Grabbing the fluid-filled bag, she was tempted to rip it from her arm, but common sense told her to just take one step at a time. She walked over to the basin and mirror. Placing the bag in the stainless steel sink, she gripped the edge of the cold metal tightly with one hand.
Horror stunned her when she got a look at her face.
Running a finger across the thick, jelly-like substance that still partially covered her face, she could see fading bruises marring her flesh. There was still a bit of swelling, but not enough to obstruct her vision further. How long had she been out so that her wounds were all but healed?
Luna supposed it could have been a brief time if the owner of the ship had access to state-of-the-art equipment and medical supplies. Looking down at her arms, she saw all the cuts were nearly healed, and the same gel type substance covered them.
A thick, white bandage was wrapped around her forearm. Pulling at the edges of it, the material unraveled and fell to the ground. What was revealed was a nearly healed wound.
The sound of deep, male voices sounded just outside her door. The language was foreign to her, and adrenaline pumped through her body.
The flight or fight response kicked in and urged her to move into action, but as she looked around, she realized there was nowhere for her to go aside from hiding in the bathing chamber.
But before she could take one step, the door slowly dematerialized and revealed the males who held her life in their hands.
ChapterThirteen
ERAK
The door to Luna’s room dematerialized, and the first thing Erak noticed was an empty bed. Her fear thickened the air, and every protective instinct inside of him roared out.
He sensed the same change within his brothers, who stood right behind him, but he held his hand up, urging them to rein it in. It didn’t take him more than a second to see that she was over by the bathing chamber.
Her whole body shook, and beads of perspiration dotted her forehead. She was scared and in pain, and he felt his muscles tense reacting to the myriad of sensations coming from her. All he wanted to do was go to her and wrap his arms around her, tell her everything would be okay, and they were the last ones she needed to shy away from.
She tightened her small hands on the blanket wrapped around her body. He was thankful to see her face was nearly clear of all evidence of her abuse, as were her limbs. She had removed the bandage from the more serious of cuts on her forearm, and although it was closing, it would need several more hours of care before it was completely mended again.
He had come in to add more healing gel to her wounds but never expected her to be up and waking around. A quick glance over his shoulder showed his brothers were just as surprised to see her up and moving around, as well.
Her eyes were the size of moons, and her breathing was rapid.
“Shit,” Raimi said as a fresh wave of her fear slammed into them.
Her gaze flicked over him and then to Genet and Raimi.
“Fallina.” He held his hands out in front, hoping to appear non-threatening.
He noticed the way her throat worked as she swallowed.
“You remember us from the tavern?”
She swallowed again, but quickly and firmly nodded her head.
“Good. That’s real good.”
“That’s not my name. Fallina” She took a step back. “What does that mean? Slave?”
Slave?
Erak looked back at his brothers, saw their identical looks of confusion, and faced Luna again.
Whether they were royalty or not, her fear had her thinking the worst. Of course, he couldn’t blame her, not when it was clear she had been living a nightmare.
“No, no. It is just an endearment in my language. It means dearest one.”
Her brows dipped low, and she glanced at the ground. Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear what she said.
“Luna?” Erak said. She snapped her head up and looked at him. Her eyes seemed so very blue compared to her too pale face and the dark circles directly below them.