Kraving Dravka by Zoey Draven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Mellkia,” came his voice.
It sounded incredibly far away but as Valerie’s heavy eyelids lifted, as her blurry vision came swirling into view, so did the pain and the throbbing headache.
Her mouth felt dry, an after effect of the sedative, she knew. She was disoriented and felt like there was a heavy pressure weighing her down.
“There you are,” Dravka murmured as he came into focused view. He was above her. No, she realized. She was cradled in his arms, though he was careful to keep his touch away from her left shoulder.
The tracker, she remembered.
“Did,” she started, though her voice sounded hoarse, “…did it work?”
They were moving, she realized. There was a heaviness that she wasn’t used to, weighing her down.
“Is it gone?”
“We couldn’t take it out,” he answered quietly, making a jolt of panic wash through her, “but Ravu managed to destroy the chip. We can see about removing it once we are settled on Dumera. But for now, the transmissions should have stopped.”
Her relief was bright.
“Really?”
He nodded, his eyes softening when he looked down at her. “We will check it once we find a place to stay for the night. Ravu thinks he can find someone with a scanner.”
As more clarity returned, so did the uncomfortable throbbing of pain.
“Are we almost to Nimida?” she asked next, blinking against the heaviness of her eyelids. There was still sedative running through her system, however. She needed to sleep it off, but it would probably take a little while longer.
“We are already here, mellkia,” he said next.
Her breath hitched and her heavy eyes swung around to take in her surroundings. They were already off the vessel? When had that happened? What had happened to the pilot?
“You’ve been asleep for a while,” came a voice and she turned her head to regard Tavak. Next to him was Ravu.
All of them came to a stop at…what looked like a port door. The docking bay of Nimida? It was quiet, dark. So why had they stopped?
“There is a customs check up ahead we have to pass through,” Dravka said. “We don’t want to arouse suspicion by carrying an unconscious human female into a transport colony.”
“Right,” she breathed, understanding dawning on her. She’d heard the stories ever since she was a young girl. Human females were high up on the trafficking list. Always had been. Naturally, Valerie had never needed to worry about it on the colonies since she never went anywhere. But here? She would need to be careful. More mindful.
Dravka seemed to realize this too. They’d never had to navigate this part of their relationship before: being together, in public, when her safety might be compromised. But they would figure it out.
Hell, even the Keriv’is in her company needed to be careful. Their race had always been sought out for sex.
“I can walk,” she told them and after a moment, Dravka lowered her to the ground. The customs checkpoint was a short walk away, an entrance point to Nimida. That was when she realized she didn’t have her New Earth ID on her…or anything at all really. She’d left everything behind on Everton.
So, they all approached the checkpoint, Dravka straightening his shoulders, and Val saying a little prayer to every deity she’d ever heard about.
There was an alien at the checkpoint, seated on a wobbly stool of all things, and half asleep, by the looks of it. A Killup, she recognized, eyeing her grey flesh and the slits like gills in her neck. She straightened when she saw them, making a chirring sound in her throat, and smoothing a webbed palm down her wrinkled blue vest.
“Destination?” she asked, the universal tongue word heavily accented.
If she was startled to see a human female traveling with three Keriv’i males, she didn’t show it…which made relief thread through Valerie. Nimida was a transport hub after all. All kinds of beings passed through there.
Dravka answered for them. “Second Quadrant.”
The Killup female made a small sound. “Nzonito is the transport colony for the Second Quadrant. A vessel will leave for there in two days. You can purchase passage at the kiosk, though it won’t open until morning. It’s quite late,” she said, sounding a little put off at that fact.
“Sorry,” Valerie said, giving her a small smile. “Late flight.”
The Killup made another sound, blinking her large black eyes at her. “Where are you coming from?”
“Fourth Quadrant,” she replied, not specifying the New Earth colonies. She thought it would make her suspicious since Keriv’i weren’t known to be among the New Earth colonies. New Earth was notorious for its closed borders. “We are on our way to meet friends in the Second Quadrant, friends we haven’t seen in a while.”
Another sound from the Killup. She studied each of them in turn while Valerie forced herself not to fidget.
“You are with them willingly?” the Killup asked next, eyeing her.
Valerie’s brows raised. “Yes,” she said, swallowing when she felt Dravka’s hand drift to her lower back. She touched Dravka’s wrist, feeling his heat, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the Killup. “Of course.”
“He’s your mate?” the Killup asked, gaze narrowing.
“Pax,” Dravka rumbled, the word making Valerie flush with pleasure, despite the circumstance. “Yes,” he corrected. He gestured to Tavak and Ravu. “These are friends of ours, traveling with us.”
Another chittering sound.
“Kiosk opens at dawn. Book your seats early because they sell out,” the Killup finally said, seeming to decide that they posed no major threat and that Valerie was, indeed, not being trafficked by three Keriv’i males. “Be sure to check out our gift shop while you are here, yes?”
From the way Dravka’s brows furrowed, Valerie could tell he was perplexed at whatever a gift shop was, but the strange words coming from the Killup almost made Valerie laugh.
Valerie smiled, though her shoulder twinged when she shifted forward slightly, and said, “We sure will.”
“Last inn open right now is down the third corridor, on your left,” the Killup said, hitting a button against the wall.
The door behind her suddenly slid open, releasing a gust of cool wind into their faces.
“Welcome to Nimida.”
