Page 8 of Willow and the Wraith

The Ssst’s eyes darted left and right, as if searching for an escape.

“I-I don’t know anything, sir. They paid me to keep quiet. Said they’d kill me if I talked.”

He took a step closer, his voice low and menacing.

“And what do you think I’ll do if you don’t talk?”

For a fleeting second he thought he saw a defiant look in those faded yellow eyes, but it vanished so quickly he decided he was mistaken. The old male trembled, opening his mouth, then closing it again, caught between two equally terrifying options.

A panicked male was of no use to him, and he decided to soften his approach slightly.

“I won’t kill you if you answer my questions and stay out of my way. But I need information.”

The old male hesitated a moment longer, then nodded quickly.

“They… they left in a hurry. Said something about a safehouse on Ceres Prime. That’s all I know, I swear!”

He considered the information. Ceres Prime was a mining colony on the edge of the system. If he remembered correctly there was little there except the mines, the spaceport, and a few crude towns. He supposed it was as good a place as any to lay low. It wasn’t much, but it was a lead.

He turned his attention back to the trembling male.

“Remember, stay out of my way. If I find out you’ve lied to me…”

The threat hung in the air, unfinished but unmistakable. The old male nodded frantically, then scurried away down the corridor, leaving Wraith alone to decide on his next move. Ceres Prime was a considerable distance away and he didn’t want to make the trip if the old male had been lying. Deciding to check the information against the data drive, he continued back towards the ship.

He’d only gone a short distance when he caught another hint of movement in the shadows. Had the old male lied about being alone? He tensed, ready for any threat, but the figure who emerged from the darkness was far from dangerous. A small Ssst girl, no more than five or six cycles old, hovered just out of reach.

So the old male had lied after all. Under the circumstances, Wraith couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t have admitted to the presence of a child either. But why hadn’t she remained out of sight? Her wide yellow eyes, luminous in the dim light, were fixed on him with a mixture of fear and… something else. Hope?

For a fleeting moment, he felt a strange sensation in his chest. A memory tried to surface, but he shoved it back down, burying it beneath layers of cold professionalism. He couldn’t afford distractions, not now.

“Leave,” he commanded, making his voice as sharp and cold as the blade at his hip. “This is no place for a child.”

The little girl flinched at his tone but despite her obvious fear she stood her ground. Her tongue flicked out, tasting the air, and then she beckoned to him. When he didn’t move, she gestured again, more urgently this time.

He frowned. His first instinct was to ignore her and continue on his mission, but something in her eyes made him hesitate.

The child glanced over her shoulder, then back at him. She took a step backwards, then another, her hand still outstretched in invitation. Then, without warning, she turned and scurried into the darkness.

He cursed under his breath. He knew he should let her go, focus on finding the slavers, but his feet were already moving, following the small figure as she disappeared around a corner.

He pursued her through the labyrinthine corridors of the station, his footsteps silent despite his haste. The little girl was quick, darting through shadows and squeezing through gaps he had to go around. She led him deeper into the bowels of the station, to areas that looked even more abandoned than those he’d passed through previously.

His senses remained on high alert as he followed her, half-expecting to encounter a trap of some kind, but his concerns were groundless. He followed her without incident until she finally came to a halt in front of what appeared to be a sealed door, glancing back at him with those wide, imploring eyes. He joined her cautiously, scanning for hidden security measures as the door opened with a reluctant groan.

The child darted inside. His hand resting on the hilt of his weapon, he followed her into a small cluttered space, then froze.

A human female stood in the center of the room. She was small, with slender curves and warm hazel eyes. Her chestnut hair fell in gentle waves around her face. She was undeniably beautiful, but it was her behavior that arrested his attention.

Despite the fear evident in her trembling hands and wide eyes, she placed herself squarely between Wraith and the Ssst child. Her chin lifted defiantly, a protective fire burning in her gaze.

“Stay back,” she warned, her voice surprisingly steady. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

He felt something stir within him, an unfamiliar sensation he couldn’t quite name, but he quickly pushed it aside. She had to have been one of the females targeted by the slavers, yet she hadn’t hesitated to defend a child. Her courage intrigued him and he had the oddest impulse to reassure her. Annoyed at his reaction to her, he raised a mocking brow.

“What a brave little female. But if I meant her harm, how exactly would you stop me?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, surprising him again with her honesty. “But I’d do the best I could.”

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