Thank the Mother he’d taught Frey how to fly. With his vision impaired and his hands still stiff and swollen, he’d never manage the controls himself. He must have winked out of consciousness for a moment because they were suddenly hurtling out of the bay. Preen gripped Rone’s hair to steady itself, making Rone wince. That had been the one place on his body not hurting. Frey set a dangerously high speed to get clear from the ship and, in no time, the human vessel came into view. Slowing the ship down, Frey activated the sensors.
“It worked. There’s a fire in the cargo bay.” He looked over his shoulder, his lips spread wide. “That should keep them busy for a while.”
Preen let out a screech of delight right by Rone’s ear. With a wince, Rone leaned back into his chair. “Indeed. My mission gotfucked, but at least some of the arms intended for the traitors are being destroyed.”
“You were supposed to expose Kuren’s operations, weren’t you? That fucker, Avith, was right.”
“Yes. What I said was true, too, though. My mate was killed, and I needed to do something, anything, to help keep the pain at bay. Preen helped expose the killer, and we formed a friendship, strange as it may seem.”
He forced his body up to look his pet in the eye. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I never intended for Arpell to wager you, yet I had no choice but to win. I needed to gain Kuren’s attention.”
The boy licked his own split lip and looked away, out into the vast space where the human ship waited for them to catch up. The com bleeped. They were being hailed by someone. Kuren’s ship? Frey answered it before Rone could warn him not to.
“Is that you, Dax?”
“Yeah, kid. What’s the hold up?”
“You must be working with Travians if you have their weapons and their hailing frequencies, not to mention how you managed to sneak up on Kuren’s ship.”
“Look, Frey, I’ll be happy to give you a mind dump once we’re clear of that fucking ship. Okay?”
Frey spoke right over the male. “What are you going to do with Rone?”
“What? Jesus Christ, I don’t know. That’s above my pay grade. Someone somewhere will figure out what to do with him. Now, will you get your ass in gear?”
Frey looked at Rone. “What’s the nearest safe station for you to go to?”
Rone answered without thinking. “Outer Ring Station Twelve. Wait. Why, pet?”
“Dax go ahead and take off. We’re not going to follow you.”
“What the fuck!” There was a pause, and Rone imagined the human was trying to get himself under control. When he spoke again, his tone was softer. “Look, Frey, I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through in these last few months. You’re not thinking clearly, or that asshole with you has you warped to his will. He’s not your master. You’re a free man.”
Frey stared right at Rone when he answered. “I know what I am. And I know what Rone is. I’m taking him someplace safe, then I’m going to help him with his work.” There was a sputtering noise over the com. “Look. If the Travian society becomes destabilized, things might become worse on Seven. I don’t know exactly what you and your crew are doing, but tell whoever is in charge that I’m going to work it from the other side. I’ll figure out a way to contact you.” He looked at Rone for confirmation.
“You have my word,” he said quietly, a feeling of joy welling up inside. His pet would stay with him, for now.
“Fuck, kid, are you sure?”
“Yes. Don’t worry about me, and thanks for saving our lives. We appreciate it.”
“Yeah, yeah, our pleasure. Dax out.”
“What are the coordinates for that station?”
Rone opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. A sudden guilt swamped him. This wasn’t right. His pet deserved to go back to his people. Rone was being selfish in agreeing to this. “Frey.” He got no further than that.
“The coordinates, Rone.”
The sound of his name on his pet’s tongue proved too enticing. He liked the new-found forcefulness of his boy, as well. He gave his pet the information then he promptly passed out.
Chapter Nine
“It’samazing,isn’tit?”
Frey turned away from the window. Since waking, he’d been mesmerized by all the activity around the outside of the huge Travian space station. In his forced travels as a slave, he’d never seen anything so grand. He looked at the guy who’d come into his tiny medical room, surprised to see it was a human male around his age. Frey’s gaze latched first onto the collar around the boy’s neck and the leash hanging from it, which oddly the boy held himself. He was dressed the way Rone had dressed Frey, in clingy, soft tunic and pants. And his shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a bunch of tiny braids woven with brown cord. Seeing it made Frey touch his own hair. His braids were gone for the moment, and he missed them.
He missed Rone.
