Free ADropofBlood by Viola Grace

Pet has existed in a limbo of confinement and pampering as her owners use her for a symbol of their power.
    During an attack they eject her in a survival pod and she ends up on a habitable world, working to survive.
    When a group of men arrive and they seem to be looking for her, she fights the urge to run to them for safety, choosing to hide instead.
    They find her anyway and bring her to their ship, and that is when she finds out that her true identity is not Pet, but it will be found in a single drop of blood.

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    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
    A Drop of Blood
    Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace
    Cover art by Martine Jardin
    All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
    Published by eXtasy Books
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    www.eXtasybooks.com

    A Drop of Blood
    A Trapezium Exclusive
    By
    Viola Grace

    To everyone who still wants to believe in fairy tales no matter how mature they are ‘supposed’ to be.
    Happily ever after is a worthy pursuit, I just wish it would stop running.

     
    “What is my name?” Pet thought she had been a child the first time she asked that question. She had simply wanted to know who she was, because everyone around her had a name and she didn’t.
    The shock collar tingled alarmingly in a warning as her handler brought her to heel. “Pet. Your name is Pet.”
    She had tried to argue that Pet wasn’t a name, it was a thing. It would be like naming someone cart or ship. The shock had been her answer. She was Pet and there was nothing she could say to prove otherwise, but deep down, she knew it was wrong.
    She had another name, but she didn’t know what it was and that fact haunted her while she was being groomed, while her jewellery and elaborate collar were being put in place. It was a routine, every day on the spaceship where her owners held court.
    The ship was kept hot and humid, but Madam didn’t like her to sweat, so Pet’s clothing was comprised of short, brief and metallic wraps in fanciful designs. They weren’t comfortable if she sat directly on them, so she took up a lounging posture at the base of the thrones where Madam and Sir were.
    Folk seemed impressed when they saw her and the admiration for her acquisition made Madam preen, so Pet spent every day listening to her owners and their guests.
    She learned Marcovial politics, saw treaties made and broken before her eyes and all she had to do was listen.
    Madam didn’t like her to fidget, but she was allowed breaks as long as her movements were controlled and slow. Several of the males who were not Marcovial eyed her with intense interest, but Madam would not part with her no matter how much they offered.
    It was a strange existence that might have continued forever if not for one small thing, the day that the ship exploded.
    Pet was finishing her grooming cycle and the last of her adornments were being adhered to her body when the ship rocked violently.
    Her groomer spoke to Madam via the com. “What shall I do with her?”
    Madam’s face showed her tension. “Put her in a pod. We are near a planet suitable for her. We can pick her up after this