Page 10 of Dragon Me Through Space

“Welcome home, Princess,” Scout’s voice said in greeting over the speakers in my room. Scout’s voice was never the same as I didn’t bother programming it to any specific one. Normally, it was just a robotic voice, like the one currently. Had I been able to put down roots for longer than a few months, I would have worked on giving it a personalized sound. Maybe someday in the future.

“Scout, lights,” I ordered and once Gage was inside, I shut and locked the door behind us.

“Princess, you need to drink two vials to recover your energy,” Scout informed me.

“Thank you, Scout,” I said and headed to the cabinet in the miniscule kitchen.

My house was really just a studio apartment above the bar, but for me it was the largest piece of property I had owned. Something I had purchased with money earned by working jobs and saving.

“Princess?” Gage asked.

“Princess Xoe of—” Scout started answering.

“Silence!” I shouted at Scout who immediately obeyed.

Gage spun around and faced me. “You’re royalty?”

“Was,” I corrected as I grabbed a vial of electrolytes and downed it. “My planet and all my people were destroyed.”

“But, you’re still royalty,” he said, taking a step closer to me.

I spun around, a knife in my hand. “And? Does that change anything?”

He looked at the knife and frowned. “Why are you holding that?”

“Why do you care if I’m royalty or not?” I asked, gripping the knife tighter.

He took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not going to hurt you. We all signed contracts with you, remember?”

“I knew I should have put a clause in there about selling me,” I grumbled.

Gage laughed.

The asshole actually laughed at me. And not a chuckle, no he had his head thrown back, arms around his stomach as his laughter boomed around the small apartment.

“Why the fuck are you laughing?” I growled. My grip on the knife was so tight now that my hand hurt.

He wiped at the tears in the corners of his eyes. “I can’t explain it, but trust me. We would never, ever, sell you. No matter how much they offered.”

“What about fifty million credits?” a nasally, male voice asked.

“Communicator has been hacked,” Scout said.

“Wow, a little slow, Scout,” I growled as I turned to look at the communicator’s screen.

A blue-skinned Bolsan named Charles smiled at me. His cow-like ears drooped down to his shoulders and he had a scar across one of his brown eyes that made me smile, since I’d given it to him when I escaped. “I’ve been biding my time, waiting for you to come back, Diamond.”

“Fuck off,” I snarled.

“I see you’re just as feisty as ever,” Charles said. His eyes shifted to Gage who stood by me, his fists clenched at his sides. “So, how about it, Dragonkin? Fifty million credits if you bring Diamond to me.”

“Why do you want her?” Gage asked. “You are the Underlord of Porantine. You could get any woman you want.”

How did he know that Charles was Underlord? Did they spend more time here than I knew? How hadn’t I run into them?

“This one has already cost me a pretty penny and I need her back in my labora … I mean, home. I need her back home,” Charles said. “I miss her dearly.” He couldn’t even fake emotions, the bastard was devoid of them, so the statements came out flat and incredibly unconvincing.

“No,” Gage said.