Enslaved Read online

  “I’ll think about it,” Trin had said at last. “I promise I’ll give your idea careful consideration.”

  “Thank you,” Sidna said. “But don’t think too long, Trin—the crew is growing restless.”

  Trin thought about it now—thought long and hard. Maybe she should just let him go. He was angry and dangerous and huge and muscular and male. He didn’t belong aboard The Alacrity. It was like trying to keep an exotic pet in an environment that wasn’t good for it.

  No, I should stop thinking of him as a pet. That’s one reason he got so mad in the first place. She sighed. Maybe it would be best to just let him go. There were four life pods attached to the ship and they only really needed three of them to evacuate everyone. She could simply give him one and let him go where he wanted.

  The life pods had been designed to survive long stretches of time in deep space and they all had stocks of dehydrated food spheres—provided he had a rudimentary knowledge of flying and knew how to navigate wormholes, he could go pretty much anywhere he wanted.

  That’s what I ought to do, she thought. Just let him go his own way. He’s never going to play the roll I need him to—Sidna is right, he’s a dangerous liability. All right…when I get back from the Devil’s Eye, I’ll do it.

  Her heart was heavy as she made the decision and not because losing the Havoc meant she’d basically flushed fifty thousand credits down the drain. Somehow, the idea of loosing Thrace was like a weight on her heart. It didn’t make any sense but somehow she’d allowed herself to grow fond of the big Havoc. So fond that the idea of never seeing him again made her eyes sting and her throat grow tight.

  Don’t be an idiot, she lectured herself, swiping angrily at her damp eyes. He’s just a failed experiment. An idea that didn’t pan out. Next time maybe you’ll think harder before you sink credits into a scheme.

  She straightened up and took a deep breath. It was time to stop dwelling on the problems with her troublesome Havoc and start concentrating on her strategy for getting in and out of the Demon’s Eye in one piece tomorrow. And after she got in and out with the Jaxite, how she was going to sell it without a male body-slave to help her. Well, maybe she could try to hire one for a few days from somewhere although she was afraid the Yonnite mistresses would spot a fake…

  I’ll figure it out, Trin told herself. I have to. For now, one step at the time. First I have to get the Jaxite to sell.

  The Alacrity was in the Delta-Xion quadrant now—a couple million light years from home, thanks to her navigator’s extensive knowledge of stable wormholes. A few more hours travel would take them to the Demon’s Doorstep—the planet the notorious space station orbited. Trin needed to be ready when they got there. Her ship, her livelihood—even her very life depended on it.

  Still, even as she tried to turn her mind to the Eye and what she would say to B’Rugh, its owner, the big Havoc kept crowding into her mind, demanding her attention…

  Chapter Six

  Thrace tossed restlessly on the cot. He had slept poorly and had wakened to the quiet sounds of Trin getting ready to depart. He’d almost called out to her—wanting to say a word before she left. But what was he going to say—I’m sorry? Thrace snorted. Not fucking likely. Why would he apologize to his captor? The female who had bought him and chained him down. The one who refused to let him up from this fucking cot? Stubbornly, he had turned his face to the wall again and drifted back off to sleep.

  He woke again with his head pounding and a blaster shoved in his face.

  “Wha—?” He stared groggily at the blunt silver-blue muzzle hovering just above his nose. Gods, his head was killing him.

  “Get up.” The steely voice belonged to a female named Sidna, who he was pretty sure was the ship’s medic. It was her voice he most often heard arguing with Trin about what was to be done with him.

  “Can’t get up,” he said, glaring at her. “I’m chained to the fucking—”

  “I’ve unchained you. Stunned you first in your sleep to be certain you didn’t wake up in the middle. I’m taking no chances with you, Havoc.” She waved the blaster at him again. “Now get up—slowly. This is set to kill so don’t get any ideas.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Thrace said dryly. “What are you going to do with me?”

  “I’m getting rid of you while Trin is gone. She’ll probably be upset with me when she comes back—if she comes back. But that’s just too damn bad.”

  “What do you mean if she comes back?” Thrace sat on the side of his much-hated cot, trying to regain all the feeling in his extremities and relishing the feeling of freedom for the first time in days. But the diminutive medic’s words troubled him. “Why wouldn’t she come back?” he asked, looking at her.

  “Because she’s gone into the Demon’s Eye by herself with no backup,” Sidna snapped.

  “She what?” Thrace exploded, standing up so suddenly Sidna jumped and shoved the blaster right in his sternum.

  “I said slowly,” she snarled. “Any more sudden moves like that and I’ll blow your head off—I swear by the Goddess of Judgment, I will.”

  “Sorry,” growled Thrace. “But the Demon’s Eye—that place is a fucking viper pit! Every murderer, skinner, psycho-slicer, and mind-raper in the known universe is welcome there. Any one of them will kill you just for looking at them the wrong way. And with that type it doesn’t matter how you look at them—it’s always the wrong way.”

  “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. Anything I haven’t already said to Trin,” Sidna said tightly. “But she thinks she’ll be safe because she knows the male who runs the place.”

  “She knows B’Rugh?” Thrace could scarcely believe his ears. Trin certainly didn’t seem like the kind of person who was on speaking terms with the most notorious crime-lord in this or any other galaxy.

  “She beat him in a card game once,” Sidna said. “He’s been after her to come and ‘visit’ him on his home base ever since. But up until now she’s never been stupid enough—or desperate enough—to go.”

  “Why in the Seven Hells would she go now?” Thrace demanded. “Especially without anyone to watch her back?”

  “Why do you think? Because of you.” Sidna waved the blaster at him accusingly.

  “Because of me? What are you talking about?”

  “You mean she didn’t tell you?” Sidna raised an eyebrow at him disbelievingly. “Buying you nearly bankrupted her. I finally got the whole story out of her the other night—she spent fifty thousand credits on you to get you free of that slaver at the Flesh Bazaar.”

  “Fifty thousand credits?” Thrace could scarcely believe it. The sum was ten times what even the most accomplished and highly trained slave was worth. He’d been bought at a high price the first time he was a slave but his old Master could afford it—Trin couldn’t. “Why the fuck would she spend so much on me?” he demanded.

  “I have no idea.” Sidna gave him a withering look. “Especially since all she really wanted was a male to stand at her back and look pretty at the Yonnie Six state functions. And you plainly can’t even be trusted to do that.” You worthless piece of scum, her tone implied.

  “She told me she didn’t buy me for sexual reasons, like the Yonnite mistresses buy body-slaves,” Thrace said. “But I never knew she just wanted me for backup.” Backup he hadn’t provided—and wasn’t providing now. Trin was alone in a den of thieves, rapists, murders and every other kind of criminal. And he wasn’t there to help. I could’ve been, he thought. If she’d trusted me enough to let me up, enough to take me with her. If I’d given her any reason to trust me.

  “She bought you to save your worthless life, Havoc,” Sidna snapped. “She told me the slaver who sold you was trying to kill you with the pain collar he’d put on you. In my opinion, it’s a pity he didn’t succeed.” She shook her head. “Trin always was too soft hearted—although I never knew her to let her feelings get in the way of good judgment before.”

  “I can’t fuck