Free A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) by Daniel M. Quilter Page B

felt like it was late autumn here. Her captors hadn’t given her any new clothes, so she was still wearing the short pants and sleeveless shirt she had been captured in. It didn’t help that it was  now getting tattered and torn, leaving her skin more exposed to the cold than she would like, and much too exposed to the wandering eyes of pirates like Drake. Although, so far, she hadn’t caught him looking anywhere aside from her face.
    “So why are you taking me with you?” Angela asked as they walked toward the center of the town, turning down random alleyways to avoid being seen.
    “Because you’re pretty.” Drake replied. “So where are you from?”
    “Did you really just say that?” She asked, blushing brightly.
    Why did that make her blush? Who cares if Drake thought she was pretty or not? She was pretty, so why wouldn’t Drake think so? It didn’t mean that she liked him back.
    “You mean ask you where you’re from?” Drake said. “I really did ask you that. I understand if you don’t want to answer though; I’m sensitive about where I’m from too.”
    “If you’re trying to flirt with me you’re doing a really bad job.” Angela replied.
    “Flirt with you?” Drake asked. “I wanted you to come so I could ask for permission to date your little sister. I didn’t want to cause contention in your family by making you jealous of our love for each other.”
    The smirk on his face made it obvious he was joking. At least that’s what Angela hoped it meant.
    “You stay away from her.” Angela said sharply, narrowing her eyes at Drake, who began laughing loudly.
    The wind blew again, sending chills across Angela’s bare skin. She couldn’t keep herself from shivering.
    “Take this.” Drake said, sliding off his dark blue jacket and holding it out in front of her.
    Angela grabbed it from him. It was a nice gesture. Drake was wearing only a thin shirt underneath the jacket, but still offered it to her.
    The insignia on the shoulder of the jacket caught her eye, and she almost gasped in surprise as she read the letters: V.A.L.O.R.
    “You’re a V.A.L.O.R. soldier!” She exclaimed. That must be why he had gone out of his way to save a bunch of Human slaves. Suddenly, she felt optimistic about Drake being the one to save them. “You must know my brother! His name is Captain Brooks Fisher. Have you met him?”
    “Hey!” Drake said, “I take offense to that. I may be wearing their clothes but I’m not a part of your king’s group of errand boys.  I stole this jacket from a V.A.L.O.R. soldier, I don’t know the name of the guy I stole this from, but oddly enough I have met Captain Fisher, he arrested me a few years back.”
    Her hopes had been so lifted by the prospect of Drake being a V.A.L.O.R. soldier but were now crushed down to nothing. If her brother arrested him then he was definitely a criminal.
    “So I guess that means you can’t tell me how he’s doing?” Angela said. “He hasn’t contacted home in over a year.”
    “Oh I’m sure he’s fine. V.A.L.O.R. soldiers hardly ever go into combat.” Drake said. “So are you going to tell me where you’re from or not?”
    “I’m from Fundus Six.” Angela replied, glad to change the subject. Brooks hadn’t left home on the best of terms with the family, and it made Angela a little sad to talk about him. Drake reminded her of Brooks. Maybe that was what bothered her so much about him.
    He really hadn’t done anything bad to her since they met. In fact, all he had done was help her. He might be a lowlife pirate, but he had proven to be trustworthy enough up until now, and it was nice of him to give her his jacket; or whoever’s jacket it was before he stole it. The least she could do was try to stop insulting him so much.
    “Fundus Six?” Drake said. “There’s nothing there but farms and the hicks that run them. Why would the Mystic armies bother conquering that planet? You’re really from there?”
    “Better a hick than a