Page 7 of Victoria's Embrace

Glancing at Vi’kail’s back, where he was divvying up the food and water, she wondered if he’d picked this place specifically because of the clothes, however dirty. More than one of the slaves was wearing tattered rags that barely covered their thin, scarred bodies, offering nothing for warmth, let alone modesty, and all but two were barefoot. Who was she kidding? He’d definitely picked it on purpose. It seemed like he was always two steps ahead. She smiled and made a mental reminder to thank him for his thoughtfulness.

The city was unlike anything she’d experienced or even had a frame of reference with which to compare from television or books. It was such an odd mix of ghost town, like something from a post-apocalyptic movie with sections of highly populated, impoverished slums where the inhabitants were crammed in like sardines. Then you had the high-tech city centers, which she’d barely glimpsed during their travels. She’d seen enough to know everything was shiny and flashy and new.

There were runners zipping through the streets and sky, odd, alien skyscrapers, and screens everywhere, like a cross between televisions and billboards, flashing images of scantily clad females, gladiators, the latest and greatest technology, and images of what looked like bizarre salons and boutiques where you could get everything from a haircut to body upgrades.

The part she had trouble comprehending was why the hell people chose to live there. Sure you had visitors there for recreation: gambling and the horror shows that passed for entertainment. She even understood the people who had enough wealth to offer them protection or those that had no choice in living there either because they were native to the planet or this was just where the space bus happened to stop. But at least some of the inhabitants had to have settled there of their own volition.

Why? What would drive them to do so when the threat of enslavement loomed around every corner? Maybe she just didn’t understand the events that could lead up to becoming a slave? Maybe there was some system to it? Like if you borrowed money from a loan shark and didn’t pay on time, they took your stuff then if you still didn’t pay, they took you? Even still. Seemed dangerous as hell.

Thinking about that as she took in the rest of the building that she could see, she wondered if the ghost-town sections were left abandoned as a reminder of or a tribute to those who’d been taken.

Transferring her gaze to the group of slaves huddled against the far back wall, her heart squeezed. They’d clearly suffered terribly wherever they’d been. Every single one of them was bruised and scarred. Some were missing limbs and others looked like they’d been intentionally maimed just for the sake of inflicting pain.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she clutched theRegenBandin her fist and approached. They went silent, all of them staring at her with expressions that ranged from scared and wary to openly hostile. Victoria understood. When the options had been death at the processing warehouse or going with the strangers, they picked the strangers. But, now that they were out of immediate danger, she imagined they were wondering what, exactly, their interest was with them.

“Hi. I’m Victoria, or Vee if you prefer. These are my… uh—” She hesitated. Should she call them her mates? They weren’t. They were dating, yes, but she didn’t know if everyone would understand the concept of boyfriends. Finally, she said screw it. “—mates. That’s Vi’kail, Thegan, and Thorn,” she introduced, pointing to each in turn.

It wasn’t until after she finished that it occurred to her she could’ve just left out their relationship altogether and introduced them by name alone. Darting a glance at them, wondering for a heart-stopping moment if they’d take exception to her calling them her mates, she caught the almost identical expressions of surprise, pleasure, and something warm and hungry on their faces. Feeling her heart skip a beat and her cheeks heat, she tamped down the goofy smile trying to curl her lips and turned back to the people eyeing them curiously.

Clearing her throat, she faced the group. “Is anyone here tagged? Any trackers or implants?”

A female who looked to be in her mid-forties, face lined with scars and eyes dull with weariness, shook her head. “They remove those for reuse before loading us up for recycling.”

Victoria was relieved, even though the reuse comment pissed her off. Bastard slavers were so fucking economical.

Swallowing her anger, she nodded. “I imagine y’all are hungry. Unfortunately, we don’t have much food. I’m sorry. But the water here works, so there’s plenty of that. The cleansing room, too. Feel free to use it if you’d like and pick through the clothes here. We also found a RegenBand in the runner. I just ask that you allow those with the most severe injuries to use it first.”

* * *

It tookhours and more passes with the RegenBand than Victoria had ever seen to heal them. By the time they were nearly finished, the suns were shining brightly through the wall of grimy, dirt-caked windows at the front of the shop and she was running solely on fumes and stubbornness.

She could feel her guys’ eyes on her the entire time—watching her, ready to swoop in if anyone made a threatening move—as she moved from person to person, offering food, water, and what she was sure were inadequate words of reassurance they were free and safe… well, safe-ish, anyway. And only free-ish, for that matter.

She knew she’d added one hell of a complication to their mission by first rescuing them then bringing them along. And, yet, seeing their faces relax from constant grimaces of pain, seeing them come back from the cleansing room clean for the first time in what was likely a hell of a long time, she couldn’t regret it or feel bad about it. They’d figure it out. Whether that meant helping them and sending them on their way or encouraging them to stay put and picking them up when they were done depended on these people and their wishes, but either way, they’d work it out.

She did refrain from any mention of the complex, Aria, and their coup. As much as she was inclined to trust them, she just didn’t have that luxury, not when it would put other people in potential danger.

Settling on the floor in front of the slave that asshole werewolf guy had been kicking, she smiled gently. “Hi. Can I ask your name?”

He was a large male, even gaunt and undernourished, his frame similar to Vi’kail’s. With regular meals, he looked like he might even rival Vi’kail for brawn. As best as she could judge, he appeared to be around thirty, maybe a little younger. She had to imagine life as a slave aged a person, so it was hard to tell.

He was an interesting looking guy. Under the layers of dirt, his skin looked like a shade halfway between gold and yellow and his features were remarkably cat-like—if cats had the horns of a ram—but his eyes were what caught her attention. They were strikingly beautiful: bluish-black orbs flecked with white spots. It was like gazing at a night sky full of stars.

He didn’t give her his name right away, neither did he take the bottle of water or the pouch of food she was trying to hand him. He just stared at her silently, curiosity flickering in his eyes like he’d never seen a human before. Maybe he hadn’t.

Thinking he wasn’t going to answer, she just smiled again and started to set the food and water on the floor in front of him. Just before she could, his hand shot out, quick as a snake, and took the bottle. Feeling her guys stiffen even from across the room at the unexpectedly fast move, she glanced at them with a shake of her head then returned her gaze to the man in front of her.

Frowning contemplatively, she regarded him for a moment. “Can you speak?”

His expression shuttered a little, but he made a small upward motion with his head, kind of like that gesture human guys often use to greet each other. It was a movement she generally understood to be a ‘yes’ or a ‘hello,’ but she got the distinct impression he meant it as a ‘no.’

Victoria’s frown deepened. He’d used the RegenBand. It was possible he just wasn’t capable of verbal speech like the Gaelli, but if it was from an injury, that should’ve fixed it. Abruptly, she recalled he’d only let it do one pass before handing it off to the next person. None of these people had been healed with a single pass. Not one.

When she realized he’d passed it off before it could finish so someone else could utilize it, she was torn between irritation and understanding. Understanding won out. Her guys would’ve done the same thing. Hell, she would’ve too. Still, she gave him a mildly censorious look then scanned the room to see who was using it and how many were still waiting for their turns. Thegan approached before she’d spotted it, holding out a hand. Tipping her head back to smile at him as she took the ring from his palm, she caught the nod he gave the star-eyed male, telling her he’d come to the same conclusion she had and approved.

“Everyone’s finished, if you’d like to use it again,” she murmured, offering it to him.

He lifted his head to scan the room, checking for himself, before taking the ring. Leaving him to it once she was sure he’d use it, Victoria pushed herself up, biting back a groan at the complaint her body gave that she was making it move.

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