Free Obedient by Viola Grace Page A

reached into the bag for the tomato soup. It was as hot as she could get it, and she aimed high as she threw it at the man with the gun.
    He swung toward her, and then, he screamed as the scalding soup struck his face. His finger spasmed and the gun went off.
    Zelia felt a slight burn on her arm and ribs. It was too dark to see, but she thought she might have caught some of the shot.
    Domas confined the man and kicked the gun away. “Are you all right?”
    “I will be fine. I am sure. I dropped the food, but it should still be edible.”
    Another agent came out and confined the attacker.
    Domas came over to her, “Soup isn’t part of the normal order.”
    She sighed. “I was trying to give you a new flavour. I just hate it when soup cools before you can eat it. I am guessing I overheated it.”
    Sirens sounded and the police were getting close. “I should get back to the diner.”
    Domas scowled. “You need to remain here as a witness.”
    She chuckled as she turned and walked away. “You know where to find me.”
    It took her twenty minutes to get the bleeding to stop. Removing the shot hurt like hell. Dave was no use. For a man who handled raw meat, he couldn’t stand the sight of blood.
    Zelia lifted her head when she heard voices. She was applying pressure to her arm when she crept around the corner to see three police officers, two agents and a definite alien.
    “Hello? How may I help you?”
    Domas hissed and stepped toward her. “You said you were fine.”
    She moved away from him. “I said I would be fine. I was very specific.”
    The alien was small, silver and had huge black eyes. “You require medical attention.”
    “Probably. I will go to emergency when I have closed up. What did you need?”
    One of the officers nodded. “We need a statement, but we will wait until you have had medical treatment.”
    She winced. “Fine. Let’s take this to the hospital. I think I just started bleeding again.”
    Her arm was covered with finely painted crimson lines. Each of the nine holes in her bicep made its own track. The three in her ribs were soaking the front of her shirt.
    Zelia stepped forward, and the six men moved to help her. She held up a hand. “Just get me to the hospital, and while they are cleaning this up, anyone can ask me anything they want.”
    She was escorted to the hospital in the back of a dark SUV. She handed over her insurance card when she registered, and she dug into her pocket to remove the shot she had collected.
    X-rays were taken, and four more pellets were found in her body. When they started the stitches, the police asked her, “Why were you there?”
    She grimaced. “I was delivering the meal to the agents working to process the day’s applications. No one in the area will deliver to them, so I have been running deliveries to them for the last six weeks.”
    “What happened?”
    She explained about seeing the man, him lifting a shotgun and her grabbing the soup.
    The rest was self-explanatory.
    The doctor shook his head as he listened to her story. “That must have been quite the soup.”
    “No one has ever shot me over it before.” She winced. It was not a good idea to make your doctor chuckle.
    The alien observed all of this with his agents at his sides. When she was sitting back and waiting to be discharged, he came to her. “Have you applied to be a Volunteer?”
    She chuckled and shook her head. “No. From what I have heard, you don’t offer what I want.”
    He smiled and stepped toward her. “What do you want?”
    “I want to be alone and I want to have a baby. No man, no drama, just me and a child with no one to bother us or give us orders. That doesn’t seem to be in any of the advertising.”
    He cocked his head. “Let me look into it. In the meantime, thank you for the service you rendered to us today.”
    “You are very welcome. It was nice to meet you, Recruiter.”
    He inclined his head formally, and he and the others left the room.
    She was