Yesterday, I said no chapter for today. Turns out I lied. I’m not fully recovered but enough to get this out. Without further ado, here is Part two of chapter one. If you haven’t read the first part, head here.

Chapter One

Part Two

House Roake enjoyed a certain reputation for being protective of its members. They would hunt for their missing commander, and they had the resources and power to tear apart the Consortium to find him.

Titan wouldn’t stand a chance.

It would fold like the cheap jumpsuit Caius was currently wearing.

That wasn’t the most worrisome part to Gus. It was Caius’s connection to Kira, her sister.

When it came to the safety of her people, Kira was like a pit bull. She’d latch on and wouldn’t stop until she recovered Caius.

Dead or alive.

Woe to everyone on Titan, if it was the former.

Gus could kiss her peaceful life of solitude goodbye. No more reading books to her plants or playing them classical music.

Kira wouldn’t spare her just because they’d grown up in the same hell. Gus would have to go on the run.

Just the thought filled her with distress. She’d spent years cultivating some of her babies. Precious days and nights re-creating the perfect environment needed for them to thrive.

Some of them had been with her for decades. They’d become her children. The only ones she was likely to have.

She could relocate them.

It would take days for Kira and Roake to track Caius down. She could be long gone by then.

Of course, if Kira found out Gus could have helped but didn’t, there was no guarantee her sister wouldn’t pursue her.

Underestimating Kira and how far she would go for the people she cared about was probably the worst thing Gus could do. The forty three had done that more than once and been slapped in the face every time.

No. Caius had to stay alive. That way when Kira arrived, Gus could dump the Tuann on her sister and wash her hands of the entire affair.

Her House member recovered, Kira would return home. Hopefully with minimal structural damage done to the station.

Gus nodded to herself. Yes, she liked this plan.

She’d just made her decision and had gone to stand when a group of humans dragging a struggling child rounded the row of shipping containers.

Gus didn’t know who was more surprised. Her, the unkempt looking trio of humans dressed in the stolen uniform of Titan’s dock workers, or the young boy caught in their clutches.

“Ah,” Gus said lamely.

This was awkward.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” a human demanded.

He tossed the child to one of his cohorts as he scanned Gus from head to toe, deciding she wasn’t much of a threat a second later.

Gus understood why he’d come to that conclusion. Unlike most of her siblings, she was on the smaller side. Only about five foot five. Average for a human but short for a Tuann.

She knew she didn’t look like much. Slender. Willowy even. With limbs that looked like they would snap in a harsh gust of wind. Her hair was a rich brown that her former master had likened to dirt when she was young. Gus was always of the mind that it more closely resembled fertile earth. But to most, dirt was still dirt.

Her eyes were probably the most memorable thing about her. The pale green of a dewy morning.

Those eyes were why the masters had made her their little pet. And likely why she survived those early years before she proved her talent with toxins. Both creating and surviving contact with them.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” the human taunted.

His companions snickered when he looked back at them.

Gus’s attention drifted toward the child.

So young. Only about eight or nine years old. His eyes filled with a resistance and calculation as he eyed his captors.

In a small way, he reminded her of some of the forty three. So rebellious even with the odds stacked heavily against him.

Of course, they’d been better at hiding their feelings. They’d had to be. The masters had enjoyed punishing insubordination. Something as simple as an unguarded look was enough to get you sent to the punishment chamber.

The boy’s bravado melted away as his gaze landed on the unconscious Caius. His lower lip trembled as an expression like that of someone witnessing the death of all their hopes settled on his features.

Gus’s hands clenched around the pot of orchids, her heart hurting for some odd reason.

“My nephew,” the human said, seeing where Gus’s attention had landed.

What a bald faced lie.

They may have dressed the boy in a cheap, standard issue station jumpsuit, but that couldn’t hide what he was.

A Tuann.

Like Caius.

Like Gus herself.

“Come on! We don’t have time for this,” one of the men holding the child complained. “We’re already late.”

The first man sighed, pretending at resignation as he advanced on Gus. “It’s your bad luck you ran into us today.”

His bare forearm brushed against the orchid’s leaves as he reached for Gus.

“Oh dear,” she said, letting him grab her. “That was decidedly unwise.”

The man’s leer changed to that of a grimace. Every muscle in his body locking as he started seizing.

“Ricardo?” one of his companions called.

Confusion appeared on their faces as Ricardo remained frozen in place. Unable to move except for the tiny jerks his limbs were making.

“I’m afraid he can’t answer you,” Gus explained, examining the man’s expression with interest.

She’d known the orchid was one of the top ten most toxic plants currently known, but she’d never seen it in action as it was also one of the rarest.

The conditions that were necessary for a Nawana orchid to thrive were very particular. It grew in cool climates and could only endure semi direct sunlight for up to two hours a day. In addition, it required a strong source of calcium like that which could be found in animal bones.

Or human.

Even with all those components present, it was almost impossible to cultivate. That was why she counted herself extraordinarily fortunate to have encountered it by chance.

The orchid, and others like it, were a big part of why Gus never told Ryan to go fuck himself when he came to her with his missions. She always encountered the most delightful flora while doing his bidding.

Sometimes she wondered if he arranged that on purpose.

One of the child’s captors shoved the boy toward the other to rush toward Gus. “What did you do to Ricardo?”

Ricardo finished frothing at the mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground, finally dead.

“Not me,” Gus corrected, lifting the orchid to show him. “My new friend.”

The man’s face flushed. “You bitch!”

He barreled toward her with his head down.

Gus glided out of his way, whacking him on the back of his neck with her orchid as he charged past.

She might not possess the same level of physical prowess as her siblings, but she still received much of the same training. It was enough to deal with people like them.

As they had with the first, the second man’s muscles locked, leaving him unable to move except for the tiny jerks that marked the seizures currently wracking his body.

“Shoot,” Gus complained. “I was supposed to question him.”

Hitting him with the orchid hadn’t been her intention. It had just happened. When a large man charged at you, instinct took over.

The last human gaped, looking caught somewhere between incredulity and horror.

“Are you okay, dearest?” Gus crooned at the orchid, looking it over with a discerning eye.

There didn’t appear to be any damage done, but she probably shouldn’t do that again.

Humans could be replaced. Her orchid could not.

Some of the orchid’s roots escaped the pot, extending toward the bodies.

“Stop that,” Gus scolded, slapping them away. “Wait until I get you settled.”

The roots curled back into their pot, sulking.

Seeing the look of horror on the last human’s face, Gus smiled politely. “Children, they get into everything.”

The human blanched.

Gus wasn’t sure what part of that statement scared him.

“Look lady, I don’t want any trouble,” he stammered.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that. You see—I’m not the only one whose luck is bad today.”

And their form of bad luck far outweighed hers.

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