“Except you don’t usually fight to the death making Last Meal,” Kalis rumbled. “This your ship?” he added, nodding at the sleek sliver Kindred shuttle in front of them.
“This is it.” Jillian had felt the impulse to ask him more about the Blood Circuit—was it some kind of Ultimate Fighting thing? But she thought it was probably better to let things go. After all, she was never going to see him again after this and it didn’t matter if there seemed to be a sexy little spark between them—he was a bodyslave, owned by the Yonnite Mistress—absolutely nothing could come of any kind of mutual attraction.
She pressed her hand to the side of the shuttle and the door slid obligingly open.
Kalis peered inside and nodded approval.
“Nice. You got an antigrav compartment I can put this in?” he asked, nodding down at the brick in his cupped hands.
Jillian frowned.
“Um…an antigrav compartment?”
He nodded.
“They usually have one in a shuttle like this—helps with carrying heavy, dense, or fragile objects you don’t want getting bumped around. Mind if I look?”
“Help yourself,” Jillian told him. She couldn’t help thinking, as the big warrior climbed into the shuttle and looked around, that it seemed built to his larger proportions. Was he some kind of a Kindred? It seemed rude to ask so she kept her mouth shut.
“Here you go,” Kalis called and she came to see what he was looking at.
“Oh—I thought that was some kind of safe or strongbox for storing valuables,” she exclaimed, looking at the small black metal door on the side of the shuttle wall.
“Well, it kind of is,” Kalis remarked. “Only you’re storing whatever the valuable is in antigravity. Do you mind opening it up?” He winced and nodded at the brick of thaelite in his cupped palms. “Even for me, this stuff is getting damn heavy.”
“Oh, sorry!” Quickly, Jillian pressed her palm to the black metal door and it opened with a soft click. Inside was a shiny silver compartment about a foot square. She frowned. “Are you sure that’s a, uh, antigrav chamber?”
“Just watch.” Carefully, Kalis put his cupped hands into the silver compartment. Then, slowly, he opened his fingers, as though he was releasing a wild bird.
Jillian watched in amazement as the incredibly heavy, ultra-dense brick of thaelite drifted quietly inside the shiny silver walls, as though it was lighter than air.
“Wow,” she murmured. “That’s amazing.”
Kalis shrugged his broad shoulders.
“Nah—just antigrav. Looks like magic if you’re not used to it, but it’s not really a big deal.”
“I guess I’m going to have to warn whoever gets it out of there how heavy it is,” Jillian remarked.
“You don’t have to worry about that, little Mistress—I’ll get it out for you,” Kalis rumbled.
“Uh…” Jillian looked at him uncertainly. “But…you’re not coming with me to the Kindred Mother Ship. I have to get you back home to your, uh, Mistress.”
Kalis frowned at her.
“But you are my Mistress now—my old Mistress sold me to you.”
“No, she didn’t!” Jillian protested. “She only, uh, rented you to me in order to transport the thaelite. Like I would rent a moving truck back on Earth,” she added, and then felt bad about comparing him to an inanimate object. But wasn’t it true, though? Wasn’t that what her deal with the Yonnie Mistress boiled down to?
Apparently the big bodyslave didn’t think so.
“I hate to contradict my Mistress,” Kalis rumbled. “But I was included in the price of the thaelite—I’m sure of it.”
Jillian took a deep breath, trying to think how to defuse this situation.
“Look—I can totally understand you wanting to get away from her. I mean, she seems awful. But I’m really sorry, I am just not the one to smuggle you out of here! I’m not allowed to bring back strangers to the Mother Ship for one thing—the Kindred High Council forbids it. And—”
“That’s all fine and good, little Mistress,” Kalis interrupted her, though Jillian thought she saw a flash of hurt in his silver-green eyes. “We can go back to my old Mistress and you can try to return me if you want.”
“It’s not that I want to return you, it’s just that I’m not allowed…oh, Hell.” Jillian sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Come on—let’s go.”
Feeling extremely awkward, she shut the door to the antigrav chamber with the thaelite inside and the two of them walked back into the market and boarded the tram again.
This time they rode in complete silence, neither one saying a word as they went to the back side of the market and returned to the Yonnite Mistress’s stall. Kalis just stood there as Jillian rang the bell. After a moment, the Mistress came out and glared at them both.
“What are you doing back here?” she demanded, pointing at Kalis. “I sold you. Or did you forget something?” she asked, looking at Jillian.