A long, wide hall had been hollowed out, and it led toward a huge dock roughly a quarter click away. I could see a bit of daylight at the end of the hall, and what looked to be the side dock of a freighter ship beyond that. Are you getting this? I sent to Lendill.

We see it, Lendill replied. Just stay calm, we've got ships in the area, ready to go. We'll be following discreetly, so hang on, all right?

Remind me to say the same thing to you if you're ever swinging inside a cage, I returned. Don't worry, I don't want any more women kidnapped and sold into who knows what, I added. I'll do my duty. Just remember you owe me.

I'll remember. Lendill cut off communication.

I was transported to the edge of the loading dock and dropped off there, waiting for another vehicle to load my cage onto the waiting ship. Men were everywhere, checking the cages and the women inside the cen here,m, then lifting comp-vids and scanning controller numbers by pointing the device at the backs of captives' necks.

Some of the women were fondled, too. One was kissed through the bars of her cage. That one shrank back afterward, whimpering. Once again, fear was playing a part. Fear was a strong emotion and one of the most basic. Fear kept people alive. I was beginning to think that the controllers couldn't fully prevent any strong emotion.

"No touching this one." A man came up beside my cage and watched while my controller device was scanned by comp-vid.

"Information says so in the comp-vid," the scanner replied. "Not that I don't want to," he leaned down and leered at me. Stopping myself from reaching through the bars and grabbing his neck to squeeze it, I settled for blinking at him, instead. I'd remained in my sitting position, so I hadn't gotten knocked around like some of the others during the move. "Must be something special, mustn't we?" He was still leering when Perdil walked up.

"If you had half the intelligence this one has, I might think you were a genius," Perdil snapped. "Get away." I turned my head to blink at Perdil. He knelt down to my level. "We're moving you to the small moon nearby," he said conversationally, as if I weren't locked inside a cage and presumably controlled by a device in my neck. "The full moon is tonight, and Zen and the rest of his kind will go crazy if they don't have women available. It's either sex or destruction with them on a full moon, Reah. I promise it will be over in a few ticks. We have physicians standing by; can't have any of the merchandise damaged permanently before the sale, can we?" I drew in a breath. Perdil stood and walked away.

Lendill cursed, long and hard. His father, a master at the art of cursing, might have been proud of his son at that moment. Reah, Reah, baby, we have to get them. We have to get all of them. Fuck, I'm sorry, Reah. We have to get them.

I was cold. Very, very cold. It was a scheduled rape. Whatever Zendeval Rjjn was, he was something affected by the full moon. Werewolves, shapeshifters of many kinds and High Demons were all affected by the full moon. What was Zendeval Rjjn? And Perdil had said the rest of his kind. How many were there? My cage was lifted and hauled aboard the ship.

The tiny moon had no atmosphere, so we were unloaded inside an airlock later, and hauled belowground to a sealed warehouse. I saw crates and boxes stacked against one wall, much like the ones I'd seen inside the warehouse on Stellar Winds as my cage had been moved. Once all the cages were lined up inside the warehouse, several workers came through, offering small plates of food. I didn't feel like eating, but it had been a long time since I'd had food. I ate a bit of the sandwich, although it was dry and had likely been transported from Stellar Winds, just as I and my fellow prisoners had.

"Moon's rising, get ready!" Someone shouted. Another ship landed above us; I felt the thump of it through the bars of my cage. Plates and water pitchers were hastily collected from cages and piled off to the side.

I was frightened out of my wits, now. I have no idea how many men walked in, but I watched in horror as the first cages were reached, doors were flung open and seemingly humanoid men turned into the blackest of creatures. Short tusks and small, spiked horns appeared on jaws and foreheads as women were jerked from their confining cages. I heard screams as they were taken, right on the cold flo c ths aor of the warehouse.

Lendill was shouting mindspeech, telling me to ignore what was happening around me. I whimpered—women were being brutalized all about me, but this wasn't the end of it. They'd be sold afterward, elsewhere. Lendill, Norian and the ASD needed to know where that was, in case Stellar Winds wasn’t the only source of slaves for their market. I wanted to weep anyway, and to shut my eyes and cover my ears at the sight and sound of such a brutal attack.

"Back! Get back!" Perdil suddenly appeared beside my cage, a shock baton in his hand. He'd hit two of the black-scaled creatures and they'd turned away, howling, before finding another cage and jerking the imprisoned woman out of it. Zendeval arrived, then. He hadn't turned yet, but was about to—his eyes had gone feral and he stared longingly in my direction.

