"You males and your human playthings." Bethiah rolls her eyes. "Well, I'm not going to do this for free."
There's only one thing I can think of that she'd want. I pull out my blaster and hold it up. It was my father's weapon before me, and it's a rare and valuable collector's item, the kind that isn't made anymore. "This is a Vullix Sharp-sight. Limited run. Only two thousand were made. It's yours if you help us."
"That's our only weapon," Alice hisses, her hand clamped on my tail still. "Is this a good idea?"
"Do you have a better one?" I murmur. "Are you volunteering to go with her? Because I know her and I'm pretty sure that's a terrible idea."
Alice just makes a frustrated sound and squeezes my tail again. My cock's hard, pressing against the front of my trou in a painfully obvious fashion. This is just getting more awkward by the moment. I don't like losing my weapon, either—especially not my father's blaster—but I don't have any other choice.
Bethiah studies us for a moment. "Bring that blaster closer so I can get a better look at it. If it's just more space junk, no deal."
I take a few steps forward, and thankfully, Alice releases her death grip on my tail. I hold the blaster up to the window, but I know it's in fantastic condition. I take very good care of it.
Bethiah seems to think so, too. She nods. "One week of tabs, one scrambler, and one 'oops I hit the button to open the cargo bay' moment in exchange for the blaster."
"We'll take it." It sends us right back out into deep space and drifting, but I'll take my chances with that. I know we're keffed if we stay on Shaalyn's ship. She'll kill me in seconds, and then she'll sell Alice to the highest bidder.
We're far better off lost in deep space.
8
ALICE
I feel like I hold my breath for the next twenty-four hours, but no one comes after us.
Kaspar isn't worried. He goes back to shining his boots as if nothing's ever happened. "They won't be able to find us," he tells me. "The scrambler will hide our signal. They'd have to guess which direction we're headed and in space, that's a tricky thing."
"So where ARE we headed?" I ask him, moving over to the small window of our escape pod. It's hard to say if the stars look any different than before, but I'm pretty sure that bright smear of nebula in my view wasn't there before. "Do we know?"
"The pod's going to look for the nearest safe location for us and head for it."
"But not the ship we just left?" I ask, needing reassurance.
"No, not that ship," he promises, and sets his boots aside, gazing over at me. "It'll be fine, Alice, I promise."
I turn, pacing the short length of the pod and then settling in on my bunk. I cross my legs, tucking them under me, and gaze at him. He's sprawled on the bunk across from mine, utterly casual, his big feet planted on the floor. He's taking up a lot of space in the pod, but I don't mind it, actually. In a way, I like seeing him comfortable like this, with the collar of his weird space-jumper-thing undone and that floppy lock of hair over his brow. "You traded your gun for me."
"Well, for both of us."
I give him a half-smile, because I don't believe his little correction for an instant. "We both know you could have ditched me in exchange for escape. Humans are worth a lot of money."
Kaspar is quiet for a moment and then shakes his head. "I couldn't do that. I have a human sister, you know. We adopted her when she was this high." He holds a hand up to what might be my waist height. "Just a little scrap of a thing but the meanest shit I've ever met. Smart as anything, too." His mouth curves in a smile. "Humans are people, too. So no, I wouldn't leave you behind."
"But you gave away our only weapon. Your father's gun."
He scrubs a hand down his face. "I have to admit that part stung a little, but at the end of the day, it's just a weapon, not a person."
I'm still touched. In the space of a few moments he's shown to me that I have more worth than I've been given by my previous alien captors. It's nice. It also makes me brave enough to bring up the other question on my mind. "You, er, told your friend that I belonged to you."
That smile on his face broadens, but not in a creepy way. If anything, Kaspar looks amused that I'm busting him on that. "If Bethiah thinks we're mated, then she wouldn't press the issue about trading you over to her. She talks a big game, but she's got a soft spot for humans, no matter what she says."