Venomous Heart

by Mary Auclair

  “This was a trap.”

  19

  Ava

  “Don’t even think about it,” a male voice told Arlen and Ava as a group of human men stepped out of the elevator, all carrying ionic guns. “You’re Eok, but you’re not faster than an ionic gun.”

  Just in front of her, Arlen’s back rippled with anticipation. His entire body seemed to be filled with the need for violence.

  “Let’s try and see.” Arlen’s voice was filled with confidence and his hands spread at his sides, long talons shooting from his fingertips, sharp and deadly. “Only, know this: if you miss, I won’t.”

  The men advanced, and Ava’s eyes settled in the one in the middle of the group, clearly the leader from the way he stood, unfazed by the presence of an Eok warrior. He was tall and broad, with dark hair and a thick beard, his eyes blue and cold as his gaze went from Arlen to Ava. There was no mercy in those eyes. No pity, either. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill both of them.

  Cold slithered through her very bones as Ava understood. Those were the people from Facility Twenty-One.

  But why are they attacking us? Don’t they understand that Knut has gone?

  “You might be right about that, Eok.” The man spoke slowly, his ionic gun never wavering. “But what about your friend? She doesn’t look the type to be able to dodge ionic detonations.”

  Arlen seemed to be surprised at the words, and he shot Ava a glance over his shoulder before returning his attention to the humans. The tension was still visible in his broad back, but his talons retracted inside his fingertips.

  “What do you want from us?” Arlen didn’t move from his protective position in front of her. “We mean you no harm. You must know the Eok nation is sworn to protect humans.”

  “Yeah, we know all about you and your little deal with Prime Councilor Aav.” The man’s voice was brimming with hatred, as were the blue steel orbs of his eyes. “And we’ll die before we become your little playthings. Now, come forward slowly, or the lady dies.”

  The man gestured with his chin to someone to his left, and a limping figure stepped forward, carrying what looked like metal shackles with four clamps linked by a heavy chain. In a flash, Ava recognized Will Harl, the man whose leg she had saved.

  “Will Harl!” She couldn’t help herself, nor could she help the outrage in her voice. “What are you doing here? Why are you with them?”

  “I’m making sure we never have to answer to any alien, ever again.”

  Will limped all the way over to Arlen, then motioned roughly for him to present his wrists. Soon, Arlen was shackled at both wrists and ankles, his eyes glittering with a feral wrath, but he didn’t struggle.

  “You are making a mistake.” Arlen’s voice was neutral, but there was a world of reprisal in his eyes. “Knut is manipulating you. He’s the one who kept you enslaved all this time. Humans have a chance to prove to the entire Ring that you are worthy of liberty. And you’re jeopardizing that for… what? Money? Weapons? No matter what he promised you, Knut won’t keep his word. You’re nothing but profit to him.”

  “Shut up.” Will Harl swung the butt of his gun hard into Arlen’s stomach; the sound of connecting flesh and metal echoing sickeningly within the confines of the Vault, but Arlen simply doubled over. His face didn’t betray any pain, any fear. He simply stared at Will Harl with a promise of death.

  Fear spread in Will Harl’s faded blue eyes, then his mouth contorted within his dirty blond beard. Hatred showed underneath the fear, and he lifted the butt of his gun to strike at Arlen again.

  “Will!” The leader stepped forward. “He has Allurium shackles on. He can’t do anything. Why would you strike him?”

  “Knut wants him alive, Ben,” Will Harl almost whispered. “But he never said he had to be intact.”

  “I said no.” Ben spoke with authority and his ionic gun strayed toward Will Harl. “Now, step away from the prisoner. We’re not going to torture a creature who is already defeated. This is what was done to us, not what we’ll do to them.”

  Will Harl stared at Arlen with almost palpable hatred before turning away, moving to Ava and grabbing her roughly by the arm.

  “What about this one?” Hard fingers dug into her flesh, intentionally painful. “Did Knut say anything about her?”

  “The doctor won’t be harmed, either.” Ben slid cold, unfeeling eyes to her. “I need her.”

