Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Read online

  I bit back my cry of pain when it felt like he was burning a line of fire into my skin. I squirmed and his hand tightened on my shoulder before he patted it almost sympathetically. “Sorry, human. I thought the juice in your system would help. Here, I will bring you another.”

  He brought me a second bottle of juice and I drained it as quickly as I drained the first. He took both bottles and disposed of them and I took the opportunity to feel behind my ear when his back was turned. The skin still tingled but I couldn’t feel anything, not even a thin scar.

  “Would you like to bathe now, human?” Sigan said.

  “Yes,” I said eagerly.

  He unhooked my IV and I watched carefully when he slid his finger under the cuff around my wrist. It turned green and opened with a small click, but I still couldn’t figure out how the hell he’d opened it.

  I slid out of the bed and Sigan took my arm and led me toward a door on the far side of the room. “You may shower in there,” he said. “Give me your clothes and I will have them cleaned.”

  “Um, I’m not undressing in front of you,” I said.

  “I am not sexually attracted to you, human,” Sigan said. “No Draax will be.”

  My face flushed bright red and a memory I’d rather not ever remember threatened to surface.

  Ukana. Ukana. Ukana.

  The word echoed in my brain, making me feel both nauseated and ashamed.

  “You do not have to be concerned about me asking you to mate just because I see you naked. Trust me. You are much too thin.” Sigan was carrying on like he hadn’t just sliced open my oldest and most painful wound.

  I swallowed down the hurt and the shame, shoved it deep where it belonged and, like I did so often, activated my sarcasm shield. “As much as I enjoy your sweet talking, I’m still not taking off my clothes in front of you, Sigan.”

  “Sweet talking?” Sigan cocked one eyebrow as his tail waved in the air behind him. “What does that mean?”

  Great. My sarcasm was lost on the Draax. “Look, I’ll get undressed in the bathroom and toss my clothes out to you. All right?”

  “That is acceptable,” Sigan said.

  He dropped my arm and I stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I leaned against the door for a second before stripping off my clothes and wrapping one of the clean towels around me. I opened the door just enough to toss my clothes out and to take the toothbrush and toothpaste that Sigan handed to me.

  I turned the shower on and glanced at the door before quickly going through the cupboard under the sink.

  “C’mon,” I muttered. “This is like a hospital, right? There’s gotta be a scalpel or something lying around that I can use to escape.”

  The idea of using a scalpel against Sigan’s giant body was laughable, but it was the best plan I had. He wasn’t wearing a sword around his waist like the other two Draax, so maybe he was more of a lover than a fighter. Besides, even a giant Draax like Sigan would have to submit to me if I was holding a damn scalpel to his throat.

  Of course, that would only work if there was something other than towels in the cupboard. I sighed and stood up, staring at myself in the mirror over the sink.

  “Ugh.” My hair was dirty and stringy and the whole right side was matted to my head with the sticky black flux fluid and gallberry serum. I lifted my arm and sniffed my armpit, wrinkling my nose at the smell. I smelled worse than a hydron pivoter in a havoc cruiser.

  I brushed my teeth and then stepped into the shower, scrubbing my body and hair with the sweet smelling soap that dispensed out of a panel in the shower wall when I pressed the first of the two green buttons.

  It felt amazing to be clean and I couldn’t remember the last time I had a proper shower. Despite the fact that I was coughing again and my back was aching, I washed my hair and body a second time until my pale skin was pink from being scrubbed.

  I shut the water off and studied the panel on the wall before pressing the second green button experimentally. I shrieked and then laughed when hot air blew from small holes in the glass of the shower. It was like being inside a giant blow dryer and I pressed the button twice more before getting out of the shower and wrapping the towel around me.

  I finger combed my hair as best I could, wincing at the tangles in my long locks. I coughed and tightened the towel around my body before opening the door to the bathroom.

