by L. A. MARIE
Chapter Eighteen
Emori
The guard took me away from the cell beneath the Elder House, and led me across the property in handcuffs. Like a criminal. We walked across an immaculate lawn, the grass perfect. I wanted to kneel on it, to run my hands through it, to feel if it was as soft as it looked.
How long had it been since I had seen lavish growth like this? In the rural areas, there were very few living things left. There were hardly trees and plants, or any greenery that would remind us of a time when things had been easier.
“Keep moving,” the guard said gruffly, shoving me forward. I bit back my anger. Fighting this guy wasn’t going to make a difference. I was just a human, a prisoner.
He led me to another set of cells. Metal cells this time, and above ground. As we passed more cells in the cellblock, I realized that there were quite a few humans held captive. The cells seemed to contain groups of people, not just one at a time.
That sparked a bit of hope in me. If they threw me in with other humans, maybe we could talk, we could stand up against the Malakus, revolt.
The guard yanked open a metal door and pushed me into the cell. The door shut behind me with a loud clang, and I looked around. Only to realize I was completely alone.
I sank to the ground, tears rolling over my cheeks. What was I going to do now? I shivered in the cold and wrapped my arms around my body, trying to stay warm. The cells were dark, the only bit of light falling in through a very narrow window toward the top of the cell.
Where was my sister? Was she still alive? I tried to reach for her. I tried to find her. We had a connection, we were related. And the device Thane had used had helped me connect with her.
When I tried, I couldn’t find her at all. Not to communicate, not as a thought or even a memory, as I had after our first communication.
It was gone.
Terror overcame me, pulling over my head like a blanket and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Was Naira dead!? No, no, no. It couldn’t be. If she was dead, it would all be over. I had nothing, no one. I was completely alone.
I hugged my knees to my chest, buried my face, and cried. Until now, I hadn’t wanted to consider that this was all over, that it was the end. I hadn’t wanted to think about anything that was negative, just in case the universe could hear me somehow, and make it all come true.
But the days of being positive were over. I was stuck in a cell, ready to be shipped off with slaves. My sister was dying if she was still alive at all.
And there was nothing I could do.
Suddenly, I got a flash of Thane. His face was before me, and he looked like he was in pain.
I shoved the thought away. This was all his fault. He was the reason I was stuck here. Dammit, if he hadn’t handed me over to the guards, sold me out, maybe I could have managed to find my way back home. Hell, if he had only dropped me off somewhere instead of insisting that I stay on the craft, I would have been able to get back to Naira with the Noether, and I might have been able to save her.
But he had ruined everything for me.
Emori, I heard his voice in my head. It was so clear; it was almost as if he was right here with me. Emori.
God, it sounded so much like the message I had sent Naira. The same kind of communication. But so much clearer.
How could that be?
No, I was hallucinating. Or something. I couldn’t be connected to him. How was that possible?
Emori.
“Leave me alone!” I shouted.
I’m in trouble, Emori. Again, it was Thane’s voice.
I pressed my hands over my ears, and the sound of his voice stopped. But I flashed on his face again. It was almost like a vision, a dream of sorts. Thane lay cuffed on a floor, battered and bruised. He had blood around his mouth, one eye was swollen. He looked terrible.
Why the hell could I see him, hear him, but I couldn’t connect with my sister at all?
It was because we slept together, I suddenly knew. I didn’t know how I knew it; I just did. I felt it in my bones, this knowledge as if I had been raised with it my entire life. It was ingrained in me, an imprint.
I was connected to Thane. I was connected in the way…i'd heard Malaki soulmates were connected.
“No way in fucking hell!” I shouted. My eyes were squeezed shut and I covered my ears, but no matter how much I tried to escape what I felt, what I had just learned, I couldn’t.
It had to be true. The only way I could know something like this as if it had been in my mind all along, was if Thane and I were connected and this was what he knew.
And it only proved the point.
I groaned and fell back onto the floor, covering my face with my hands. Tears squeezed out of my eyes again and I cried. I cried for my sister, for what was going to happen to her, for the lives we had lost and for what I was still going to lose. I cried because of what Thane had done to me, how he had betrayed me, stolen me away from my home planet, only to send me home to be treated as a slave.
I was so close to Naira, and yet, I was so fucking far.
I didn’t know how long I laid in the dark, crying. Eventually, my tears dried up, and I lay on the floor, empty and hollow. I drifted in and out of sleep, in a kind of dream state where Naira and I were younger, where my parents were still alive, where life was beautiful, and we were all together and safe.
Voices drew me out of my dream state and slowly, I surfaced toward reality. I was in the dark cell, shivering from the cold. I tried to search for the voices I had heard – not voices in my head this time, but real voices.
At first, I could only make out a whisper. But as I strained to listen, I realized that someone was talking outside my cell door. I crept closer quietly to listen. I couldn’t see anything, but it became apparent quick enough that two guards were talking outside my cell.
Why were they standing here, talking?
