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“Your client? Who do you work for?”

He gestured his head at Rexx, who was flat on the ground and not moving. “Restrain them. Take them both to the ship.”

Daisy’s gaze locked onto Rexx as he was dragged away by two Gente. Her hands were yanked behind her back, and she was shackled before being marched away.

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. It all seemed lost. There was no way out of this mess.

***

A croaky groan slid from Rexx’s mouth as consciousness brought him back.

A warm hand touched his forehead, and he froze. Then he inhaled. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know Daisy was right beside him.

“Take it easy. You got messed up pretty bad in the fight. The Gente shot you.”

He eased open his eyes. One of them felt puffy and was blurry. “Where the hell are we?”

Her welcome touch slid down his cheek. “We’re on the Gente ship.”

He eased himself upright until he was sitting. His shoulder throbbed like a mother fucker.

“The Gente haven’t treated any of your injuries,” Daisy said. “I was worried you wouldn’t make it.” Her wide-eyed gaze met his, and she bit her lip.

“No surprise there that they’re not treating us well.” He did a careful test of his shoulder. Although the wound burned, it was healing, but it would be slow going, given the fact he’d given Daisy some of his energy just before the Gente had struck. He didn’t care so long as she survived.

“How you doing? Did they hurt you?” His hand went to the bandage on her arm.

She let out a sigh and dropped her hands into her lap. “Everything we guessed was right. The Gente put this alien tech inside me. They’re meeting with whoever paid them to do this, so they can... test me. I’m not sure what they’ll do to me.”

Rexx bared his teeth. “They’re not getting their hands on you.”

“Of course they won’t. Now you’re awake, all we need to do is figure out how to get out of here. It’ll be easy, now I’ve got my partner back to help me.”

Her small, hopeful smile made his heart ache. “We’ll be out of here in no time.” Rexx looked around the cell they were in. “What happened to the cats? I had to drop the bag because I thought they’d get injured. I saw Asshole after I got hit. He ran off?”

“They got away. I told him to take the kittens.” Her mournful sigh just about cracked his heart in two. “We’ll never see them again. But at least they’re safe. And that planet is full of rodents and things for them to eat.”

“Asshole’s resilient. He’ll teach the kittens how to look after themselves.”

“He’s a fighter, that’s for sure. I remember when you found him. You thought he was dead.”

“He almost was. He was skin and bones and had a dozen gun pellets lodged in him. I touched him to see if there were any signs of life, and he flew at me. He almost took my eyes out with his claws.” Rexx huffed out a laugh. He’d miss that annoying little git. “That damn cat fought like a warrior, even though he was barely breathing.”

“It was love at first bite, huh?”

Rexx raised his hand, looking at the old bite wound Asshole had given him when he’d tried to pick him up. “Yeah, something like that. He’ll be fine out there. He’ll look after your guys. That cat may be a selfish, stubborn beast, but he’s always looked out for the underdog. Or I suppose, the under cat.”

Daisy’s gaze dropped to her hands. “It’s better they aren’t with us. The Gente would probably eat them, or sell them, or do something gross to them.”

“They can’t hurt them now.” He touched her knee. “Have you looked around?”

“Yeah. You’ve been out for a couple of hours, so there wasn’t much to do other than see if there is a way out of this place. The door lock won’t budge, and I’ve got nothing I can use as a tool to get access to the controls. There’s also a guard right outside. I banged on the door a few times, and he warned me that he’d shoot me if I kept yelling.”

“And we’re moving. The Gente are taking us to meet their client?”

“I reckon.”

Rexx leaned his head back against the cold, metal wall and closed his eyes. His body throbbed with pain. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you protected. I promised I’d always do that. It’s my job. I let you down.”