DangerouslyForever (15 page)

Safely hidden behind a boulder, Ally kept her eyes on the
transport depot, watching as various species went in and came out. Yoshi and
Max smacked loudly on the meat she’d stolen from Kiehle.

“How long do we have to stay here?” Max asked between bites.

“One more day,” she said without turning. “The transport
doesn’t leave until tomorrow.”

“We have to spend another night outside?” Yoshi asked, her
voice cracking.

Ally pulled her gaze away from the transport depot and turned,
sitting on her butt. The first night she’d been scared that someone from the
depot would find their hiding spot and come bother them, but so far no one
seemed to notice three escaped human slaves hiding out in a cluster of boulders
three hundred feet from the building.

“Don’t worry. It’s only for one more night. I’ll watch over
us.”

Who needs sleep?
She’d been running on fumes,
sporadically catching up on sleep since leaving Kiehle’s house, but if she
needed to stay up all night, no problem. She’d gotten a good nap in earlier and
she’d stayed up longer before. There was nothing like the threat of gang rape
to make one realize sleep was way overrated.

She reached into one of the bags and pulled out a long slab
of dried meat. She broke an inch from the tip and returned the larger piece.
They had plenty of food to last a couple more days. And when they ran out, she
would steal again. Thievery seemed to be her new career.

Max motioned with his head in the direction of the depot.
“Are you sure those aliens aren’t going to come over this way?”

She chewed her meat, savoring the taste. Her mouth watered
with each small bite. It was real meat, not the processed kind. “Nobody’s given
this area a second glance, so I’m guessing tonight won’t be any different.”

“And we can’t go back inside until tomorrow?” Yoshi asked.

Ally shook her head. “Uh-uh, not until it’s time to board
our transport.”

She’d asked Yaradiel to take her and the kids to the
transport depot farthest away from Kiehle’s house. When he’d dropped them off,
the first thing she’d done was find out when a transport to Lepsesthe was
leaving. On the way to the depot, Yaradiel had told her what she needed to know
about the transport system that most everyone used to get from planet to planet
and galaxy to galaxy. Leaving this galaxy and getting as far away from Alharad
and Kiehle was her first choice, but because she didn’t have the credits for
that kind of journey, she settled on going to another sector.

In the public area of the depot, where tickets were bought
and sold, was a large holographic map of different destinations. She didn’t
know much about Lepsesthe, but what she did know was good enough for her. They
didn’t practice slavery, there were no brothels, the planet was open to
visitors and on the map, it looked to be clear across the galaxy.

Fortunately for her, the attendant had been willing to
exchange two of the gold wristbands she’d stolen from Kiehle for three one-way
tickets. But the next transport wasn’t due to depart for three days.

They’d stayed in the waiting area for only a couple of hours
before Ally had felt as if all eyes were on them, watching and stalking their
every move. She wasn’t stupid. Just because Saurene didn’t practice slavery
didn’t mean there weren’t any entrepreneurial aliens lurking about. She was a
female traveling alone with two children—and she was human. She’d been stuck in
brothels long enough to know that humans were prime slave stock.

If she were by herself, she would’ve stood her ground and
made an example out of anyone who wanted to test her independence. But she had
Max and Yoshi to think about. So, as quietly and unassumingly as possible,
she’d snuck them out.

No, they wouldn’t be going back until it was time to leave.

“Can you tell us about Lepsesthe?” Yoshi asked. “Will we
have a house like Kiehle’s? Are there puppies there?” She frowned, as if
remembering a thought. “I want a puppy.”

Ally wrapped her arm around Yoshi, bringing her closer.
“We’ll find a better house,” she promised. “I don’t know about puppies though.
Dogs may be an Earth animal.”

“What’s a puppy?” Max asked.

“A puppy is a baby dog. A lot of people on Earth kept them
as pets,” Ally explained. “Now those were
real
pets—not humans.”

“I had one. Her name was…” Yoshi pulled her features
together so tight that Ally could see how hard she was trying to remember. Then
she opened her eyes wide and snapped her fingers. “Piper. My dog’s name was
Piper. She was a little fat Beagle.”

“What did she look like?” Max asked.

