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“They—” Rovos’s head swings to the side, and then he pushes his chair back. “I’ll let Bela explain everything.”
A small woman with thick brown hair that curls around her shoulders steps in front of him. It takes me a minute to recognize her from the Xar’ads’ ship.
“Holy shit!” she breathes and breaks out into a wide grin. “It’s really you! I’ve been so worried about you both! Are you alright?”
“We’re… fine,” I say. Then I let my breath out in a whoosh. “You’re the one we’ve been worried about! Shit, I almost didn’t recognize you. You look great! How’s that fucked-up implant?”
Bela laughs, a soft husky sound. “Yeah, I wasn’t at my best back then. That’s for sure. The implant is fine now.”
“What happened to the others?” I ask, and when Bela flinches, I quickly add, “I’m sorry, Volethos and Zell made it sound like—”
“Volethos?” Bela’s face pales suddenly when she realizes he’s part of our group. “What the fuck are you doing withhim?”
I’m completely taken aback by her reaction. When I swing my head to the side, Volethos isn’t looking at me, but instead glaring at Bela’s image on the screen.
“Well, for one thing, he sort of rescued us,” I huff as I fold my arms across my chest. “Why? What don’t we know about him?”
“He’s thebad guy, Shae,” Bela warns us as she throws a glower at Volethos. “He tried to kill my mate so he could sell me back to the madame who bought me at that auction.”
This time when I look back at Volethos, it’s slower. He’s no longer looking at the screen but down at the ground in front of him. the muscles in his jaw tick-tick-ticking away.
Taking a deep breath, Bela quickly fills us in on everything we’ve missed.
How one of the bounty hunters, Treto—who is hermatenow—was able to rescue her and Skylar from a space brothel, but Nita chose to stay behind.
At Danielle and my outburst upon hearing this, Bela raises her hands. “I know, I know. I tried to get her to come with us, I really did. It was her choice though.”
She told us how they ended up on Pamia, and how they’ve been working with Rovos to get the planet’s government to change their overly neutral stance ever since. While Pamia was quick to accept refugees and runaways, they have done very little to protect those who chose to make the planet their home.
“What about the redhead, with the short hair?” Danielle speaks up, dragging me from my thoughts.
The twinkle is back in Bela’s eyes. “Believe it or not, she’s back on Earth!”
“What!?” we practically scream in unison.
“I know, right!” Bela laughs. “She was rescued by a pair of cloned bounty hunters, and they, erm, really hit it off. They ended up taking her back to Earth, where she has a farm in the middle of Kansas or something. Last I heard, they are living their best lives. Together.”
“Together? Like… she’s withboth?”
I don’t miss the blush that creeps up into Bela’s cheeks. “Yup.”
“Lucky bitch!” Danielle chuckles behind me.
No kidding.
“You said Skylar is with you. Is she okay? Where is she?” I ask.
“Well, she’s almost eighteen now,” Bela says with a roll of her eyes. “Thinks she’s all grown up and knows everything. She’s latched on to a local boy, so she’s off somewhere with him, I’m sure.”
“Sounds like me as a teen.” I laugh.
“Oh, me too,” Bela agrees. “She’s great. Really. Settled right in. Even decided she wanted to stay when she was given a chance to return to Earth.”
The relief I feel is a lifted weight I didn’t realize I’ve been carrying all this time.
“You both are welcome here,” Bela says suddenly. “Everyone keeps saying how rare humans are, but there are actually a lot of us. Not just from Earth, but other planets all over the universe too. And, just so you know, going homeisan option if you want it.
“Just,” Bela’s eyes drag back over to Volethos, where they narrow in warning, “be careful of that one. He can’t be trusted.”
