Eve Vaughn Read Online Free Page A

confusion crossing her face, he’d think she actually understood him, but why was she focusing so intently on his lips?
    Then suddenly it came to him.
    No wonder Shara hadn’t been affected by the behavior neutralizer; she couldn’t hear. Technology for several types of hearing loss had long since been developed on Flamryl. Was the place she hailed from so primitive that they had no such enhancements?
    Then he remembered, she wasn’t a spectator at the zoo, but the attraction. This operation wouldn’t be done on an animal. If Zavian found out Shara was deaf he’d deem her defective and send her off to the “farm” where animals were sent for slaughter.
    Dar shouldn’t have cared, but he did. He’d have to find a way to communicate with her, at least make her understand this was now her home and she’d have to conform to the rules or else it could mean trouble for her.
    He stood to his full height and paced the short length of the room. When he began working at the zoo several years ago as a fresh-faced lad, Dar had developed an affinity for the creatures he tended to. But never had he felt such a deep connection for one of them in so short a time, and not in this way.
    Why?
     

Chapter Three
    Bella didn’t know how long she’d been in this godforsaken place, naked and cold. Was it minutes, hours, or days? She’d lost track of time after the slender gold man with the black eyes used some kind of stun gun on her. It had stung like a son of a bitch, rendering her immobile for a long time, giving her the shakes when she’d finally come out of her paralysis.
    Why would they hold her like this? What had she done to warrant such treatment, stripped and not giving the common dignities any person had a right to? She was losing hope of escape. This place seemed to have more security than any place she’d ever seen. She felt like crying, screaming and raging, but what good would that do?
    The strange aliens all treated her like some bug under a microscope. She’d tried to read their lips but it was unlike any words she’d ever seen. Bella didn’t know why she was being held or what she’d done, but there was one thing she was certain of -- the Cyrellians were behind this. But who were those golden people, and who was he ?
    She’d only seen him a few times, and each time he’d entered her prison, he’d attempted to communicate with her. The last couple instances, he’d even looked like he tried to sign. But that would mean he realized her disability. She should hate him for what he’d done, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then spanking her in front of those jerks who were probing her like some experiment.
    Bella, however, found herself looking forward to his visits, well not eagerly, but at least he was better than the others. The fat one threw a dish full of blue paste at her, looking as if he wanted to be miles away. The minute he placed the slop down, he hightailed it out of her cell, as if being chased. She figured he was scared of her. The blue stuff turned out to be food, and it was disgusting, not fit for a pig.

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    Then there was the female, tall and slender with long red hair and strange tattoos on the side of her face. She wasn’t so bad, but she was so impersonal it made Bella feel lower than low.
    And lastly there was the smaller thin one, bald with squinty brown eyes. He wore a perpetual sneer on his face. He’d been the one who tasered her, seeming to take a gleeful pleasure in torturing her. He poked her with a stick and when he kicked her, she fought back. Like the first time Bella had seen him, he’d pulled out some long metallic, tubular object connected to his belt and pointed it in her direction. She couldn’t figure out why he kept holding it her way, but something seemed to displease him because he’d frowned.
    He’d hit the thing as if it were broken. That’s when Bella determined it had something to do with sound. He quickly punched in the buttons and