Miran and Nerin stayed in the shadows, watching as the audience filed out past the cage. They were all careful to stay behind the red line. Even so, the large guards remained standing nearby, with shock sticks ready.
The human eyed them malevolently and occasionally sounded a growl or hiss, making the leaving audience members jump. Once the audience was gone, the guards relaxed and set their shock sticks down on a nearby table before ambling off. They completely ignored the cage and the sweaty, distressed human inside.
He couldn’t believe the callousness of everyone here. How could they torture this woman multiple times each day? It was inconceivable.
Finally, the large doors to the room banged shut, leaving the room empty except for the human, Nerin, and himself. He wasgoing to tell Nerin to stay here in the back while he tried to talk to the human. It would probably be less stressful for her to meet one of them at a time, and he needed to find out if the human had any language skills.
Except before he could say anything to Nerin, she casually stood up and stretched.
He and Nerin froze and watched the human move her shaggy, wild hair out of her eyes, look around, and chuckle.
She pulled a small band from around her wrist and used to tie her hair back. Then pulled something out of a pocket of her tattered pants and unlocked the cage door.
“Our wild human isn't as wild as they would have us believe,” Nerin whispered with a relieved grin.
Miran felt dizzy with relief. “It's an act. It's all an act.”
Chapter 2
Nova
Popping out her fangs, Nova stepped out of the cage. She pocketed the two teeth, then rubbed her lips. This set were getting old and would grab her lip sometimes when she hissed. She was going to have to bug Riff until he agreed to order her another set.
Once outside the cage, she moved her hand from her lips to the small sore spot on her hip. Even though the guys used the lowest setting on those shock sticks, it still hurt.
She kept asking if there was any way they could figure out how to get the things to make the sound without delivering a shock, but Riff insisted that was impossible. She didn’t bother to argue again. During her life in the circus, she’d learned that good theatre was worth a little pain.
Grabbing the tarp they used to cover the cage, she started wrestling it back in place. The guys were supposed to stay to help, but they never did. She got tired of complaining and simply did it herself.
At least she knew the Tiema family wouldn’t start eating until she got there. She loved them for that.
The Tiema family was made up of Melee, the matriarch, Hashor the eldest, then the twins Mashie and Miffla, and finally the youngest, Nikla. She and the twins were about the same age. When she’d first been introduced to the circus performers and workers, they didn’t know what to do with this small human child. Then Melee had stepped forward and treated her like a cub.
That gave Riff an idea, and soon she was doing an act with the Tiema cubs. They put her in an outfit with fake Tiema ears, and she rolled around with them, pretending to be clumsy and trying to do her best to follow the graceful creatures as they leapt, jumped, and tumbled on the stage.
The audience loved it, and that act kept going until she and the cubs were too old to pull it off. Riff tried to put her in several other acts, but nothing really worked until they hit on the wild human idea. She didn’t mind the wild-human act, especially the second show of the day. It was an easy show because there weren’t any acrobatics or shock sticks. All she had to do was pretend to be drugged so all the little kids could touch her.
Her stomach rumbled, making Nova redouble her efforts with the drape. The sound of the theatre door opening surprised her. No one should be coming in through that door until it was opened by the staff.
She turned, prepared to hide in case it was a lost Fielden, only to be greeted by the sight of Riff, Captain Sanian, and another male she'd never seen before. Both Riff and Sanian looked very excited.
That worried her. They weren't cruel, but what tended to excite them most was money, and that didn’t always bode well for everyone else.
“Nova,” Riff chirped at her excitedly. “I'm glad we caught you. We have the most excellent news.”
“What's going on?” she asked, then made a startled sound. “Who are they?”
Two more figures appeared out of the shadows at the back of the room. Had they been there the entire time? She flushed a little with embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she hadn't seen them before now.
All three strangers were the same green-skinned species with a blue-green scale pattern running from the middle of their foreheads and over the top of their heads. They were tall with broad shoulders tapering down to narrow waists.
They were all wearing armor, and she could see several energy weapons strapped to their bodies. They must’ve done a lot of negotiating and paid a heavy price to be allowed on a pleasure ship with so many weapons.
It was clear that these males weren’t regular patrons. Fear made her heart beat faster.
Riff was at her side now, tugging her pants to get her attention. When she looked down, he pointed at the three strangers. “These males are Hissa.”
She had never heard of the Hissa before. “Um, that’s nice?”
