little more than slap a few bar rations into her and Davies’ hands, scoop up Winthrop, and bark out a command for them to follow. He’d set such a fast pace, talking had been impossible. She and Davies had exchanged a couple of grim glances, but that was it.
“You okay?” Davies’ voice was thin.
“I’m fine.” There were far more important matters to discuss than her emotional state. “I don’t know where he’s taking us, but I’m charting the direction via the suns as best I can. We’ll know how to get back to the crash site and the rescuers when the time comes. Until then it’s best to stay with him.”
“Maybe so, but…”
“Are you worried he’ll go after you? He’s given his words he won’t. Not as long as I’m available.”
“Oh, God.” Davies stopped pretending to fiddle with Winthrop’s bandages, her expression crumpling. “I’m so sorry. I–I hate that you had to do that for us. For me. Because I’m Council and—”
“I didn’t do it because you’re Council.”
Davies shook her head as if refuting the claim. “I shouldn’t have let you. I shouldn’t have been such a coward.”
“No, please.” Bella’s hand closed over the woman’s thin shoulder. Yes, initiating touch with a Council member without permission was a serious breach of protocol, but there was no reason Convict’s notion of different rules for Dragath25 couldn’t hold true in this respect as well, and Davies appeared to need more comfort than just words. “Don’t feel like that. It isn’t what you think.”
“Don’t lie to me. I heard you. I know what he did to you.” Davies’ eyes sank shut as she leaned in to Bella’s touch. “I hate myself for letting it happen. For doing nothing while he hurt you. I–I know what that’s like…and now….” Her hands twisted in her lap. “Now I’m letting it happen to you. I’m a terrible coward. ”
“He didn’t hurt me.” Embarrassment had a tight grip on Bella’s throat. Sorrow, too. Someone had hurt Davies. Badly, if the way the woman’s hands shook was any indication.
Emboldened, Bella gripped those trembling hands. Surprisingly, they gripped her right back.
“What you heard wasn’t pain, it…it was pleasure.” Bella took a deep breath and confessed. “He made me feel good. Better than anything I ever felt before. I–I didn’t expect it, but there it is.”
Davies’ shocked gaze didn’t help.
“He’s not what you think.” Bella felt oddly protective.
“He’s a Dragath25 prisoner. He’s forcing you to have sex with him.” Davies’ voice cracked at the end.
“He’s not forcing me.” Bella kept her voice gentle. Her colleague’s confession made this conversation even more delicate than she’d expected. “We have a deal. And so far, he’s given far more than he’s taken.”
Davies remained silent.
Bella squeezed the woman’s hand. “I’m sorry someone hurt you. Truth be told, I’d like to find the bastard and feed him to a tigos, but my situation isn’t the same. He’s brusque and rough, but he’s not a monster. Even when he’s been angry, he hasn’t harmed me. And he’s already done more for us than Pogue ever did. We’re alive because of Convict.”
“Convict? Is—is that his name?”
“No, but it’s what he’s insisting I call him.”
One of Davies’ eyebrows shot up.
Bella shrugged. “He’s been here for eight years. I don’t think he likes to remember the man he was.”
“Or maybe that man is gone for good,” warned her colleague. “Don’t hang your hopes on someone who doesn’t exist. He couldn’t have been a very good person to begin with anyway. Not if he ended up here.” Her eyes sank shut. “Don’t…don’t let yourself be deceived. I—I know I’m not supposed to speak of Council matters, but I thought my fiancé was a good man once. Then he turned me into his personal punching bag.” She shook her head, her watery eyes blinking open to survey the barren landscape. “All I wanted was freedom. Look what I got instead.”
“This isn’t the end.” Bella tried to keep the shock from her voice. There was far more to her fellow researcher than she’d ever realized. And far less to her foolish presumption that being part of an elite Council family line meant an end to all worries. “You can still have that freedom, Ava.”
Ava’s small smile at the use of her first name assured Bella she’d chosen correctly. After what they’d just admitted to each other, the required use of last names for Council-members seemed overly stiff and ridiculous. Different rules for Dragath25, just like Convict had said.
“Bella? Cadet Davies?” Winthrop’s thready