Page 36 of Bela's Bounty
I’m feeling pretty damn provoked right now!
“How dare you speak to me this way,” Madame Athea seethes, her chest pumping with her quick breaths. “After all I’ve done for you. Isaved you.If I hadn’t rescued you from that auction and rushed you to my personal med-bot, you would have died! I’ve fed you. Clothed you.Shelteredyou. And this is how you repay me?”
Her hand comes up again, but this time I’m smart enough to back out of her reach.
“You ungrateful creature!” she snarls, her normally smooth beauty warping into something frightening. “Master Vopsor has agreed to wait the time it will take for Skylar to reach maturity. In exchange, we will begin preparing her for him.”
“Is that supposed to make it better?” I hiss back at the pissed-off alien in front of me.
“Bela, what thefuckare you doing?” I hear Nita whisper under her breath behind me.
“Andyou…” She takes a threatening step closer, forcing me to backpedal until my knees hit one of the couches. Instead of letting her push me down, I square my shoulders and continue to meet her venomous gaze. “I heard about your customer, so I will be putting you into rotation with the other girls starting tonight.” Her eyes flick to Skylar, and her lips twist into a smile. “And Skylar will go with you. It will beyourjob to begin her training.”
An icy fist squeezes my heart, and I can only watch as Madame Athea spins on her heel and storms from the room, slamming the door behind her.
The silence left behind her is stifling. No one dares to move. We barely breathe. Very slowly I turn and meet Nita and Skylar’s matching shocked expressions. Across the room Ynez and Elara are gaping at me from their nooks.
I definitely just fucked everything up.
