Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (16 page)

Kelly came to the conclusion, she like being with Number one better. At least he didn’t stare at her continuously like this guy did. It gave her creeps so watch this guy watch her as if she were a piece a meet ready to be devoured.

“Why do you keep staring at me,” she had had enough of his looks and wanted to know.

“Because I can,” Number two stated.

“Well, I would like you to stop. It’s distracting.”

Number two looked at her for a second then burst out into laughter. “I got to say you earthlings sure can make me laugh. The last one we had, I was reluctant to sell because he kept us laughing the entire time we had him.”

“You…you had another human? Like me?” This struck her as unusual. When had her kidnappers come across another human and what happened to him?

“Sure. We find one every now and then. Humans are worth a lot of credits. How do you think I was able to afford this place?” He spread his thick arms out as he gestured to the dump they were staying in.

Kelly snorted then said, “Yeah real classy place.”

Number two glared at her but didn’t say another word. The rest of the evening they spent in silence as she stared out the window. She figured out an escape plan if only she could distract the idiot long enough for her to slip out the window.

The window to their room overlooked the main street of the town. She had noticed shortly after sitting down in a chair near the window that the lock on the window wasn’t engaged. All she had to do was push the window up and jump out onto the roof that covered the porch. It would easy enough for her to ease herself over the edge of the roof then drop down onto the street below. It wasn’t as if she’d never jumped a fence or had to climb over something as she pursued a criminal back on Earth. The hardest part was getting away from her two goons.

Hours later, Number one still hadn’t returned. Good thing was, Number two was growing tired, at least that’s what it looked like from where she sat. She had gotten up a couple of times to use the bathroom in order to scope out any other escape routes, but she determined the window was her best chance. Sad thing was, everytime she moved an inch Number two was watching her. Perhaps she should pretend to fall asleep then maybe he might do the same thing.

It was her best chance to convince the man watching her, so she feigned a big yawn and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She got up one last time to check on her clothing which was drip drying in the bathroom. The items were still pretty wet, but she did slip on her bra and panties. She would have to leave the rest behind because if Number two went into the bathroom anytime soon and find her clothing missing, he would know she was up to something.

When she came out of the bathroom, Number two was just about asleep. He was struggling to keep his eyes open as he watched her return to her chair and sit. Her heart hammered in her chest as she waited patiently for him to fall asleep. She drew her feet up under her bottom and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She propped her head up with her hand and closed her eyes. Her eyes blinked nice and slow in an attempt to pretend she was falling asleep. An hour had passed before she heard the low snoring sound coming from the man on the bed. She prayed that Number one didn’t decide to pick that moment to return to the room.

As quickly as she could, she eased out of the chair and over to the window. Glancing over her shoulder, she assured herself her captor was still sleeping soundly. She held her breath then and pulled up on the window that was the only obstacle in her way of escaping. At first, the window wouldn’t budge. Was it permanently sealed shut? Maybe it had been a long time since it was last opened and was just stuck. This time when she pulled up on the frame, she used all of her strength. It popped open with a loud which just about stopped her heart! She cringed as she waited for an attack to come from behind her. But, nothing happened. Another quick glance over her shoulder revealed that Number two was still soundly asleep and hadn’t even moved a muscle.

She took a deep, steadying breath and raised the glass the rest of the way up. Dropping the blanket, she lifted one leg at a time up over the ledge and out onto the roof. She reached back through the open window to retrieve the blanket. She wasn’t about to make a spectacle of herself by running through the town nearly naked.

Just as she was about to ease the window back down, the door to their room swung open and in walk Number one. That was her cue to high tail it across the roof. As she neared the edge, she heard shouting voices coming from the open window as a light was flick on.

“You stupid fucking idiot, she’s escaping!” Number one screamed when he leaned out the window and saw her.

Without any further hesitation, she used her arms to lower her body as far to the ground as she could reach then let herself down. The force of the drop caused her knees to buckle and her rear end to hit the dirt.

