Page 17

I’m not compliant for very long, though. In fact, the moment the pressure of his hand lightens up, I make a break for it – darting to the right, towards the marketplace where I know I can lose myself in the crowd.

I barely get a step before Daccia reacts – his movements inhumanely fast. The towering Aurelian grabs me, and this time it’s his shoulder I’m thrown over.

“You’re going to regret that,” Daccia warns, and I know exactly what happens when you disobey an Aurelian. Sometimes, I can still remember the sting on my bottom from my time spent in that harem.

People are pointing and looking at us as the three Aurelians carry me down the street - but nobody makes a move to intercept them. I’m sure many people feel sympathy for me – a half-naked woman tossed across an Aurelian’s massive shoulder – but everyone knows that getting between an Aurelian and his woman is akin to suicide.

As I’m bounced and bustled across Daccia’s shoulder, I struggle to look back – half-expecting to see Spur’s men in hot pursuit of his stolen employee...

…but there’s no one there. Nobody’s coming to take me back.

Spur’s leaving me to the Aurelians.

Or so I think. Suddenly, three mendorush around the corner – cutting us off ahead.

I’m not sure whether to be glad or terrified. The three men are wearing suits, and I recognize them as part of Spur’s security team. They’re carrying pistols and they pause as soon as they round the corner, trying to spot the three aliens who’ve kidnapped me.

From my high vantage point, across Daccia’s shoulder, I can see the three humans clearly. They, too, must be able to see the huge Aurelian warriors wading through the crowd. Daccia, Kitos and Hadrian stand towering above regular humans…

But as soon as Spur’s men do see us, they stagger back.

Shit! They’re too cowardly to chase after these aliens! Even with guns, they’re terrified of the Aurelians.

My heart sinks. Spur isnotthe sort of person I’d want to be indebted to – but now, even the scant salvation his men offered is gone. Nobody’s standing in the way of these three Aurelians. The crowd parts ahead of us, as everybody moves to avoid these three, huge aliens and their struggling prisoner.

Wait! Maybe all hope isn’t lost…

Spur’s three men might have been too cowardly to confront the Aurelians – but they’ve moved to higher ground. My eyes widen as the security team aims their pistols and peer down the sights – lining up their targets.

Shit – from this range, those ‘targets’ includeme!

My scream is the only warning the Aurelians get before gunshots suddenly crack out.

Bullets whizz through the air, shearing through market stalls and onlookers alike.

Apparently, Spur’s security guards don’t care who they hit as long as they can try to stop these Aurelians. They’d rather risk killing innocent bystanders than get close enough to these Aurelians to risk their own lives.

The brutish Aurelian behind us, Hadrian, suddenly grunts in pain. For a moment, he stumbles… and then regains his fast pace.

In fact, the three aliens start sprinting faster – bulldozing their way through the crowd. Daccia bowls over a carpet salesman and his stall, sending the merchant’s wares flying all over the street as thecrack-crack-crackof gunshots continue.

The aliens take a sharp right, and we’re suddenly lumbering down another alleyway – temporarily safe from the gunfire. I struggle to look behind us, half-expecting to face down the barrel of a gun – but Spur’s security team don’t seem to be following us anymore.

I breathe a sigh of relief. For a moment, I’d hoped Spur’s men would rescue me – but the moment they’d started shooting indiscriminately, I’d realized that I’d be safer without them. Spur hadn’t ordered his men to rescue me – just to stop the Aurelians. He was more worried about punishing the aliens for stealing his property than trying to recover it.

While we’re not being shot at anymore, we’re far from safe. Hadrian, the most brutish of the Aurelians – the one who’d looked at me with a hunger I’d worried he wouldn’t be able to control – stumbles and falls.

Daccia and Kitos slew to a halt. Daccia roughly throws me onto my feet, giving me a warning glance since I’m no longer secure across his shoulder.

I stand there as the leader of the triad rushes to his battle brother’s side. Two red dots are clear on Hadrian’s back, puncturing his jacket. Blood streams out the bullet holes. From the placement and the harsh rasping of the Aurelian, I suspect that one or both of the bullets punctured the Aurelian’s lung.

I should be ecstatic. A wounded Aurelian makes my escape a lot more likely. However, instead, I’m filled with terror.

An irrational flood of emotion overwhelms me. These Aurelians might have just kidnapped me – and they might be trying to steal me away to serve the cold ‘justice’ of their Empire…

…but I realize I don’t want this magnificent alien to die. Not like this – shot in the back by a coward’s bullets, in a dark alleyway.

I wrap my arms around my chest and shiver – too numb to even think about escaping. Daccia, the leader of the Aurelians, looks up at me as he kneels by his battle-brother’s side.