Free Kozav by Celia Kyle, Erin Tate

about that.” She forced herself to smile though she was sure it was more like a grimace.
    “Do you know what you have done to me?” He towered over her, taking a step forward each time she stepped back. “Do you know what I have had to endure?”
    She licked her lips and swallowed past the hard knot in her throat. “I—”
    He came nearer once more, a light in the dim hallway shining down on his face. “ Do you? ”
    No, but she had some idea. His face was a mass of purples and greens, the colors clashing with the orange of his wings and eyes. She saw the small pin-pricks from Kozav’s attack, but none of this had been present when they’d left the ship. All of the damage to the male had to have occurred after they’d gone to Earth.
    “I didn’t—”
    She didn’t do a damned thing. Good or bad. He’d been the one to come after her. She’d lied to Kozav about this male’s behavior, but she’d been too intent on getting to her mom. She should have told him the truth, but—
    “Do you know what has happened to my uncle? Because of you? Because of some breeder?”
    Breeder.
    A derogatory term applied to—
    Grace put a lid on the Knowing. She didn’t need an explanation for that one. The definition was pretty clear. He saw her as nothing more than a vessel. Someone to carry Preor babies to term and then that was that.
    She was a thing to him, not a person.
    Just a breeder.
    He stalked her, herding her as if she was cattle, farther down the passageway.
    “Sugal was a Healing Master. The only Healing Master in the third fleet. And he’s been jailed because of you and your breeder dam .” He hissed. “You both should have been left on Earth. The Preors don’t need you. Any of you.”
    Grace was going to stay calm. She wasn’t going to react to his ranting. She just needed to bide her time and then when someone else came along, she’d run. Simple. Easy.
    Except he kept talking and it didn’t take him long to say the words that broke the camel’s back. Or released Grace’s hatefire.
    “You’re nothing . You’re no one. You’re ikpor .”
    Worthless. Garbage.
    Growing up with hardly a penny to her name meant Grace’s life was different than everyone else’s. It meant she had solid ideals and a hovocar load of pride when it came to who she was and what she’d accomplished in life. She’d fought and scrambled for everything she had. Was she God’s gift to the world? No. But she wasn’t nothing . She wasn’t no one . And she’d worked damned hard to be worth something.
    “I’m no one?” She stopped retreating and stood her ground. “ I’m no one?” She pointed to herself. “Look, I tried to save your sorry ass. You and I both know you grabbed me and threw me down. We both know that if Kozav hadn’t shown up, I’d be sporting bruises or a broken bone.”
    “The Preors do not need breeders—”
    She sneered at him. “Listen, Tang—”
    “My name is Third Warrior Impe sen Viz’on.”
    Right. Earth jokes wouldn’t work on a Preor even if his wings were the color of orange Tang. Her blood pumped quickly through her veins, anger fueling her every word and movement.
    “Fine. Third Warrior Impe Pussy-Boy sen Viz’on.” His face darkened to a deep red and she wondered if he was familiar with Earth insults. “I may be a breeder, but you’re nothing but an overgrown hatchling trying to play at being a warrior.” She looked him up and down, making sure her disgusted sneer encompassed him. “You’re a child, you speciesist misogynistic butterfly.”
    “Breeder bitch.”
    Grace was prepared for the breeder insult.
    She wasn’t prepared for the backhand that came with the bitch .
    Or the blackout that immediately followed.

11
    T he blackout didn’t last long. The ear-ringing dizziness stuck around, though. That and the throbbing from her cheek. Or rather, the entire right side of her face since Impe sen Viz’on’s hand was as big as a house. And, of course, when she thought of his