“Crap,” she uttered as she scrambled to get to her feet. Clutching the blanket in her hand, she took off running. She needed to find someplace to hide! She darted down a dark street and continued to run as fast as she could. At least being in the police force had helped her to keep in shape. Otherwise, she might not have made it this far.

Off in the distance she could hear shouts as her pursuers raced to find her. She smiled to herself when she thought about how dumb they really were. After she had taken her shower, neither one of her kidnappers had bothered to tie her back up. MISTAKE! They were so sure of themselves that they had overlooked an important detail in making sure she wouldn’t escape. It was like watching of those old TV shows where the criminals do stupid things! No worry to her though, it all worked out to her advantage.

She had weaved her way up and down several streets before she dared to slow down. When she did, all was quiet. No shouting voices or pounding feet could be heard travelling on the cold night air. She sucked in deep gulps of air as she tried to slow her erratic beating heart. She had gotten away! Now all she had to do was find a hiding spot for a few hours to make sure her guys didn’t find her and drag her back to the hotel. There was no telling what they might do to her if they got their hands on her again.

The street she was standing on was so dark, it was hard for her to see where she was going. She used a light at the end of the road as a guide, workinging her way down to it. When she reached it, it was attached to the one place she had wanted to avoid, the market. Dread washed over her when she realized she had run to the one place where she was to be sold in a few hours. But as she stood there thinking, the market would be the one spot her captors probably wouldn’t bother to look for her. Hiding near the market might actually be a good idea!

She crept closer to the building she had been in earlier that day to search for a place to hide. She licked out when she came across a small opening that lead underneath the porch. With one last look around, she dropped to her knees and crawled into the tight opening. She had to wiggle her hips a bit in order to slip through the crack, but she was skinny enough to pull it off.

It was pitch black under the porch, so she had to feel her way around. She prayed she didn’t come across any strange animal or rodent. She stopped when she felt a solid mass with her outstretched hand. For the time being, she would hide in the darkness and wait. Maybe, with some luck, Kharis would find her or Parath send out a mind call to her if she were close enough. At the moment, she was just happy to be away from Number one and two. She pulled the blanket tightly around her, leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes. The pull of sleep was too much to resist so she gave in as a willing participant. It didn’t take long for her to fall into a deep dream filled sleep where Kharis held her in his arms as he slowly made love to her tired body.

Chapter 17

Kharis had spent a sleepless night pacing back and forth on the bridge. No new news had reached him or his brothers, which he had been in constant contact with. Etor had immediately dispatched a fleet of ships to search the closest planets and moons to Qetera. Vulmar had sent a dozen of his own ships to the opposite side of Epsilon where they thought the traders were headed, but nothing had been uncovered yet. Kelly could be anywhere by now and it made him sick.

Parath had been doing her part by consistently calling out to Kelly through their mind link. Unfortunately, everything still remained quiet. The young dragon was growing impatient and was making it known to everyone on the ship. Gods forbid if you got in her way when you saw her coming! Even he was smart enough to avoid the enraged dragon.

“Commander? Your brother is hailing us.”

“Put him on the screen,” he replied.

The black display screen came to life when Etor’s image appeared on it. “Have you found out anything?”

“No, nothing. Not even Parath. Do you think these traders folded space and jumped to another part of the universe?” That would be worse case scenario. If the traders folded space, any and all hopes of finding Kelly would be lost.

“I doubt that. There isn’t any residual residue anywhere in the galaxy indicating a space fold. It takes a lot of energy to fold space.”

Kharis inhaled deeply. That was a good sign. Kelly was still somewhere in Epsilon, but where? He needed to find her. He wasn’t about to let his true mate slip through his fingers this easily after he promised to take care of her. He had to admit Kelly was a stubborn, head-strong female, but she was his mate and he had waited a long time to find her.

“We’ll keep searching. Don’t give up, Kharis. She’s out there somewhere.” Etor commented when Kharis didn’t respond to his previous statement.

