Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

He was as sure of it as he was sure of his own tail slapping in agitation against the barrel beside him.

The human was in danger.

He couldn’t leave her to fend for herself.

She was probably scared out of her mind.

As the ramp began to seal the ship, a plan hatched in front of him.

It was a crazy one, but no one had ever accused him of being sane.

Slipping from behind the barrel, he slunk behind the various crates and stacks of cargo in his way as he headed toward the ship.

6

Nia blinked her eyes open.

Her head felt funny.

Usually when she woke up in the morning, it felt like she’d rested well, but this morning, it felt like she’d been rolling around on a rock.

There was movement as well. Her bed jostled and she groaned, thinking that Riv and Lauren were going at it so hard, they were actually making her bed shake.

“Set him down before the boss comes.”

Wait, she didn’t recognize that voice.

In an instant, her memory flooded back.

The assholes in the brown cloaks. They were carrying her, holding her arms and legs, and Nia began struggling immediately.

“Put me down you fucking idiots!”

They let go of her so suddenly, she fell on her back.

Ignoring the pain, she scrambled to her feet. There was still that pebble in her shoe, and it was a big one too, but she could hardly pay attention to it now as she tried to make sense of where she was.

There was no huge crowd or amazing shops with stalls anymore.

The aliens that had brought her here weren’t paying her any mind now, going off farther into the ship…FARTHER INTO THE SHIP?

For it was a ship. She knew for a fact that it was, as the ramp that led outside was slowly closing.

Panic shot through her as she tried to rush forward, but she was either too weak or her mind was still sluggish from the blow to her head because it didn’t feel like she was moving fast enough at all.

Just as the ramp was about to close fully, her path was blocked off by dark leather.

Nia’s gaze moved upward.

A tall alien female was looking down at her.

For a moment, Nia was caught off guard.

The alien woman was Merssi. Dark hair, blue skin, and those telltale ridges on the brow, nose, and chin—though they were nearly as pronounced as Riv and Sohut’s.

The alien’s gaze was hard and cold.

“Get back to work, Niftrill. I don’t pay you to be wasting time. There are crates to stack before we are cleared for orbit.” The female’s look was dismissive, but Nia had just about had it.