—maybe she could scare them into leaving her alone.

  She started to back away, only to find herself caught by the third male—the tall, thin one with muddy yellow and green ringed eyes.

  “I don’t think so, slave,” he snarled in her ear. “You’re staying right here and the Magistrate is going to hear about this—after we teach you a lesson.”

  “Leave me alone!” Elaina raised her voice, not caring who heard or how it made people stare. “What’s wrong with you people?” she shouted at the crowd surrounding them. “Is this really all right with you? You think it’s okay for a woman to be stripped of her rights and her dignity on the whim of some sexist man just because he feels like it? Wake up! This is happening right in front of you and you’re not doing anything to stop it!”

  “Shut up, you little cunt,” hissed her new captor. He slapped a hand over her mouth, cutting off her cries. “You’re going to be sorry you started this! Once we’re through with you, there won’t even be enough left to take to the Magistrate. You—”

  “Are you threatening my female?” A low, growling voice behind them made Elaina try to twist her head around. The heavy hand on her mouth made it impossible, though.

  “This is your slave?” her captor demanded, not letting go of Elaina.

  “Yes, she’s mine. And if you don’t want two broken arms and a broken neck to go with them you’ll take your hands off her now.”

  The low growl was unmistakably Terex. Elaina felt a rush of relief—finally! But the man holding her still didn’t let go.

  “This little bitch refused our advances,” he complained. “And then she injured my friend Tunard when he tried to take what was rightfully his.”

  “Elaina is not ‘rightfully his’ or yours either.” The rage in Terex’s deep voice was growing. “She is mine and you’re still touching her!”

  Still the male holding Elaina wouldn’t let her go.

  “The law states that an unattended slave is fair game in the Baths,” he argued stubbornly. “Not only did she injure my friend, she raised her voice in a public place! She shouldn’t have—”

  Parting her lips under his damp palm, Elaina bit down hard, sinking her teeth into the tender webbing of flesh between his thumb and index finger.

  The male gave a high, breathless scream and shoved her away from him, yanking his hand out of his mouth. Droplets of blood flew in all directions as he shook his wounded hand, swearing and dancing in pain.

  “Bitch!” he screamed at Elaina. “She’s a rabid bitch who ought to be put down!”

  “I’ll put you down.” Terex aimed a swift, powerful blow at the Nixian’s face. There was a crunching of cartilage and he was suddenly on the floor beside his friend.

  The two of them made quite a pair, Elaina thought. The beefy guy, who was still rocking and clutching his crotch right beside the tall, skinny one, who was holding his bloody hand to his streaming nose and wailing that it wasn’t fair.

  Terex leaned over both males and grabbed them by their lank black hair.

  “Don’t ever come near my female again!” he growled. With a fierce move he smashed their skulls together and let them drop—either senseless or dead, Elaina couldn’t tell which—to the slick Bathing Room floor.

  The third male who had approached Elaina stared uncertainly for a moment at his friends. Then he took one look at Terex and scuttled off into a corner, throwing frightened glances over his shoulder as he ran.

  “Come on.” Terex grabbed Elaina by the arm and pulled her through the crowd, which parted before them silently. It seemed like everyone was still stunned—too shocked to think what they should do or say. Elaina was pretty shocked herself. She spat the blood from her mouth and wiped her lips on her arm, still feeling unreal. Had that really just happened? It had all been so fast—so awful!

  But it’s all right! I’m all right now, she told herself quickly. Wasn’t she? To be honest, no matter what she told herself, she wasn’t entirely sure.

  At last Terex dragged her into a semi-private alcove on the far side of the huge Bathing area. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her over. It took Elaina a moment to realize his hands were shaking and another moment after that to understand they weren’t shaking with fear, but with pure rage.

  “Those fucking bastards,” he growled, his eyes blazing. “Did they hurt you? What did they do?”

  “Nothing. N-nothing,” she gasped and then burst into tears.

  “Elaina? Gods, I’m so sorry!” The big Kindred gathered her into his arms and held her close to his bare chest, running his hands through her hair and over her trembling shoulders. “It’s all right now. I won’t let anyone touch you—it’s going to be all right,” he murmured.

  “You don’t understand.” Elaina pushed away from him, her eyes still damp. “I…I’m not c-crying because I’m s-scared.” She took a deep breath, swiping one arm over her eyes and trying to control her emotions. “I’m crying because I’m angry!”

  “You have every right to be angry—to never forgive me.” Terex looked deeply remorseful. “I was detained by a messenger from Krumf—some trivial bureaucratic Council nonsense. I tried to put him off but he insisted on reading me an entire scroll and getting my signature to show that I had heard it. But I never thought—”

  “No!” Elaina exclaimed. “You don’t understand—I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at them.” She waved her hand to indicate the rest of the Bath. “Not just the men who attacked me—the people who stood around and watched and did nothing. What is wrong with the people here? They’re sick!”

  “I agree,” Terex said in a low voice. He took a deep breath, plainly trying to purge the anger from his system. “I don’t think I understood how sick until just now. Did they really feel they had the right to—”

  “To rape me just because you weren’t right at my side, yes, they did,” Elaina said flatly. “God, I hate this place.”

  “I do too, sweetheart.” Terex sighed and stroked her cheek tenderly. “But you gave as good as you got—I’m so proud of you for not letting them get away with it.”

  “You’re the one who clonked their heads together like a couple of cocoanuts,” Elaina pointed out, stifling a slightly hysterical giggle. God, her emotions were so out of control right now! “I bet they have a horrible headache when they wake up. Except for the first one, who’s going to have a headache and a ball-ache.”

  “He ought to have his balls cut off for what he tried to do,” Terex growled. “Both of them should. I wanted to kill them, especially the one holding you, but the grip he had on you, I was afraid he might…might break your neck.” The look in his eyes was fear now—fear of losing her, of seeing her killed right in front of him. “Elaina,” he said hoarsely. “If something happened to you—”

  “Don’t.” Lifting on tiptoes, she put her arms around his neck and held him tight. “Don’t even think it. I’m fine. We both are.”

  They stood together, trembling and holding each other in the alcove until Elaina felt like she’d gotten back some semblance of self control.

  “All right.” She took a deep breath and released the big Kindred reluctantly. “We’re not here for this—we’re here to bathe. And make a big enough scene to attract Krumf’s attention.”

  “I think we already did that,” Terex said dryly. “Although I’m not sure the scene we just made was the kind that’s going to get us invited into the Private Baths.”

  “I doubt it.” Elaina sniffed and straightened her shoulders. Wiping at her cheeks, she took a deep breath. “Come on—let’s go do what has to be done—whatever that is.”

  “Agreed. But this time I�€