Mated (The Sandaki Book 1) Read Online Free

muscles ripple and flow under her skin.
    “Are you still walking this path of destruction? Laira, you cannot attack them. We are property to be bought and sold without a thought.”
    “Not me,” Laira said determinedly. “I don’t plan on attacking them. I do plan on fighting them every step of the way.”
    Though she still wasn’t sure how she was going to stop the Silarin. It wasn’t like she was a closet ninja or anything. The closest she had ever gotten to fighting was the Tae Bo DVD she used to do. Wait right there, bad guy, let me lunge and punch you in the throat. Yeah, she couldn’t see anyone standing around waiting for her to get her stance right.
    “You are like a warrior goddess from the old stories.” Isha watched her with wide eyes.
    Laira drank deeply from a cup she’d gotten out of the fancy Replicator in the room. The thing was amazing. It could serve all kinds of food or drink so that she never had to leave the area except to sleep and shower. “Warrior goddess, huh? I like the sound of that, but I’m not. I’m just a regular girl from Earth working her ass off to get healthy.”
    And she had, too. In the time she had been with the Silarin, which to her reckoning was possibly two weeks, though she wasn’t positive, Laira had worked with a mindless determination she didn’t know she possessed. Every day, she ran up and down the large common room after most of the others had gone to bed. She made sure it was late enough so that there were few who saw her. The Silarins who guarded them ignored her as she ran about so she counted that as a huge positive. She wondered if the Silarin could run. They didn’t look much like athletes. Of course, they didn’t need to do much since they carried some kind of energy sticks that would knock someone out. She’d seen them use it on one of the girls the second day Laira had been on the ship. Assholes.
    Once Laira had run her laps, she did a series of pushups, lunges and other muscle building exercises. After that, she did all the Tae Bo and kickboxing moves she could remember. Laira truly didn’t know if any of it mattered, but it made her feel better. Made her feel stronger. Made her feel as if given the chance, she would kick major ass.
    “You know, instead of downing me all the time, you could join me. It’s proven that exercise can make you feel better. And this whole damn place needs it.” Laira swigged some more liquid.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Everyone here is depressed. All doom and gloom. There’s nothing we can do. We’re only property…blah, blah, blah. I got tired of hearing it,” she told the other girl. “That’s why I stopped hanging out in the common area. People out there either wouldn’t talk to me, or when they did, all they wanted to talk about was being slaves and sold.”
    Isha studied her legs and hands. “I was born swimming. I do not know if I can do what you do.”
    “Well hell, we’ll just do it together. It’ll be fun.” Laira laughed. “What do we have to lose?”
    “You would not mind me joining you?”
    Laira rolled her eyes. “Hell, I’d love it if you’d join me. It’s actually gotten a bit boring doing it all by myself. Besides, I’d like a friend here. If you’re okay with that?” She waited, nearly holding her breath. Back home, her life had been way too crazy to keep up many relationships. The ones she tried to maintain were mostly by email or phone. Here, in this place, she missed the face-to-face contact. She desperately wanted someone to connect with, though she would never admit it aloud. That would mean weakness. And Laira hated being weak.
    “Friends?” Isha looked surprised and smiled brightly. “I would very much like to be your friend. I have not had one here. I had many at home.”
    “Great! Whatever.” Laira flapped a hand that encompassed everyone else on the ship. “They can sit around crying, but we’ll be doing.”
    Isha jumped up. “When can we get