Kharis looked up at his older brother and nodded. He felt hopeless but knew he wasn’t about to give up his hope of finding Kelly yet. It was too soon to do that. He would search every inch of the blasted universe if he had to! Kelly was his heart and soul and he would never stop searching for her.

“Kharis?” Etor called out to him.

“What?” he replied to sharply.

“Do not fear, brother. We will find her.” The sincerity in Etor’s voice tore at Kharis’ heart.

“I hope so, brother. I pray to the gods that we do.”

Each brother nodded at the other then the screen went blank once again. Kharis let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding the entire time he was speaking with his brother. Etor and Vulmar were doing their best to find his mate, but he felt as if it wasn’t good enough. He needed to be the one to find and rescue Kelly. He needed to be the one bring her safely home and back into his arms.

“I’ll be in my quarters,” he announced to the bridge.

He left the bridge in a rush. He needed to be alone and anyway from prying eyes. For being a Qeteran leader and warrior, he was near to tears. Only the anger he felt inside kept the tears from spilling. The anger raged inside him, filling him with nothing else. Even the fear he had felt earlier was now replaced with the dominant emotion he was struggling to contain.

Alone in his quarters, he stretched out on the sofa that took up a massive amount of space. He blocked the offending light out with his arm thrown haphazardly across his face. He could think of nothing but Kelly. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she hurt? Was she hungry? Anything and everything crossed his mind. Had her kidnappers raped her? Sold her? Any sane trader would want to get rid of their prize very quickly in order to avoid ties that could be traced back to them.

He must have dozed off when suddenly he felt a heavy pressure on his chest. He cracked open an eye to find Parath sitting on him in her miniature state. The expression on the dragon’s face alerted him to the fact that she was holding something back.

“What is it, Parath?” It was hard to say the words since the crazy dragon was sitting directly on his chest.

             
Have you discovered anything yet?
Parath asked.

Get off of him,
Parath, Serelath growled from nearby.

Parath turned her head in the older dragon’s direction,
Shut up, you big ninny.

Serelath let loose a low, deep growl that caused Parath to let out a puff of smoke. Kharis choked on the smoke as it invaded his nostrils. He used his hand to gently nudge the angry dragon of his chest so that he could sit up.

“I haven’t heard anything yet. Not even Etor or Vulmar have discovered anything.” He rested his head in his hands. A whopper of a headache had developed during his short nap.

Parath shot up into the air a few inches from the top of his head. She did a full circle in the air then zipped back into his face.
Well then, I guess you will be happy to know that I got a response from Kelly’s mind link with me!

Kharis launched his large frame up off the sofa nearly hitting Parath. “Why didn’t you say something,” he yelled at the hovering figure.

I wanted to find out if you knew anything first. I told you, didn’t I?
Parath soared through his quarters in such a happy mood, it was hard for either Kharis or Serelath to not join in.

“Do you know where she is? What did she say? Tell me,” he demanded.

Her voice was very faint, so she is still a great distance away. She said something about a moon, but I wasn’t quite able to understand everything she said.
Parath finally landed on the arm of the sofa.

“Is she hurt?” His heart raced at the thought of his love being injured in some way. As soon as he found her, he was taking her back to Qetera. Once back home, he would make sure she never left the surface again. It was too much of a risk, as far as he was concerned, to let her roam around the universe with or without him. She would be angry with him, but she would eventually come to accept his demands. He was not about to chance losing her again.

That I am unsure of. She is too far away for me to clearly hear her.

“Ok, but at least you’ve made contact with her. Keep talking to her. Let me know if the link gets stronger or weaker as we stay on this course. I want to know when there is the slightest change.”

Sure thing!             
Parath said as she pushed off the sofa handle to zip around the room again.

Kharis, in turn, raced out of his quarters and to the bridge. As soon as he reached the bridge, he rushed out of the elevator and to the crew member sitting at the comlink desk. “Get my brothers on the vid-screen.”

