Dating Outside Your DNA (34 page)

No! She would never be anyone's slave. She would kill herself

first.

But that wasn't going to happen. She closed her eyes and concentrated, listening with her heart, rather than her head. Her spirit felt as though it were being pulled in a specific direction. She let it go, opened her eyes, and watched so she would remember the way.

She entered a room where there was another glass cage. And she saw him. Her heart began to melt. It seemed like forever since the night  of the carnival, since he'd held her close, since his lips had touched hers.

She reached toward him. He looked around, as though he could feel her presence.

Roan, her mind whispered.

He flexed his shoulders, then tilted his head from one side to

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the oth er. What was he doing? She watched, and saw him use his  ring to score the surface of the glass, stretching to reach from one  corner to the next. Of course Roan would try to escape. Banyon  wouldn't be able to keep him in a cage for long.

She was being pull ed away. God, she wanted to stay longer  even if he didn't know she was there. She would never get tired of  looking at him. Deep down she knew this might be the last time she  saw him alive. Her plan was flimsy at best.

She left Roan and left the building they were in and saw that it  was actually like a castle and made of dark, dreary gray stone with  turrets that stretched high into the sky. Everything about the land  surrounding the castle was barren as if there had been a recent fire  and only the stubble of plants was left.

Dark gray huts stretched out for a great distance in long rows in  front of the castle. If this was where Banyon's people lived, then their  existence was dismal at best.

Air rushed around and through her as she was pulled back inside her body, but before she was sucked into the glass cage, she saw Banyon coming toward the room. As her spirit rejoined her body, she sat up with a gasp.

Wow, that had been a different experience, but she didn't have time to think about what she'd just done.  She quickly lay back on the hard floor and closed her eyes. Just seeing Roan had given her renewed determination not to go down without a fight.

Almost immediately, she could feel the density of the floor, and became one with it. Seconds later, she heard  the swish of the door to the room as it opened.

"Guards!" Banyon screamed in his nasal voice.

If nothing else, she was proud of that punch. Her knuckles were still sore, but it was so worth it.

She heard heavy footsteps as the guards came running into the

room.

"Where is she?" Banyon screeched. "You have let her escape."

"No, Majesty. No one has come inside the room. She couldn't  have escaped."

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"Then tell me where she is?"

Silence.

She didn't dare peek to see what they were doing, but she bet the expression on Banyon's face was priceless.

"Find her now or you'll pay with your lives!"

Again, she heard footsteps as the guards ran out of the room.  She only hoped Banyon would unlock the door. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the key inserted in the lock, then the door opened.

"There's no way you could have escaped," Banyon said. "Are you hiding beneath the pillows?"

She peeked. The door had closed and he was bent over the pillows, tossing them to the side, one by one. She jumped to her feet.  He whirled around and screamed. She used his moment of shock at

seeing her become solid to smash her fist in his face.

His scream was garbled as he grabbed his face and quickly  turned away from her.

She raised her foot and shoved it against his butt as hard as  she could. He plunged headfirst into the glass and crumpled to the  cushions.

She was getting so good at kicking ass.

The door opened. She spun around. Instead of guards, Roan slipped into the room. She started to run toward him, but knew that

would have to come later. They still had work to do. She grabbed the  key out of Banyon's pocket, then partially covered him with the  pillows before leaving the cage and locking the door behind her.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Roan said as he came up  behind her.

"You broke the glass," she said as she turned and flung her

arms around his neck, giving in to temptation.

"How'd you know about the glass?"

"It doesn't matter. We need to get to a spacecraft or something

before the guards return."

"You can't go running through the halls dressed like that."

She looked down. He was right. There wasn't much of her that

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was hidden beneath the nearly transparent fabric. She hurried to  Banyon's closet and flung the doors open. She could wear something  of  his. It was a good thing he had a small frame.

"Now this is what I call a closet." It was bigger than the cage  she'd been stuck inside the last few days.

"Can we hurry?"

God, he was so sexy when he was anxious. She was a whole  lot giddy that they were together again, but she knew they were far  from being out of danger.

"What'd you do to Banyon, anyway?" he asked as he began to  open drawers and dig through the contents.

"I punched him in the nose, then when he doubled over and  turned, I shoved him into  the glass, and knocked him out."

"That's going to leave a mark."

He held up a small knife that would probably only make  someone mad if he were to use it, but she guessed it was better than  nothing. She watched him slip it into his pants pocket.

She grin ned. "Yeah, I know. I hope he has to look at scars  every day for the rest of his life." She pulled the diaphanous gown  over her head and tossed it to the side. His indrawn breath drew her

attention. She arched an eyebrow. "Have we got time for a quickie?"

He mumbled something unintelligible.

