instinctively, trying to distance myself from the threat. When I looked back at him, his lecherous gaze was on my chest, a thick, heavy drool the likes of which I’d never seen from anything resembling a man, dripped from his scaly lips like he was drooling over a bone. So gross. His spit smelled rotten, like burned hair and sulfur.
I didn’t know what he was talking about or what Cerberus was.
When he poked at the ground again, I did not move. His grin turned to a scowl, but I looked away. I would not perform for him. Not fight or wiggle and shake my breasts for his amusement. Would. Not. The clothes were brown and heavy enough to keep me warm, but they were tight. Too damn tight. And though small, I was not a flat-chested woman.
The slimy auctioneer bent down and pushed a series of buttons on the stage. At once, the manacle around my ankle dropped to the floor, deactivated by whatever magic button he had just pushed.
I didn’t know who my escort was in this crowd, but I wasn’t waiting to find out. Not now that I was no longer shackled.
This was it. It was go/no-go time. If I escaped now, I’d remain free or die. If I let some escort take me, I was as good as dead. There was no choice. Now was it. I took a deep breath, let it out.
The scaly creature made the pokey stick sizzle again, but this time, I stepped back and grabbed it in the center, as far from the activated tip as I could get. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting me to fight back. Tugging hard, it ripped from his so-called fingers, and I spun it around like a fucking cheerleader’s baton then lunged. The crackle of the stick this time was against his flesh.
He bellowed in agony as I held it in place, probably not in the way the tool was supposed to be used. What-fucking-ever.
I shoved once more, then pulled back. He slumped forward in blatant pain. Good.
With a running leap, I jumped off the raised platform and into the crowd. They were smarter than the scaly one, for they made a path for me. Or, they made a path for the electric cattle prod.
I waved it in front of me, kept the path going. I’d seen people… beings, coming in and out from the far corner, so that was where I was headed. A corridor. A hallway. Somewhere, this place had to have a transport room. And if not? Well, there had to be ships out here. I’d steal one. Kidnap a pilot. Whatever I had to do.
“Stop the human!”
A blue female got in my way. Her? She was my escort? She stood in my path, eyes narrowed, clearly not afraid of me and eager to halt my retreat. “You Cerberus?”
“You will come with me.” She spoke clearly, slowly, making sure my translator thing had time to process her order.
“No.” I lifted the stick higher, waved it in front of her. She didn’t budge. I lunged like a samurai and got her in the torso. Not even a flicker of pain. Did she have zero pain receptors or was she wearing something that blocked the charge? Either way, the stick only made her smile. “You belong to Cerberus, female. You will not run from me.”
Fuck. I tried again. Her eyes narrowed, and she took a step toward me. I widened my stance, ready for a catfight. I hated fighting other women. They were ruthless. But I was not going with her. Not happening.
One second, she was ready to take me out, the next she was shoved out of the way as if she were a forward who’d been body-checked at the World Cup. A guy, who looked more human than the blue female stood before me with a pretty serious scowl on his face. He’d tackled the blue alien, but when he straightened to his full—gorgeous—height, he didn’t look happy about it.
“Thanks,” I murmured, not sure he would welcome the sentiment.
“I’m an idiot.” He ducked a punch to the head coming from his left. I whipped the electrical stick around like a baton and zapped the offender, who screeched like an injured owl and whirled away. I gripped the stick and whipped it around, keeping everyone else as far from us as possible.
“Thanks,” he offered right back, the corner of his mouth tipped up.
“Stop them!” Jirghogis shouted. I recognized his slithery voice.
The guy narrowed his eyes