“I am aware,” I snapped. “I swear to Krono, Teo, if you say ‘she is a thief’ one more time, I will…”
“Galan,” Quill said. “Hold your tongue.”
My nostrils flaring, I sank back onto the couch. Jovie’s tail flicked out and she brushed it along my forearm in a soothing manner. I made myself smile at her and she tightened her tail around my arm before releasing it.
“What is Iron Gate?” Sabrina said.
“It is the prison located just outside the city,” Teo said.
“We can’t send her to a Draax prison,” Sabrina said.
“She will be fine, my queen. No Draax there will hurt her,” Teo said.
“The prison is full of Draax rakart, and she is not going there,” I said.
“What does rakart mean?” Sabrina said.
Quill thought for a moment. “An earth word equivalent would be scum. But even then, they would not hurt a female. No Draax would. Females are precious.”
“She is not going to the prison,” I said.
“She cannot stay here,” Teo said. “You would risk the life of your king and queen?” He pointed to Jovie. “The princess? Be reasonable, Galan.”
“She is small and weak,” I said. “She is not capable of hurting them.”
“You have no idea if that is true or not,” Teo said. “The best place for her is Iron Gate. We will give her a separate cell from the other prisoners. Once the war is over between Emira and Cillade, we will return her to Earth for her imprisonment.”
“No,” I said.
Teo rolled his eyes. “What has gotten into you, Galan?”
When I didn’t reply, he turned to Quill. “Do I have your permission to transport her to Iron Gate once she is healed?”
Quill glanced at me. “If she is kept here in the castle, she will need to be locked in her room, and one of your men must guard her whenever she is not in her room.” His gaze turned to Sabrina and then Jovie. “If she hurts my mate or my child -”
“She will not,” I said. “I will guard her myself, Quill. Your mate and child will not be in any danger.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Quill said. “The war between Emira and Cillade could go for moons, as the previous one did. Do you want to commit to playing nanny to a thief for that long?”
“Yes,” I said. “She is only one small female. How much trouble can she be?”
* * *
Ellis
“Is that really necessary?” I pulled the covers up and hid my hand under them when Sigan held out the cuff. “I almost wet the bed because I had to wait until this morning for you to uncuff me from the bed.”
“You should not have tried to escape earlier,” Sigan said.
“Oh c’mon, you can’t blame me for trying.” I held out my hand and Sigan slid the cuff around my wrist and closed it, tethering me to the bed again.
“I can blame you and I do.” He checked my IV and made a few adjustments while I hid my grin.
The way Sigan took everything I said so literally, amused the hell out of me.
“Here, drink this.” Sigan handed me a bottle of gallberry juice and I drank it down, enjoying the warm flush of energy it brought.
“How are you feeling?” Sigan asked.
“Better. Be honest with me – how much extra time will this give me from the whole dying horribly of cancer thing?”
“It is impossible to predict an accurate length of time, but,” Sigan looked me over, “probably a moon longer. Maybe a moon and a half. You are malnourished though, and I assume food in prison will not be plentiful so that will weaken you.” He shook his head. “It will give you an extra moon. No more than that.”
“Super,” I said.
Depression was sinking into my bones and I shook it off. An extra month was a gift.
Sigan patted my arm. “I am sorry it is such a poor diagnosis, human.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Honestly, I probably won’t last a week before I’m murdered in prison anyway.”
What almost looked like sympathy crossed Sigan’s face. “Why did you steal the juice?”
“I didn’t. It was Cheryl, remember? I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He scowled before handing me another bottle of juice. “You are the most infuriating female I have ever met. I am glad not all females of your kind are like you, or I would never find a mate.”
“So, you’re single, huh?” I took a big swig of juice.