DangerouslyForever (22 page)

He opened and closed his mouth without saying anything. When
he reached out to her, she stepped out of his reach so she wouldn’t run into
his arms. She hooked her hands together behind her back to stop the trembling.

“You’re upset. I understand. You need a good night’s rest
and some relaxation. How about tomorrow I take you and the kids to the ocean?
We can swim and take our minds off everything for a while.”

She didn’t try to speak for fear the truth would come out.

She shook her head.

Hurt.

That’s what shone in his eyes.

Pain.

“You’re upset about this whole situation with Alharad. When
it’s over, you’ll feel differently,” he said.

“I have to focus on
them
, Kiehle. I don’t have time
for you in my life,” she whispered, because she couldn’t say it any louder.
It’s
a lie. All a lie
, she wanted to scream.

“I’ll give you time to yourself, if that’s what you wish.
But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up on you.”

He turned around and left. As the door clicked closed, her
body weakened. She eased herself to the floor, down to her knees then to her
butt until she lay down. She could never take back anything she had said to
him. But this was all for the best. When she left, he would go on with his life
and find someone to love him the way he deserved to be loved.

As for herself…she’d just let her only chance at happiness
walk out the door.

“I cheated on you.”

He laughed lightly.

She turned to him “Why are you laughing? That’s not funny. I
broke our vows.”

“Honey, you’ve been living in brothels for the past three
years. You’ve cheated on me many times.”

She turned back to stare at the cloudless blue sky. “This is
different. It wasn’t just sex. I love…
loved
him.”

“And you expect me to be upset because you found love
again?”

Her eyes watered and spilled over to run down the side of
her head. “I lost him like I lost you.”

“Is he still alive?”

She nodded, letting the tears flow with ease.

“Then you didn’t lose him.”

“I lost so much this time. Not just you and Eva.
Kiehle…Yoshi…Max… There’s no reason to live anymore.”

“I thought you’d stopped thinking that way.”

“When I used to have something to live for.”

“And you still do.”

She turned away from Jim and curled into a ball. “I don’t
have anything. Not even this.” She dug her hands in the grass to the dirt
underneath, knowing none of it was real. “Not even you…”

“I’m here. I’m with you.”

She cried harder, doing what she knew she should’ve done a
long time ago. “No you’re not. You’re not real. You’re dead.”

She thought she heard him say something else, but his voice
sounded muffled.

“Bye, Jim,” she said through her sobs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She strained to open her eyes. They felt heavy and tired.

“There she goes. See? I told you she would wake up when she
got home.”

Alharad.

She tried to move her mouth but it felt as if it were
stuffed full of cotton.

“Take your time. I’ve been waiting patiently for you to
wake. I wanted to be the first person you saw when you opened your eyes.”

No.

She closed her eyes tightly. She didn’t need to see or talk
to him. For all she cared, he could throw her back into her old room and she
could begin whoring tonight.

He tsked. “That wasn’t very nice.”

Someone pried her eyes open until she was staring right at
Alharad. He hadn’t changed a bit. He was still the fat fucker she remembered.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, slurring her words.

The last thing she remembered was hitching a ride from a
trader to the space station. She shook her head, trying to regain her thoughts.

“I had Viteri put you in stasis for the trip.”

“Why?”

“Why?” He chuckled, making his stomach bounce. “Because I
didn’t want you causing any more trouble and I didn’t want you provoking the
guards. I would’ve been really upset if anyone punished you but me.”

She laughed along with him, crazy and out of control. “You
can’t possibly punish me any more than I’ve punished myself.” She’d left the
male she loved, her best friend and her kids. Anything he did to her would be a
piece of cake.

He motioned for her. “Bring her to me.”

The guards holding her upright dragged her closer to
Alharad. Her legs stung, as if they’d been stuck with a million needles.

He reached out and smacked her. If they hadn’t been holding
her, she would’ve hit the floor. Her brain rattled in her skull. The loud crack
reverberated off the walls. Her ears rang long after the sting left her cheek.

“That’s for thinking you could get the best of me.”

She used her tongue to massage the inside of her cheek. She
tried to straighten her legs. They wobbled but she finally did it. She raised
her head to look at him. “I shouldn’t have tried to get away from you. This is
my home.”

He tilted his head, which seemed as if it would fall off his
shoulders.

“Eva doesn’t understand what I’ve been through. I’m not the
same woman who she left behind. I didn’t belong there. I’m sorry.”

