Page 18 of The Alien's Little Sister

Her expression is sour. “It proved not to be safe.”

“Were you…” Steam should come out of my nose.Warning: tactical breathing exercises not effective.“Did your abductor... hurt you?”

She shrugs. “Not really.”

GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, DR. BANNER. I want to press—well, actually, I want to shout—but it’s not really my business, and thankfully she doesn’t seem upset.Angrybut not upset. “That’s…” I lick my teeth and force out, “...good.”

She nods.

I wrap my hands around the treadmill handles and apply my feet in a steady (pounding) forward manner, suddenly needing to occupy myself. “How did you get taken?”

She starts walking again too, her movements easy, although her tail makes an audible snapping noise as she flicks it behind her. “A group of Luvuuds sat down in front of me.” She throws me a glance. “They’re very tall.”

“Right,” I nod, having not the foggiest clue. But the curling sensation in my stomach tells me I get where this is going.

“Thus, I thought I’d go down to the side portico, where I’d be able to watch the fight at arena-level.”

“This does not sound good.”

She sighs. “It was perhaps not wise. But normally, only gladiators have access to that area of the arena. To my mind, it was a safe move, because nobody would be there to harass or harm me.”

Before I can say anything, she continues, “And I was allowed to take up a place there because everybody who saw me knew I belonged with one of the combatants.” Her glance at me now holds pride. “My people tend to be noticeable on that planet.”

“Something tells me your family is noticeable on any planet.” I eye the dorsal spines that stick out of the back of her tunic. And her tail, so animated behind her as she tells this story, snapping and rattling like she’s angry.

“It’s true,” she says proudly. “Anyway, my brother spied me and paused his fight to point at me. But his attention must be focused on his combatant at all times. I felt terrible to realize I was dangerously distracting him. I immediately moved to return to the stands where he’d first put me.”

My tennis shoes start pounding the treadmill, my steps aggressive. All I can see are my own sisters in this scenario, and it’s killing me. “Okay.”

“I started to go. But when he turned back to his opponent—”

“Oh hell no, sweetheart.” I wipe my hand over my face, too many late night human trafficking documentaries dancing behind my eyes. Acid ischurningin my stomach. Like if I don’t chill soon, my insides are going to make gut-eating butter. There goes my gastric health. Also? I’m taking this information straight to heart: if I tell this woman to stay somewhere, use duct tape or Gorilla Glue.

“I didn’t disobey him! I onlythoughtabout it. But I’m not senseless,” she defends hotly. Her scales flash in the crappy light from above and her tail snaps and she’s really pretty.

DAMMIT, MATT, WHAT DID WE SAY ABOUT THAT WORD!

But seriously—I bet whoever took her thought she was pretty too. “What happened?”

“Well, it turned out that it was no accident that the Luvuuds sat in front of me and blocked my view. They had been hoping to drive me from the sight of my brother’s friends, who had been spread out in the stands also watching the match. As I was heading back through the tunnel to return to the stadium, the Luvuuds met me, and took me. By the time my brother’s watchers reached the tunnel mouth, it was too late. Just out of their sight, I was being loaded onto a slaver’s cart. What’s the matter?” she asks, concerned.

“Stress ulcer,” I say raggedly, holding a fist to my gut as I jog harder. “Go on.”

She eyes me worriedly. “It was determined that I was a virgin—”

So this is what a brain aneurysm feels like.

“—and I was put on a freighter and transported with a ship full of other beings to an auction planet,” she spits out quickly.

But she may as well be ripping a Band-Aid off of an alligator bite.

A faster delivery doesn’tdoa whole lot.

“Inara…” I choke.

She speeds up her steps to match my pace. We’re jogging. Like there’s a pair of T-Rexes chasing us. I’m panting. She’s not. “It was a frightening experience,” she grumbles before stressing, “butI’m fine.Nothing happened to me! My brothers rescued me before the auction began.”

“AUCTION,” I cough out.It was ‘determined’ you were avirginjust what the hell kind of auction was this...Thank God some of her brothers are gladiators. No doubt they all have a very particular set of Liam Neeson-level skills. Skills they’ve acquired over a long career of ass-beating other aliens. Skills that make them nightmares for aliens who abduct their one and only sister. “They were going toauctionyou.”

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