Page 8 of Space Vampire
He shrugs. “They kept me sedated until the sedation drugs were no longer effective.”
I blink. So he doesn’t know what to do with himself? Truly? “Well, the way I see it, we have a couple of different options. Since this is our station now, we can clean up after ourselves ...”
Vlad makes a face.
I laugh, because I was thinking along the same lines. “Yeah, screw that. How about we go find our escape pod and get the hell out of Dodge?”
“If this is Dodge, I agree.”
Chapter Five
Dana
Our luck runs out as we head to the bay where the escape pods are kept. The one that’s been left behind has a dozen flashing error lights on its panel, and I make a noise of distress at the sight. “Well, now we know why one was left behind.”
“So we’re stranded here?” Vlad growls, his voice rumbling with displeasure. “We’re stuck waiting for them to come back? If they come back?”
“Oh, they’ll come back,” I point out as I step forward to the diagnostic panel. Error after error rolls down the horizontal screen, making me wince. “There’s too much expensive equipment here to abandon this place for long. They’ll just wait until it’s safe.”
“You mean until I starve to death?”
“Or until they find some mercenaries to come with them to act as the muscle.” I shrug, flicking through the menus on the computer screen. Now that I can get into the system, I’m able to do something about all of this. I accept all the error messages and only one remains. The sight of it cheers me up. “Actually, this one isn’t as bad as it seems. The power core—which is like a battery—is drained. I bet if we recharge it, we can use the shuttle.”
“Good. You know how?”
I nod, starting the sequence. Something deep in the station clanks and then the lights on the pod flicker.Transferring Power...
“It’s going right now,” I tell Vlad.
A new status appears on the screen, and I have to bite back a groan of dismay.
“What? What is it?” Vlad asks. His big hand curls around my upper arm, his touch surprisingly comforting.
I guess I didn’t hide my displeasure so well. “It’s going to take a while to charge.” I do a little math in my head and wince. “About a week, actually. That must be why no one tried to take this one.”
He blows out a breath and his hand drops from my arm. “We wait it out, then.”
“I’ll clear my busy schedule,” I tease. He doesn’t laugh along with me, just gives me a puzzled glance. “It’s a joke. Well, since we’re stuck here for a while ... want to go snoop through everyone’s rooms? We can see who’s got the best clothes and the most comfortable bed and make ourselves at home there for the next week.”
A slow, feral grin curves his mouth, and I find myself smiling back.
Chapter Six
Vlad
Ido not understand why we would jump on their beds,” I point out as we enter another person’s quarters and Dana immediately races to climb atop the bed and starts jumping on it.
“Because we’re being naughty,” she tells me, and all the while, her short tunic flares as her bare legs go up and down, providing glimpses of curving pale thigh. “And because when they return, they’re going to hate that we did this.” She turns her back and kicks one foot in the air, showing me a very dirty sole. “I’m leaving footprints on everything. All the mesakkah are germophobes, so they’re going to piss themselves, trust me.”
“It seems childish,” I point out.
“It absolutely is,” she says, even as she jumps again. “Did I mention that my master makes me sleep in a cage at his feet? And puts bows on my head like I’m a toddler instead of a thirty-year-old woman? And starves me? He’s lucky I don’t leave a different kind of present in his bed.”
I eye her, noting that perhaps she is leaner than she should be. Her arms are thin and that hideous pale underbelly shade, but I enjoy her conversations. And her scent. I like howshe tries to be fearless around me even when I can taste her nervousness in the air. She refuses to give in.
Dana’s stubborn. I like that a lot.
She thumps down onto her backside and sits on the edge of the bed, winded. “You don’t have a bed, do you? They kept you in the lab, right?”
