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“Please, I’m not a slave,” I begged, trying hard to hold back my tears.

“If you weren’t before, you are now,” he declared, carrying me into his ship.

I struggled, but it was useless. Soon he was dumping me in a dimly lit room. The sound of the door sliding shut sounded loud in the empty space.

I knew it was pointless, but I got to my feet and limped to the door. There wasn’t even a display on the inside.

“I’m going to die soon. Do you want me to help you die before I’m gone?”

The voice startled me and I fell on my ass. Staying down, I looked around until I saw the woman huddled in a corner, hidden by the shadows.

“I have no intention of dying,” I said.

“Death might be better than whatever they have planned,” she whispered. My eyes were adjusting to the dim light, and I was able to make out details.

She was human and looked to be about my age, with light tan skin and light brown hair only long enough to cover her eyes. There were bruises on her face, neck, and what I could see of her arms. She looked much too thin, and her clothes were worn and dirty.

Much worse than all of that was the dull look in her eyes. If she hadn’t already talked about her own death, I’d know she’d given up after one look at her eyes.

“What do you know about this ship and the Vicpor?” I asked.

She closed her eyes, and for a moment I didn’t think she was going to answer. Then she let out a soft sigh and spoke.

“He mostly trades in Vicpor slaves, but he makes an exception for humans.”

“Why us?” I asked, feeling confused. Most didn’t even know we existed.

“A species called the Talins will pay a huge amount of wealth for us,” she said. “I also know Talins don’t keep slaves. That can mean only one thing. They think of humans as food.”

Despite the pain in my foot and the dire situation, I snorted. “Trust me, they don’t eat humans. At least not in that way.”

I felt my face get hot at the double entendre, then shook it off.

“How would you know?”

Her eyes were open and looking at me with interest. That was much better than her dull acceptance.

“Because I escaped from a ship full of them,” I said. “I was never on the menu. They think we’re of low intelligence and keep us as pets.”

“Like they keep us in cages and shit?” she asked. “Great. We’ll probably become brood mares.”

I hated to admit that might be possible. Who knew how other Talins might treat us? Tolly and the guys had been open to realizing I wasn’t dumb. They’d been patient, kind, and gentle. The next Talin who bought me might be cruel.

No, there had to be a way to get us out of here. Maybe not right at this moment, but in the future. The moment someone wasn’t paying attention, I’d make my move.

Although it was going to be hard to make any move now that I didn’t have an information square and my foot was rapidly swelling.

“What’s your name?” I asked, crawling over to her. In an effort to relieve the pain, I lay on my back and propped my leg up against the wall. It helped a little, but not much.

“Sloane,” she said.

“Hi, Sloane, I’m Opal. I was trying to buy passage home and that damn broker decided to sell me instead. What happened to you?”

“I’m tired,” she whispered.

That’s when I noticed the sheen of sweat covering her body and the strange color in the whites of her eyes. I didn’t know what was wrong, but it was clear this woman was very ill.

“Okay, you rest,” I murmured and watched her close her eyes and rest her head against the wall behind her.