“Yes, sir Commander!”

AS he waited for his brothers’ images to appear on the screen, he bounced up and down on his heels. A new wave of hope was coursing through him as he felt the adrenaline running through his veins. Moments after giving his order, Etor’s face appeared on the screen followed by Vulmar, who looked as if he had been sleeping.

“Have you found Kelly?” Etor asked. Vulmar sat quietly in his chair wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

“No not yet, but Parath has made contact with her!”

That immediately got Vulmar’s attention. “What did she say? Is she okay?”

Kharis stood facing his brothers with a renewed strength. He was wide awake and eager to search everything habitable planet or moon in the vicinity. “The link was poor and Parath wasn’t able to make a full assessment.”

“But, she did hear Kelly, correct?” Etor asked again.

“Yes, so she isn’t that far away. Parath is going to keep talking to her and hopefully find out Kelly’s exact location. At least now we know she isn’t on the other side of the damn universe.”

Etor smiled at his younger brother. “This is an excellent start. I will have my ships start back in your direction. Keep me informed of Parath’s progressed. What about Serelath? Has he been able to make contact with Kelly?”

“Not that I know of. He should be able to hear her once we get close enough to her, but for now, Parath’s link is the main one we are going one. I’m not exactly sure how the double link works since it’s been a very long time since a female made a link with a dragon. The link between Parath and Kelly will be the stronger of the two links.”

“I have got to say, Kelly having a dragon still amazes me!” Vulmar commented.

“Have you told Hunter and Lexie about Kelly?” Kharis asked.

“No, I don’t want to upset them anymore than they already are. Hunter is already pissed and won’t come near me. Lexie, she’s an entirely different story. Stays in her room and won’t talk to anyone besides Hunter. Having two females in my house has become very stressing.”

“How do think I felt when I had all four? Human females are a demanding lot, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If we hadn’t run across their ship, my Maggie wouldn’t be with me or having my child. I thank the gods every time I look at her,” Etor said.

“I feel the same way, especially now that Kelly and I are mated. The gods blessed us with the care of these human females and I plan on doing everything I can to bring her home again.”

“We all will, brother. Kelly is our sister and our search for her will never end until we find her,” Vulmar said.

Kharis nodded at his brothers. He could tell by the look in Etor’s eyes how much his eldest brother love his mate. At the same time, he could see the hurt in Vulmar’s face when he spoke about the trouble he was having with Hunter. He felt the same way not that long ago concerning Kelly. It took some convincing, but Kelly finally came around and stopped denying the feelings she had for him. Now, he was searching for her and unsure if he would ever lay his eyes on his mate again. He found her once, he would find her again.

*******

Kelly thought the voice she was hearing was coming from a dream. A dream where she was safely on board Kharis’ ship and flying through the darkness of space. She could ever smell Kharis as he held her in his arms and kissed her gently on the lips. But, the insistent voice kept calling out to her, so much so that her eyes popped open. It took her several long seconds to remember where she was and why. She had been kidnapped and was hiding underneath the building where she had been scheduled to be sold that morning. She listened intently for the familiar voice again, but everything was silent, at least in her head it was. Outside her hiding spot, the noise of the crowd drifted to her through the small cracks in the wood that held up the porch.

“Twenty-five credits for this fine specimen,” a squeaky male voice announced. Another reply further off accepted the offer then was countermanded by yet another bid. This continued back and forth until the gavel was slammed on an unseen surface and the winning bid of forty credits announced.

Kelly shivered in revulsion at the thought of her being sold as if she were part of a herd of cattle. He kidnappers had to long gone by now, probably didn’t want to take the chance of her reporting their activities to the local authorities. Which, actually, wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe the local police, or whatever they might be called, would be willing to help her get in contact with Kharis. Then she would be home free.

Kelly? Are you there?

The sound of Parath’s voice in her head caused her to jump.
Parath?

Kelly had to strain her mind in order to hear her dragon’s voice again. It sounded so far away.