Agatha

Iwatched Norsuk"s face crumple at my words, his broad shoulders sagging as if I"d landed a physical blow. Part of me ached to take them back, to erase the hurt clouding his amber eyes. But I steeled myself against the impulse. I couldn"t be with him, couldn"t let myself fall for someone like this.

No matter how my traitorous heart twinged in my chest.

Love? Is that where this was headed? The thought sent a dizzying spike of longing through me, chased by a cold slap of reality. I barely knew this man, this alien scoundrel who"d planned to sell me like chattel. And yet...

He was the best lover I"d ever had, his touch igniting my skin, my very soul. The sweetest man who"d ever shown true interest in me, criminal or not.

Norsuk was beautiful, inside and out. I craved more of him with a desperation that terrified me, even as I knew that path led nowhere good.

"It won"t be easy," he said at last, voice rough as gravel. His gaze remained fixed on the floor, as if he couldn"t bear to meet my eyes. "Even if the raider"s ship wasn"t destroyed, they wouldn"t have left charts or telemetry for the law to follow. There"s no way for me to know where your planet is."

I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting a shiver that had nothing to do with cold. "It"s Earth. The third planet from Sol, a medium-sized yellow star. We have one big moon. I think we"re on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy." Frustration bled into my tone, edged with despair. "We don"t have space travel. That"s the best I can do."

Norsuk shifted his weight, the movement surprisingly hesitant for such a large male. "Reazus Prime is also the third planet from a medium-sized yellow star on the edge of the galaxy. But we orbit a red dwarf, too." He dragged a hand through his hair, the gesture endearingly human. "If you don"t have space travel, then only people like the slavers, with their probes and spying, would even know where humans exist."

A considering look crossed his face, there and gone in a blink. "You"re a very popular species, though. Universal breeders. Nice to look at. There"s a high demand." He held up his hands, a wry twist to his sensual mouth. "Until I met you, I didn"t know why. But now I see why you fetch enormous prices..." He winced. "I"ll shut up."

I"d heard of alien abduction, but always assumed it was the domain of the crazy, lonely, or overly intoxicated. To hear that human women were valuable in another part of the galaxy was surreal.

And the reason made my skin crawl.

"Do species other than the creepy Greens sell slaves?" I asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of me.

Norsuk"s shrug was a fluid ripple of muscle. "Slavers aren"t people we usually deal with. But we could go to Maneet, ask around. Twist some arms..."

I blinked at him, thrown by the shift in topic. "We could?"

He nodded, something bleak and resolute hardening his features. "If we can get out of this mine, this cavern, we could."

"And you would...?"

"I don"t want to." The words sounded like they"d been dredged up from his very marrow. "You belong to me, even if I don"t deserve you. But I would do it for you." His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. "Even if it broke my heart."

Sincerity rang in every syllable, the raw emotion more convincing than any flowery declaration. Speaking the truth because he wasn"t a sweet talker.

Touched despite myself, I took a step closer, need and trepidation warring in my breast. "I have to try," I said softly. "I didn"t give notice at my job or anything. My rent is paid up, at least. Good thing my apartment doesn"t allow pets, huh?"

"Then we will." Norsuk"s nod held the weight of a vow. "I"ll do everything I can. I swear it."

He looked so earnest, sorrow and determination etched into every proud line of his face. Almost before I realized what I was doing, I crossed the remaining distance between us and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Thank you," I whispered into the heated silk of his throat.

For a moment, he stiffened against me, then his arms came up to enfold me in a crushing embrace. I turned my face into his chest, breathing in his scent of musk and male. It felt so right to be held like this, cherished and protected. I almost let myself believe...

But no. I couldn"t forget what he was, what he"d planned for me. Steeling myself, I pulled out of his arms and took a deliberate step back. His hands flexed at his sides, as if resisting the urge to reach for me again.

"How do we get out of here?" I asked briskly.

Norsuk blinked, visibly shifting mental gears. "I thought we were on the right track before that pack came at us. Before the floor dropped out from under our feet and brought us to the city."

A furrow appeared between his dark brows as he glanced around the chamber, gaze assessing. "I"m starting to wonder if this is a cavern at all..."

I tipped my head, an uneasy prickle worming down my spine. "What do you mean?"

"It"s hard to tell, but the shape seems too perfect, the walls too smooth to be natural. Which makes me believe this city might not be a city at all."

"What then?" I asked—and then gasped as wild surmise blossomed, born of far too many late night sci-fi movie marathons. "A spaceship?"

"Not like any I"ve seen or heard of," he said grimly. "But this has to be something other than a city. I think if we can suss out its true purpose, we might just find our way out of here."

A strange, almost haunted look flickered over his face, there and gone so quickly, I couldn"t be sure it wasn"t a trick of the weird light. But he didn"t elaborate, gaze turning inward in a way that made me wonder what thoughts chased themselves behind those amber eyes.

Shaking off my own dark musings, I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. "Guess we keep exploring then," I said, infusing my voice with a confidence I wasn"t sure I felt.

"Yeah." Norsuk sighed, large hand scrubbing over his stubbled jaw. Then abruptly, his expression brightened. "Oh, hey, that reminds me." He unclipped a wicked-looking knife from his belt and held it out to me, hilt-first. "Here."

