“Al’frind, are you all right?” I ask, concerned.
“I’m so sorry, my queen. If you see the king again, tell him I tried,” the old man says as he attempts to throw his weight behind him.
A purple hand snakes up under his arm, putting a blaster right to his chest, and the slimy hand pulls the trigger. Al’frind’s chest explodes in a flash of gray flesh and blinding light.
The sound of the blaster burns my eardrums. As the purple hand shoots him, despite nearly destroying his entire chest, Al’frind swings his body backward. He’s trying to use his larger size to pin the Deenz behind him.His last act in this universe is to help me.
Somehow, despite the shock settling into me, I shove my body against the door frame, but the door stops short of shutting as the stone clangs against the metal of a blaster. I shuffle backward, tripping over a side table, and fly ass over tits. My shoulder connects roughly with the stone floor, but adrenaline lets me use that shoulder despite the pain to push myself up.
“Human, you’re coming with us,” the purple bastard screeches as he pushes through the narrow crack in the door.
From my seated position, I shuffle backward until I hit a wall. I bring a hand to the wetness spreading across my face. Al’frind’s blue blood and chunks of flesh paint my cheeks.
“You killed him….” I whisper.
Three more Deenz push open the heavy door, their hands leaving thick purple secretions everywhere they touch.I hate them.
I search desperatly looking something to defend myself. The room is sparse except for the bed, as if the space has been empty for many years.
“Don’t you come any closer!” I scream, grabbing the blanket and pulling it tighter around my body. “The king will fucking rip you limb from limb if you touch me.”
More Deenz push into the room. They all look at me with blasters pointed in my direction.
“Come with us,” the c twenty or so little purple aliens say in unison.
“Fuck off and die, you pieces of shit,” I spit. “Why me? Can’t you just leave me alone—you sold me to Ke’ain!”
The Deenz don’t look at each other, but they’re communicating somehow.The hive-minded bastards have a plan.
CHAPTER13
?FUCKING MAGNETS, HOW DO THEY WORK? ?
?OPAL
One of thedripping purple Deenz steps away from the crowd and closer to me. My back is against the wall, but I kick my legs at his body as he gets closer.
“Why you?” He mocks me and points a finger squarely at my chest. “I have no idea. We didn’t think aprince of Sontafrul 6 would wed a human whore.” He holsters his blaster into his utility belt. “We thought he’d get his fill of your human cunt and toss you aside. We were waiting outside the palace, ready to collect you that first night.”
I bite the inside of my lip. Will these bastards finally kill me here? Right after I was so sure I’d found my home?
“When he didn’t toss you out, as all the others had done with the human merchandise before, we tried to break into the palace and return you to the hive. As I'm sure you're aware, that was a less than satisfactory outcome for us.” His words buzz unnaturally in my ear, the Deenz accent almost mechanical.
My first night here, the harken gas, the panic room…How could they think Ke’ain would toss me out like a piece of garbage?
Like all the times before?
Oh god, they must have whored out human women countless times.
“We can’t have the word get back to the Universal Governing Senate that our human merchandise is less than willing. Why do you think we pump you full of hormones before your performances? Those shots aren’t cheap, but we need you to appear willing and enthusiastic. Slavery is outlawed by Universal Governing Senate.”
“So why wouldn’t you just pump me full of harken gas so I wouldn’t remember?” I ask incredulously. A blank slate would be easier to control, would it not?
“Although harken gas might work on other species in the galaxy, the effects on humans are sadly temporary. It’s simply not cost-effective for us to keep pumping you full of harken gas.”
“All of this suffering because you asshats are too cheap?” I screech.
“We must remain cost-effective for the hive to survive. The hive comes before everything, even your ridiculous human comfort. It’s the same reason you’re coming with us now,” he says, pulling a restraint from his belt.