  “This abomination was made to serve as a fuck toy.” Will Harl held her closer, the perversion in his eyes as plain as the stench on his breath. “I say we use her until she begs us to kill her.”

  The ionic gun in Ben’s arm rose and he took a step forward. Will Harl stared with wide eyes as the other men looked at him, the deadly weapon aimed straight at his face.

  “We’re not monsters. The doctor saved your leg, didn’t she? I’d say that earns her some respect.” Ben didn’t take his aim away from Will Harl’s head. “Now take your fucking hands off her.”

  Ben turned his cold stare directly toward her. “You won’t run, will you, Doctor Ava?”

  Ava shook her head, holding Ben’s stare as Arlen hissed behind her, fury emanating from his skin like an aura.

  She knew when she was beaten.

  And that she would have to kill one of them before this day was over.

  “Where is Arlen?” Ava stood in a small room which contained nothing but a functional metal desk and a large screen showing a map of Aveyn.

  “Don’t worry about your Eok friend.” Ben moved around her, then sat behind the desk, his blue eyes set on her with calm calculation. “Worry about yourself, and worry about me.”

  He motioned for the men behind her to leave, and one by one, the rebels left the room, leaving her alone with him.

  “He’s not my friend,” Ava stated simply, taking a seat in front of him without waiting for an invitation. As she sat, Ben’s eyes reduced to slits and his stare turned cold. “He is my mate.”

  Ben’s eyebrows lifted and for a second, surprise flashed in his eyes, then it was gone and he was calm and collected again.

  “An Eok mating with a human hybrid female.” He smiled, but there was nothing warm about it. “I must admit, I didn’t see that coming. Well, don’t worry about your mate. I won’t harm him.”

  “But you can’t say the same for your men.”

  How could her voice be so steady when all she wanted was to run to Arlen and hide in his arms? Her eyes strayed to the glass container that lay on the floor near the desk. The Exo-heart was still in there, intact.

  “I can vouch for them.” Ben gestured with his hands. “Mostly.”

  Yes, I saw that. If they’re all like Will Harl, then you can’t vouch for shit.

  “Why are you doing this for Knut? He’s the one who enslaved us. The Eoks only want to protect us from others like him.” Maybe she could get through to Ben, convince him to let them go. Show him that Knut was a bigger threat than the Eoks were.

  “I know Knut is a monster, if that’s what you’re asking.” Ben nodded, his lips pursing in disgust. “As to why I’m doing this, don’t you already know? For the very same reason you blindly throw yourself into their arms.” He leaned aggressively over his desk, locking gazes with her with an uncharacteristic intensity. “Because I made a promise to someone I care about very much.” His blue eyes shone with resolve. “That I would do whatever it took to earn our freedom. That’s why we didn’t answer the Eoks’ communication signals. That’s why I lost ten good men capturing his reconnaissance teams. And that is why I’m not going to let you leave before Knut gives us what he promised.”

  Ava blinked. “You trust him?”

  “Trust him? I’m not stupid.” Ben chuckled dryly. “I don’t trust Knut, any more than you should trust these aliens, either, whether you’re mated to one or not. No, I’ve got my own insurance on Knut to make sure he upholds his end of our bargain.”

  “And what bargain is that?” Ava swallowed. She didn’t trust Ben further than she could thro
w him.

  “Sorry, darling.” He shook his head. “All you need to know is that when Knut gives us what we agreed on, we’ll disappear so far away, nobody in the Ring will ever hear from us again. But first, you’re going to do something for me.”

  He stared at her hard, all semblance of civility gone from his face. He was telling her exactly what they both knew, that she was powerless against him. That she should cower in fear. But all Ava did was lift her chin. She didn’t want to antagonize him but she couldn’t show weakness, either.

  “What do you want from me?” That was the question, was it? Ben wanted something from her that Knut or the Eoks couldn’t give.

  “There is someone I need you to save.” His expression was no longer so cold. Suddenly, a very real fear shone in his blue eyes as leaned forward once more. Then his eyes slid to the Exo-Heart and Ava knew that Ben was aware of the reason why she’d come all the way to the Vault. “If you can save him, then I offer you your freedom. Your freedom and the Exo-Heart, intact, in time to save the hybrid boy you care so much about.”

