Page 38 of Victoria's Discovery

Victoria hesitated for only a second before tugging the hem of her dress down as far as it would go and climbing on. Thegan hooked his huge hands under her legs to secure her then stood slowly.

“So, this is what it’s like to be tall. I can see everything!”

Zeroing in on Queen Bee, or Aria as she’d said her name was, Victoria caught her pointing to the red demon-man.

“Holy shit! That guy’s her mate? He looks scary as hell!”

“My other mate, Kix, is the one who took some people away to treat their wounds.”

Eyes going wide, she blindly slapped at Thegan’s shoulder. “She’s got two mates!”

She could hear the smile in his voice when he responded, “So I hear.”

Too excited to care that she was just repeating what was said, she breathed, “She’s my hero. I’ve decided.”

Victoria watched as Aria swept the crowd with a stern look. “We are the bosses. If you don’t like that, too fucking bad.”

“Ok, that was a little dictatorial,” she muttered but, gazing at the beings surrounding them, she saw that most appeared relieved at the bold declaration.

Seeing that, she realized maybe these people needed a little bluntness. Everything about their situation was one big, scary unknown, but Aria had rescued them from the crash, fed them, reassured them, and provided them all translators which meant she wanted them to be able to communicate. Victoria thought it made sense that learning the person who was doing everything she could to take care of them was also in charge, provided a hell of a lot of comfort.

Aria followed that statement up with, “If you need help with anything, find one of us.”

Gazing around again, Victoria saw the few holdouts who hadn’t relaxed at Aria’s declaration of being the boss now appeared calm and alleviated.

“Now, I know you all have questions. I will answer them as best I can. First, you’ve been abducted by aliens that planned to sell you as slaves.”

To Victoria’s surprise, that was met with alarmed shouting and even a few screams.

“What the hell? Did waking up in a cage, the spaceship crashing on a strange planet, and all the aliens not tip them off to that already?” Raising her brows, she shook her head and muttered, “Never underestimate the power of denial, I guess.”

“Those aliens died when you crashed here. Which leads me to where, exactly, here is.”

Victoria focused back on Aria when she hesitated, and frowned, a tickle of unease beginning to spread through her.

Chapter 21

“This is a slave planet, which means every single person outside these walls is to be considered an enemy. Do you understand?” Aria proclaimed in a chillingly grave voice from the front of the room.

Thegan stiffened under her, tension coming off of him in palpable waves, but for many moments, all Victoria could feel was shock.

A slave planet? That has to be some kind of awful joke, right?

But nothing about Aria’s expression looked the least bit amused.

Seeing that, Victoria’s stomach felt like it dropped to her feet, and the naive excitement she’d felt at being on an alien world turned to dismay.

Apparently, Aria wasn’t finished delivering the blows, because she continued, claiming, “They have technology, or magic as my mate calls it, that can turn you into a mindless slave. They can, and will, make you do anything they want, including turning you into a killing machine or forcing you to have sex, or mate, with anyone who has the credits to pay for it. That goes for the malesandthe females. No one is safe out there.”

Unable to fully comprehend the kind of nightmarish world she described, Victoria remained silent but clung to Thegan a little tighter.

“I need you to understand the seriousness of this situation. I killed the slaver who ran this place, so you’re safe within these walls, buteveryoneoutside it is not to be trusted. Please, donottry to run away.”

“Who the hell would want to run away?” Victoria gasped in disbelief. Just the thought of it had her heart hammering in her chest. But apparently Aria understood people better than Victoria did because, when she glanced around, more than a few looked ready to bolt.

“You’re not prisoners, but I’ve got better things to do than save your asses if you get yourself kidnapped, because you panicked and ran. I will, but it will take time I really can’t afford to spend looking for you. So, don’t be an idiot.” Aria paused for a moment, seemingly to let that sink in. “I’m sure your first concern is leaving this place and returning home.”

That hadn’t actually been Victoria’s first concern. She hadn’t really thought about that at all which, now that she was thinking about it, struck her as… odd, to put it nicely.

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