  “Hey, Sigan? Do you have a hospital gown or something I can wear until my clothes are…”

  My voice died in my throat and I stared at the copper eyed Draax standing in front of me.

  Chapter Four

  Galan

  “Krey, where are you off to?” I left the garden and followed him down the hallway. Like Quill, Krey and I had known each other since we were children, and I didn’t need to see the short hard flicks of Krey’s tail to know he was annoyed.

  “I thought I was going to the dining hall to finally get some food in my belly followed by my own bed for a nap,” Krey grumbled. He slowed down, allowing me to catch up to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Walking in the garden,” I said.

  Krey scrubbed a hand through his hair and I could see the weariness etched into his face. “Krono, are you not tired, Galan?”

  I shrugged. I was tired but while the gallberry juice I’d drank took away the space sickness, my stomach still felt as twisted up as the trunk of a darsinian tree. I couldn’t have slept even if I’d tried.

  After leaving the infirmary, I’d gone straight to Quill’s private quarters. Angry with Sigan for allowing the little human to suffer, I could barely keep my voice measured when I asked Quill for permission to give the human more serum as well as translators.

  He had agreed quickly enough, although I knew the agitation in my voice had left him curious. After he called Sigan, I had made an excuse and left. He would ask me why I was so annoyed, and I didn’t want to have to explain. Feeling so strongly for a human who I had just met and would probably break if I even tried to bed her, left me perplexed.

  Now you want to mate with her?

  I flushed, my tail snapping back and forth behind me as I walked with Krey. No, I didn’t. I just felt sorry for her. She would be returned to Earth within a day or two where she would die a painful and miserable death while being locked away. No one deserved that fate, not even a thief. If I could make it a little easier for her while she was here, maybe even buy her some extra time with the healing juice of the gallberry plant, I would.

  “Galan?”

  I glanced at Krey. “Sorry, what?”

  “I asked why you were walking in the garden and not relaxing, like I want to be.”

  “Too wound up to sleep, I suppose,” I said. “Where are you going?”

  “Quill asked me to bring the thief to the council room. He and Teo wish to speak with her.”

  My steps slowed and I hurried to catch up with Krey when he turned the corner. “You are taking her to meet them now?”

  “Yes.”

  “She needs to rest.”

  Krey shrugged. “Our king demands it.”

  I clapped him on the back. “Go to the dining hall and eat, my friend. I will take the human to the council room.”

  Krey stopped and studied me for a moment. “That is kind of you, Galan.”

  I didn’t reply and Krey squeezed my shoulder, the look on his face uncharacteristically solemn. “Your attraction to the human is not wise. Not only is she too small for you to bed, but she will be imprisoned for at least forty years. You know how the humans are about gallberry juice being stolen.”

  “Technically she stole it from us, not from the humans,” I said.

  “So, what? You know as well as I do that the Planetary Treaty only allows humans to be punished for their crimes on Earth. Even if that wasn’t true, do you want her put in Iron Gate instead?” Krey said.

  “No.”

  “I know you wish for a mate, old friend, but this tiny human is not the one,” Krey said.

&nb
sp; “I am aware. Besides, I am not attracted to her. I feel sorry for her. When Sigan scanned her, he found cancer in her spine and her lungs. She will not live long once she returns to Earth.”

  “That may be better for her,” Krey said. “Earth prisons do not separate the males from the females. One as small as her could not possibly survive in a prison. Her early death will be a mercy for her. She will most likely be abused by the male prisoners.”

  Krey’s face had lightened to a pale green, a sure sign that he was upset. “The way human males so callously treat their females never fails to surprise me. Why do they not understand how precious a female is, Galan?”

  “I do not know,” I said.

  His hands had clenched into tight fists and his tail was swiping through the air with hard strokes and jabs again. “Perhaps we should ask Quill to put her in our prison. Even the rakart who populate Iron Gate would never hurt her. They know the value of females.”

  “Go and eat, Krey. I will take the human to see our king,” I said.

