Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“I never asked you, though. Nor will I.”
“Maybe you get to boss women around on Hallalah, or maybe everyone just bows to the prince’s whims, but I’m not going to be one of them.”
An unexpected laugh bursts from him. “Boss a Hallan female around? I will have to tell them that when we get home. No one bosses a female around on my planet. Not unless you want the bruises to show everyone how foolish you were.”
“Then, give me the same respect. I’ve said I’m not going and I mean it. There is war coming and I plan to help The Opposition take back what The New Order should never have had in the first place.”
He nods. “There is a war coming, but you will not be here to fight it.”
“That’s not your choice to make.”
“And you still seem to be under the delusion that I’m giving you a choice at all.”
“Would you treat one of your precious Hallan women this way?”
I was hoping to make him see reason, but as he begins to speak now, I can see it didn’t work.
“My mate will not be anywhere but with me. And if there were a war where she could be hurt, I would make sure she was as far away from it as possible.”
“I’m not going. And if you try to take me, I will make sure everyone in this camp knows it’s against my will. How do you think the other human women here will respond to that?”
He shrugs. “I really don’t care because the only female who matters to me, is you.”
His words make whatever I was about to say seize in my throat. I don’t know what else to say. He’s intent on me going, and I know that nothing can make me leave this planet. I’ve waited all my life for The New Order’s downfall, to witness them pay for what they did to my mother, and to so many other women. I’m not going to miss it now. Not even for this alien who makes me feel strange things.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I say more to Zarah than Halun.
She’s watched our whole exchange quietly, but the small smile on her face tells me she found it absolutely amusing.
“I will come to see you before you,” I pointedly say, “leave.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she replies.
Halun says nothing as I walk pass him, but when I sneak to look at him over my shoulder, his eyes are on me. I rush back to my tent and throw together a few things I’ll need to survive outside of camp. If he won’t let me stay here, then I’ll just have to run and stay hidden until he gives up and goes home without me. My mind snickers at me, telling me that Halun isn’t going anywhere without me. But I know the surrounding areas better than him. His ability to find me isn’t better than my ability to hide.
Everything I need gathered, I write my father a note explaining what’s going on, that I’ll be back and not to worry about me. I only feel somewhat guilty putting the note on the cot, considering I’m sure he’s still dealing with the trauma of me being kidnapped barely two months ago. He’ll worry, but I’ll be free. I’ll go and hug Zarah one last time and find a way to escape camp before Halun is any the wiser.
I peek out my tent and find no one paying any attention to me as I slip out. Pausing for a moment, I try to spot Halun, but I don’t see him anywhere. Hopefully, he’s in his tent. I’m still looking over my shoulder as I begin to walk around my tent, so I don’t notice whatever hard body I crash into.
“Oh, sor—”
My word cuts off when I look up to see who I bumped into.
Halun.
“Going somewhere?” he asks, his voice so low that I’d be a fool not to hear the edge in it. The danger wrapping itself around each word.
“To find my father.”
“Liar,” he hisses.
“It’s really none of your business where I’m going.”
“Everything about you is my business. You don’t need to answer me, though. I know exactly what you’re doing.”
“And what’s that?”
“Trying to run. I know, because it’s exactly what I would do, were I in your position. The difference, however, is that I would have succeeded, and you won’t.”
My eyes dart to the side, checking if there’s a clear path for me to run. I don’t know how fast Hallans are, but I’m pretty fast myself. If I can just get to …
“You won’t make it,” he says. “So stop.”
I look back up at him, mouth twisting as I speak. “What are you going to do? Throw me over your shoulder again?”
“No. This time, I’ll carry you at my front, so you can see the beauty of my ship as we enter it.”