“But…you said that Naggian blood is bitter, right?” she asked uncertainly.
I shrugged.
“Oh, yeah.Veryfucking bitter. Like I said—the chemical in it that makes it practically antiseptic gives it that flavor.”
“Is…is that whyI’mhere?” Natalie had put down her mug and was looking at me with her big brown eyes filled with fear. “Because you want to see if…if my blood will taste different?”
“Iknowit will,” I told her. “I had a drop of your friend’s blood during a Blood Exchange.” I gave her an intense look. “I’m pretty fucking sure your blood is going to be fuckingdelicious, little girl.”
“Oh…” She looked down at the half-eaten pies on her plate and I thought her light brown skin got a little paler. “I…I see.”
Fuck—now I had scared her and that was thelastthing I wanted. I didn’t want her to be frightened of me.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Look, don’t worry about that now, okay?”
“I can’t help it.” She looked up at me. “It’s always on my mind—being bitten. I mean, it’s what I do for a living here. Can we…” She cleared her throat. “Couldn’t we just, er, get it over with?”
I shook my head.
“Afraid not. I’d rather hear how you got here and why you stayed since O’nagga Nine is such a ‘God-forsaken ball of ice.’”
She flushed, her creamy brown cheeks going dark with a blush.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story. But the short version is, I was kidnapped by these little blue aliens called ‘Commercians’ who run a service called the Alien Mate Index. They sold me to an Eloim merchant who only bought me because they told him I was aLa-ti-zal.”
“And are you?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. I remembered Lord Bart telling me that his own little female was aLa-ti-zaland how proud he had been of that fact. It was one reason I had gotten interested enough to do some research on them.
“Absolutelynot,”she said flatly. “I don’t have any special superpowers or gifts or anything like that. I want to get that out there on the tableright now, so you don’t get disappointed,” she added, frowning at me.
“Like I’m guessing the merchant who bought you was,” I murmured.
She nodded morosely.
“He dropped me off here, the bastard. Told me to sell my blood if I wanted to survive, but I didn’t know how to. I mean, I’d never…neversoldmyself that way before—you know?”
Natalie looked up at me and her brown eyes were wide and vulnerable. The look in them made me want to gather her into my arms and just hold her for a moment, but I knew damn well I couldn’t do that. She didn’t trust me and I couldn’t blame her—to her I was just another customer after her rare blood.
Well, isn’t that exactly what you are?asked a voice in my head. I wasn’t sure anymore.
“So what happened?” I asked, pushing the internal question aside.
She shrugged unhappily.
“I met another girl—a Blood Whore—who offered to show me the ropes. She meant well, but she also introduced me to her pimp…who subsequently becamemypimp even though Ididn’tagree to it,” she added angrily. “R’xs has been running my life ever since—taking most of what I make and forcing me to take more and more, er, customers…” She sighed and shook her head. “Look, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Of course,” I said. “Though Iwouldstill like to know why you stay, since you hate it so much.”
She spread her hands.
“How am I ever going to get home?” she demanded. “I can’t afford the price of an interstellar flight and it’s not like some nice Naggian man is going to sweep me off my feet and offer to fly me back to Earth! And then there’s the fact that if R’xs caught me trying to run away from him he’d—” She broke off, shivering.
I could see she didn’t want to talk about her life anymore and I didn’t blame her.
“I’m sorry you’re stuck here, little girl,” I said, really meaning it. Then I caught a glimpse of the chronometer hanging on the wall and cursed under my breath. Damn it—I had a meeting coming up that Ireallycouldn’t miss. I’d been so interested in getting to know Natalie I’d almost forgotten all about it.
“Listen,” I told her. “I have some business to attend to this morning, but you’re welcome to stay and finish breakfast. If you’ll forgive me for leaving early?” I asked, half-rising from my place.
She nodded.