Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Adryn…” I hiss, trying to keep my voice down.
Nothing. She must still be affected by whatever they drugged us with. Is the drug making me feel like I weigh more than I do?
A loud noise makes me shift my attention to the other side of the room in time to see a door swinging closed and three men coming toward me. I drop onto my butt and pull my knees up, wrapping my arms around them.
Shaking violently, I watch them approach. Now I know why my cage is so high off the floor. It’s at their eye level. Two of the men seem to be guards. They’re wearing all black and have weapons. One is blond and the other has red hair.
The third man is slightly taller. His hair is dark brown and thick. His eyes are also deep brown. His skin is tanned. He’s also wearing black, but his clothes look more distinguished, as if he’s important. He has no weapons that I can see.
For the first time, I hear them speak. The sounds coming from their lips are unintelligible. Certainly not English. My heart races as they stop at my cage. The unarmed alien eyes me skeptically, looking up and down my small, balled-up frame. He narrows his gaze as he scrutinizes me.
Finally, he smiles and turns to the other two, nodding. More words are exchanged. The two guards close the distance. They open a door on the front of the cage and grab my biceps.
I cry out as they drag me forward, angling me so that my head is leaning over the edge, my hair hanging long and messy. It’s a long drop to the floor. I’ll be injured if they let me go. But that’s not what happens. Instead, the redhead grips my head, keeping me immobile.
The non-guard holds up a strange metal circle. He opens it, wraps it around my neck, and snaps it closed. I barely have a chance to see it well before it’s secured and out of my line of sight. It settles heavy around my neck.
The blond man holds out some sort of electronic device. It beeps next to my collar.
When I flinch, the redhead says, “Do you think the translator is going to work?”
The blond shrugs. “I’m told it worked for the headmistress on the space station. She was given an earpiece. She was at least intelligent enough to realize she had no choice but to turn over the beings on the space station to our care. Apparently, these younger creatures are in their twenties. They’re called humans. We don’t know yet if they speak or can be controlled.”
Infuriated, I struggle against the tight grip these men have on me.
“You will hold still, human female. Obey or you will be punished.”
I’m still shocked by my ability to understand. “You speak English,” I mutter. My voice is raspy. My mouth is dry. I wonder how long it’s been since they took me.
The blond—the one holding the device—smirks. “No, human. The collar is sophisticated. It translates our language into whatever the wearer speaks.”
I’m on my hands and knees, praying to the heavens that they don’t suddenly release me because I will fall. I’m leaning too far to stop myself, and I feel awkward. My body weighs a ton. I hope they don’t think I have the ability to hold my precarious balance.
My heart races as the redhead continues to palm the back of my head, angling me forward while the other fiddles with the odd device. It seems to me the collar is working. What is he doing?
“Please,” I beg. “Where am I?”
“Venkoria,” the smirking man informs me. “You’d do well to hold your tongue so as not to anger your new master.”
The dark-haired man scowls. “There’s no need to frighten the human. I’ve paid good money for her. I’d rather she not die of a heart attack before I take possession.”
My breath hitches as I lift my gaze to the dark stranger who seems to have bought me. He looks calmer than the two who are manhandling me. I don’t like the idea that he has purchased me as though I were livestock, but I’d rather take my chances with him than the others.
“Inject her before she expires,” my new owner orders.
The brute gripping my head pulls me forward even farther. His partner puts the device away and holds up a syringe. I nearly pee myself as he pushes the needle into my neck.
Expecting the room to go black again, I squeeze my eyes closed, but nothing happens. Instead, the man who has bought me holds my gaze for several seconds before smiling. “I’ll be back to collect her.” He turns and marches from the room.
The two men shove me back several inches and close the cage.
I rise onto my knees and grab the bars, supporting myself with difficulty. “Please. What’s going to happen to me?”