  Ava held his gaze for what felt like an eternity. He was offering her a chance to save Uril, but at what cost? “What about Arlen?”

  “There is nothing you can do to save him now.” Ben shook his head. “Knut wants him, as well as the weapons in the Vault. It’s a condition for his payment.”

  How did Knut know about Arlen? It made no sense. Ava stored the information away. Right now, she could focus only on one threat at a time.

  “And Uril and me?” Her eyes strayed to the interactive map on the back wall. Red dots were moving through Aveyn’s jungle toward them at a slow, steady pace. “What did Knut say about us?”

  Ben made a face, then nodded. He turned to stare at the map, then back at her.

  “You’re a smart woman, I’ll give you that.” He chuckled, pointing at her like she’d said something amusing. “He left very specific instructions for your capture. And for the destruction of that heart you risked your life to retrieve.”

  Ava’s throat constricted as she understood. This was Knut’s revenge for betraying him. He wanted her to know she’d failed to save Uril.

  “But as far as I’m concerned, you didn’t survive the assault. Someone fired an ionic gun and the stray detonation killed poor Doctor Ava.”

  Ben paused, looked down at his lap, then sharply back up. There was a wealth of warning in his eyes and his face was intent. “All this, but only if you can save someone very precious to me. If he dies, then I’ll destroy the Exo-Heart, hand you over to Knut, and he will send you to the brothels on Area 45. I bet you’d rather die than go there.”

  Ava stared at him, the horror of what he’d said making its way inside her brain. This was the ultimate revenge. Killing whom she loved most after almost allowing her to succeed, then send her to the brothel planet at the edge of the Frontier and leaving her there to be rutted by the most savage males in the Ring. It was so cruel, so full of a perverse love for terror and pain that it twisted her stomach.

  “You’re right. I would rather die.”

  “Then you don’t have a choice.” Ben’s eyes bored into hers, and she knew there was no mercy to be expected from him. If she couldn’t save whoever he wanted her to save, he would hand her over to Knut for a lifetime of horror, condemn Uril to death, and deliver Arlen to untold torture.

  “You have to save my son. A life for a life.”

  20

  Ava

  The small boy was breathing laboriously, his scrawny chest rising in fast, shallow movements. The sickly pallor of his skin was offset by tiny patches of purple bruising on his limbs and torso, like flowering omens of death.

  He was around five, maybe no more than seven, with burnt copper skin and big green eyes full of fear and pain, fixed on Ava with a trust that tore at her heart like a rusty blade.

  Ava smiled at him, squeezing his tiny, damp hand in hers before lifting her gaze up to the woman hovering on the other side of the narrow bed.

  “He’s got pneumonia, but the most pressing concern is septicemia. He could go into shock at any time.” Ava stared as a beautiful, dark-skinned woman held the boy’s hand, her almost black eyes lifting with a despair that echoed somewhere deep inside her soul. “He needs infection nanites, at least five courses of them, and he needs to be submerged in oxy-liquid to protect his lungs. This is not something I can just improvise.”

  Ava met the woman’s eyes, red and underscored with dark purple circles. It was clear that she had been crying. Her curly black hair was in disarray and she had the unkempt appearance of one who hadn’t slept enough. Pity tore at Ava despite the fact that she was one of the rebels who was holding Uril’s life hostage to save her son.

  She couldn’t blame her, really. She would do the same to save Uril.

  “Derek is strong.” Ben’s voice came from behind Ava, but this time it wasn’t controlled and calm. It was full of concern, emphatic even, like he wanted to convince himself that everything was going to be all right. “We do have some supplies here at the facility. Maybe not everything you said, but some.” Ben motioned, and a young woman pulled a heavy cart full of medical supplies toward the bed.

  Ava burrowed through the supplies, biting her bottom lip. She shook her head and met the woman’s eyes dead on. “What is your name?”

  The woman lifted surprised eyes to her, then shot a glance at Ben. She stayed silent, refusing to answer. Frustration welled in Ava at the stubbornness of these people.