He waved the guards away. Without their support, her knees
buckled.

Alharad steadied her with a hand. “Once a whore, always a
whore. Pet! Don’t just stand there! Come, come. Meet Ally. She’s going to help
train you in the brothel.”

Ally turned her head toward the light footsteps.

A girl.

She couldn’t be more than fifteen years old.

She slunk from the corner of the room to stand by Alharad’s
side with her head hung low. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun. Her skin
was a dark, smooth cocoa color, but Ally could still see the bruises on her
cheek and lips.

“She has the same spark that you used to have.” He winked at
Ally. “You’re the perfect person to teach her that nothing good comes from
disobeying me and trying to escape.”

Her eyes snapped back to Alharad. Her hands shot out with
speed she didn’t know she had and wrapped around his throat. His eyes opened
wide and bugged out. He made gurgling noises. She squeezed harder, feeling his
trachea under her thumbs.

“You deserve to die,” she seethed.

His fingers pulled at hers, trying to remove them. When that
didn’t work, he hit and scratched at her arms.

She saw the fist barreling down on her from the corner of
her eye. She didn’t try to block it or move out of the way. She didn’t want to
do anything that would make her let go of his neck.

As the pain erupted in her face, she closed her eyes against
it. She tightened her hands on Alharad’s neck. Determined to kill him before
they killed her.

Another punch landed on the back of her head, then another
and another, until she finally fell to the ground. She curled into a ball as
the guard kicked her in the side.

She coughed and tried to get to her feet but all she could
do was roll to her knees. Blood dripped from her mouth and nose, painting the
floor red.

Alharad cleared his throat. “I see that a taste of freedom
has made you forget whose brothel this is.”

“Fuck you,” she coughed out.

He laughed. “I may finally take you up on your offer.”

She reached for his leg but he stepped back. A guard kicked
her hard in the stomach, making her yell out and fall to her side.

“Take her to the prison until she’s ready to behave.”

A guard grabbed her by the shoulder, yanking her up. She
screamed when she felt her shoulder dislocate. The sound did nothing to stop
them from handling her roughly. She looked at the girl as they pulled her away.
“What’s your name?” she shouted.

The girl looked from her to Alharad then back again. Defiantly,
she lifted her head and straightened her shoulders. “Zoey. My name is Zoey.”

With a snarl, Alharad backhanded Zoey so hard, he sent her
flying a few feet and to the ground.

“Her name is
Pet
,” Alharad declared, his fists
balled, ready to strike again.

“It’s not,” Ally said as she struggled with the guards. “Her
name is
Zoey
. There’s a better life out there! Zoey, if you get a
chance, leave this place!”

A guard elbowed her in the nose. It cracked as bone crushed
against bone. Stars seemed to dance around her head. She closed her eyes as
they dragged her through the halls. Blood flowed in large drops from her face
to coat her shirt. What didn’t flow from her nose and mouth streamed down the
back of her throat to her stomach.

“I’m going to have fun with you,” one of the guards sneered.

“Go ahead,” she said.
Kill me
, she inwardly begged.

“I’m Viteri. Sagnior was my brother. Do you know how upset
our tribe was when we had to bury him?”

Sagnior.

The guard whose brains she blew to itty-bitty pieces.

She giggled as she remembered blasting him away. “You didn’t
get all of him. I still had pieces of him on my clothes when I left. I threw
pieces of your brother in the trash—where he belonged.”

“You whore!” Viteri propped her against the wall and punched
her again and again. There was no shielding herself. The blows rained down with
ferocity and brutal strength until she didn’t feel them anymore. Her body
became numb.

This is what death feels like.

Finally.

* * * * *

“Where is she?” Kiehle held Alharad against the wall by his
neck. He would end Alharad’s miserable existence—after he told him where Ally
was.

“Kiehle! Let him go.”

“No.”

Taio put a hand on his arm. “He can’t tell you because he
can’t talk. You’re choking the life out of him.”

What would be so wrong about that?

“We think she’s in the dungeon but we need the code. It
seems that Ankon got trigger happy and killed the guards who were blocking the
door.” Taio grabbed Kiehle’s arm. “We need him.”

Kiehle dropped his hand reluctantly.

Alharad sputtered and coughed. “I won’t tell you.”

Taio flicked his hand at Kiehle and turned away. “Kill him.
Ankon! We’ll have to blast through the doors.”

