Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (15 page)

“My ship is on the same course as the trader for now until we hear back from you. Kharis out.” The viewing screen went black. He stood staring at the darkened screen thinking about his brothers’ words. Suddenly, an ear piercing sound reverberated around the bridge. He swung around to find a very anger dragon glaring at him and blowing smoke out of her nose.

Where is my Kelly?
Parath roared in his head.

“Calm down, Parath...,” he tried to interject but failed.

Don’t tell me to calm down. If you had taken me along, this would have never happened. My Kelly is missing and it is your fault!
Parath puffed a huge bout of smoke in his face causing him to choke.

Parath was a young dragon but still very strong. She could very easily rip him to shreds if she chose to do so. Thankfully, the dragons knew and understood the relationship that developed between a dragon and an individual. Once the dragon was gifted or established a bond with its counterpart, he, or she now, would never harm a member of its extended family. In the case of Parath, that included not harming him even though he would blame the female dragon on bit if she did. Kelly was his mate, the center of his entire life, and he had allowed something bad to happen to her. Parath had every right to be angry with him, considering he was infuriated with himself. He was sick to his stomach knowing Kelly was out there, somewhere, in danger and for the time being, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“I know this is my fault. I take full responsibility, but I am going to need your help, Parath.” He stepped forward in an attempt to make peace with Kelly’s partner.

Parath had studied him for a long time before she responded. When she did, Kharis could hear the fear and anger emitting from her.
I will help you in any way that I can.

“Thank-you. Have you tried a mind link with her yet?”

I did, but we are too far apart and I can’t hear her.

“Keep trying. Maybe by some chance, we might get close enough to her to sniff her out before the trail goes cold.”

I will do as you ask. For now, I will go back to our quarters and wait to find out where we are headed.

“Excellent. I will have Serelath stay with you until I return there. I don’t want you to be alone.” He reached out his hand to tentatively touch the female dragon’s snout. He waited for Parath to make the next move and when she did, he felt an instant weight lifted off his shoulders. Parath was an important key in finding Kelly and he needed to keep the said dragon on his side. If he lost Parath, he might possibly lose Kelly forever.

Chapter 16

Kelly was plastered to her seat when the ship she was a prisoner aboard shot forward with such speed, she nearly blacked out. The pressure she felt on her chest only eased when the ship slowed down somewhat after several long minutes of flight. She was just about ready to toss her cookies when her stomach subsided enough for her to regain her composure.

She struggled to get the gag out of her mouth, but it was of no use. One of the goons driving the ship would have to remove it for her! She turned her attention back to the front window of the ship and watched as the tiny dots of light sped by at an incredible rate of speed. It reminded her of the movie Star Wars when Han Solo pushed the Millennium Falcon into hyper sped in order to out run the Imperial Starfighters.

She could hear her captors talking quietly, but she couldn’t understand much of what they said. They were smart enough to keep their voices low. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back again and thought about how things should have turned out. Maybe, if she had kept her mouth shut like Kharis told her to, she might not be in the position she was in now. For once in her life, she wished she would have listened. It was the cop in her that sometimes out her into trouble, and right now, she was in a lot of trouble.

Movement from the front of the ship had her opening her eyes back up. The oaf that had carried her like a sack of potatoes was walking towards her.

“Did you enjoy that takeoff?” he sneered at her.

She wasn’t about to try to say anything, so she just rolled her eyes at him.

His response was to reach out and jerk the gag out of her mouth.

“Geez, thanks,” she said sarcastically.

“What were you doing on Nimbus 3 all alone anyway,” he asked when he decided to sit on the seat next to her.

“I told you, I wasn’t alone. My husband…mate was nearby. We got separated by the crowd. He’s probably searching for me now and you guys are going to be in a lot of trouble if he finds me with you two.” Maybe a treat might make her captors think twice about doing anything else stupid with her.

