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Is this a rescue or something else?

I sat in my cell, hugging my legs, and pushed my face into my knees while trying to get lost in my thoughts, but it didn’t work.

The chill seeped into my bones and froze me in place, and the lumpy cot only had one scratchy blanket to keep me warm.

The cold clung to the rough metal walls, not releasing its hold even when the sun was high and shining through the yellow smog of Xome.

Two years had passed since I’d been abducted by aliens.

One night I’d gone to sleep, then woken up in a cramped cargo bay packed with humans.

There had been no water, no food, and no escape.

I’d spent that short journey pretending everything was a dream, which of course collapsed around me the second the ship landed and people rammed into me, sending me to the floor.

Teddy had picked me up, and I’d clung to him for dear life.

In the end, we’d been bought together to clean up after a fighting ring and dispose of the corpses in the incinerator.

It had been a rough life, but Teddy had been there.

Quiet. Steady. Sure. Offering a hand or a hug when I needed it.

That had changed a few weeks ago. He’d vanished one day without a single explanation.

Someone had probably stolen him, or Agk, our owner, had killed or sold him and hadn’t bothered to tell me.

Why would he? I was nothing but his property.

A single night later, I was sold.

Holding my knees even tighter, I shivered, exhausted, but I was terrified to close my eyes.

Not that it would change what I saw. Everything was pitch black.

There wasn’t even a stream of light peeking through the cracks in the door.

Tryk, my new owner, left me in darkness and only allowed me to see the light when he came for me.

Still, the moment I went to sleep… I shook my head. I had to remain aware.

The metal door creaked open, and I jolted, sweat sliding down my spine.

My pulse ratcheted up as the light slowly spread across the dirty floor to my single cot against the far wall.

As it brushed me, I pressed against the frigid wall, as if that would somehow stop what was about to happen. But it wouldn’t. Nothing would.

Someone had bought my time. That was the only reason my door ever opened. If I performed well, I would be fed. If I fought, I would be punished.

With a deep breath, I lifted my head. I fisted the thin material of my jumpsuit to still the trembling. I would go somewhere else in my mind; I would be with someone else. Seth. My childhood best friend. My first love. My everything.

His deep brown eyes. His soft brown hair. His round face that was usually tinged with red. I missed him.

Regret was hard and cold in my stomach. I hadn’t seen him for years, even before being abducted.

My new owner, Tryk, stood in the doorway, light illuminating his thin figure. “Get up.”

I didn’t fight, slipping into the fuzzy place in my brain that no one but I could touch.

I’d put up a meager fight in the beginning, but I’d quickly learned it was pointless.

Any damage I did was repaid tenfold. Inside, I wanted to rip Tryk apart.

If I ever got the chance, I would kill him.

I would slit his throat and grin at his dying face before pissing on his grave.

That, after Seth holding me, was my favorite daydream.

“I sold you,” Tryk growled, his skeletal fingers digging into my arm.

For being rather small, xoi were surprisingly strong.

Their pencil bodies and watermelon heads topped with conical horns certainly didn’t suggest it.

Of course, Tryk and Agk both frequently employed batons that crackled with green electricity coming out of one end.

That was without even talking about the towering garganlic aliens they both hired to guard them and their assets.

My stomach dropped when his words finally pierced the dark cloud in my head. To whom? Where was I going now? What was I going to be expected to do? My shoulders sagged, and my thoughts retreated behind the fog. This was my life. Being sold to whoever wanted me.

We stepped into another room with customers meandering around and other…

workers moving through the space with blank expressions.

Tryk threw me forward. My forearm burned from his tight grasp, and I staggered forward, crashing into a solid frame.

Gentle hands caught me and directed me away from the warm heat that radiated from the wall in front of me. I looked up and up and up .

Man, this alien was huge. He wasn’t only tall, he was broad as well.

His pure black scales glimmered in the artificial lights, and red and gold glimpses of skin peeked behind the thick scales.

His wavy purple hair framed his broad shoulders, falling down his back, while his deep green eyes, with slit pupils, took up a good portion of his face, giving me almost doll-like vibes.