“No, no, no!” Alharad said, covering his neck with his
hands. “I’ll tell you the code. But it won’t do you any good. Once I file
another complaint with the Galactic Council, you’ll regret ever stepping foot
on Yinnis! She came here of her own free will. We had a deal!”

“Consider it revoked. Code. Now,” Kiehle growled.

Alharad tried to step to the side, away from him. “Zoey!” he
shouted to the girl standing in the corner. “Call the Galactic Council; let
them know I’ll be filing another complaint.”

From the corner of his eye, Kiehle saw the brave girl shake
her head no. When they’d come into Alharad’s private quarters looking for him,
the girl had helped them immediately. She’d showed them exactly where Alharad
had been hiding in the brothel.

Alharad’s face reddened. “Why you—”

Kiehle stepped in Alharad’s line of vision, blocking him
from looking at Zoey. “There’s no one here to save you.”

“I want you out of my brothel
now
!” Alharad yelled.

Taio raised a brow. “Brothel? Not anymore.”

“What have you done?” Alharad asked, wide-eyed.

“Well, you see, the Galactic Council thought you were due
for a surprise visit and since they wouldn’t accept my resignation, they
thought I should be the one to do the honors.”

“Another raid? So soon? I’m not due for one.”

“And that’s exactly why they decided to pay you another
visit. You always seem to know when we’re coming, which means you’re always prepared
for us. This time you aren’t.”

“I-I…let me explain,” Alharad sputtered.

“My guards are sending reports to the council as we speak.
Your brothel is riddled with citations. Your slaves are malnourished. You don’t
have the proper paperwork for half of them. Oh—and children.” Taio tsked. “You
lied to us. There are two little boys living in the brothel with your whores.”

Alharad’s eyes widened. “You don’t understand. They don’t
work in the brothel. They’re my personal slaves. I just had them in there as a
punishment for being unruly. I was going to bring them back to my personal
quarters today.”

“Kiehle? Were the children accompanied by a parent or
another guardian?”

Kiehle looked directly into Alharad’s eyes without
flinching. “No.”

“Per law, the only way a child can remain in a brothel is if
they are with family or an adult who serves as a guardian. You should know the
law well; it’s what saved you from being shut down before.”

“What did you do?” Kiehle asked. “Did you go out and get
more children when Max and Yoshi left?”

“I-I had to replace the slaves I lost,” Alharad said. “What
did you expect me to do?”

“I would expect for you to learn how to dress yourself,”
Kiehle snarled.

“These are minor infractions! I’ll pay the fines and promise
not to let them occur again,” Alharad said.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Taio said.

“Why? Because of the undocumented slaves?” Alharad’s eyes
shifted from side to side. “I can get the proper paperwork for them. There was
a large shipment two days ago and I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by.
You run a business, you can understand. I figured I could get the slaves now
for half the price and work on getting the paperwork later. I kn-know it’s
illegal,” he began to stutter. “B-But I’m sure we can work out a deal of some
sort? Hmm?”

“A deal? There won’t be any need for that. You’ll spend the
rest of your life in prison—that is, if my brother doesn’t kill you first.”
Taio turned to Kiehle. “If he doesn’t give you the code on the next breath,
make it his last.”

Kiehle stepped back and unsheathed his
jango
, letting
his hands get used to the weight. All it would take was one smooth movement and
he’d send Alharad’s head rolling to the ground.

“I…”

Kiehle stepped forward, bringing the
jango
up.

“Zero-three-two-one,” Alharad blurted as he cowered away.
“Zero-three-two-one!”

Kiehle kept the
jango
raised. “Go ahead and try it,”
he said to Taio. “I’ll wait here.”

Taio relayed the code to a guard.

“If it doesn’t work,
I
get to kill him. No one else,”
Kiehle said, lowering his weapon to rest on Alharad’s shoulder.

“I promise,” Taio said.

Alharad whimpered and cried even after the guard came back
with a response.

It worked.

Leaving Alharad to piss on himself, Kiehle re-sheathed his
jango
and ran to the dungeon. He darted to each cell, peering inside.

Where is she?

He was just about to give up when he saw her in the last
dark cell.

She hung from chains on the wall. She looked lifeless. Dead.

No.

“Ally, please wake up.”

Someone pulled on her chains. She yelled out as pain shot
through her shoulders. “I hate you. Kill me already.”

“Shhh. I have to get you down. It’s going to hurt.”

Kiehle? This is a dream.

She tried to open her eyes but couldn’t, they were swollen
shut. “Is that you?” The words came out a garbled mess.