Page 32 of Orri

"I have my ways. If you thought this little whorehouse racket they have going on was gonna protect you, you don't know me very well." He turns the bike into a thicker patch of forest; I have to duck to keep from getting brained by a low hanging branch. "Come on Bella, you know I take care of what's mine."

My stomach churns. I hate the way he says mine. I hate the way he acts like this is normal, like I should be crawling back to him. Like he's the good guy and I'm just a misguided, lost little girl. Maybe at one point I would have believed that, but I'm a hell of a lot smarter now. Stronger, too.

And if I can keep him talking, that buys us more time for the ISA or Orri to find us.

I wish he hadn't swiped my tracker back at the spaceport. He was too fast, and I was still reeling from the shock of seeing him again. Orvox gave all of us one when we joined the program, and while it allowed them to track my movements, it also allowed me to call for help if things got out of hand. Now that I'm without it, they won't know where we are. All part of his sick plan.

There's no more panic button. If I am gonna get out of this one, I will have to do it myself.

Even though I'm scared for my life, Adik needs to know I'm not the same scared little girl I once was. I'm full of fire and determination, and part of my plan involves getting him worked up so he'll fall for the trap.

"Adik," I whine as annoyingly as possible. "I've gotta go to the bathroom. Think you can pull over?"

"And let your buddies catch up with us? Nice try. Now stop bothering me. Shut up and let me drive. We'll be out of here soon, and then we can finally be together. Won't that be nice?"

He's gone totally, utterly insane.

We tear through a curtain of low hanging vines. Some of them snag at my clothes and skin, leaving weird, slimy marks behind. Ugh. Gross. But Adik keeps driving, deeper and deeper into the forest. We left the path long ago and can barely even see where we are going. He's probably trying to take the shortest path possible to the border, no matter the cost.

"Pleeeease," I tug on his sleeve. "For meeeee."

The bike screeches to a stop in a small clearing; I lurch forward. Adik turns around, fury in his cold eyes, and slaps me, hard across the face. "I said shut up!"

I reel at the sudden pain, sucking in a breath as I bring a hand up to touch the reddening skin. Adik's seething, his flat palm now clenching into a fist...

Thump! A low, shudderingcrashnearby makes us both freeze, and I thank my lucky stars it stills his hand. Something is moving nearby. It's coming closer. Could it be...?

Holding my breath, I try to remember what Orri told me about the dactyls. That their appearance belies their generally soft, docile personality. That they'll do anything to protect their tribe, even attacking suspicious looking bystanders.

"But don't worry," he reassured me. I remember that much. "They only go for the men."

Trying to still the raucous beating in my chest, I take a deep breath and listen. There's the sound again. They're coming closer. Any minute now, they'll break through the brush...

"What's that?" Adik nods toward the sound. "You're the expert here, right? They gonna give us trouble?" He glares at me, eyes narrowed. "And I swear to God, if you lie to me—"

"Oh, it's nothing." I try to sound as casual as possible. "Just a herd of deer, probably. The rangers come out here to hunt for their pelts and meat." With a shrug, I go quiet.

"Well it sounds like it's our lucky day. I was getting hungry." He pulls out the blaster strapped to the side of the bike. My breath catches in my throat. I was so busy trying to look at the surroundings and make sure I could find my way back to safety that I hadn't noticed what he was packing on the bike. He had a gun, and that made things alotmore dangerous.

What if instead of his fist, he used the blaster next time...?

No. He wouldn't. I had to believe he had at least that much humanity left.

Time for a change of plan.

"You know," I start, looking at the blaster. I've seen some of the warriors carry them, but they tend toward more close-combat weapons. Something about wanting to look their enemy in the eye as they kill them. "A lot of the rangers around here don't even take weapons on these hunts. The deer are big, but they're so docile any man worth his salt can take down one with his bare hands."

Adik sputters for a moment. With a growl, he holsters the weapon. "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, nothing," I say sweetly. "Just that if you were a real man, you'd take down one of those deer for me and make me a nice dinner. Or do you not think you can do it?" I flutter my eyelashes at him. I know I'm laying it on thick, but he has to buy my story or the whole plan's foiled.

"I can do it!" Adik scoffs. "Just who do you think I am? Some stupid alien deer isn't gonna stop me."

"Good. Then I'll just watch over the bike while you —"

He grabs my wrist, hard. "Not so fast. You think I'm really gonna leave you alone? Not a chance. You're coming with me." Adik yanks me off the bike; I stumble to regain my balance. "And if I find out you're not telling the truth...well. We wouldn't want that."

Even though I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, I press my lips together and play the part. I bow my head and go with him, each step leading me closer to my doom...or my salvation.

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