"If you want a bed instead of the cold floor, then come." Perdil jerked my cage door open, gesturing for me to step outside.

Shuddering at what was happening around us and terrified of what Perdil and Zendeval had planned for me, I briefly considered turning Thifilatha. I didn't think anyone there could stand against me in my largest form. That would only ruin any hopes we had of finding where the slaves were taken and sold, and it would all be for nothing. At least I kept telling myself that as waves of horror and revulsion tore through me while women screamed in pain and fear all around. Swallowing my fright, I followed Perdil while Zendeval Rjjn came out of his clothing beside me and became what his fellows were.

The room we entered was small, held only a narrow bed and small table and had handcuffs bolted to the wall on either side of the headboard. "It will go easier if you don't struggle," Perdil said, grasping one of the handcuffs. I didn't want that at all. I'd never done anything of that sort, even playing around with my mates. Zendeval stood by, barely holding on, I figured, his body already excited. He came forward and sniffed my hair and shoulder. I flinched away from him.

"Reah, do not fight. It will go faster and easier," Perdil warned. "Undress. Quickly."

Shaking, I disrobed as commanded. Perdil snapped a cuff around my right wrist. "Now, the other one," he pulled the other cuff over and snapped it shut. I made a promise to myself then, silently, of course, that Perdil might be the second one I killed. He grunted his satisfaction before shoving me onto the bed. "Now, you can use this or not," he drew a bottle of lubricant from the bedside table and tossed it to me. My chains rattled as I caught it. Zendeval growled.

"Hurry, he only has so much control," Perdil warned. "It'll be over quickly," he added. Zendeval was inching toward me, even as Perdil pointed the shock baton at him. Zendeval snarled at the dwarf but stayed away. I whimpered—Perdil made no move to leave the room. Was he planning to watch my rape? That was horror upon horror.

With trembling hands, I applied lubricant. Perdil lowered the baton and stepped back. I screamed as Zendeval lunged at me. I expected rape immediately, but his teeth sank into my shoulder, his enlarged canines capturing my collarbone and biting deep. The saliva felt like acid as it entered my body and I shrieked in agony. I might have fainted from the pain and impending rape, except she came.

Shining too brightly to look upon, she growled and batted Zendeval away from me as easily as a ball of fluff. He cowered and whined in her presence before leaping up and running out the door. Perdil huddled in a corner of the room, his hands covering his eyes. cng flin"There will be no rape of this one," the woman's voice was low and angry. She disappeared as quickly as she'd appeared, leaving me stunned and in terrible pain.

What do you think of, while you are subjected to this? It had happened once before, when Tory claimed me. Zendeval Rjjn had bitten me, and it felt exactly as it had when Tory placed his claiming marks. The other girls hadn't had a guardian who'd stopped their attacks. I wept—for them and for myself, knowing all of us were suffering. I hadn't been raped, but I was the only one. Was I grateful? No. I was angry, and at the moment, felt powerless, violated and humiliated.

Briefly, I thought of Lendill, who'd gotten full view of everything. I'm sure Perdil was correct and it only lasted a short time. To me, the bite lasted an eternity before my salvation appeared in the form of a shining woman. I had no idea where Zendeval's monster had fled, and at the moment, I didn't care. More than likely, I should have held my tongue. I didn't.

"One day, Zendeval Rjjn," I spat, "you will know how lucky you were at this moment." Perdil, who'd recovered from his fear and stupor, now stood beside the bed and blinked at me in shock.

Chapter 11

"You are lucky to get this." Perdil was angry, I could tell, as he handed me a bucket of warm water, soap and a towel. I was quivering all over after my ordeal while Lendill sent mindspeech repeatedly, attempting to calm me. I finally told him to shut the hell up and leave me alone.

I had the privacy of the room in which to clean my wound, if you didn't count Perdil's watchful gaze, that is. I had no idea what the others were getting. As soon as I was finished wiping blood away from my shoulder I dressed, my hands shaking the whole time. I was ordered out of the room and down another hall. I ached all over from Zendeval's bite. The area around the bite was beginning to bruise, too—he hadn't been gentle.

"Sit. A physician will tend to you soon," Perdil pointed to an empty spot at the end of a long bench against a wall. Some of the other women were there as well, many of them weeping and still naked, all showing evidence of a brutal rape. None had been bitten as deeply as I'd been, however. I was quite shocked when Neeki and Teeki came to sit on either side of me.

"No, they cannot see us," Neeki said as I stared at him in surprise. "And we would attempt to heal you, but that would be obvious. We shielded the baby, however. He still lives inside your womb. We are grateful the Mighty One arrived to stop the rape."