Her captor let his massive head fall back as he roared out a laugh so thick it didn’t sound human-like. “Do you think I really care about this supposed mate? I am not scared of anything, much less, your invisible man. He should have taken more care with you, if what you say is true. A lone female is a prime target for slavers.” The smile he gave Kelly scared the crap out of her.

She cringed back into her seat to get as far away as possible from the giant. The man was looking at her as if he was about to gobble her up any second. “Why don’t you just avoid any trouble and set me free. I won’t say a word about you guys or where you are headed. No harm is done, right?”

“Oh, oh, oh. You sure can make me laugh! I would keep you around if you weren’t worth so much. The price we plan on asking for you will feed us for a year plus fuel up this piece of shit a few times.” He thumped his fist on the roof of the cabin.

Her heart sank right down to the pit of her belly. “Where…where are you going to sell…sell me?”

“About a day’s ride from here, is a small traders’ moon where we are planning on stopping. It’s not a well-known trading moon, but a lot of slavers stop there to make purchases or sell goods, and you are a precious commodity we need to get rid of quickly.” He stood back up then arched his back.

Kelly watched every move the giant Cyclops made. She no longer feared the pair harming her, but rather, what they planned on doing with her. If Kharis didn’t find her buy the time they reached this trading moon, any hope of him finding her could be lost. There was no telling who or what might buy her and where she might end up. For all she knew, she could end up on the opposite side of the universe!

The giant left her to her own thoughts and returned to his front seat. The hours ticked by as the trio flew through space at an ungodly speed. Kelly dosed now and then only to awaken by laughter coming from the duo driving the ship. The smell of food awoke her next, making her own stomach growl in anticipation. Thankfully, she was given some of food and a collapsible bag of water to wash it all down with.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred until they neared a small blue moon. Kelly had no idea how much time had truly elapsed, but her heart sank at the sight of the moon. Kharis had yet to find her nor had she heard anything from Parath since she left Kharis’ ship. Number one was speaking to someone on the moon, asking for clearance to land. Once given permission, the rickety ship quickly descended to the surface and landed with a hard thud.

Number two was first up out of his seat. He untied her from her seat and allowed her stand up and stretch before he secured her hands behind her back once again. Number one release the airlock on the door then waited for them before he exited in front of them.

A short length of chain was attached to her bindings and was used to tug her along behind the walking giants. The moon itself didn’t appear to be very busy. A few individual here and there walked passed them in the opposite direction, giving her odd stares and glances. Kelly took in her surrounding as she was lead through the small town. She was looking for any way to escape and hid until she could get in contact with Kharis.

“Come on. Quit stalling,” Number two gruffly said when he gave her chain a hard tug.

The momentum set her off balance and caused her to stumble. She would have gone down, but Number one caught her and set her straight.

“Thanks,” she mumbled to him.

“Umm,” Number one replied.

They continued to walk through the town until they came upon a dilapidated building with a small porch on the front. A warped wooden sign bared the name of something, but she was unable to read what it said, even though she could guess what it meant. Inside the building, Number two kept hold of her while Number one approached the counter and rang the bell. A few seconds later, a strange looking creature emerged from behind a curtain. Her eyes widen in surprise as the creature neared Number one then waited for him to state what he wanted.

Kelly had time to study the strange being. It was like nothing she had seen so far in space and was quite interested to know what it was. The creature’s blue skin glimmered as if small flecks of glitter were sitting on its skin. Four arms, two which were spread on the counter, stayed still as Number one spoke in a low tone. Every now and then, four sets of eyes glance her way as the two continued to chat. The alien’s eyes were a beautiful shade of sky blue and had long, thick lashes surrounding them. If she had to guess, she would say the alien was female, but she couldn’t be positive.

The discussion ended when Number one walked back to where she stood with Number two. “The owner is having a sake tomorrow before the morning meal. She offered to take possession of our goods, but I refused. I’m not about to let her out of my sight.”

“I agree. Where can we get a room?”

