showing very sharp teeth. “Perhaps you can be trained after all.”
He tugged sharply on the leash, and she stumbled but managed to stay on her feet, thankful that at least they hadn’t removed her shoes, as he marched out of the room. They proceeded down the hallway, ending up in an area that reminded her disconcertingly of the backstage area from her brief foray into high school musicals. There were other women present, from a variety of other species, most of them standing meekly beside their captors. The only exception was a catlike female who growled and tried to scratch the tentacled alien holding her leash, but the ends of her fingers were bleeding and her handler only laughed.
“That one might be some competition,” Kafri said quietly. “She’s the only other one with any spirit.”
“I doubt it. They’ve already declawed her. Probably yanked her fangs as well. She won’t last long.”
Jade closed her eyes to mask her instinctive horror. Will someone do that to me too?
“Don’t worry, human. Your pathetic little nails are just enough to excite, not damage.”
Somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better.
One by one, each of the other females disappeared through the curtain at the far end of the room. None of them returned. At last, it was down to her and the feline female. Her captor dragged the other female yowling through the curtain.
Kafri had been studying a tablet while Keroud kept his eye on her, and a few minutes later he looked up, flashing those shark-like teeth.
“You were right. She didn’t fetch much.” He leaned closer to her. “We still have a few big buyers out there. You’d better hope you sell for a lot of credits—you might live longer as a valuable purchase.”
Rather than responding, she headbutted him, smiling when she heard his nose crack and saw purple fluid drip down his face.
He snarled and reached for the control to the shock collar, but once again, Keroud stopped him.
“Conscious, remember? Her new owner will teach her manners soon enough.”
Kafri glared at her as his hand dropped away from the controls and he snatched her leash. Almost dragging her off her feet again, he marched across the room and through the curtain. On the other side of the curtain, two aliens waited. Easily over eight feet tall, they were painfully thin with grey skin and oversized bald heads. They looked so much like an Earth stereotype of an alien that she had the oddest impulse to giggle but fought it back, afraid that it would turn into sobs.
One of them took the leash from Kafri and she immediately yanked at it, hoping to take him by surprise. Unfortunately, those deceptively thin limbs were stronger than they looked. He simply lifted the leash over her head, pulling her arms up until she was suspended on tiptoes trying to relieve the strain.
“A fighter?” The grey alien nodded his approval. “We have had a special request for this type of slave.”
“I’ll make sure he regrets that request,” she growled, but the alien only nodded.
“Excellent. You may await the results of the sale in a reception room,” he added, turning to Kafri and Keroud.
“We wished to watch the auction, Master Eiran,” Kafri protested.
“There is a live feed.”
“We would prefer to be in the audience. I want to see who takes her.”
The grey alien tittered. “Oh, no. We would never breach our clients’ confidentiality that way. Please accompany my assistant, Honorable Sirs.”
Turning his back on the Vedeckians, Master Eiran led her through another set of curtains, keeping her on tiptoes as she tried not to fall. He paused to consult with another of his species.
“That is not the usual attire for a slave,” the other alien complained.
“Perhaps not, but considering her classification, I suspect it is most appropriate.”
“I bow to your wisdom, Esteemed Master.”
Her captor pulled her through yet another set of curtains into a small round room surrounded by draperies. A bright overhead light illuminated the area as he fastened her leash to an overhead pole and stepped back to regard her thoughtfully.
“Under normal circumstances, I would warn you not to fight, but in this situation you may do whatever you wish. If someone damages you, then they will have purchased you.”
He disappeared through the curtain, and a moment later, the surface on which she was standing began to rise until she was no longer backstage. Her platform was now surrounded by eight arched windows. The overhead light was too bright for her to make out anything behind