“This is just a steppingstone,” one of them said. “In a few days, we can finally get rid of the rats, use them for what they’re good for.”
They both snickered.
“Enach really took his time with this one.”
“The humans needed to trust us first. Otherwise it would be war and that fucks up the Earth. Easier if they’re peaceful. Taking them away before they know what the hell hit them leaves a smaller mess for us to clean up.”
I couldn’t believe how they were talking about us! When Thane had told me that the Malakus weren’t what I had thought they were, I had been skeptical. He was a selfish ass who saw the bad in the world no matter what he did. But now that I had seen who Enach really was, and what these guys were saying, I was starting to wonder if we knew anything at all.
“The colonies will appreciate the extra labor,” one of the guards said again. “Nolmilea has worked too long and too hard to have to keep doing this for themselves. Enach should have instated slavery ages ago.”
“It took long enough to find a species we could use that way.
“And then we can really renovate Earth, make it what it should be.”
“Nolmilea 2.0.”
They both snickered again.
I was shocked to my core. With the Arrival, we had thought they were here to save us, that an answer had come after we thought we were all going to die. It turned out that Earth hadn’t been saved at all. It was just under New Management. And the Malakus weren’t here to help us rebuild. They were busy stealing the whole damn planet from underneath us.
I became aware of Thane again. It was almost as if he were here with me, as if he was present and listening to the same conversation I heard.
How was this possible?
I had no idea, but the truth was that I didn’t know anything anymore.
Chapter Nineteen
Thane
They were going to take me back to Earth. The last fucking place in the Universe I wanted to be. They were punishing me, weren’t they? My dad knew that I hated it on Earth, that all I wanted was to get away.
And now he was forcing me to go back there, so that I would know he was in control. I couldn’t do whatever the hell I liked, because my father called the shots and I would forever be under his control.
Fuck!
Death would have been easier. Quicker. Then it would all have been over. But my father would never grant me such grace. Instead, he was going to make my life as hellish as possible.
Since I had stolen his Noether, I had a feeling it was going to be infinitely worse than it had been before. Before, my father had treated me as a disappointment, as someone who needed to be punished.
Now, he was going to treat me as the enemy.
And that would change everything.
After they had taken me in the marketplace, they put me in cuffs and dragged me to a holding cell close to the military base where I would wait to go back to Earth. A guard had come in after everyone else had left and beaten me to a pulp. I had barely been able to stand up for myself – they had kept me cuffed and I was at a serious disadvantage.
They were fucked if they thought they could break me, though. I was stronger than that. I was already healing again. Without the Noether it was slower, but I could recover.
A guard came for me.
“On your feet,” he snapped. I stood and he led me to one of the crafts that would take me to Earth. I was going to play along as long as I needed to, but the moment I saw my chance, I was going to get the hell out of here.
I was just in the ship when I got a vision from Emori. She was in a cell, dark and cold, crying. The vision was so sudden, so powerful, it nearly knocked me off my feet. I felt all her emotions and my heart broke for her.
I had done this. I had put her there. I had sold her out. What the hell did I care about a human woman? But she wasn’t just a human, was she? She was my soulmate. Fuck, we had imprinted on each other. We had created a connection.
My mother had taught me about this, long ago. She had told me that she wished for me, the love she’d had for my father. I had long since decided that it wasn’t going to happen for me. I didn’t want anyone I had to care about, anyone who would be a distraction. But I couldn’t help it. Emori had drawn me from the start, and now that we had fucked, we were connected.
Not in the way that my parents had been, because I would never be like my father. But Emori was my woman.
Did she know what this was? Did she understand? Probably not. The Malaki biologists had studied humans in great depth and discovered that humans didn’t imprint the way we did. It sounded so shallow.
And yet, at the same time, it sounded safe.
It didn’t matter what I thought about it, it had happened, and it was what it was.
I just had to forget about it, ignore the bond, and think about myself. All I had to do was get out of this damn ship, and I wouldn’t have to go back to Earth. I felt bad for Emori and what I had done to her, but it wasn’t my problem. It never should have been. I hadn’t chosen for her to be on my ship, I hadn’t chosen to be so fucking drawn to her.
And I sure as shit hadn’t chosen to be tied to her the way I was now.
So, I was just going to ignore it, and do my own thing.
I focused on the guards filtering into the ship. They were all relaxed about me now that I didn’t have the Noether, and they thought since I had been good and fucked up, they didn’t have to worry about me.
Well, I had news for them. They hadn’t put me in the cell on the ship, and that was their mistake.
I waited until they were laughing and joking, standing in a group at the back of the ship. Only one guard stood by the door and getting past him was going to be easy as long as I made it quick. I had to get away before they pulled together, because I couldn’t fight them all off at the same time. The only thing I had going for me right now was the element of surprise.
Just a moment longer, and I made a break for it. I had been limping and acting like I was in a hell of a lot of pain. Which wasn’t completely untrue – my ribs ached like a bitch. But I could deal with pain. I ran for the guard at the door and knocked him the fuck out so fast, he didn’t know what had hit him.
