Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (17 page)

Yes! It’s me, Parath! Where are you?

I can’t hear you too good. I think I am on a moon,
she replied. She didn’t speak out loud for fear of being overheard.

At least I can hear you now. Are you alright?

The concern in the dragon’s voice barley registered in her mind since she was concentrating on hearing the voice.
I’m fine, a little cold, but otherwise fine. I’m hiding right now under a porch. They were going to sell me, but I managed to escape.

I will inform Kharis. We are coming for you, I promise.

Please hurry,
she said.

We will. I will return to you as soon as I speak with Kharis.

Her mind went silent at that point. The strange feeling of having two people inside her head was a sensation she had not yet gotten used to. She was thankful, though, Parath had succeeded in contacting her. It felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of her. All she had to do now was remain hidden until Kharis arrived to take her away from this nightmare.

The rest of the day passed in complete boredom. She listened for several hours to the auction going on above her head then dozed on and off until the sound of her empty stomach woke her. Absentmindedly, she rubbed her flat stomach. It was then she realized how hungry and thirsty she was. It was dark in her hideout again, so she figured it was nearing twenty-four hours since she last had anything to eat or drink. She had to give her captors some credit, they saw that she was feed and watered the same as they were.

There was no telling how long it was going to take Kharis to find her exact location. She feared she would have to scavenge for food in the meantime if she didn’t want to suffer from starvation or dehydration.

“I’ll wait until later to go look for food,” she spoke quietly to herself. In the meantime, she settled her weary body on the dirt floor and closed her eyes. The sounds from the street slowly faded as the evening progressed. Every so often, someone walked onto the porch then back off again a few minutes later. It wasn’t until much later she heard someone leave the building above her head and lock the door.

It amazed how much this place resembled the Old West in America. Hardly anything here on this “moon” was sci-fi orientated other than the strange creatures she had seen the day she had arrived. The buildings that lined the street were constructed much in the same manner as the towns in the Old West had been. Everything, as far as she could tell, were completely built out of wood. Maybe, the first settlers of this moon were trying to mimic her thoughts about the place.

Kelly? Can you hear me? 

Parath! Why did it take so long to come back?
She snapped back instantly.

I apologize for taking so long. Kharis was conferring with his brothers and I had to wait for him to return to his quarters.

Kelly smiled then asked,
how is he?

He was happy that I made contact with you but is still very upset. He doesn’t sleep too much. He’s thoughts are consumed with you.

Kelly was stunned. She knew Kharis cared for her, but not this deeply. How could he think so much of her in such a short amount of time?
It’s because he loves you, you silly fool,
her mind screamed at her.

“I love him too,” she admitted out loud. Now she understood what Kharis had been talking about. He had spoken of the goddess leading him to her for the purpose of him finding his one true mate and she hadn’t believed him. At one point she figured he was exaggerating just to sleep with her, but now, she knew he had been telling the truth.

Parath?

Yes?

Would you…would tell him I love him?
She smothered back the sob that wanted to escape from her chest.

Of course, I will! His spirits will lift when he hears this! We will be there soon!

Ok, I am holding you to that. I need to find something to eat.

No! Do not leave your hiding spot. You will take a big risk on being caught! Hold out. It won’t take much longer for us to find you.

It’s already been over a day since I last had anything. I don’t want to become weak if I need to make a run for it! I need to go find some food,
Kelly stressed. Her stomach was already making enough noise for the entire moon to hear. Never in all of her life had she gone this long without food or water and it wasn’t a good feeling.

I don’t recommend you leave but if you have to, please be careful!
Parath begged of her.
Inform me immediately if you run into any trouble. That way I can tell Kharis.

Don’t worry I will, but I’m going to wait a little while longer before I head out.
Kelly took a deep breath to calm her nerves that were already starting to surface at the thought of having to search for food.

Parath’s voice left her then and she was again faced with the darkness alone. All light had faded away by now and left her secluded area in the all-consuming darkness, something she didn’t care for at all. At least when she was out on patrol on the streets, she still had her flash light or the street lights, if they weren’t knocked out.

She slowly unfolded her tired body from the confines of her warm blanket. The night air had a bite to it and instantly formed goose bumps on her bare arms. But, the pangs in her stomach were motivating her to get moving. Carefully, she crawled to the small doorway she had used to enter to under the porch. Listening for any nearby sounds, she poked her head just enough to get a look around. Everything appeared to be quiet.

Ducking back under the porch for a quick prayer, Kelly then made the first move to slip out of her hideaway. She wanted to groan out load when she stood up fully as her muscles protested in being forced to move again. Her knee cracked when she took the first step, freezing her in the process. She jerked her head back and forth to see if anything or anyone had heard the audible sound. Thankfully, everything remained quiet.