  “Very well then, don’t tell me.” Ava pulled back from the cart and shook her head, sweeping her arm over the contents. “This isn’t enough. It’ll keep your son alive for a day, two at most, but it won’t save him. He needs to be brought to the medical clinic near the mansion, it’s the only way.”

  Ava held Ben’s gaze for a long time, then he looked down at his son. A shadow passed over his features, twisting them to reveal the raw fear of a parent who knew they risked losing what mattered most, then his face hardened again.

  “No.” He shook his head then his expression became fierce—hostile even. “You save my son, and you save him here. Or I swear on his life that I’ll rip your heart out.”

  Ben turned and left the room, leaving Ava alone with the boy’s mother. Ava turned to see the woman staring at her, her beautiful rounded face full of grief.

  “Tell me your name.” Ava spoke in a low and soft voice. She needed this woman to open up to her. Let her in. “Please.”

  “Naomi,” the woman whispered without looking up from her son. “My name is Naomi.”

  Ava nodded. This was a start.

  Guilt bit at her, but Ava pushed it down. Right now, she had to do whatever it took to convince this woman to betray her people to save her son.

  To save Uril and Arlen.

  She didn’t have long.

  “Naomi, you know I’m right. Derek is going to die if you don’t listen to me.” She held the woman’s gaze. She knew her words were cruel, but they were also true. “I’ll give him the infection nanites for now, but if I don’t treat him at the main compound, he will die.”

  Naomi tilted her head as though Ava had slapped her, then raised her clear, lucid eyes. All traces of softness were gone from her almost black irises as she locked gazes with Ava.

  “Do what Ben tells you, and save Derek.” Naomi reached over the bed and grabbed Ava’s hand. She was surprisingly strong, and her grip was so hard it hurt as she almost crushed Ava’s bones. “Or he’ll make you wish you had died instead of him.” Naomi looked down at her son again, dismissing Ava’s presence.

  This isn’t working. I have to make her understand.

  Ava stared at the small, tortured features of the boy, then turned to the medical supplies. She had enough to fight part of the infection, but the damage to his lungs would probably be irreversible. She prepared the treatment, injecting the nanites that would crush the infection in the boy’s body. As soon as the treatment entered his veins, Derek began to weep as the
burning sensation of the nanites in his bloodstream fought off the invading infection.

  “What’s happening to him?” the mother asked, her face twisted in panic. “What did you do?”

  “It’s the nanites; they’re fighting the infection, but the side-effect is a burning sensation,” Ava explained as she turned to mix the proper dosage of a pain-numbing compound from what little supplies she’d been provided with. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it go away.”

  As soon as Ava injected the painkiller, the child stopped crying, then his eyes closed and he fell into a chemical-induced sleep.

  “That will make him comfortable for a while. He needs the rest.”

  Naomi stared at her child intently, ignoring Ava as she patted her son’s forehead, absorbed in her maternal love for him. Ava looked at the woman, a sudden anger boiling up inside her.

  “You love your son.” Ava spoke in a harsh, cutting tone and Naomi looked at her in surprise. “You would do everything it takes to save him, wouldn’t you?”

  Naomi nodded, her gaze cautious as she studied Ava.

  “I feel the same way about Uril. He’s the only family I ever had.” Ava crossed her arms and stared hard at the woman. “He’s dying, too.”

  “There is nothing I can do for Uril.” The woman spoke low, her face closing off.

  “Isn’t there?” Ava’s anger didn’t abate. “This can save him,” she pointed to the Exo-Heart, still in the glass container, “but I can’t give it to him, because I’m here, saving your son instead. All because you chose to make a deal with Knut to give him back a negative particle bomb. Do you even know what it will mean for you when Prime Councilor Aav learns of your betrayal? She will hunt you down, even outside the Ring. She will make an example of all of you. And do you think she will care about Derek? Do you think she will have any remorse about killing the children alongside their parents? She’s Mantrilla, she doesn’t care about those things. All she cares about is power, and if you give Knut a negative particle bomb, then you threaten that power.”