area once more. “I was taken from Jesban several days ago, along with a number of other women here.”
The hitch in her voice catches my attention. I run my gaze over her, studying the fine lines around her mouth and the puffiness underneath her eyes. Lexi has been crying, and often.
“You were happy there, weren’t you?”
She nods once and a golden lock of hair glides along her cheekbone. “I had a simple life, but it was better than being incarcerated.”
“You’re telling me you don’t like having your own private suite?” I sweep my hand through the air in a grand gesture, my voice laced with sarcasm. “Is the floor not hard or the bed not small enough? Or maybe it’s that cup-sized latrine? I can’t fathom why you wouldn’t enjoy almost pissing yourself every time you need relief, but maybe that’s just me.”
Lexi’s smile returns and her gaze takes on a glint of amusement. “You are incorrigible.”
I let my head fall back to rest against the metal wall and close my eyes. “I’ve been called worse.”
“What about a ‘friend?’”
“Hmm…If I have, I can’t remember,” I say. “Humans don’t have rights where I come from, let alone friends.”
“That’s tragic, Giselle.” Her voice isn’t full of pity or censure, which would piss me off and end this pointless conversation. She’s actually genuine in her feelings and that’s different than what I’m used to. “Everyone needs someone they can trust with their thoughts and feelings,” she says. “I don’t know about other species, but humans need that sense of connection.”
I peer over at her, taking in her heart-shaped face and guileless hazel eyes. Lexi doesn’t realize it, but she’s about to get one hell of a rude awakening in the near future. Just because I didn’t develop close relationships with the other servants doesn’t mean I couldn’t have; It wasn’t safe to do so. I never allowed myself to become vulnerable around anyone because I didn’t want to experience the loss of them. And it would come eventually, one way or another. That’s not to say I didn’t communicate with those around me. Knowledge can be a weapon, a warning, or a lifesaver, so I made it my business to find out any and everything I could.
However, there are some things I wish I wasn’t aware of.
“Trust is like your vagina,” I say, inwardly grinning at the look of horror on Lexi’s face. “Everyone wants in, but you tell them to ‘fuck off’ unless they’re attractive and have a big dick. In that case, then it’s ‘fuck on.’”
She makes a choking sound, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “That’s one way to view it.”
I bump her shoulder with mine. “Don’t be so gullible. You only let people in who are worthy of trust.”
The honey-color of her eyes turns golden and her mouth thins. “On that, we agree.”
The intense energy rolling off her piques my curiosity, but I know better than to pry. Even if she wanted to share her story, I’m not sure I want to hear it. Just from this one conversation, I’m already starting to feel responsible to look after her, which is stupid because I can’t help myself. For the most part, my stand-offish behavior has prevented me from experiencing a life filled with pain. Well, of the emotional variety.
Physical pain cannot always be avoided.
I exhale, pushing the air past my lips in a steady stream. “I’ll make you deal, Lexi. If by some miracle we end up in the same place, we can be friends, but for now we are nothing except fellow passengers.”
“Or suitemates,” she says with a smirk.
Despite my best efforts, the side of my mouth tilts up. “That works too.”
The spacecraft lurches with such violence that both Lexi and I fall to the floor, only to slide across the room and slam against the opposite wall. My shoulder throbs when it makes contact with the unforgiving metal and agony radiates down my arm, as well as down my back. I lie there stunned for a moment, but once the alarm sounds I know I can’t remain still. After taking a fortifying breath, I grit my teeth and struggle to get into a sitting position. My vision fills with bursts of color and I blink them away in order to locate Lexi.
Her face is turned away from me and I can’t determine whether or not she’s breathing. Willing myself not to assume the worst, I crawl to her and press my fingertips to her neck.