Page 33 of Claimed By the Condemned Alien

Kesta drew a breath. “I accept the protection as Sera stated it.”

Something changed in Dreven’s face.

Relief.

He hid it quickly, but not quickly enough.

Kesta held up one finger. “I do not accept ownership. I do not accept any rights you forgot to mention. And I reserve the right to become extremely unpleasant if someone discovers a creative interpretation later.”

Sera laughed from the wall.

Keth looked down, his shoulders moving suspiciously.

Dreven regarded Kesta for several seconds, and the corner of his mouth finally lifted.

“I believe the final condition was already established.”

Kesta almost smiled back.

Almost.

Sera turned toward the guards. “Record acceptance exactly as spoken.”

Dreven glanced upward. “Including the threat?”

“Especially the threat.”

The gates opened.

Warm air rolled across Kesta, carrying smoke, cooked grain, hot metal, damp stone and the unmistakable smell of too many people living close together. The settlement beyond was larger than she had imagined. Low buildings had been cut into the red rock or assembled from pieces of old ships. Steam rose from a communal basin. Metal tags hanging above doorways chimed when the wind found them.

There were hundreds of people.

Some wore active prison collars. Others carried scars where collars had once been. Species Kesta recognized from military wards moved beside forms she had only seen in xenomedical reference files. A feather-crested child ran toward Dreven, stopped when she noticed Kesta, and retreated behind an adult’s leg.

No one cheered the patrol’s return.

Their attention went first to Lina.

Then to Mira’s litter.

Then to the captured raiders.

Only after assessing the immediate costs did they look at Kesta.

This was not a gang camp.

It was a town the empire had chosen not to call one.

The realization unsettled her more than she expected.

Dreven moved closer as the crowd thickened around them. His shoulder nearly brushed hers before Kesta realized he was positioning himself between her and several males staring openly at the copper band.

“Dreven.”

He stopped.

Kesta looked up at him. “You’re doing it again.”