Page 18 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Five
ALLI
Alli woke up to an eerie silence in the house. She dressed in her tattered dress and went to the kitchen, only to find a small pile of dishes in the sink, but no Kayo. One peek across the compound told her the men were gone too, and it was well past sunup. She’d slept in, and Kayo hadn’t woken her.
He must think her lazy, or he was avoiding her. After the way he had dismissed her from the porch last night, taking a long swig of the bottle, she had the feeling it was the latter.
She had no idea what Kayo was thinking, but she needed to make herself useful before he entertained any thoughts of getting rid of her. This was her only shot at freedom and she damn well wasn’t going to mess it up by upsetting Kayo.
He certainly was unlike any owner she’d ever known, and the idea of being free was overwhelming, enticing,soul-quenching. Gods, she had to stop thinking about that as a possibility. Just because he dangled that prize in front of her, didn’t mean it would happen.
By late afternoon she had cleaned most of the house, but the loneliness had begun to make her edgy. She’d never really been so alone before. There were always other slaves, overseers, or owners around. None of that existed here, which was both exciting and frightening.
She visited the stables again, to see if Ranth had returned, but he wasn’t there. The buzzing of a drone whizzing overhead made her sprint across the compound for the cover of trees. The drones registered body heat, and hiding behind a tree wouldn’t protect her, not that she had anything to fear. As long as she had a registered chip, the drone wouldn’t attack her. And it wasn’t like that chip was ever coming out. Only doctors trained by the Office of Slave Registration were authorized to insert and remove chips. Everyone in the Empire had a chip. Without a chip, a person risked prison and even death if discovered by a drone.
Since she was already on the trail that led to the mine, Alli ventured forth in search of the men. The trail up the mountain had been so worn by feet, human and harkifa, that she didn’t have to worry about getting lost. Eventually, she’d find the mine, though it might take longer than expected.
Mud quickly encased her sandals, giving her little purchase, and the path was becoming steeper and rockier. Kayo hadn’t exaggerated when he said the path could be treacherous.
She considered turning back. An arm suddenly snaked around her waist and pulled her against a hard body. The man smelled of sweat, smoke, and dirt, and his arms were the size of tree trunks.
“Put me down!” she said.
The heavily muscled arm remained locked around her as the man pressed his head into her hair and sniffed, as if she were a meal to be eaten. Perhaps she was.
“What you got there, Masher?” another man called from higher up the trail.
“Something sweeter than hecka drops.”
Alli stilled as the second man, a blond who was nearly as big as the one crushing her, licked his lips as his gaze fell to her chest.
“Mind if I taste?” he said.
Alli drove her elbow back into Masher’s ribs, which did nothing to the solid wall of muscle, except make him laugh. Then, to her surprise and relief, he set her down gently. She ran but never made it past the blond. He caught her by the wrist and pinned her against a tree.
“Leave me alone!”
“Now that wouldn’t be any fun,” he said.
“She’s scared, Tieg,” Masher said, his smile disappearing as he approached.
“I won’t hurt her. I’m only lookin’ to play for a bit.” Tieg stroked her face with the pad of his thumb.
She couldn’t find her voice and her body had stopped moving. These men were too big to fight. She’d only get hurt.
“See, she’s not fighting, Mash. She wants to play.” His hand went down her shirt and she squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on how she and her sister used to take the largest burja leaves they could find and ride them down the sand dunes as kids.
“She’s not yours, Tieg,” Masher said, his voice containing an icy edge.
“That’s right. Kayo bought her for all of us. I’m fine with sharing her.”
“Jace said not to touch her.”
“And since when do you do everything Jace says?” Tieg fondled her breast. “I bet you can take both of us at once, right, Bright Eyes?”
Just like Harko, these men would make her pay attention to everything they’d do to her.
“It’s not right, Tieg. Let her go.” Masher grabbed hold of Tieg’s wrist, a dark soul-searing expression on his face at that moment that would make Alli shiver, if her body hadn’t lost the ability to move.
