Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The tall, broad Foulan strode away from me to the small table against the opposite wall. He pulled an oblong silver object from a satchel I hadn’t noticed before. The dark blue bag sat on one of the square chairs at the table. I recognized the device. It was their equivalent of a mobile phone.

A series of high- and low-pitched barks sounded. Yep, the Foulans sounded like a wolf pack when they spoke their language. I’d been with my purchaser for four Earth months—or six Foulan months, due to the lunar cycles of their moons—before he’d died. That had allowed me time to learn some of the language. Enough to understand this Foulan’s side of the conversation. Which I supposed was why he tried lowering his voice. I attempted to piece together what I could hear.

One of the first things he’d said was “Dane Regis.” That was likely to be either the person he was calling or his own name. I could test my theory later. I focused on the end of the conversation I could hear.

“…Parker Robinson…” That one was easy, since that was my name.

“…confirm the Runner status…” Ugh.

“…murder…” Fuck.

“…provider of…” something I couldn’t decipher .

“…breathing…” Well, that was good. I was going to assume that meant whoever wanted me, wanted me alive?—

“…Vadhea…” Fuck me. That confirmed the Syndicate wanted me.

“bring… something indecipherable … tomorrow.”

Oh, great. The most reasonable explanation was that the Foulan would bring me, the Runner, to meet with Vadhea tomorrow. Whether I would walk out of that meeting alive?

I had to convince the alien holding me that I was innocent.

The Foulan must have sensed me watching him, because as he ended the communication, he turned and his black eyes met my blue ones.

“Dane, listen—” His eyes widened at the name, so it was probably his. “—may I call you Dane?” I asked, trying for polite while I prepared to use logic to convince him to let me go. Or beg for my life. Whatever worked.

The Foulan gave a sharp nod.

“Dane,” I began again. “Let me guess what the person on the other end of the communique told you.” I tried to fold my arms under my chest, and the arm restraint tightening reminded me of my restricted movements. As more pieces of this crazy-ass puzzle fell into place, I needed to be convincing. “The Syndicate believes I killed Bowyer Haled.”

Dane nodded.

“Bowyer died three solar rises ago, burned to death.” I swallowed hard when a vivid memory of acrid smoke, intense heat, and horrid screams rose unbidden in my mind.

“You burned your house down,” Dane stated.

“Is that what you were told?”

“Yes.”

“Bowyer burned to death,” I repeated, “when someone set our house on fire.” I glared at him. “Someone other than me.”

“If not you, then who?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, spreading my non-manacled arm wide.

“Why was the house set on fire?” he persisted.

“I don’t know,” I shouted before closing my eyes. Losing my cool wouldn’t help me.

“Do you know Bowyer Haled’s occupation?”

The apparent non sequitur gave me pause. “Something like import-exports, I think. We never talked about it,” I finished defensively.

“Why were you with him?” he asked.

“Why?” I repeated, perplexed. “Didn’t you get a file?”

“It was more incomplete than I would have liked.”

“Ah, you mean, like how it didn’t mention I was human.”

“Yes.” He stared impassively at me.

“And incorrectly accused me of arson and murder,” I pointed out.

“That remains to be seen.”

“I’m an Obedient,” I explained and watched the understanding dawn. “What did Bowyer do for Vadhea?” I asked, confused how any of this was happening to me. Clearly there had been a lot more to my purchaser than met the eye.

“He was involved in import-exports of a sort,” Dane began to explain. “But they were of the illicit kind.”

I closed my eyes for a moment as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Of course they were.”

Dane approached me and sat on the edge of the bed. “Why do you say that?”

“That’s the type of Foulan male he was—the kind who would want a human Obedient for the shock value.”

“Shock value?” he asked, not understanding the idiom.

“Me. An exotic human female used to surprise people. Especially since your kind isn’t known for finding my kind attractive. Nobody else on this planet has a human Obedient.”

“Bowyer Haled procured rare species for consumption,” Dane said.

My stomach lurched. “Really? That’s repulsive. We never ate like that at the house.”

“You would not have. Not if Bowyer wanted to—” Dane stopped.

