Page 40 of The Stolen Tribute
“No one made me do anything,” I said.
I wouldn’t trade the time I spent with Jaxir for anything. It’d made me discover things about myself that I didn’t even know. I was not Tribute Bride material. I wanted adventure and passion and to live a life of freedom. I would get none of those things with Dal.
“You will do as I say,” Dal said. There was an edge to his voice.
That was it. I couldn’t take what he was saying a moment longer. I stepped back, putting a chair between us. “No. I will not be your toy. I am not an obedient pet. I’m a person.”
“But, you are my Tribute Bride!” He roared.
“Well, consider this our divorce!” I spat back.
Dal’s eyes went wide and then narrowed severely. The gold that used to be intriguing became chilling and foreign.
I couldn’t back down. He was probably going to kill me, but fuck it. “I will not be your mate,” I said, slamming my hand down on the back of the plastic chair.
The alien was silent for a moment. “I see,” He said. “Well, unfortunately for you, the decision has already been made.”
Dal wandered closer to the control panel again. The screen’s display locked onto the trawler. He typed a few commands. “I guess there’s no reason to keep my side of the deal, then, is there?” He asked.
My heart jumped up into my throat. “What? No!” I cried.
“Jaxir has obviously spoiled you for me,” He growled. “Such a disgusting waste.” Dal shook his head and continued to type.
AI override connected… please enter your command …
I recognized the computer voice from the trawler. “No, please!” I said. “Don’t do anything to them.”
“I wanted to trust you. I wanted to disconnect from that garbage ship and take you home with me. But it seems that we aren’t going to get the happy ending we wanted.” Dal hit a few more buttons.
Security breach … self-destruct sequence engaged … remote access terminated.
“Whoever owns that trawler is going to be pissed,” Dal laughed.
“No! Please, don’t do that,” I scrambled over and grabbed his arm.
Dal shoved me off of him. “Don’t touch me, human scum!” He shouted. “Nothing can be undone now. Once self destruct is activated, there is no way to reattach to the system. Someone is about to lose a big investment,” He sighed.
“But Jaxir! The crew! You’re a murderer!”
Dal pushed me to the ground. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” He chuckled darkly.
I grabbed the chair and struggled to my feet.
“Don’t bother fighting,” He said. Dal pulled a laser blaster from his belt and pointed at me. “I don’t want to have to kill you now; it will make a lot of paperwork.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“We’ll make the decision back on the mothership. I’m sure there’s a way that we can make sure you are still usable,” He sneered.
That made me feel sick.
“But first, maybe you should say goodbye to that floating garbage heap,” He glanced at the screen. “The self destruct sequence should be activating any time now,” He said, his voice dripping with anticipation.
“No,” I whispered, but I couldn’t look away from the screen.
Maybe they’d escaped already. Maybe the self-destruct would fail. Maybe the crew was already on their way here to save me. That had to be it. This could not be how it would end.
Suddenly, a firey explosion lit of the darkness of space. It lasted only a moment, a terrible ball of fire, metal, and space trash went flying in all directions. Dal’s ship was far away, but even we felt a tremor of the energy created by the explosion. Then, it was gone – nothing but ash floating away into black.
“No!” I gasped. My heart wrenched in my chest, and I couldn’t breathe. “No, no!” There was nothing else I could say.
“Sorry, human,” Dal said with a shrug. “But, this is just how things are going to be. You chose this.”
Without another word, Dal picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and brought me back to the tiny room I’d woken up in.
The room was now my prison, and I was too broken to try to fight back.
