Free Star Raiders by Elysa Hendricks Page B

“Fifty!”
    “I have a bid of fifty credits.”
    Shy could hear relief in the auctioneer’s voice.
    “Do I have one hundred?”
    “Fifty-five,” another man cal ed out.
    The price rose bit by bit as the men pooled their resources. Final y, the bid reached one hundred credits. The time was nearing to act.
    Greyson shifted in place. Though he’d always known the slave trade existed, when he’d been a field agent his jobs had focused on the smuggling of goods, so he’d never seen the results firsthand. The last ten years had been spent behind a desk.
    Slavery statistics on paper didn’t convey the miserable reality.
    With each bid, his tension grew. He couldn’t al ow these innocent little girls to fal into the hands of Verus’s men. Though every minute of every day he regretted the death of his mother at the hands of pirates, he preferred knowing she was in a better place than this.
    Shyanne had to do something or he would. What was she waiting for? Her calm demeanor in the face of this horror made him question who and what she’d become since he’d last met her. The fate of these children was in her hands. Why didn’t she bid? Could she be so coldhearted as to let one become a disposable sex toy? Maybe al of them? Could she have changed so much from the young, idealistic girl he’d known? Did she have some plan he didn’t yet know?
    “Trust me,” she whispered.
    Trust her? How could he? She didn’t seem to be reacting to this at al .
    Yet what choice did he have? Outnumbered, the three of them didn’t have a chance of stealing the children away. If Shyanne didn’t bid, he could only stand and watch in disgust. Why hadn’t he thought to bring money on this mission? Could he risk accessing his credit line and revealing his location to his superiors to purchase the girls? Would this backwater planet even accept anything other than hard credits?
    He looked up in surprise as Shyanne stepped up onto the platform and plucked the girl from the auctioneer’s hands. She buried her face in Shyanne’s neck and clung to her.
    “A thousand credits”—she paused for a moment as the number sank in—“for the entire lot.”
    “Th-this is most unusual. I d-don’t know,” the auctioneer sputtered, but greed glinted in his beady eyes. A thousand credits was a bargain for eleven female slaves even this far off the beaten path, but the auctioneer knew a good deal when he heard one. Grumbling started in the crowd.
    Shyanne smiled. “A thousand credits to you. And…a month’s worth of free passes to every man here at the pleasure house I plan to open!” As her words sank in, the grumbles turned to cheers.
    Greyson let some of the tension ease out of his body. He had to admit Shyanne’s plan was inspired. In one stroke she’d stolen the girls away from the men but proposed to give them back without any hassle or expense of maintenance. The auctioneer would get his money and the men would get their sex.
    Who could object?
    Even better, it was al a lie.
    “No!” the older girl screamed, and launched herself at Shyanne. Greyson jumped up and caught her before her nails raked Shyanne’s face.
    “Let me go!”
    The girl twisted like a wildcat. She clawed his arm and sank her teeth into Greyson’s wrist. The crowd laughed and cheered him on as he subdued the frantic girl and handed her to Bear. Once in Bear’s grip she slumped in defeat.
    Greyson turned his attention to helping Shyanne with the younger girls. As he approached, they crouched and huddled together on the platform, whimpering in fear. The girl Shyanne held, with her white blonde hair and sky blue eyes, reminded him painful y of the little girl who’d died along with his mother in the pirate attack so many years ago. Afterward, the girl’s parents had generously taken him into their home and named him their son, but he knew he’d never replaced their daughter in their hearts. Where Anna’s eyes had been ful of laughter and courage, this little