Great, just freaking great! Now I get to spend the night in a room with these guys!
Kelly listened intently to her captors.

“There’s a hotel about a block away. Let’s go there and find out if they got a room. We can take turns watching her until tomorrow.” Number one walked towards the door.

Number two followed close behind his partner and when he realized she hadn’t moved, he gave the chain an extra hard yank causing her to stumble forward.

“Damn! You don’t have to pull so hard!” she yelled.

“Just shut up and come on.”

Reluctantly, she followed behind. She wanted to avoid being dragged through the street, so she did her best to keep up with the long-legged men. It wasn’t far down the street when they veered into a two-storied building. It reminded her of a hotel found out in the old west when the United States was still a young country. The entire moon actually reminded her of the old west. As far as she could tell, the small moon was lagging behind in technology.

They entered the dimly light hotel and walked up to the desk. Another female, this time a relatively ordinary looking one, sat behind the wooden counter as she greeted them.

“Hello. Need a room?”

“Yes,” Number two said.

“For the three of you or do you need two rooms?” The woman looked around the two guys to get a look at her.

“No, just the one. She’s to be sold in the morning.” Number one nodded in her direction.

“Oh, ok. Sure thing.” The female worked quickly to check them in and hand over the room key.

After finding their room and locking door behind them, Kelly sat on the edge of the bed. It felt horrible to be in a helpless situation and unable to find a way out. She felt like crying but didn’t want to give her kidnappers the satisfaction on seeing her cry. She had to keep it together if she had any hope of getting out of this alive.

“I’m going to find us something to eat. Make sure you watch her,” Number two instructed Number one.

“Not a problem. Get us something to drink too. It’s been way too long since I had any juju juice.”

“I’ll what I can do. Let her get cleaned up too. The better she looks, the better the price we’ll get.” Number Two left the door then.

“You heard the man. Go get cleaned up,” Number one said as he pointed in the direction of open bathroom door.

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think that will be a bit hard with my hands tied behind my back?”

“Oh…didn’t think about that.” He walked over to her and released the binds.

She instantly felt the tingling in her arms stop as her circulation resumed its standard course. “Thanks,” she said dryly.

“Wash your clothes out while you are in there then wrap yourself in this.” He handed her the thin blanket that had been on the bed a moment ago.

“I don’t think so, buddy. I am not about to get naked and sit around in a blanket while you two freaks gawk at me!”

Number one obviously didn’t like what she said because he was up in her face in an instant and pushing her into the bathroom. “Get in there and get cleaned.” He poked her in the chest with each word he spit out.

“Ok, ok. No need to get testy!” She stepped into the bathroom then slammed the door in the big goon’s face. “Asshole!” she mumbled under her breath. Hanging on the wall over the sink was a cracked mirror that reflected back a double image of herself. She moved closer to get a better look at herself and found that she look horrible. Dirt was smudge across her face and she had the beginnings of purple bags underneath her eyes. She had to admit even she wouldn’t buy herself in this condition.

A short time later, after she finally figured out how to turn the shower on, she emerged from the bathroom clean and wrapped in the blanket given to her to wear. Her not so friendly captor was laying on the bed, stretch out as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Feel better,” he asked.

She parked her clean body in the only chair in the room. “Yeah, thanks.” She wanted it to show sarcastic, but she figured she had better keep a civil tongue. She didn’t want to piss these guys off and end being sold to whore house or something.

“There’s some food on the table. Help yourself.” He took a bite of his food that was on the plate balanced on his stomach.

“Not hungry,” she said after took a quick glance at the food sitting on the table. Nothing looked appetizing to her and truthfully, made her stomach turn.

“Your loss,” he said matter-of-factly.

The evening progressed much, in the same way, as on the ship. She sat in the chair, bored to tears, and the big guy stayed on the bed, stuffing his mouth with as much food as he could get in it. Number two returned again well after dark and took up his turn as her guard.