CHAPTER SIX
TANSEY
My breathing is fast, deep, from fighting Verig—to no avail—before he dumped me and walked off…afterpromising to fuck me. I don’t understand the male or this unexplained fascination I have with him. Taking my eyes off him borders on nearly impossible.
When he spoke those words in a deep voice filled with promise and certainty, a thrill traveled through me, nearly making me follow him…. To do what, precisely?
I don’t know…
Verig is not what I expected…or want.
What I want is to be released, so I can return to my son.
“Tansey? Is that you?”
I recognize that voice from New Earth. I spin around, taking in the room where Verig left me. It’s not a room, but a huge chamber. With fur-covered pallets on the floor, light discs chest-high on the wall, and eight human women. Phoebe, Amara, Poetry, Calista, Tallulah, and three I don’t know.
The brute didn’t bring me to his quarters. This is the women’s quarters Paloma told me about.
“We didn’t know,” Phoebe says, her face sullen.
“Didn’t know what?” I ask.
“Soon after we arrived in Mount Racha, Paloma ordered the orcs to give us this space to ourselves, unless we chose to stay with the orcs who kidnapped us. We,” she motions to the seven women standing behind her, “chose to move in here. All those times we saw you with that orc outside…” Her shoulders sink. “We thought you’d given in to him. Wanted to be with him.”
“Baloq didn’t give me a choice,” I spew with venom they don’t deserve. They’re not in charge here.
“We didn’t know that at the time. Paloma and the female orc who’s always with her just stopped by and explained everything. I’m sorry, Tansey, if we had realized what was happening, we would have said something to the orcs.”
I search their faces, most of them wear terrified expressions. They wouldn’t have spoken up. Perhaps Phoebe would have, had she known. I believe her, but it changes nothing.
“It’s okay. It’s no one’s fault. Except the orcs.”
With a relieved smile, Tallulah steps aside and points to several pallets. “You can choose whichever one you like. They’re actually pretty comfortable. And the latrine’s not far from here. I’ll show you around, if you’d like.”
They’re trying to include me. Which is more than I ever had from most of the women back in New Earth. Then again, that could be because I kept to myself. Here, there are so few of us that our differences disappear. Their faces reveal the truth; they’re scared and clinging to each other for safety.
Safety is a nice idea, but a fleeting concept in reality.
I approach one of the palettes and sit down, still trying to process why Verig brought me here when he could have taken me to his quarters. I guess he meant everything he said about their laws.
He’s nothing like Baloq.
Maybe some of the orcs can be trusted.
Then again, they stole me and these other women. One act of decency doesn’t erase what they’ve done. Nor can I let it distract me from going home to Ethan. I need to be strategic, and to do that, I need information.
“Apology accepted,” I say without reservation. “Now, tell me everything that’s happened to you since we were kidnapped…”
“He was quite clear,Paloma. Verig said he’d…” I lean into her and whisper, “fuck me. Soon. He emphasized the word ‘soon.’ That was a week ago. He’ll take me soon.”
“It wasn’t a threat,” Paloma says as she swallows a bite of her late-night snack. We’re sitting by one of the many fires at the base of the mountain, enjoying the night air.
Despite Paloma’s invitation to visit her last week, I don’t know my way around the massive tunnel system. Wandering alone, looking for her chamber in a multi-level, dark maze of tunnels with too few light discs, is a recipe for disaster.
For the past week, I’ve remained in the women’s quarters, only leaving when a group of six or seven women goes out for fresh air or to eat. Tonight, when I spotted Paloma sitting by herself, I broke off from the group so I could speak with her. I suspect Verig won’t do anything to me while I’m near his grak’s mate.
“You’re right. It wasn’t a threat. More like a promise.” I couch my words where possible. Paloma’s latest escort, her eight-year-old orc niece, is sitting with us. Evve appears to be soaking up Common rather quickly, so I don’t want to say anything crass in front of the little girl.
