Page 20 of Wrapped in Their Arms

He’d find it, he swore to himself.

Even if he had to sell his soul to do it.

11

NOELLE

Noelle felt sick and the cold seemed to fill her.

Not just the kind of cold that made goosebumps rise on her arms and her teeth chatter uncontrollably—but a deep, internal chill that settled into her chest and refused to leave.Likesomeone had scooped out her insides and filled the hollow space with ice.

She rubbed her arms, but it didn’t help.

Dios, it’s freezing!

The alien metal beneath her feet was slick and unforgiving, like it had been forged in some arctic hell and never quite warmed up since.Thewalls were the same—dull gray metal, streaked with grime and rust—patchy with places that looked disturbingly like dried blood.

The corridor echoed with sounds she couldn’t block out—low moans…ragged sobs…the occasional gut-wrenching scream that made her heart leap into her throat.Somewherein the distance, someone was crying out in a language she didn’t recognize—pleading, over and over.

The lights overhead flickered every so often, casting long shadows that danced across the metal walls and floors like ghosts.

God…what is this place?Whatkind of ship is this?

Noelle knew the answer—she just didn’t want to say it out loud.

They were trapped in a slave ship…a prison ship.Andthey were stuck in this cell.Itreminded her of an animal cage, but at least animal cages had bedding…food bowls…water.

This place had nothing.

The barren cell was barely large enough for the three of them to stand side by side, and there was no furniture at all—just more bare, freezing metal.Thewalls sweated with condensation and smelled like mold and fear.

Noelle huddled close toBrightandBurn, needing their massive heat just to keep her fingers from going numb.Shecould feelBright’swarmth at her side, steady and strong, andBurn’sbig frame behind her like a wall of protection.Buteven their presence couldn’t stop the shaking.

This can’t be real.Thisisn’t happening.I’mnot on an alien prison ship.I’mnot about to be sold at some… someFleshBazaar.That’snot even a thing that should exist!

She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and closed her eyes.

But the darkness only made the noises louder.

Screams…moans…and under them, a low buzz of something metallic pumping endlessly.

Tears pricked at her eyes.

Please,BlessedVirgin,Ijust want to go home…

She didn’t know how long they stood there, huddled together with the noise ofBrightandBurn’smanacles sizzling and crackling faintly.Itmight have been minutes…or it might have been hours.Timedidn’t work right in a place like this.

Then she heard footsteps…soft, squelching footsteps and the high-pitched hum of the locking mechanism releasing.

The door opened with a creak, and in stepped the strangest little manNoellehad ever seen.

He was short—he barely came up toBurn’sribs—and round in a way that made him look like a living balloon.Hisskin was bright orange, almost tangerine, and his eyes were neon green, like a glow stick cracked open.Butthe most shocking part was the massive puff of white hair that sprang from the top of his head, twisted into a high, absurd swirl that remindedNoelleinstantly of cotton candy.

What in the hell?she wondered, staring at the little man.

“Well, well, now what have we here?”the orange dwarf said, clasping his tiny hands together and giving the three of them an appraising look.

They all stared at him in silence as he began to circle them slowly, like a jeweler inspecting flawed diamonds.