Free Defiance by Beth D. Carter

that term.”
    “ A long time ago on
the continent of North America people of color
were slaves. There was a similar network to smuggle them to free areas.”
    He nodded. “Yes. Julyah’s involvement was discovered, and in punishment, she
was sold into the slavery she found abhorrent. Before we could get her back, Kath
sold her. She … fought.”
    Every time he closed his eyes he
could still see the blood, her twisted limbs. Her neck at the
wrong angle. He was afraid he’d see it for the rest of his life.
    “We were close,” he murmured. “Only a year apart in age. I found her broken body in a
slave tent outside the Targin Market. Kath had made
his profit, and she was used until she died.”
    “Oh, Laith . I’m so sorry.”
    “My father and mother have been in
mourning for a year now, but he is unable to exact revenge because of his position.
To publicly decry sex slaves is tantamount to treason. He would be arrested or
even assassinated. All my mother’s work has to be done
in secret.”
    “But you’re not part of their
beliefs?”
    “I always considered them something
I had to outrun,” he said. “My parents’ beliefs were a bone of contention
between us, considering how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to be glorious
in battle, king of my harem, wealthy and powerful. And parents who fought
against everything I wanted were just an embarrassment I had to distance myself
from.”
    “But you’re not like that,” she
said.
    He shook his head. “No, not anymore. Not from the moment I looked down into my
sister’s dead eyes and realized what it truly meant to be a sex slave. My
sister was raped, again and again, until her body gave out.”
    “That was one of the reasons why my
mother hid me as boy.”
    “I went on a downward spiral. I
resigned my commission; I left my family. I left my life. And I met a human man
named David Ballack . David was helping Julyah , and he came after me. Saved me from myself and put
me back together. He’s given up a lot to remain as my slave, and I use that
word sarcastically. He is anything but a slave to me. He is my friend, my
brother, my savior. In fact, it was he who suggested we do what my parents
could not do.”
    “You mean kill Kath,” she surmised.
    “Yes.”
    “Where did I fit into this plan?”
    Laith took a deep breath. “I was never my father’s son. I had sex slaves, but I’m no
longer that monster, Jordan .
Yet to avenge my sister, I needed to get onto Kath’s ship, and the only people
who get close to Kath are his raiders. So I needed to become a raider once more.”
    “You still haven’t gotten to the
part I play.”
    “I’m not proud of the part you
play.”
    “Rip the bandage off, Laith .”
    “I decided to sell a human female
at the Targin Market, where Kath operates, in order
to get his attention,” he told her in a monotone voice. “Humans are worth more
than Xyrans . We paid a guard at the camp for a
female. You were so spirited that David thought if you put on a good fight, Kath
would surely notice and invite me on board when I pleaded my desire to join his
crew.”
    She sat up and slapped him across
the face. “That’s the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”
    “It was a sound plan,” he muttered
as he rubbed the reddened skin on his jaw.
    “Handsome, yet delusional,” she
said darkly. “There’re too many variables. What if Kath never showed up? What
if he didn’t need any more crew? What if he didn’t care about one human girl? What
if he knew who you were? Let’s not mention the fact that you stole me .”
    “Yes,” he snorted. “I have never
met a more stubborn, troublesome, irritating female in my life. And that
includes my mother.”
    “Flattery will get you nowhere. How
did David fit into this plan?”
    “He swore a sacred blood-oath to me
to help destroy Kath, even though he is not Xyran .” He
stared into her eyes and instead of censure saw understanding. It humbled him
down deep in his soul. “When I joined