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Chapter 1

Opening his good eye was difficult; the blood caked on his face seee he had never heard before caught his attention And hearing it in a female voice, which he hadn’t heard in many years, pushed his curiosity beyond his exhaustion When Xan finally forced his eye open, he peered up at her with hesitancy and awe She was beautiful—thehe had seen in his many ether in a mass of pain, blood, and exhaustion The vision stood over him, her radiant mass of unwieldy curls pulled on top of her head save for one escaped curl that brushed his face as she bent over to inspect his cuffs

He would have usually taken advantage of being this close to soe for leverage, but the thought ofher beautiful bronzed skin froze hi up would have been a challenge at this point

She spoke a language he did not understand; his universal translator had never been exposed to this tongue As she continued to speak, her voice faded in and out as the translator worked to piece together the words, grammar, and syntax

Daedincompetentprice

He couldn’t follohere the conversation was going, but his vision’s deep-brown eyes seeressively toward one of his captors as she knelt closer to hi hi her war for weeks until his body and spirit finally gave out She reminded him of the flowers that bloomed on citrus trees on his horateful for the h her

He would never hold his faotten s and deprivation did not lend the to stay alive in the present was tantamount At least he would have this memory of the beautiful creature to help him be at peace as he neared his end

He braced for the worst as she uard rushed in His body was rigid in anticipation of the blows to corabbed his cuffs, ja at his wrists was enough to turn his sto in it to colanced at his wrists with horror and revulsion Xan attes

The guard moved away, and she stepped closer with her hands out in a placating manner, as you would approach a wounded animal In a way, he was sure that was how he appeared She reached under his head and helped hi position Xan couldn’t take his eyes off her as she slipped her arm under his and wrapped it around his back All the while she was speaking to hi in

All rightslowlybe careful

She supported his weight as he attempted to stand It was more difficult than it had once been Generally, his captors had dragged Xan fros weren’t in working order

Sheto the large man who had accompanied her there His broad frarunted as he bent to pick up Xan’s daed frame The female and her companion supported Xan as he exited the cell, and theybay

Xan refused to believe that he was truly free His hopes of freedootten the better of hilih As the trio approached the visitors’ shuttle, the sound of racing footsteps came from behind them

The Colossus spun to the fe “Sounds like trouble”

Chapter 2

Sloan’s head whipped around at the heavy footfall of Ganthar’s , she knew this could go sideways in a second if she didn’t play her cards right

“Fuck! Get him on the shuttle Get on the coet ready for an FTL jump as soon as we are docked” She held her hands raised in the air as she faced the inco threat