  He nodded and we started down the hallway again, going our separate ways at the end of the hallway. A few minutes later and I was opening the door of the infirmary, my eagerness to see the tiny human surprising me.

  The human’s bed was empty and fresh anxiety poured through me. Had she tried to escape again? Sigan was sitting at his desk at the far end of the infirmary. He glanced up from his tablet when I said, “Sigan, where is the human?”

  “Bathing.” He pointed to the bathroom door. “I could no longer stand the smell of her.”

  I glanced at the bag of gallberry serum and Sigan said, “Do not worry, Galan. I have been giving her the serum and I implanted translators as the king requested.”

  I ignored the way he accented the word king and walked toward him. “Our king requests the human’s presence in the council room. When she is finished bathing, I will -”

  The bathroom door swung open just as I walked by it.

  “Hey, Sigan? Do you have a hospital gown or something I can wear until my clothes are…”

  The little female stopped speaking, staring wide-eyed at me as she clutched the towel around her body.

  Krono, she was beautiful. Her eyes were a fascinating shade of blue that reminded me of the crashing waves of the Gardian Sea. Her pale skin, finally clean of the grime that covered it was pink from the heat of the shower and her matted hair was now a shiny gold waterfall. I was suddenly itching to touch her hair, to see if the locks were as soft as they looked.

  The human made a squeak of nervousness and backed away when I reached for her hair. My face burning, I took a step back as Sigan joined us.

  “You look better, human.” He sniffed at her. “You smell better too.”

  “Uh, thanks. Do you, um, have a gown or something I can wear?” She had her arms crossed over her tiny towel-covered breasts. I stared at her legs. They weren’t perfectly smooth, I could see a few small scars on her right knee and a long twisting scar ran down the front of her left shin. Still, I had a sudden image of those scarred legs wrapped around my waist and my cock twitched against the confines of my briefs.

  I cleared my throat as Sigan pulled a gown from a cupboard and handed it to her. “Here, human.”

  “Thank you.” With one last look at me, she shut the bathroom door.

  Sigan turned away, and I reached down and adjusted my dick. I was half-hard and the image of the human and all of her pretty pale skin was etched into my brain.

  Krono, I had to stop thinking about it before Sigan noticed my erection.

  “Why are you here, Galan?” Sigan asked.

  “Quill wishes to meet with the human.”

  I could hear the human coughing and I frowned at Sigan. “Is she well enough?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Although the cancer seems to be even more aggressive than I originally thought. I took a closer look at her scan while she bathed and discovered spots on her liver and her kidneys. My estimate of her life expectancy has dropped to a moon or less.”

  There was a soft gasp behind me, and I turned to see the human standing in the doorway of the bathroom again. The gown she wore was meant for a Draax male and it hung on her like a sheet.

  Her mouth trembling, she stared at Sigan. “Cancer? I have cancer?”

  “Yes,” Sigan said although his tone was softer than it normally was. “I am sorry, human. You have a large tumour on your spine and the cancer has spread to your lungs and other organs. It is why you cough.”

  “I… but I don’t feel that bad,” she said. “It’s just a lung infection.”

  “It is not,” Sigan said. “It is cancer and you are going to die.”

  “Sigan!” I glared at him as the human slumped against the wall.

  “Lying to her will not change the outcome,” Sigan said.

  “You could be… gentler about it,” I said.

  I liked our kadana but for a healer, he was not particularly compassionate.

  “I am sorry, human,” Sigan said. “I did not mean to upset you. But think of it this way, you will not have to live long in the Earth prison. That should cheer you, should it not?”

  “For Krono’s sake,” I snapped as the human made a sound that was half laughter and half sob. “Sigan, be quiet.”

  I took a step toward the human. “Human, take a deep breath.”

  She stared up at me, her eyes as large and round as a diacus flower. Her pale skin was nearly translucent, and her lips had lost all their colour. I picked her up when she staggered on her feet and carried her back to her bed. I set her on the side of it with her legs dangling before pressing on the back of her neck. “Head between your knees, little human.”

