“If you really feel for me then stop running from me,” she said.
“I am not running,” he said, walking faster than ever.
“Bullshit!” she exclaimed, loosing her patience. They were passing a stall with no ship in it and her voice echoed in the empty space. “At least look at me! At least—”
Someone slapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her backward into the dark, empty stall.
Lauren began struggling at once but arms like iron bands were wrapped around her and the hand over her mouth was gripping her jaw so tightly she couldn’t even open her lips to scream or bite. She was concealed in the shadows, just around the corner, and she could see Xairn walking away from her, getting further and further down the row of parking stalls, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to see her.
“At least what?” he asked, still walking. When there was no answer, he turned, frowning to look where she had been. “Lauren?” His eyes widened. “Where are you?”
Here, she thought frantically, struggling against her unseen assailant to make some kind of noise. Even a moan or a gasp would do but there was another hand now, locked around her throat. It was all she could do to breath in a trickle of air, let alone make any sounds.
“Lauren?” Xairn was looking around, obviously beginning to panic. “Where are you?”
He’ll find me in a minute. He won’t leave without me—I know he won’t. No matter how much he dislikes having feelings for me, he would never leave without—
“Here I am, Master Xairn.”
To Lauren’s horror, a girl who looked just like her suddenly emerged from the stall directly in front of them and walked toward Xairn. She was even wearing the exact same silvery-blue, too-big muumuu Lauren had on.
Xairn frowned at her. “Since when am I your ‘master?’”
“As you wish, Master Xairn.” The Lauren clone nodded and smiled at him. “Shall we go?”
His eyes narrowed. “And where exactly are we going?”
“Where ever you wish, of course, Master Xairn.” She nodded and smiled vacantly. “Shall we go?”
“I’m not going anywhere until I find Lauren.”
“I am Lauren.” The Lauren clone tried to put her arms around his neck but he pushed her away.
“No, you’re not. Where is she?”
Thank God! Lauren felt weak with relief but it was short-lived.
“Well, well, your lover is sharp for a Scourge, I’ll give him that,” a familiar voice hissed in her ear.
Blix? Is that Blix?
There was a low, nasty laugh in her ear and she remembered he could read her mind. “Of course it’s Blix, my dear. You didn’t think I’d give up on such a rare exotic as yourself so easily, did you? But your paramour doesn’t seem content to give up either. Let’s see how he deals with more than one decoy.”
From another empty stall, a second Lauren look-alike appeared. And then another and another. All of them were dressed alike in silvery blue muumuus. And all of them looked exactly like her. Lauren counted at least twenty. Were these the seed clones Slk had been talking about the night before?
“Xairn? Master Xairn?” They all spoke at once, all of them reaching for Xairn, converging on him like a flock of flightless birds.
“Stop it!” Xairn roared. “Get away from me, all of you.” He turned in a circle, his blue-green eyes scanning the empty stalls filled with shadows. “Show yourself Spider! I know you have to be the one behind this. Give Lauren back right now and I might let you live.”
“Ah, here we go. Showtime!” Blix murmured in her ear.
There was a strange twitching sensation behind her and a very faint popping noise. Suddenly another Blix was standing to her right while the original continued to hold her tight and keep a hand clamped over her mouth. Lauren watched, wide-eyed, as this second Blix strolled casually out to meet Xairn with a smile on his face.
“Spider!” Xairn reached for him but he ducked lightly out of the way.
“Ah-ah-ah my dear Scourge,” he tisked. “Hands off, if you please. It’s true that I have your lady-love but I have a perfect right to her.”
“You have nothing.” Xairn glared at him, his big hands curling into fists. “We gave back the clothing you bartered and let you keep the grieza food cubes.”
“Alas, the cubes were defective and wouldn’t rehydrate properly.” Blix made a sorrowful face. “And unfortunately, your sweet Lauren neglected to return the lovely slippers I gave her. Worth a fortune, I assure you—much more than the cubes even if they were in top condition—which, as I said, they were not.”