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What a sight I must be: messy, ragged hair and a tear-streaked face.
“I heard you need a girl,” I say, and they both exchange looks. After a long moment, the taller man speaks.
“Well, Tank, looks like you’ll be getting that bonus, after all.”
Chapter 2
The men circle around me like vultures, looking at my body and speaking in a language I don’t understand. The shorter man, Tank, touches my hair, and I try not to flinch.
“Don’t worry,” he says gruffly to me in my own language. “I’m not going to hurt you, darling.” I just nod. All I can do is nod. I ball my hands into fists and then release them over and over again as they speak. Finally, the taller man stands in front of me and touches my chin, softly raising my gaze to him.
“You understand what you’re getting into, honey?”
“I understand.”
“You won’t be coming back to Earth. You know that, right?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I manage to get out. “There’s nothing left for me here.”
The man nods slowly, watching my eyes. Is he trying to figure out if I’m lying? I don’t know. All I know is that he’s surprisingly handsome, he smells great, and his skin is soft against mine. If this were any other situation, I’d be trying to figure out how to get him to take my mind off things.
Tank touches my arm and I turn to him.
“The Taneyemms don’t like humans much, darling.”
At that, I gulp. That’s something I know. I’ve heard rumors about it. People say the inhabitants of Taneyemm only take in humans because it’s cheap labor. We’re small, weak, and tiny. No one knows what exactly humans who go to Taneyemm do for the planet, but I’m going to guess that I won’t be cleaning mirrors or scrubbing floors.
“I understand,” I say. “I accept my fate.”
The taller man puts his face in his palm and shakes his head.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He asks, but I don’t answer him. I have a feeling he doesn’t expect an answer. The truth is that there’s a lot wrong with me. I’m not exactly normal or perfect or special. I might have nice eyes, but I’m very ordinary in every other aspect. I don’t play an instrument or have a special talent. I’m not particularly smart or educated. My adult life has been spent taking care of one sick parent and then another, so when he asks what the fuck is wrong with me?
Everything.
“What my companion means, darling,” Tank shoots the other man a dark look. “Is that there’s no coming back. Ever. If you get there and they don’t want you, you’ll be shipped off to another planet or killed. There are no return voyages to Earth. This is the last one. Doesn’t that scare you?”
My eyes blink several times.
I take a deep breath.
This is my only shot at leaving. It’s the only chance I’ll ever have. If I stay, I’ll be dead within a week or two. If I actually want to live – and a deep, secret part of me does – then I need to convince this man Tank that I’m worth something.
I need to convince him that I won’t be trouble, that I’ll help him qualify for this bonus he wants so badly.
“Tank, sir, I appreciate your concern and I understand what you’re saying, but sir? I have nothing left here. My father died not an hour ago and I have no one else. I have no money, no hope, no future, no friends. I’m an orphan without parents, without a partner, without a husband. I have no children. If you don’t take me, I’ll be sitting around waiting to die because I have nothing left to live for.”
Something passes over his gaze.
Sadness, I think.
Maybe it’s pity.
Either way, Tank doesn’t speak again and he nods to his friend.
“Elf, come on.”
“Elf?” I turn. “Your name is Elf?” I might live in a dirt hut, but even I know the stories about elves from days past.