  She bent forward obediently but I kept one hand on the back of her neck as I rubbed her upper back with the other. “Take deep breaths.”

  She breathed deep for a few minutes and when I was sure she wouldn’t faint, I eased her into an upright position. I studied her face. She wasn’t quite as pale as before and her lips were pink again.

  “Sigan, bring me some juice,” I said.

  He brought it over and I twisted off the cap and handed it to the human. “Drink this.”

  Her hands shaking, she drank the entire bottle of juice before wiping her mouth with the back of the hand. “Thanks.”

  “You are welcome, human,” I said.

  She made a face. “Ellis. My name is Ellis.”

  “I am Galan,” I said.

  “Nice to meet you,” she said. “How many extra minutes do you think that bottle of juice gave me? Two? Three?”

  “At least an hour,” Sigan said.

  “Sigan,” I said as the female gaped at him.

  Both Sigan and I jerked when the little female burst into loud laughter. We watched as she bent over, holding onto her stomach and laughing until tears slipped down her cheeks.

  “This female is a strange one,” Sigan said before walking away.

  Ellis laughed harder until the laughter turned to coughing. She buried her mouth in the crook of her elbow and I rubbed her back again until her coughing fit eased.

  I was about to ask Sigan for another bottle of juice when he dropped one off on the bed beside her and returned to his desk. I opened the juice and handed it to her. “Drink.”

  She drank this one a little slower, swiping at her watery eyes. “Thanks. It’s good.”

  I took the empty bottle from her as she rubbed her upper chest. “So, are you here to take me back to Earth now?”

  “No,” I said. “Our king has requested to see you.”

  “Right, there was a royal crest on the ship.” She sighed and rubbed at her chest again. “I should never have snuck onto your damn ship.”

  I wanted to ask her why she was stealing the juice, but Quill was waiting for her and he would be growing impatient.

  “Do you feel well enough to walk, human?”

  “Yes.” She slid off the bed, the hospital gown dragging on the ground behind her. She lifted it up a little and I sta
red at her bare feet.

  “Sigan, where are the human’s boots?”

  “I threw them away with the rest of her clothing,” Sigan said.

  “Threw them away?” The little female stared indignantly at him. “What the hell? Those were my clothes, you dickhead. You said you were going to have them cleaned.”

  “The dirt was the only thing keeping them together,” Sigan said.

  She scowled at him and I hid my grin when she extended her middle finger at the kadana. I knew exactly what that human gesture meant and evidently so did Sigan because he rolled his eyes and said, “Being rude will not get your clothes back, human.”

  “I will carry you,” I said.

  I reached for her, feeling a stupid sort of hurt when she pushed me away. “I can walk.”

  “Our floors are cold and without your boots -”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “I’m used to cold.”

  I hesitated before stepping back. “All right.”

  “Aren’t you going to put those on me?” She pointed to the cuffs lying on the bed.

  “Do I need to?” I said.

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I could outrun you even if my body wasn’t riddled with cancer.”

  Her face paled a little, and a trickle of admiration went down my back when she straightened her body and said, “C’mon, let’s go see this king of yours.”

  * * *

  Ellis

  I was going to die.

  My brain kept shrinking away from the thought as I walked with Galan down the wide hallway. I rubbed at my chest. Thanks to the two bottles of juice, my cough was gone again, and I didn’t feel like I had cancer. I felt fantastic, healthy as a horse as the old Earth saying went.

  Yeah, well, you’re not. You have cancer and you’re going to die. And fairly soon if Sigan is to be believed.

  I wanted to pretend that he was wrong, that his scanner had made a mistake, but it was a waste of energy. Not with the coughing the last few weeks and how, for the last year, the ache in my back had never really gone away. I’d chalked it up to sleeping on the streets, not a tumour. At twenty-three years old, who thought they would get cancer?