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From his appearance, the alien was from the same species and culture as Boran. They practiced kidnapping and slavery, or at least turned a blind eye to it. As glad as I was to be alive and tended to, I didn’t trust him one bit.
But right now I’m at his mercy.
I swallowed hard, taking in my situation and realizing that I had to rely on this stranger for now. I felt too weak to do much moving yet, and way too sore.Damn it. I’ll just have to hope I can slip away once I’ve recovered.
“Water,” I croaked.
“Of course.” His voice was deep and soft. He strode over to me before unclipping a flask from his belt and opening it. He crouched down and held it for me as I struggled to swallow without choking. “Drink slowly, or your stomach may rebel.”
A few gulps later, I felt a twinge in my gut and realized he was right. It took a lot of my willpower to slow down. Nothing tasted as good as that water. I sighed in relief, then went right back to sipping at the flask.
Once it was empty, he stood, put it back on his belt, and sighed. “More soon,” he said. “I must refill it and let the filter do its work. It is bad to drink straight from the streams here. It carries sickness.”
I stared up at him. I didn’t enjoy being this close to a man I didn’t know, especially an alien from Planet Rapey McKidnapper. Yes, he was weirdly hot, and yes, he was helping me. This still wasn’t comfortable for me except on a physical level.
“Who are you?” I asked, not sure where else to begin.
“Naxer. Alpha Gladiator of Sector Seven.”
Fuck my life…
He’s a Gladiator?
From sector seven?
“Former Alpha,” he said.
I eyed him warily. The slavers were bringing us to sector seven to sell us to a bunch of Gladiators. But I refused to panic at Naxer’s revelation. I needed to stay calm but vigilant. So far Naxer had done nothing to show me he was my enemy. In fact, his actions showed he might help me find the caravan of women.
I must stay on his good side. I needed all the help I could get navigating this hostile alien terrain.
“My name’s Amara Brown.”
“A-mahr-a.” He pronounced my name slowly, as if he was trying to savor it.
I flinched when I got a cold, wet snoot to the cheek as his “dog” stood up to check me out. “Hi, dog,” I said before gently nudging his muzzle away.
“Behave, Chaser,” Naxer ordered with one of those four hands settling on the dog’s head to scuffle between its ears. Chaser whined. “Don’t mind him. He’s been curious about you since you showed up.” He frowned. “I removed the nightshade thorn from your foot, but it will take time to heal.”
I frowned, glancing at my foot, which was wrapped with several leaves. “Nightshade thorn?”
“A vine covered in venomous barbs.”
I winced, remembering the vine that wrapped around my ankle and the gash it left on my foot.
“It’s called nightshade vines, and it is very dangerous. If you don’t remove the thorn, an infection will develop, causing the skin around the injury to die and rot, resulting in a nonhealing wound.”
Rotting flesh? Fuck my life.
I eyed him cautiously. It was time to get down to business. “Why are you helping me, Naxer?”
“Many reasons. I will begin with the fact that I oppose the slavers who took you from your home. I assume you escaped them?”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“You’re an Earthling.” His eyes looked troubled. If he was playing me, he was a great actor. But I couldn’t tell if he was or not. The weird stabs of desire I felt only confused me, and that put me even more on my guard.
How much should I tell him?
