Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“Sleepy, Mama,” London whined.
“Shh, once we get where we’re going, I promise you can sleep as much as you want.”
When Callie made it to what was supposed to be the loading dock, she came face to face with one large metal door with no handle. Seeing some buttons on the side of the door, she pushed. Nothing. She tried another button and that turned on a light which she immediately turned back off. God, what was the right one to push? There were so many.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps and in a panic she began to press every button she could. To her horror a blaring alarm sounded and orange, red and blue lights flickered on and off. London obviously frightened from the noise began to cry.
“It’s all right, baby.” She tried to soothe London while pushing more buttons. Miraculously the door opened and she sped out.
There were at least twenty spaceships. Which one was she supposed to get on? How could she have been so stupid to come out here without knowing which ship to get on? Now she’d get caught.
The big metal door opened again. Callie turned to see two Thibians race out, followed by a handful of guards. One she recognized as Blaze’s advisor, Radien, and the other, Darus. Both men halted when they spotted her.
Radien stepped forward, signaling for the guards to halt. “What’s going on out here?” he asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s trying to escape. I knew it was a mistake for the king to trust this human.” Darus glared at her and made a move to walk her way.
Radien held him back and looked at Callie. “Is this true? Were you trying to escape?”
What was the point of lying? She’d been caught red-handed. Now she wondered what they’d do to her. “I had to.”
Radien frowned, his forehead crinkled. “But why? Wasn’t Blaze good to you? I haven’t seen him treat any of his concubines as well as he’s treated you and I thought… aren’t you happy here?”
“I can never be happy here.” She wasn’t about to explain herself to anyone.
The slender man looked disappointed for some reason. “I see. Well, of course you know the King won’t be very pleased.”
“What won’t I be very pleased about and what are you doing out here, Calliope? Why did you leave the bed?” Blaze joined the rest of them, his chest still bare.
Darus sidled up to Blaze. “We caught this ungrateful human trying to escape,” the servant said, seeming to take delight in delivering the message.
Callie wanted to knock the snot out of him. Blaze turned to her, the look of hurt evident in his eyes. Her heart ached for him.
“Is that true, Calliope?” he asked softly.
She couldn’t meet his eyes, nor could she answer him. It hurt too much. Oddly enough, London remained silent through this exchange.
“I see,” he said with comprehension. “Radien, if you don’t mind taking the child back to Nola, she looks rather tired. Calliope and I need to have a talk.”
Callie shivered. What did he mean to do to her? Would he beat her? Would he send her back to the harem room? Was there an underlying threat in his words concerning London? Would he get rid of her? That thought chilled her to the bone.
When he turned, he didn’t wait to see if she would follow or not, but she knew she had no choice. Not a word was spoken until they made it back to his bedroom.
“Have a seat.” Blaze gestured to the bed.
Callie sat down, uncertainty hitting her. She watched as he walked back and forth, not speaking. The waiting was killing her. “What will you do to me?”
He ignored her question and kept making circles around the room, a look of deep concentration on his face.
“Please, would you just say something? If I’m in trouble, can’t you just get it over with?”
He turned to her then, and her mouth fell open. Blaze looked like he wanted to cry. “What do you think I should do to you?”
Callie shrugged. She’d expected him to yell and rage at her, but this was not the reaction she’d expected and it was unnerving. “I don’t know.”
“There’s only one thing left to do. I figured that you were trying to stow away on the ship headed for Earth in the morning. If you really want to go, you have my blessing. I’m not going to keep you if you don’t want to be here.”
Callie didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly hadn’t been this. Was she dreaming? Or was it some kind of trick? “And you’d allow me to take London with me?” she asked cautiously.
“There could be no other way. You’re free.”
She should have been elated, but she wasn’t. In fact, she was sad. That he would let her go so easily disturbed her more than she wanted to admit. “Why?” she couldn’t help asking.