Page 8 of Healing Creek
The human male shifted his weight. “What are we going to do?”
“We need to get this collar off. Send for Jupiter’s woman and her small flying machine.” Word of her bravery disarming the bombs that had been planted to destroy the ship had spread through the former slaves. And he’d seen for himself what she could do with her bug-like hacking unit.
The man stepped farther out into the center of the hallway and began talking to the disembodied voice of the man who’d been monitoring the search teams using the ship’s communication system.
One of the Dreat in the hall blew out a noisy breath and a short stream of Dreatish followed.“We finished clearing these cabins. We should move on?”
Creek replied, “Go ahead. I’ll join you shortly.”
The two Dreat acknowledged him with a dip of their snouts.
When he turned back to Grace her curved eyebrows were high over wide eyes. “You speak Dreatish?”
“No.” He tilted his head, studying her expression and the way she held herself. Intelligence and curiosity studied him back. “I understand Dreatish, but don’t speak it. The language is—”
“Near impossible for a human to pronounce.” She gave him another of those tight-lipped smiles.
He nodded. Did she consider him human? “Also impossible for Arena Dogs. But they understand our words, so we communicate well enough.”
Her smile didn’t waver. “One of my siblings is a linguist. She struggled with the Dreat language. How long did it take you to master?”
He huffed out a breath at her words. He was master of nothing. “Why do you wear a slave collar?” He’d become increasingly certain she was no slave.
Pink bloomed across her cheeks. “I was foolish. I was at a conference with my brother, and I took a walk when everyone else was listening to his lecture.” Her gaze dropped as she spoke. “I’d been warned not to go out alone, but I was so tired of being couped up. That’s when Morgan’s men kidnapped me.”
He wasn’t certain what a conference was, but he thought he got the gist. “They captured only you from this gathering?” He didn’t like questioning her, but he had no reason to trust her and life, even when he’d been free, had taught him wariness.
“Just me.” Her narrow eyebrows drew together. “At least, I didn’t see anyone else.”
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Why did they takeyou?” He emphasized the final word to be clear.
“Maybe to hold me for ransom. My family has…wealth.” Her tone was pleading, but what did she want from him? His belief in her words?
Ransom. It was a word he’d never heard before being freed from Roma. It meant credits paid for her safe return.
“I know,” she said. “Why take me instead of my brother?” She sighed. “He wasn’t stupid enough to wander around alone.”
Creek could read in her words that Grace believed herself less valuable than her kin. Something niggled at his thoughts. Ransom meant someone would pay to free her. Then why was she still here?
“How long have you been here? Alone?”
Her eyelids lowered as if she could shut out the reality of her circumstances. “It’s been hard to mark time, but a few weeks, I think.” She shivered as she spoke.
“You’re cold.” Or more likely afraid, since her hand had been warm. Either way, more warmth would help. He looked around the room and suddenly it seemed smaller, less luxurious. There was nothing in the room. No clutter. No food containers. Only a single pair of boots at the side of the bed.
He had a sudden need to feed her and keep her safe. He grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her. The movement brought her in close, but it also sent a fresh wave of brutal pain through his back and hip. He couldn’t hide the stiffness that came from trying to avoid further pain.
“Th-thanks.” Her whisper caressed his bare skin. “Will it take long, for the person…the woman…to come?”
“I—”
The floor tilted…and lurched.
Grace stumbled and Creek reached out to keep her upright. In the hallway, the small man fell to the floor with a crash of limbs.
“Alert. Life support failure in this section. Please proceed to an adjacent section.” The ship’s artificial voice repeated the announcement.
Damn. The woman was going nowhere with that collar around her neck. “Hold on to the bedframe and stay,” he ordered then stomped to the hallway. He shouted over the ship’s alert. “What’s happening?”