With her bare feet on the dirt ground, she crept forward cautiously. Her body was fully aware of her surroundings. Every sound and smell infiltrated her senses as she eased herself away from the building and out into a long alley. As she came across a doorway, she tested the door to find if it was unlocked. Everything so far was locked up tight, until she came a green door.

A slight turn of the knob caused the door to pop open. She had no idea what kind of place she was entering, she just hoped it had food. Feeling of guilt washed through her as she stepped into the dark interior of the building. She knew it was wrong to be breaking and entering someone else’s property and the cop in her screamed at her to leave immediately, but her empty stomach was leading her on her mission. Maybe, once Kharis found her, she could come back and make restitution with the owner.
Yes! That is exactly what I’ll do!

Creeping through the darkened building, she opened and closed several cabinets and drawers. Most were filled with tools or papers, but no food. She left the first room and entered another, which in the darkness, appeared to be a kitchen. Her hopes lifted automatically as she began her search of the room. She struck gold when she across a pantry on the left side of the room near the window. It was filled with packaged foods, none of which she recognized. She didn’t have time to debt on which food item to try, so she just grabbed a handful of the precious items then turned to leave. On her way out, she ripped open one of the sealed foil packets and dumped some of the contents into her mouth. An explosion of flavors immediately made her mouth come alive. The small round pieces resembled peanuts but tasted more like salt, sugar, and potato chips. Two mouthfuls later, the packet was empty.

She was just about to exit her chamber of gold when suddenly the door in front of her swung open and the light flipped on. To her horror, one of her kidnappers stood directly in front of her with an evil grin splitting his face in half.

“Well, well, well. I seem to have found of interest….again!” Number two slowly the closed the distance between them. “Where have you been hiding my little money maker?”

Kelly was stunned into silence. How in the hell had this idiot come across her? She was confident no one had been following her when she left her hide out, but here stood one of the men she had been running from.

“You almost cost me a lot of money this morning, not showing up for your appointment.”

“Go to hell,” she squeaked out finally. Her mind was running in circles trying to find her best escape route.

“I might, but that’s not in question right now.” His hand shot out so quickly, it startled Kelly into dropping her precious cargo. “You won’t get away this time and you will be sold in the morning.” He jerked her arm until she was leaning up against the giant of a man.

She tried to pull out of his grip, but it was futile. The man had a grip made of iron and it was crushing her arm. “Let go of me!”

Number two walked to the door with her in tow. She desperately tried to plant her bare feet into the wooden floor to slow his forward motion. Unfortunately, he was entirely too strong for it to make any kind of a difference. 

“You better be happy that I found you. If the owner of that store had come across you, your fate would be much worse than just being sold.”

Kelly heard every word Number two said. She knew she was taking a chance on being caught as a thief, but she had little choice in the matter. If she had sought out help from the local authorities, if there were any, there was no guarantee they would have helped her. On a moon that seemed so primitive, she doubted she would be any better off.

Number two forcibly dragged her down a dark street. She continued to struggle the entire way, but got nowhere. What caught her off guard was the fact that they did stop at the hotel they had a room at, but, rather, continued on until they reached the ship. All her hopes of escaping again were completely dashed. There would be no way for her to escape the ship once they were sealed inside. The door would only open to the command of either Number two or Number one.

Her heart sank a thousand miles when they entered the ship and her captor slammed her into the same chair she had originally been restrained in.

“Let’s see if you can get away from us this time,” Number two said as he pulled out an obscene amount of rope from a compartment under another seat.

Number one appeared from the front of the ship and glared down at her. “I can’t believe you found the bitch!” He sneered in her direction. “At least there is another sale tomorrow. We need to get rid of this one before her man comes looking for her.” He leaned down closer to her face. “This time you are staying put. It was my partner’s fault for falling asleep and letting you slip away, but that won’t happened this time.” He reached out to touch her cheek with his dirty fingers.

She jerked her head away from his touch. It made her skin crawl when he touched her. “Get your hands off me!”

Number one stood back up and ordered Number two, “Shut her up. I don’t want to hear another word out of her.”

Number two quickly shoved a waded up piece of material into her mouth when she went to answer back. She attempted to spit it back out but failed when he placed his hand over her mouth to prevent that from happening. Number one handed him a length of torn material which he secured around her mouth, keeping the ball of nasty tasting cloth in her mouth.

After the two men had finished securing her to the seat, they went to sit in the front of the ship. She tried to jerk the ropes loose by frantically rocking her body. The ropes didn’t budge.