Chapter 17: Horizontal Switch, Not A Glitch

The safest Nova had felt in ages was on the lap of a man whose name she didn’t know. That should have terrified her. It didn’t.

"Twenty minutes." Astra handed an icepack to the man before looking at Nova. "And I’ll be seeing you again very soon."

Nova didn’t know what she meant by that and the woman wasn’t going to give her a chance to ask, already turning on her heel. She closed the door with a soft click leaving just Nova and the man in silence.

She wondered if he had realized she was sitting in his lap yet. She genuinely didn’t think he had noticed. If he had, he probably didn’t know what to do with her because Thunderfang didn’t have slaves.

She was mid-thought on how to transition off of him without making it weird when her brain short circuited because his goddamn lips were pressing against the unbruised side of her head. In some cultures, they call that a kiss.

The realization hit her like a bucket of ice water. She stiffened, he jerked away so aggressively that it scared her, a squeal came out of her throat that was embarrassing for everyone involved, and then his arms clamped around her like safety harnesses.

It was the most confusing four seconds she’d had all day. And it took her a moment to understand that she genuinely might have scared this poor man because his heart was pounding at a hummingbird level and he had stopped breathing. Him grabbing her like that was because her squeal surprised him.

When she started to twist off of him, to save them both from a level of awkward that made kidnapping feel socially comfortable by comparison, the man shifted her sideways.

No warning. No asking. One second she was being held like a teddybear, the next she was horizontal, being held bridal style with an icepack against her cheek.

She blinked up at him, confused. He looked down at her probably equally as confused. She waited, but he didn’t move her back which meant he had meant to do that.

An Alpha-sized man who communicated in grunts and grip adjustments, was holding her like an infant, icing her face with the focus of a field medic. It was confusing and endearing in equal measure, and she didn’t want to interrupt him.

He spoke for the first time. "Who did this?"

Nova broke eye contact. It was illegal for slaves to discuss their masters, and Celeste, unfortunately, fell in that category. She also didn’t know this man’s relationship with the Starbornes or why he had come to get her to begin with.

He didn’t press. The icepack stayed where it was.

She wasn’t sure when she stopped being tense, but at some point her body made the decision and her eyes closed. Just for a minute.

A low vibration started behind his ribs. It was warm. Soothing. Growls had edges. This was smooth and continuous like a motor idling somewhere inside him.

Purring. He was purring.

Then it cut off mid-rumble like someone had yanked a cord.

Her eyes snapped open immediately. The man was looking down at her. His expression landed somewhere between angry and irritated, and it was definitely aimed at her.

Thinking she had overstayed her welcome or that he was not pleased with their current arrangement, she tried to sit up. But his arms tightened around her, not letting her move an inch.

She glanced up at him trying to understand because he still looked very upset but his grip suggested he didn’t want her to move.

There were a million things she wanted to tell him. Thank you for saving me from Kai. Thank you for bringing me into your clubhouse and having your healer look at me. Thank you for sitting here with a slave who doesn’t even know your name.

When she opened her mouth, what came out was, "Thank you for helping me."

Her voice cracked when she said it. She hoped he knew how much she meant it. Her eyes burned and a tear slipped free before she could stop it.

He wiped it gently with his thumb. Then, without looking away from her, he lifted her hand slowly and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

She stopped breathing.

The quiet broke before she could name what was living in it.

Her cuffs vibrated, all four at the same time.

Nova gasped. Every muscle, every nerve, every part of her that had just started to settle went rigid in his lap. Adrenaline flooded back so fast it felt like being dunked in ice water. All four cuffs had never vibrated at the same time. She’d gotten shock corrections before. Single cuff. Quick pulse. A reminder that obedience had a leash and the leash had teeth. But all four was something else. All four meant Alpha Starborne was calling her personally.

The beeping started before she could process the first wave. High-pitched. Rapid. The vibration climbed from uncomfortable to full capacity and stayed there, rattling against her bones hard enough that it hurt. Her wrists and ankles felt like they were being shaken apart from the inside.

The man had her right arm, looking at her cuff, turning it, studying it with his brows creased.

He let go of the ice to examine it with both hands, which meant he was going to touch it. She pulled it away from him sharply.

"It will burn you if you touch it without gloves," she said immediately. Thunderfang didn’t have slaves so this man probably hadn’t been around silver cuffs to know that.

He looked down at her.

The beeping and vibrations stopped suddenly. Then it happened.

CLICK.

Every slave in Starborne knew that sound. The noise a cuff makes before giving a corrective shock. It can only be heard if it’s quiet enough. If you are touching another person when you hear it, you let go immediately or it will electrocute them too.

She tried to get off the man’s lap to prevent that. But the man’s arms stayed locked around her because he did not understand what the click meant or electricity mechanics.

"It will shock you if you are touching me," she explained, the words tumbling out.

"Shock me." The man repeated it like he didn’t understand.

She gave a single nod and forced her voice calm. "Silver is the most electrically conductive metal that exists. If you are touching me or the cuffs, it will hurt you too."

Her heart was thudding in her ears. The shock was overdue. That click happened. It should have come already but it hadn’t.

She knew the masked bomber had messed with her cuffs. But she was unclear on exactly what. He said the kill-switches would activate if she left the slave tunnel so she had assumed he didn’t tamper with that mechanism. But now she wasn’t so sure.

CLICK.

She winced automatically, her eyes closing fully prepared for it.

No shock came.

The growling was back, low and dangerous and coming from his chest. Just as she opened her eyes, the man stood, taking her with him like the concept of putting her down didn’t exist.

"Where?"

Nova’s mind raced. Slaves were supposed to stay in the slave tunnel. That was protocol. That was where Starborne would expect her. She would need to be there to know where the summons was calling her.

"To the slave tunnel, I think," she answered.

The man’s jaw tightened so hard she could see the muscle jump beneath his skin.