Page 7 of Decadence

I found her.

And for the short but excruciating trip from the Ephrenian ship to the inside of Zharek’s medical bay, he’d truly thought she was going to die in his arms.

In that moment, he’d felt completely powerless, and he’d never, ever felt that way before.

He didn’t like it.

So he would kill the one that made her suffer.

It was as simple as that.

“Careful,” Kail warned, giving Ikriss a knowing look; one that was born of experience.

“I’m always careful.” Ikriss gave Kail an ironic salute as he disappeared down the corridor, his mind turning to meetings and diplomatic matters and the not-so-small problem of human females being stolen from right underneath their noses.

Unacceptable.

He had to get to the bottom of this.

Earth was their territory now, and no-one, Kordolian or otherwise, was going to touch their property and get away with it.

Chapter Three

Sienna’s hand trembled slightly as she reached across and took another warm chocolate croissant from the platter. She didn’t know how or why they were able to serve chocolate croissants on a massive, dark, scary Kordolian warship, but they were right here in front of her and they tasted amazing and she was going to eat to her heart’s content and not feel a single twinge of guilt about it.

After all she’d been through, she just wanted to forget, and chocolate-drenched flaky, buttery goodness was as good a way as ever to help her do just that.

She took a bite and sighed. The croissants were almost as good as the ones she made in her restaurant back on Earth. To her astonishment and utter confusion, the spread the aliens had put on was surprisingly respectable. Arranged in the center of the table on strange curved grey and white alien-looking platters was an assortment of delicious food. They’d enjoyed fresh bread and butter and cheese and vegetables and fruit juice and pastries and preserves and Earth-grown fruits and summer vegetables.

Even pasta. Perfectly al-dente spirals of pasta in a creamy pesto sauce.

After being force-fed disgusting unidentifiable grey slop by those horrible Ephrenians for stars knew how long, it was the best thing she’d ever seen in her life.

And it was all served on a real wooden table in the middle of a strange room that had curving dark walls and cozy armchairs and a wide window that looked out onto the vast, terrifying expanse of space.

The walls might be an oppressive shade of black, but at least there were lights. Warm, glowing lights that reminded her of Earth. Weirdly, there were plants too; lush, verdant plants that looked lovingly cared for under their discreet UV-lighting installations.

What the hell was this place?

It felt cozy and familiar.

How do they know us so well?

It was almost as if… someone human actually lived here from time to time.

But she hadn’t encountered any humans, aside from the other girls who’d been rescued. Everyone else on this ship was Kordolian—über-serious and silver-skinned and pointy-eared and fierce-eyed and fucking dangerous looking.

It’s probably been days already… why are they keeping us here? What do they want with us?

The thought sent a chill right through her.

After everything she’d been through, she wanted nothing to do with aliens, no matter how good their food was.

No matter that they’d healed her body completely—in an impossibly short time, like some sort of miracle.

“This is lovely and all, but why can’t I shake this ominous feeling I’m getting deep down my gut?” Kyuri sat beside her, cradling a cup of steaming green tea, her slender wrists still bearing faint pink marks from where the Ephrenian slavers had encircled them with their horrible metal cuffs.

The other girls had already gone to bed. One by one, they’d solemnly disappeared to their individual quarters, which were just down the corridor, until only Sienna and Kyuri, both unable to sleep, were left.

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