Yoshi held her hands a foot apart. “She was about this big.”
She ran her hands across her arms and legs. “And she had short hair all over
her body. She barked like this,” Yoshi began barking, high and fast, “and she
used to lick me on my face.” With that, she closed her eyes and ran her fingers
over her face.

Ally looked down at her and smiled. “It sounds like you had
a very special dog.”

Yoshi nodded. “Oh she was.” She made circles with her
fingers and put them up to her eyes. “Her eyes were this big and when someone
hurt me, she would shoot lasers from them.” She squinted and pointed,
pretending to shoot. “Pechewn! Pechewn! Pechewn!”

Max pulled in a deep breath and opened his mouth wide. “Oh
Ally. I want a puppy too, please!”

She held in a giggle, not having the heart to correct Yoshi
about what dogs could and couldn’t do. If Yoshi wanted to believe that Piper
was a superdog with special abilities then dammit, she could. “If we find a
dog, we’ll get it. Piper may have been one of a kind though, so any that we
find probably won’t have laser eyes.”

“I’ll help us look for a dog.” Max scooted closer and Ally
lifted her other arm so he could snuggle up against her. “Will there be a lake
nearby like Kiehle’s?” he asked.

Ally adjusted Max and Yoshi within her arms. The sun was
going down. They’d need to maintain their heat for as long as possible. “We can
definitely make that one of the requirements for finding a home.”

“I never had a house before,” Max said.

“I did,” Yoshi added. “But I don’t know if some of the
memories I have are really from my house or just memories I made up in my
head.”

Ally looked at her. “Of course they’re your memories.”

“When I told Diane about them, she said I was probably
making them up.”

Ally humphed, remembering one of the slaves in Alharad’s
brothel who she never cared for. “Diane was a bitch.”

“But she was my friend,” Yoshi said.

Max giggled. “But she was still a bitch.”

“Hey! No cursing. Children don’t use that kind of language.”
Children also aren’t supposed to be slaves or on the run…

“I’m not a child anymore. Kiehle said I’m a warrior in
training and since I’m the oldest male now, I’m responsible for you and Yoshi.”

Yoshi snorted. “If you’re so big and bad, tell me, can you
stop me from doing this?” Without missing a beat, she lunged at Max, ripped him
out of Ally’s arm and pinned him to the ground. “Gotcha!”

Max struggled underneath her, grunting and trying to break
out of her hold. “That’s only because Kiehle didn’t get to teach me how to
fight yet.”

“Yoshi. Off.”

Yoshi smiled and rolled off triumphantly. “Remember that I can
do that anytime I want,” she mumbled to him.

Max sat up and wiped the grass from his clothes. “I wish we
were still with Kiehle. He could’ve taught me how to be a real warrior.”

“We’re better off on our own,” Ally said.

“But he was nice to us. I felt…”

“Safe,” Yoshi said, finishing his sentence.

Safe.

Yeah, there were moments when she’d felt that way too—when
she wasn’t thinking about what he was really planning to do with them. “It’ll
be fine with just the three of us. You’ll see. Lepsesthe, here we come,” she
said, trying her best to sound upbeat.

“And then what?” Max asked. “Will we have to sleep outside
there too? I don’t like sleeping outside. It’s all creepy. The ground is cold
and hard.”

Truth was, she didn’t like sleeping outside any more than he
did.

“And we had a real bed at Kiehle’s. Remember how soft our
bed was, Yoshi?”

Yoshi’s eyes gleamed. “It felt like I was sleeping on a
cloud,” she said dreamily.

“Well, I wouldn’t go
that
far,” Ally muttered.

Max and Yoshi didn’t pay her any mind as they rattled on
about all the wonders of Kiehle’s house. Right down to the food he’d served
them and, of course, the toys that couldn’t fit in the bag and had to be left
behind.

“Hey, don’t knock our new adventure before we even finish
it,” she said, finally interrupting them, not wanting to hear any more praise
about Kiehle in all of his lying gloriousness. She held up the bag and shook
it, causing the contents inside to make a clinking noise. “I have some pretty
fancy stuff in here. Did you see how fast that attendant gave us those tickets
when I gave him the bands? When we get to Lepsesthe, I’m pretty sure what we
have in here will get us a house, and hopefully furnish it too. Any way we
like. We can buy new beds, new clothes, and we won’t have anyone breathing down
our necks and lying to us either.”