His chin was strong, though, and his nose was long as well as perfectly straight.

He was a drakcol. I’d seen a few on the screens around the city but never in person. This was who had bought me. Why? I’d never seen him before. Maybe he wanted me because of that drakcol prince who’d married a human, and now he had to have one.

Keep up with the current trends and whatnot.

Fucker , I thought. I would kill this one if given the chance, just like Agk and Tryk.

The large hand that held my bicep tightened slightly.

I shivered at the touch, bile rolling in my stomach. Seth. His perfect face appeared in my thoughts. His blushing cheeks. His soft voice. His kind heart. Why couldn’t I have had him?

The drakcol’s forehead crinkled as his head tilted. “Vince?”

How did he know my name? I didn’t even think Tryk knew it. I was his property; he didn’t need to know, let alone care, what I was called.

“I’m Captain Dontilvynsan. I am here for you.”

Well, that was ominous.

“Do you have everything you need?”

What? Did he think that I had luggage? Like this was a resort and he was my chauffeur?

His lips quirked up at the corner. “I will take that as a yes.”

The drakcol gestured to the door. Tryk watched us with a sneer before turning back to his waiting client, dismissing my existence.

The sunlight, while meager, blinded me. The yellow smog was thick, softening the rough metal buildings that crowded the street, which was lined with trash, puddles of piss, and aliens of all kinds.

People called out their services from windows, doors, and from where they roamed the streets.

Many of these “services” weren’t what I would call reputable; they were everything from pleasure houses to stolen goods to taxi services.

Shuttles zoomed overhead, making me flinch and crane my neck to watch them rush by.

Foul odors of sewage, sweat, and an acrid chemical scent punched me in the face with every inhale.

But all I could truly focus on was the drakcol beside me, who breathed in an even rhythm while heat emanated from him and sank into my very bones.

As we took our first steps away from the pleasure house, I glanced around.

Maybe I could make a run for it. Life on the street had to be better than whatever this alien wanted with me.

Didn’t it? Or would another Tryk snatch me up?

Could I even get away? Probably not. I did have a tracker in my arm.

The drakcol’s long fingers curled around my bicep, easily meeting. “Please do not run. I will not hurt you, but I assure you, I will chase you.”

I recoiled from his burning touch. I hated the feel of his smooth scales on my skin; I hated the feel of any skin on my skin.

A scoff built in my throat at his words. Not hurt me? Unlikely. That’s all aliens did to me.

He released me. “A human named Bartholomew asked me to retrieve you.”

I staggered. “Teddy?”

“I believe that’s his endearment.”

“You have Teddy?” I asked, my voice dropping. “What the fuck are you doing to him? Where is he? If you hurt him, I will kill you. I swear it.”

“He’s safe.”

“Where. Is. He?” I demanded. I probably shouldn’t shout. This muscular alien could beat me to a pulp and not break a sweat, but this was about Teddy. He’d been my sole comfort, my sole companion. I would protect him no matter the cost.

“You are protective. Interesting.” The alien led me through the crowd with ease, not touching me as he gestured where he wished me to go. “Bartholomew is safe on my ship. I will take you to him.”

My hands fisted, shaking. I wanted to fight, because this was clearly a lie, but I wouldn’t make it far. He owned me. There was no escape. There was never any escape.

When we reached the bustling port, the drakcol gestured to a sleek shuttle that stood out like a sore thumb.

All of the other ships were boxy heaps of junk that appeared unable to fly, or at least not safely, but his shuttle was elegant with a pointed nose and perfectly painted markings on the sleek silver metal that I couldn’t read.

At least he had money. I would probably be able to eat most nights—as long as he wasn’t an ass who enjoyed starving people.

That was always a possibility. Fun times.

The alien glanced at me, forehead crinkled, and I couldn’t say why. I hadn’t spoken.

Stepping into the back of the shuttle, he led me into a room lined with stools on the sides and nothing else. Well, nothing besides four other human men that sat in there, huddling together near the back wall.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I’m here for you. All of you,” he said in an even voice. “I cannot retrieve all of the humans who have been stolen from Earth, but I can save all of you who remain on this planet.”