I took the blade gingerly, pulse tripping into double-time. The metal was warm from the heat of his body, the grip conforming to my palm like it was made for me. "You"re giving me a knife?" I asked uncertainly. This had to be some kind of test, a calculated show of trust.

He quirked a half-smile, there and gone like quicksilver. "One of my cheats, actually." From a hidden pocket he produced a second knife, seemingly identical to the one I held. "There"s a guidance mechanism in the handle. Pull it free."

Brow furrowing, I did as he instructed. The locking mechanism gave way with a soft snick, a small cylinder dropping into my waiting palm.

"Like this." Norsuk held his own blade aloft, demonstrating. "Grip it by the tip, then sight along your arm to aim. Wait for the bead."

Praying I didn"t look like a complete idiot, I mimicked his stance. No sooner had I lined up my shot than a ribbon of rose-colored light flared to life.

"Good." Norsuk"s nod of approval warmed me more than it should have. "You"re locked on now. Give it a toss."

Heart in my throat, I flung the blade at the nearest door with all my strength. It tumbled end-over-end, winking in the half-light... before seeming to alter its trajectory in mid-air. With a meaty thunk, it buried itself in the synthwood, quivering like an arrow in a bullseye.

A beat later, Norsuk"s knife thudded home mere breaths from my own.

"These are great," he said with relish. "Near impossible to miss cleanly."

He crossed to the door in two long strides and wrenched the blades free, tossing mine back to me. I snatched it awkwardly, face hot as I fumbled it back into the sheath.

"Why give this to me?" I asked, hating the note of vulnerability that bled into my voice. Needing to hear his reasons spoken plain.

Norsuk met my gaze steadily, his own deep and fathomless. "So you can defend yourself if you need to. If I"m not..." He cleared his throat, the smallest catch. "I said I"ll do anything to get you home, and I mean it. That includes keeping you alive."

He glanced away, gaze cutting to the shadowed corners of the room. "This city is probably full of things like that wall-crawler. Creatures that tunneled down from the surface, or nasties that live underground."

A lance of fear sluiced through me at the memory of spiny limbs, grasping mouths. Of crumbling bones and shreds of desiccated flesh in that stinking lair. I shuddered, hand dropping unconsciously to the knife riding my hip.

"Yeah," I managed, "good thinking."

An awkward beat passed, the air between us charged with unspoken things. Norsuk scuffed a boot against the deck, restless energy fairly vibrating off him.

"We could split up," he offered at last. "Cover more ground that way, then rendezvous back here in a few hours."

"No!" The denial burst from me, sharp and knee-jerk. I winced internally, but held fast. "I don"t think we should separate. Not with those... things out there."

The edge of a smile played about his wicked mouth. "Works for me."

I told myself I was imagining the relief in his tone, the pleased crinkle at the corners of his eyes. Mentally, I gave myself a shake. I needed to keep my distance, maintain perspective.

No matter how much every cell in my body strained toward his.

Shunting aside the disquieting thoughts, I joined Norsuk at the room"s small balcony. He stared pensively at the impossible city spread below us, the corded muscles of his forearms taut where he gripped the railing.

"The sunlight tubes have gone dark," he observed. "Must be night on the surface."

I followed his gaze to the cathedral ceiling high above, realizing with a start that he was right. The massive cylinders that had painted the cavern in warm radiance now jutted like burnt-out batteries, no hint of illumination within. Only the eldritch glow of the korun seeped from the city"s bones, casting the vault in ghostly twilight.

"That"ll make searching a whole lot trickier," I sighed. "Maybe we should just bunker down until daybreak."

Norsuk shot me a measuring look. "You tired?"

"No," I said honestly. Despite the walking, the adrenaline, the emotional strain... I felt oddly energized. Lit up from within like one of the ancient towers. "You?"

"I could go a while yet." He pushed off the railing decisively. "Let's get back up there, see what we can find."

We walked from the room to the central space. I pushed the call button. The car was already there, the door sweeping open.

It took him a moment to follow me in.

"You're claustrophobic," I said.

"No, I'm not." But as the elevator descended, he gripped my hand tightly.

We examined the top floor again, carefully avoiding looking too closely at the disturbing screens.

Behind a partition we finally found something. Another bed, crammed into a corner, rumpled and dirty, a low table next to it with a small toaster-shaped device on the top.

Norsuk sniffed. Wrinkled his nose. "It smells kinda… unwashed."

"Like this room is in use."

The large knife shifted in his grip. "I haven't heard a sound since we've been in here," he whispered.

And yet from that vague, organic odor, it would appear that we shared this space with someone else. Someone with dirty socks?

Further into the corner there was a helmet, like the ones on the stand near the spacesuits, but this one was cracked and burned.

Below that bed, a dried pool of dark green stuff.

"Something was injured," he said. "And it was here recently."

"Something that wears a helmet?" Which meant something intelligent, sentient.

He studied the toaster next to the bed with the helmet. Tubes ran from it. Goop oozed out of the ends. A sharp smell filled the room. Not the unwashed smell. Astringent. Maybe antiseptic. Norsuk dropped the tubes in disgust.

"I'm not sure what these machines are, but they don't match the tech in this building," he said. "I think this place is being used as a hideout."

"But that means whoever is in here knows the way out," I said.

Norsuk whirled toward the door, knife in hand. "Agatha! Look?—"