There were shouts and cries of surprise from the others, but by then I was already out of the ship and I ran toward the edge of the base.
I had gotten a head start and I reached the trees that surrounded the base while the guards all milled about, not knowing exactly what had happened. When the first shots fired from blasters that aimed in the right direction, at least, I was already between the trees and they couldn’t see me properly to shoot me anymore.
They were going to come after me, with dogs and with guns, and I had to be quick about it – whatever it was that I planned to do. But at least I had gotten away.
I grinned, happy about my freedom. I kept winning it back. At some point, they weren’t going to be able to take it away from me anymore. As some point, I was going to win and that would be the end of it.
Fuck, I couldn’t wait.
I worked my way through the trees, keeping my eyes and ears open. But they had no idea where I was headed, and I made sure to double back every now and then. When I found a small stream, I followed it so that the dogs couldn’t follow my scent.
I didn’t have money, I had no home here, and I didn’t have the device anymore. But I was on Nolmilea and I was free. I had my wits about me, and I was going to be able to create a comfortable life with a bit of work.
After being sure that the guards had lost my trail and they weren’t after me directly, I sat down and took a breather. I drank some of the water from the stream and tried to make my next plan. Where was I going to go? Another city would be a good idea, somewhere far away. A city on the other side of the planet, so that I wouldn’t have to think about my father ever again.
Without warning, Emori popped into my mind again. I groaned and pulled a face. Was I ever going to be able to get rid of the thought of her? This stupid bond between us was going to give me hell, wasn’t it?
But I couldn’t stop thinking about Emori and what might happen to her now that I had handed her over to the Malakus. I still felt bad about that. Along with the guilt came a wave of irritation. Dammit! How many people had I killed? Countless. I didn’t give a shit about anyone else. But somehow, I felt bad about what I had done to Emori. And what about her sister? She had been terrified that she would lose her sister. It was better to be alone, I had always believed that. But she probably hadn’t asked to have a sister, or to lose her parents, the same way I hadn’t chosen to be involved with her in the first place.
But shit happened.
And fuck me, I was going to do something stupid. I just knew it. Because once I decided on it, even if it was the dumbest thing to do, I couldn’t just let it go.
And I wasn’t going to be able to let this go. Emori was my soulmate and I couldn’t just walk away.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
None of the guards would know what I was going to do. None of them would imagine that I would go back to the very place I had escaped from. But that was exactly what I was going to do.
I doubled all the way back to the military base. I only hid in the trees for a moment, scoping out the place. A small craft stood close by and no guards were in the immediate area. So, I ran toward the ship and climbed in.
Dammit, what the fuck was I thinking?
Guards noticed me, but the base was poorly guarded and by the time they ran to me, I had the ship powered up and lifting into the air.
How long were they going to search for a prisoner that had nothing, that was no one? I didn’t think I was that important, not now that I had gotten rid of the Noether.
I hoped they wouldn’t go after me this time the way they had before. If I could get ahead, I would be able to get to Earth before too much shit hit the fan.
I just needed to get to Emori. I had to undo what I had set in motion for her.
Dammit, I had this primal need to save her.
Chapter Twenty
Emori
&nbs
p; When the guards took me to the cells with the other “slaves” I had thought we were going to be taken away immediately. They had made it sound urgent.
But it had been days, now, and I was still stuck here. I was still alone in the cold, dark cell.
I had barely eaten anything – when they did bring us food it was often rotten, only parts of it edible, and I didn’t always have an appetite.
The more time passed, the more I sank into the pits of despair. By now, I was sure my sister had passed away. Maybe already at the start when I hadn’t been able to connect to her anymore. Or just after.
Whatever happened to me now, if I had lost her, it didn’t matter anymore. I had wanted to save my sister, but I had failed. And now, I had nothing left.
A guard unlocked my door and I blinked against the bright light flowing in.
“Prepare for transportation,” he said gruffly.
“Where?” I asked.
My voice was hoarse. I hadn’t spoken to anyone in days and I had spent a lot of time crying. I felt sick, frail, and I had lost a lot of weight.
“It’s none of your concern.”
I wanted to tell him that what happened to me was exactly my concern, but that wasn’t true, was it? I was a slave now. My life didn’t belong to me anymore. And it didn’t matter that it didn’t, anyway. What did I have to live for? My family were all dead. They were all gone. It was just me. And without family, life was empty. I had lost it all.
The guard beckoned for me to exit the cell, but I was weak. I hadn’t moved much, and my legs were stiff. The guard was impatient and instead of waiting for me to get my ligaments moving again, he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the cell. I didn’t fight him much. I only complained that he hurt me, but he ignored me, and I stopped complaining about that too.
As the guard took me away, I noticed Enach, not too far off. He was talking to a group of guards, giving orders. They guard dragged me by close to him, and he only glanced sidelong at me. I had hoped that there would be more of a response, but why would there be? I was just another slave to him.