"I didn't think so." She pulled on a pair of black pants and a dark  black tunic top. She had to roll up the legs and the sleeves, but they  were better than what she had been wearing. His shoes would be too  big so she  didn't even bother with any.

She faced him. "How does this look?"

His swift glance swept over her. "Naked was better, but since we're trying not to draw attention, I guess this will do for now. Once we're safe, I'm going to steal you away, and I'm going  to make love to you all week."

A ripple of pleasure burned through her. "I like your plan."

They eased out of the closet. Banyon hadn't stirred.

"You do have a plan, right?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, don't get caught."

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She pursed her lips. "I could've come up with that one."

"Great minds think alike. Come on." He hurried to the door, then eased it open. "All clear."

She took a deep breath. Her heart beat ninety miles an hour.

He glanced over his shoulder.

"Ready?"

She nodded, even though she wasn't that sure. They didn't have much of a choice. To stay would be certain death. Beyond this room, they at least had a chance.

"Stay behind me, and if we meet anyone, don't make eye contact. They don't put much value on women here. If they think you belong to me, we might make it out of here alive."

She cocked an eyebrow.

"They're idiots."

She agreed. There was no one in the hall. Roan went to the left. She grabbed his arm and pointed to the right. "This way."

He raised his eyebrows. "And you know this how?"

"I'll explain later." There'd been a docking station not too far from where they were being held. When they were back on Earth, she was going to look into this meditation thing. It could be pretty useful.

Someone turned the corner and started toward them. She

looked at her feet, and shuffled behind Roan. As they passed, she

saw the scars from the chains the person had once worn. A former

slave that had quit trying to escape.

They could've been that person. Still could be.

"There are guards searching the north side and coming this

way," the man said.

She glanced over her shoulder, but the man who'd just passed

didn't stop. What must his life be like? A shudder swept over her.

They turned south at the corner, going away from the docking

stati on, and traveling down a shorter hall. Dark and dismal didn't  begin to describe the hallway. They turned another corner, went  down another hall that led to stairs.

"Do we go up or down?" Roan looked at her.

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"Up? I'm not sure."

"What does your gut say?"

"That it's hungry so I don't think it would be much help."

"Then we'll go up."

"Are you sure?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure of anything."

"I think the docking station was on the lower level."

"Then we'll go down."

God, she hoped she was right.

They went down the stairs. There was a door at the bottom. He

pushed a button and the door opened. She took a step back. They

must be at the back of the castle.

"Wrong direction," Roan said beneath his breath.

"This isn't good," she said as she stared at row upon row of

people in chains and men wielding whips. God, it looked as though

they'd stepped back into the dark ages.

He reached toward the button and started to push it, but voices

sounded behind them.

"Now what?"

"We don't have a choice." He grabbed her hand and stepped

outside.

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Chapter 29

T
he only light came from the quarter moon. Dark gray shadows hid in the corners of the courtyard. There was a metal platform in the center of the open area. People milled about as if a party was aboutto take place.

Roan noted there were different species. Some he knew-- Roverts, Adnams, Eidojs, and even a couple he suspected were earthlings. Some he didn't know. They skirted them all, keeping a safe distance.

An Eidoj walked over to one of the men i n chains. The Eidoj species were stunning--alluring, auburn-haired delicate beauties-- if you didn't mind them having three eyes and a short tail, kind of like a lizard, and the fact they could change from male to female at will.

She slipped her hand betwe en the man's legs and squeezed, then smiled and nodded toward her companion before returning to her place as someone stepped to the platform.

"What's going on?" Lyraka whispered.

"Slave auction."

"You're serious?"

The door they'd exited was flung open  and three armed Roverts stepped out.

Roan pulled Lyraka back farther into the shadows until their backs were against the wall.

The Rovert guards looked around, then one motioned for the others to go back inside. Roan and Lyraka were safe, for now, but they might have to wait for the end of the auction before they could leave.

An Adnam waddled up on the stage and began to shout in a

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garbled sounding language that Roan couldn't understand, then

again in English.

"How come they know our language?" she whispered.

He leaned closer, caught the scent of her hair, and almost

forgot what she'd asked.

"I think there have been aliens living on Earth for thousands of

years. They stay pretty low key. No one is going to believe their

neighbor is from another planet. Strange maybe, but not from another

galaxy."

"So, they--we--merged with society."

"And some returned to their home planet and took back

knowledge of Earth."

"I think I would've noticed him." She nodded toward the stage.

"Joe was involved in Area 51 for years. They tried to monitor

the aliens. When the public started getting wise, they split their

investigation areas into smaller sections so they could work below

public scrutiny. But what Joe is doing, actual space travel, is limited

because of the resources. Some don't think we should be involved."

"Will the team come for us?" she suddenly asked.

He hesitated. "I don't know." He wished he did.