Page 10 of Adored By the Alien Warlord
And then I would turn and with my heart a pulpy thing in my hand, I’d walk away from her, doing my best not to look back.
Chapter 5
Maggie
While I was still wary, I felt as if I had one friend in Davon. He was big and burly, fierce even, but I’d already seen he could be gentle and kind.
If Talia trusted him to find me, I’d give him my tentative trust as well.
“What are we going to do now?” I asked.
“I need to make a plan.” His gaze sought mine, and I saw only concern there. “I’d love to take you from this place right away but that would be too dangerous. I’ll do all I can to protect you, but Wortek has been clear. He won’t give up on his investment in you easily.”
“Then how can we escape?”
He described how the Veerenad city had been built on the edge of the desert, how to the north, there was nothing but dense, uninhabited forests, then a long range of very steep mountains. To our south, the vast desert gave way to more forests. Zuldruxians lived there—as did Maggie, with her new mate.
I still couldn’t fathom the fact that my sister had fallen in love, and I wouldn’t truly believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.IfI got the chance to see her again, and that was a big if.
“When my plan is solid, we’ll act.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “It won’t be easy to cross the desert, but Wortek is our biggest threat. He’ll come after us. I’ll do all I can to protect you, to ensure you survive the journey, but unless we can move fast, we’ll be captured. Will you give me the chance to prove that I am worthy?”
An odd way to put it, but I nodded. “How long before we can run?” I wanted to flee now, but he was right. Wortek would be angry if I escaped. He tethered me to the wall in my room or to the pole. Other than now when he’d told Davon to bring me to my room, he’d kept a sharp eye on me most of the time. If I ran, he’d come after me. And if Davon was with me, Wortek wouldn’t hesitate. He’d kill Davon and bring me back here, and there was no saying what he’d do to punish me. As long as I could dance and bring in customers, I had value, so he wouldn’t harm me to the point I couldn’t perform. But there were ways of hurting someone that didn’t break bones or leave scars.
I’d die here; there would be no escaping that.
“Soon.” He stood, staring down at me. “When we run, we need to disappear and stay gone. I have some skills in the desert.” His chest puffed, though it was only a slight thing. Shadows swirled around this male as if he carried heavy burdens on his shoulders at all times. He’d mentioned a brother and a clan, which told me he wasn’tcompletely alone. Why was he so solemn and sad? “I know how to find food and water, and I know how to hide.”
“You’re ahead of me there. I lived in a city like this one. I know how to survive on the streets, but I’m useless in the desert.”
“We’ll be a team in this, each contributing what we can. I don’t know much about these streets, but I will listen to you and learn.”
That gave me a weird sort of comfort.
“I followed the tracks from your ship in the desert. They led me here.” Such stark desperation in his eyes and voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t arrive in time to keep them from selling you.” His spine stiffened. “But I followed Wortek to this building, and I made him hire me. It was the only way I could get close enough to you to tell you that you’re not alone, that you don’t have to take this challenge on by yourself. I want to give you hope.”
“You have. Knowing my sister is safe and that you’re going to take me to her makes all the difference.” I could keep dancing. Quite willingly, in fact, as long as I knew there was an end in sight.
“I’ll do all I can to get you to her.”
“What will happen after that? I don’t want a mate.” I’d thought of marrying one day, maybe having children, but how could I do something like that here?
“If you don’t want a mate, you won’t have one.” He sounded bleak, though I didn’t know why. Did he think he and I . . . Nah, he was sent by my sister to help me, not to collect a gods’ gift.
I needed a friend, and maybe that could be Davon.
It shouldn’t matter if this guy was lonely, if he felt unworthy, to use his own word, but it did.
There couldn’t be anything else between us. I’d talk my sister into going home with me if we could find a way. Maybe she’d fallen for some sort of Stockholm thing with Firion. We’d talk, and she’d see she didn’t belong here with him. She and I would always need each other first.
“I don’t want to bind you, but I have to.” He took the end of my chain and fastened it to the wall above my bed, securing the lock. “If I don’t, Wortek won’t allow me to come near you again.”
The length gave me enough to move around inside my room, to reach the toilet and sink, and of course, to dance while I was bound to the pole. If only I could run through grass again, splash through the sea. If only I was free.
“I understand.”
He started toward the door but turned back. “I . . .” With a shake of his head, he left without saying anything more, his heavy footsteps fading as he made his way back down the hall and up the stairs.
I went to the sink and did my best to wash, using a square of his shirt. It felt good to scrub my armpits and face, to drag the wet fabric across my belly. I grimaced at my clothing stiff with dried sweat, wishing I could change. Wortek said I didn’t need more than one outfit, and I didn’t dare wear the skimpy nightie. I felt too exposed while wearing it, too vulnerable to attack.