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Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

M yrria woke, not to a sudden sound but to a lack of sound. The house was too still, the air too heavy, the space too empty.

She sat up in the bed she was sharing with Zala, carefully pulling back the covers on her side but not her daughter's, and swung her feet to the floor. As soon as her bare feet touched the wooden boards, fear tickled the nape of her neck. She took silent steps toward the edge of the loft, peering over to the dark room below. There was no movement, no sounds, no Zevrians creeping through the door.

Her gaze went to the door. The chair was still pulled underneath the knob. She allowed herself to exhale, but then caught herself.

The chair was tilted. It had not been tilted when she'd jammed it under the knob before going upstairs to sleep. Explanations raced through her mind as she gingerly climbed down the ladder. The chair might have slipped. She might not have noticed that it was tilted. Someone might have tried to come inside and knocked the chair to one side.

The last possibility made her whip around when she reached the bottom of the ladder, ready to defend herself from anyone who might be trying to break in. Had that been why she'd woken? Had she heard something and then woken once the noise had stopped? Was that why her senses were on high alert?

Myrria attempted to slow her breathing as she swung her head to take in the entirety of her home. One advantage to a small living space was there was nowhere for an intruder to hide, especially not one as big as a Zevrian.

She started to feel a sense of relief when she glanced at the bedroom. The curtain was open, and instead of the bed boasting the significant lump of the sleeping Dothvek, it was empty. It only took Myrria moments to work out what had happened. Rixx had snuck out and pulled the chair behind him so that the door would still be hard to open, but it had tilted when he'd closed the door behind him.

She stalked to the door, angrily pulling the chair out of the way. What did he think he was doing? Did he hear nothing she'd said before? Didn't she tell him that the Zevrians were intensifying their search for him?

"Which is exactly why he left," she murmured to herself. He left because of her and Zala. He left because if she got caught harboring him, there was no telling what the Zevrians would do to her. "He was being a bloody hero."

As much as she was touched by the Dothvek's sacrifice, it wasn't one she wanted. She couldn't live with herself if he was killed or captured, just like she couldn't live with herself if she'd left him collapsed in that doorway. She knew it wasn't the smartest way to survive in Kurril, but Myrria refused to live the rest of her life "just surviving." She refused to let the corruptness of Kurril corrupt her. And she refused to teach her daughter that you gave into bullies.

Her heart was pounding when she opened the door and peeked outside. The alley was dark and quiet. How long had he been gone?

Myrria forced herself to think. She'd woken up because she'd either heard something or sensed a change, which meant that she must had woken not long after he'd pulled the chair back in front of the door. "And that means he can't have gone far."

She snatched her threadbare coat from the hook inside the door and jammed her hands through the armholes, shoving her feet into the shoes she'd left by the door. With a final glance inside, she tugged the door closed, assuring herself that she would only walk to the end of the alley to search for Rixx then come right back.

The night air was cool as she chose a direction and hurried down the tight passageway. She didn't hear any footsteps ahead of her, and she wondered if she'd picked the wrong direction. Stopping at the corner, she looked left and then right, seeing nothing. Cursing, she turned and ran in the other direction, slowing at the end of the alley and looking around the corner.

Her heart seized when she spotted a flutter of a shadow darting around the end of the alley to the right. She dashed after it, sure that she was right behind Rixx. She wasn't sure if she would scold him or hug him when she reached him, but maybe she would do both.

Her shoes were slapping the paving stones and sending up occasional splashes as she landed in puddles, but she didn't stop to think what was in the puddles, although the stench of the area told her it wasn't great. She rounded the corner and almost ran into the figure she'd been chasing, slapping a hand on a broad shoulder to stop him.

"Found you!"

Her confidence withered when the man turned and leered at her, a blast of stale beer and cigar smoke hitting her in the face.

Myrria stumbled back, instantly reminded why she never ventured outside after dark. "Sorry. Wrong person."

"Who says I'm the wrong person?" The man grabbed her arm before she could back from his reach and jerked her closer to him. His face and neck were wrinkled, weathered, and etched with ink that told her he was part of a space pirate crew—and that he'd killed.

Fear choked Myrria's throat, making it impossible for her to scream. Even if she did, who would come to her aid in Kurril? Everyone kept to themselves to keep from inviting trouble, which meant that there was no one to save her.

Myrria struggled in the man's powerful grasp, desperately fighting him off as he dragged her deeper into the shadows, bile rising as his black-toothed smile widened.

"Who says we can't have some fun?"

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