Max and Yoshi exchanged looks. “He wasn’t breathing down our
necks. He’s way too tall. He would have to bend down,” Yoshi said.

“What did Kiehle lie to us about?” Max asked.

“Everything. He lied about everything.” Ally set the bag
down, feeling flustered. There was no point in arguing with children. One day
they’d forget about Kiehle and so would she. “Nothing worth repeating.”

“It’s not nice to lie,” Yoshi said. “My mother taught me
that.”

“But are you sure he was lying? Maybe you didn’t understand
what he was talking about,” Max added.

“I’m not stupid,” she said, her voice shaking. Before she
knew it, her lips quivered and her eyes swelled with tears.

Max wrapped his thin little arms around her neck and Yoshi
wrapped hers around her waist. “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to make you upset,”
he said as he ran a comforting hand down her hair.

She sniffled and wiped at the tears. “Guys, I’m trying to do
the best I can. I’m just a little overwhelmed. That’s all. It’s nothing you
said.”

“It’ll be better when we get to Lepsesthe,” Yoshi said.
“Just you wait.”

* * * * *

Ally was on full alert. She needed to keep an eye on her
surroundings as well as Yoshi and Max. They played without a care in the world
on the floor in front of her. The depot bustled with activity. She could deal
with the activity. She could even deal with myriad different alien life forms
streaming past them, mingling.

But what she could
not
deal with was the looks Yoshi
and Max kept giving her over the dolls they were playing with. They each held
one, the dolls facing each other, and from what she could tell, were having a
heated discussion.

“You ask her,” Yoshi said in a singsong voice.

“I don’t want to. Why can’t you? You’re the oldest,” Max
replied in his own animated voice.

Ally rolled her eyes but otherwise pretended she didn’t hear
them or what they were discussing. She knew all too well what they were talking
about, but since her breakdown last night, they didn’t want to bring up
Kiehle’s name again.

Ally had figured out a while ago that they wanted to ask her
if Kiehle could come visit them when they reached their new home.

Yoshi answered Max. “I don’t want to make her upset.”

“Maybe we had to leave him before she killed him with her
blaster. I wouldn’t want to see him dead.”

And now they were making her out to be some kind of ruthless
killer. She’d had enough.

“Do you want to be free or do you want to see Kiehle again?”

They exchanged glances.

“Argh.” She dropped her head to her hands. “Listen, he was able
to get into my head and steal my memories. We couldn’t stay with him anymore.
It wasn’t safe.”

“He stole your memories? How did he do that?” Yoshi asked.

“I don’t know how. He just did.” Her head throbbed more and
more with each passing second.

“Are you sure?” Max asked.

“He knew about my best friend. There was no way he could’ve
known about her unless he tapped into my mind.”

“But maybe he didn’t tap into your mind. Maybe he really
does know your friend.”

Ally shook her head. The idea of him knowing Eva was one she
couldn’t entertain. “Not possible. He was talking way too crazy for any of it
to be real. My best friend is not a queen on some distant planet, living
happily ever after and making alien babies, making some kind of magical alien
entity scour the galaxy looking for me.” She snorted. “That line would have
worked on me a couple of years ago, but now? I’m not a sucker,” she said, her
voice breaking on the last word.

Max looked up at her with big brown eyes. “You said our
parents would never stop looking for us. Couldn’t that be true for friends
too?”

She tilted her head. Her insides turned to goo. “I guess so.
But I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case here. If I’d thought he was telling the
truth, I would’ve stayed. But he proved to be more dangerous than anyone I’ve
come into contact with.”

Max opened his eyes wide.

“Because he found a way to get to your memories?” Yoshi
asked.

“Yes.”
And because I was starting to like him.

She felt a small hand on her knee. Max sniffled. “We’re
sorry, Ally.”

She pulled him to her and motioned for Yoshi. With both of
them in her arms, she squeezed and kissed their foreheads.

“Listen, I’m trying to do what’s best for
us
. And
what’s best for us is going somewhere we’ll be able to blend in. Have a normal
life and not think about Kiehle again.”