“Save me to eat later?” I filled in for him. “Ew, gross.”

Dane grimaced in disgust. “That is a possibility,” he allowed. “But I was thinking a different outcome if he was indeed supplying for Vadhea.”

“Oh. If Bowyer wanted to live?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Funny how he is now unalive. Could he have sampled the merchandise?” I asked myself, though now my eyes widened. “Did he take something that was Vadhea’s?” I was so very fucked if Vadhea thought I’d also been involved in skimming or sampling.

“Not according to the file. It is not clear why Bowyer was killed, but because he was a supplier for Vadhea, that cannot go without a response.”

A glimmer of hope surfaced. “Okay, then hear me out. If what I’m telling you is true, and I’m not the one that killed Bowyer, then Vadhea has the wrong person.” I smiled in triumph. “And that means that the right person will know that they got away with killing Vadhea’s supplier.”

Dane appeared to mull over the implications of what I’d said.

My smile dropped. All of this assumed that was why someone killed my purchaser. “Ask for an extension because of the inaccurate information.” I reached out to grasp his arm clad in the gray long-sleeved shirt. His hard muscles flexed against my hand.

“Help me prove that I’m innocent and someone else is guilty,” I continued. “Then you can bring them to Vadhea. Don’t bring me to be killed.”

Dane stared for a moment at my hand on his arm before pulling away and rising. “I dislike being given incomplete information. Or being lied to.”

“You think someone actually lied?”

He gave a curt nod. “I do not believe that the Lynka Syndicate did not know that you are a human.” He looked at me with hooded eyes. “Or an Obedient.”

Holy shit. There it was again. Was he attracted to me? I needed to take advantage, but I didn’t know how when he’d already rebuffed me. “I don’t know why they would lie,” I admitted.

“Nor do I,” he groused. “How did you come to be purchased by Bowyer Haled?”

“Like other human females, I was recruited by someone representing the Collector,” I began, chuckling at the absurdity. “For me, it was at a bar after work. The recruiter was of a highly human-appearing species, thus I dismissed him at first. I only considered what he offered after he convinced me he wasn’t insane or on drugs. His webbed feet and superior technology were quite convincing.”

“You were willing to walk away from everything you knew?”

I shrugged. “My life was fine. Nothing exciting. I worked for a hospital in human resources.” I snorted. “You probably don’t know what that entails. Trust me when I say it’s boring. Outside of work, I enjoyed hanging with friends and the occasional one-night stand. When the recruiter explained that I could travel to outer space—fucking outer space!—and make obscene amounts of money by becoming an Obedient, I told him to sign me up.”

“You did not ask for details?” he asked, not surprising, given his own apparent detail-oriented approach to life.

I sighed. “You’re being literal. Of course I did. The recruiter explained that I’d be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and we’d come to a mutually acceptable contract.” I smiled wickedly. “After my audition with the Collector, I was in.” My smile dimmed. “Bowyer wouldn’t have been my first choice, but he was decent to me, and offered the obscene amount of money I’d wanted.”

Dane appeared confused.

“When my contract was up, I planned to explore the universe,” I explained.

He nodded, and then his mouth thinned into a line of displeasure. “There would be a lot of information about your history. I do not believe that the Syndicate did not know it.”

“I don’t know why they didn’t, or why they withheld…” I trailed off at the hard look I now saw on Dane’s face.

“Unless you are the one lying. You are correct that the Foulan rarely find humans attractive. Too weak and hairless.”

“Hey!” I objected.

“You may not have been Bowyer Haled’s carnal Obedient. Maybe he procured you.”

“Wait,” I interrupted, nose wrinkling. “As food? We’re back on that? You think he bought me for food, and that’s why I killed him?” My voice rose an octave with the second question.

“That is as reasonable an explanation. It also fits with the Syndicate not knowing you are an Obedient. They cannot know what is not true.”

“I’m not lying. Bowyer Haled purchased me from the Collector six lunar cycles ago to be his carnal Obedient. You have to believe me,” I finally begged.

Dane’s eyes darkened and he placed a hand on the fastener for his pants. “Prove it.”