Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,23
nod was barely perceptible. “I get that. But we haven’t left Haedus yet, and it might be a good long while before we do.”
“True. In the meantime, you can practice on me. I have no ulterior motives or hidden agendas. I want to leave here as much as you do.”
“And after that?”
Moe stared at her blankly. “I guess I’ll have to figure out what happened to my ship and try to get it back. Or I could get a job as a navigator on someone else’s ship.” He chuckled. “Although once you’ve been the captain, it’s kinda hard to stomach a lower rank.”
“After I leave here, I won’t be the boss anymore, either. Like you said, it’ll take some getting used to.” She shifted in her seat as though this prospect caused her some discomfort. “Speaking of leaving here, any ideas yet?”
“A few,” Moe replied. “Sending out a deep space com to my family would be best. Know where to find a public communications relay?”
A mirthless laugh escaped her. “Several. We’d have to break in to use them, though.”
“Couldn’t we simply offer to pay a fee?”
“Pay? Seriously?”
“Well, yeah,” Moe said cautiously. “That’s what most people do when they have need of goods and services.” He studied her through narrowed lids. “Are you saying you’ve never bought anything?”
“Of course I have,” she snapped. “But we usually steal whatever we need. Interacting with merchants puts us in too much danger.”
Danger of what, she didn’t say, although he could safely assume that her “nemesis” had spies everywhere—or at least some folks willing to report back to him in the hope of a reward. Getting familiar with anybody would be risky. “You really don’t trust anyone, do you?”
She shook her head. “If you were in my situation, would you?”
“Maybe not,” he conceded. “But money talks, and I have plenty—or I did before you took it from me. Besides, as far as I know, the only hit list I’m on is yours. Nobody else bothered me before I got into that fight, and I’m sure I wasn’t the first offworlder to take a swing at some Herp in a bar.”
“I’m not the only one who preys on unsuspecting offworlders, either. You still might not be safe.”
“If the gladiator trade is that lucrative, it’s a wonder there are any offworlders left.” He paused. “Speaking of money, is there some reason you haven’t given mine back? Like you’ve lost it or spent it or given it away?” Once again, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Or did you use it to pay someone off? Like maybe those Nedwuts?”
For the first time, she seemed uncomfortable. Or at least at a loss for words.
“You don’t actually kill Nedwuts, do you? You pay them off.”
“I have killed several,” she said stiffly. “When I had no other choice.”
Moe barked out a laugh. “No wonder you’ve never amassed enough cash to buy your way off this hellhole. You’ve been paying hush money to what-his-name’s henchmen.”
Fire radiated from her glowing pupils. “What are you talking about?”
“You know… the guy who wants you as his concubine.”
Her jaw dropped as she sat up straight. “Who told you that?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell—”
She cut him off with a snort. “Never mind. It had to be Temfilk. Nobody else talks as much as he does. So help me, I’m gonna wring his scrawny little neck.”
Moe was somewhat taken aback by her apparent anger. “Why is telling me such a bad thing? I was bound to figure it out eventually.”
Fists clenched and fangs bared, she spat out, “I don’t know why Pelarus wants me. We haven’t spoken to one another since before my mother was killed, and I have no intention of starting now.”
“But you believe it’s true, don’t you? I mean, if he wanted your mother, it stands to reason he’d want you now that you’ve grown up.”
She leaned back with her arms folded across her chest. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Not really,” Moe said with a slow wag of his head. “I don’t know if anybody’s ever told you this, but you’re—”
“I’m what?” she demanded when he hesitated.
He sucked in a breath. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re very attractive.”
There. He’d said it. And he couldn’t take back those words even if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t. He was, after all, telling the truth.
“Attractive?”
Her incredulous squeak forced Moe to rethink his word choice. “Should I have said beautiful? Either one is true, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” she retorted. “I may be different from every other female on