Keirth backed away from him, hands up. They were going to get robbed? This was great. They’d never get the money or their identities now. That is, if these guys even left them alive. They might decide to kill Keirth and Ariana, so as not to leave loose ends.
There was another man behind the first, similarly dressed, also holding a blaster. As Keirth watched, more poured in. He kept backing up, glancing for Ariana. He wanted to tell her to run. He wanted to do anything to save her.
And that was when he noticed the lettering on the black jumpsuits. Intergalactic Police. Keirth’s heart sank.
“Keirth Transman,” said the first man with a blaster, “you are under arrest.”
The visual. No wonder they hadn’t used a visual. If he hadn’t been distracted by the fact he’d just been with Ariana, maybe he would have realized something was off about it. The whole thing had felt off, hadn’t it? Itrick Monthow must have sold them out. Probably he could make more money turning Keirth in than he could from selling guns.
There were so many blasters trained on him, Keirth didn’t have a chance to make a move. Someone was behind him, fastening cuffs on his wrists.
Ariana charged forward in a blur. Keirth only caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. She lunged at the man cuffing Keirth, knocking him to the ground. She was screaming, “No, no, no!”
“Ariana,” he yelled. “Stop it.”
But another man was pulling her off the first man. “You hold still, or we’ll cuff you too, little lady.”
Keirth caught her gaze with his own. “Don’t,” he said.
She stared at him, agony all over her face. She was crying.
Chapter Fifteen
Ariana had struggled and cursed and fought so hard that they’d stuck her with a needle at some point, and she’d lost consciousness. She didn’t know where they’d taken Keirth. One of the men had recognized her during the arrest and made sure she wasn’t cuffed or arrested. She heard words like “victim” being thrown around. No matter how hard she’d screamed or what she’d tried to tell these men, it hadn’t mattered.
Now, she opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom at her parents’ estate on the planet Risciter. She’d been undressed, put into her sleeping garments, her hair braided, and tucked under the covers. It was as if she’d never left. She sprang out of bed and started for the door. She had to find out where Keirth was, and then...
Well, she didn’t know what she’d do then, but there had to be something she could do. They thought he was a murderer, and he wasn’t.
The door was locked. She pressed the button for it to open over and over, but it just kept flashing at her. They’d locked her in her room? How dare they?
Ariana began to pace in front of her bed. What was she going to do? It had been so long since she’d been in this world, she’d practically forgotten how things worked. She’d never been locked in her room before, of course, but she’d always practically been a prisoner. She couldn’t go places because it wasn’t proper, and she’d never had access to anything she actually owned without the help of a servant.
Servant!
Yes, if she wanted to be let out of this room, she needed to contact a servant. Usually, she’d use her comm. Of course, she didn’t have one anymore, but most rooms had a comm that connected to the kitchens, at least. She found it next to the door. She pressed the speak button. “I need assistance.”
“Miss Gilit?” came a voice from the comm. “I’ll send Sadie up right away.”
Good. Okay. Ariana sat back down on the bed, trying to calm herself down. When Sadie got there...
When Sadie got there, what? She was a lady’s maid. There was no reason to think that Sadie could help her get to Keirth. She didn’t even know where Keirth was. She’d only been back in the sector for a few minutes, and she was already imprisoned by it. She couldn’t handle this.
The door opened, and Sadie entered. She curtsied. “Well, miss, we sure haven’t seen you in a while. Was it as terrible as it says it was on the nets?”
“No,” said Ariana. She considered. “Well, some of it was terrible. What does it say on the nets?”
“Well, you was captured by that crazy man, wasn’t you? Transman. He’s a rapist and serial killer, he is. Did he hurt you, miss?”
“He’s not a rapist or a serial killer,” said Ariana. “They’ve got it all wrong. He never hurt me.” And tears were filling her eyes. How could she have been so happy just a few hours ago, snug in Keirth’s arms, thinking about marrying him, and now have it all completely torn away from her?