Total pages in book: 175
Estimated words: 166095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 830(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 830(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Dora composes herself, takes a few steps forward, and then lifts her chin.
Yes, I say silently. Yell at me. Smack me across the mouth for being cruel. Push your way into my quarters and take them over.
She glares at me, her chin lifting a little higher. Then, it wobbles. Hot tears streak down her cheeks.
I’ve made her cry.
Kef me, I’m the worst.
Five
DORA
Bethiah looks absolutely chagrined when I start to cry.
“Stop that,” she fusses, but it only makes me cry harder. I don’t know what she wants. I’m just scared and alone and I really wish I had a friend. The look she gives me is mortified. “Bounty hunters don’t cry.”
I wipe at my face, distressed that I’m making her mad. “I’m not a bounty hunter —”
“Not with that attitude.”
I break into a full-on sob, covering my face with my hands. “I’m sorry! I’m trying to do better!”
She makes another displeased groan, but in the next moment, I’m tucked against a taller, lean body, and she hugs me against her. It’s the first contact I’ve had in days and it feels so wonderful that I immediately burrow against her, the instinctive need to find shelter from the uncertainty in my life winning out over the fear of making her even angrier. Bethiah only rubs my back, though. She sighs. “Why couldn’t you be tough and ready to rumble like Ruthann? She’d have chewed my ears off if I hurt her feelings.”
I sniffle, burrowing into the warm safety of her arms. “Yeah, but she wouldn’t have gone with you. I’m the only dummy that did.”
That makes her chuckle. She rubs my back again and doesn’t seem in any particular hurry to let me go, so I stay right where I am. Being curled up next to someone is incredibly soothing. I’ve felt so alone for the past few days and bewildered. I’ve been trying to give Bethiah space, and it’s clearly not working for me. Maybe she might need space, but I don’t.
Well, she did tell me to be pushier. So I guess I should start.
“You’re not a dummy. Just soft.” She sighs again, as if that’s the worst thing in the world to be. “But don’t worry. We’re going to work on that. I have a plan.”
That makes me pause. “You…do?”
“I do, actually. I’ve never had a protégé before. It could be fun. I’m going to teach you everything I know about bounty hunting. It’ll be fun. You can be my decoy and lure in the bad guys. It’ll be great experience for you.”
“Um.” I’m not sure I like the whole “lure” idea. “I’m sure we have a lot of learning before we get to the whole ‘luring’ part, don’t we?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Bethiah chuckles. Her hand strays to my hair and she hums with surprise. “Your hair is softer than it looks.”
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing. All I know is that it feels good to have her “pet” me like I belong to her. God, I really am touch-starved. I’m going to make her stop in just a minute. Any minute now. But she keeps petting my hair and doesn’t push me away, and I just keep on staying. “So what do we start with?” I ask. “Me learning the language, maybe? Or how to drive the ship?”
“Those are both good things, but we’re going to head to Three Nebulas Station first,” she tells me, stroking my hair as I hold onto her waist. “I need to pick up a few bounties and check in with the guild. We need a few new fuel cells, and I need to pay a visit to an old friend there.”
“Isn’t that the station that I was at?” I’m pretty sure Helen said stations are dangerous for humans, and the ones that held me captive there were cruel. I’ve blocked out a lot of those memories, but I remember chains and smelly bodies and crying people. So much crying. I remember cold, damp floors and staring eyes and… I shudder, clinging to her waist. “You’re not ditching me there, are you?”
“Didn’t I just say you’re going to be my protégé? It’s a promise, and if I make a promise, I keep it.”
I lean back a little to gaze up at her. “Do you make a lot of promises?”
She smirks at me. “Not if I can help it.”
Fair enough. “You swear on everything you hold sacred?”
“Fluffit, you should know by now that I hold nothing sacred.” Bethiah’s smile broadens. She gives my hair one last pat and then lets me go. “Which reminds me. I should go and set a course for Three Nebulas. I need to chart it to make sure it’s as obvious as possible.”
Of all the things I expected Bethiah to say, “make it as obvious as possible” seems…odd. “Why obvious?”