by Presley Hall
I’m not much of a fighter—nothing like Emma’s friend Jade, who has actual experience in MMA—but I get a decent hit in. The pipe connects with the guard’s head, sending him reeling backward, and he drops Miri like a sack of potatoes.
“Run!” I shout at her, swinging the pipe again and narrowly missing the other guard. I see Miri poised to obey, but she hesitates for just a second, looking back at me with wide eyes.
“Don’t wanna leave you!” she cries out, her eyes filling with tears for the first time since Druxik and I woke her up, and my heart clenches in my chest all over again.
“Miri, no!” I shake my head desperately. “Run!”
But she’s hesitated a moment too long. The guard that I missed scoops her up, pinning her arms so that she can’t scratch him, and the one I hit on the head with the pipe recovers and grabs me while I’m distracted, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off the ground as I kick and scream.
“Let go of me!” I screech, and I hear Druxik’s angry shout from behind me as he realizes what’s happening.
“Let her go,” my mate growls, his voice echoing through the alleyway, but the guards ignore him. “Cora. Cora, no!”
I hear him shouting for me, but it’s too late. The guard claps a hand holding a cloth over my mouth and nose, just as I drag in a breath to shout to Druxik in return. I taste something bitter on my tongue, my nose burning from whatever the cloth is soaked in.
The world fades away, and everything goes black.
21
Druxik
As I hear Cora’s scream, I break away from the fight to sprint toward her and Miri, leaving my fellow warriors to deal with the contingent of guards that sprang on us.
But I’m too late.
The guards drag Cora’s limp body away, and I realize that they’ve knocked her out with something. Miri is screaming and writhing in another guard’s arms, but he’s got a solid grip on her as the two of them carry their captives to a waiting transport pod.
I put on a burst of speed, but there’s too much distance between me and them—I can’t reach Cora in time. My heart sinks as frustrated anger wells up in me, and a snarl tears from my throat.
“Krax!” I growl, my hands curling into fists as I watch the transport pod slip off into the early dawn light.
Behind me, the fight is reaching its conclusion. When I turn around, I see that the guards are breaking off, their purpose here done. They got what they came for, and they’re not eager to continue the confrontation with my men. But as I stride back toward them, I see with some satisfaction that my warriors aren’t quick to let them get away.
Zhori and Vrexen in particular attack with renewed vigor, killing three of the guards that lag behind their compatriots. Their blood trickles out into the gray slush in the frigid alleyway, pooling there as Zhori wipes off his blade and spits on one of the corpses.
He looks up at me as I approach. “We need to get out of here,” he says, and I hear a murmur of assent from the other warriors. “This is a fairly lawless planet, all things considered, but that doesn’t mean we can get away with taking out this many guards. Someone will come after us for that. And the proprietor of this place won’t be happy about what’s happened here. We can’t risk being detained and ruining the whole mission.”
“I know.” I frown, looking down the street. My chest feels hollow, and my stomach is clenched into a tight knot. “Come on. Let’s put some distance between these bodies and us, and then we’ll regroup.”
The warriors follow me as I lead them down the street, which is thankfully still quiet due to the early hour. We hurry through the icy streets, turning corner after corner until there’s enough space between the remnants of the fight and us for us to pause.
I try to tamp down the rising fear and anger inside me as we duck into an alleyway and I face the others. I’m terrified for my Irisa and furious that she’s been taken.
I just found her, I think, panic swirling in my gut. I can’t deshing lose her.
But I know fear and doubt won’t help me now. I can hear my father’s voice in the back of my head, whispering the old refrain: You’re not good enough. You never will be. You’re not as strong as your brother. Not as fierce. Not the warrior that Verek is.
Shutting out that remembered voice with great effort, I force all the doubt from my head as I focus on what I need to do.
I will be good enough.
The woman I love needs me. My mate needs me, and I’ll save her no matter what. There’s no other possibility in my mind, no other path that I can accept. Cora will come back to me safe and whole.
There’s no world that I can imagine where that’s not the truth. She is my Irisa, my match, my perfect mate. I haven’t found her only to lose her so quickly, before our lives together have even really begun.
“We have options,” I say quietly, not wanting my voice to carry past the alleyway where we’re hiding. “Thanks to Miri, we know there’s a way in and out of the warehouse where the women are being held for auction. She slipped out, so there must be something there, some way into the building, even if it’s small or hidden.”
“What else do we know, though?” Zhori frowns. “It’s going to be hard to find the way into the warehouse, going off so little detail.”
“You’re right. The information we have from her is vague.” I clench my hands into fists, trying not to let frustration overrun me. “She’s a little girl, not a warrior or a tactician. There weren’t many useful details beyond the fact that there’s clearly some kind of opening or path in and out. The plan was to do some recon today and try to discover more information to fill in those gaps before making a move on the warehouse. I hadn’t planned to go in so blindly. But we don’t have the luxury of time anymore.”
“We can’t leave Cora in their hands,” Zhori says determinedly, and the other warriors nod in agreement. “Who knows what they’ll do to her? And the little girl—they’ll be angry she escaped once.”
“We can’t wait,” Vrexen agrees. “We have to go now and do our best. We’ve fought worse odds before.”
“That we have.” I hold his gaze for a moment before looking around at the rest of the gathered men. “I’m grateful to have you all with me. You’re all fierce and brave warriors, and I’m proud to fight alongside you.”
A murmur of assent comes from all the warriors, a few men nodding as determination overtakes their features.
I turn to M’Xelni, nodding at him and Vrexen. “I want the two of you to create a distraction. The rest of us will search along the backside of the warehouse and try to find a way in. Once we’re in, I’ll have one of the others signal to you, and you can come around to join us. We’ll get Cora, Miri, and the other women out, then get back to the ship as quickly as possible.”
“It sounds like as good a plan as any, in the time we have to strategize.” Zhori laughs tightly. “Hopefully it will go as smoothly as we hope.”
“I think we can expect that it won’t. But as Vrexen pointed out, we’ve faced worse dangers. We’ve dedicated our lives to being ready for battle when the need arises. These Nierran guards may match us in brawn, but they have neither our training nor our skill. We can succeed in this mission, just as we’ve found victory together so many times before.”
“You’re deshing right we can.” Zhori nods, his eyes flashing.
As we fall into a loose formation and begin to make our way in the direction of the quarter where the slave auctions are held, determination fills me. I meant what I said to my men—that we can do this, that we’ve faced worse, that the guards are no match for us.
I believe it because it has to be true.
We’ll rescue Cora and Miri, and the other women too. We’ll get them back to the ship, and we’ll put this horrific planet behind us and go home.
Or we’ll die trying.
22
Cora
When I come back to my senses, the first thing that I see is the black bars a foot away from my face.
As I sit up groggily, I realize I’m on the hard stone floor in a holding cell of some kind, stained with god only knows what. The smell is awful. It’s the stench of dozens of bodies kept in a close space without proper sanitation or hygiene.
As my eyes grow used to the darkness, I can see that there are multiple other tiny cells like mine, all in a long row.
There’s a quiet noise at the other side of my cell, and as I peer through the dim light, I see that Miri is sitting up slowly too, her hair tangled around her face.
I scoot toward her slowly, reaching out for her as she pushes her hair out of her eyes. She comes to me without hesitation, crawling into my lap. I can tell that she’s groggy too, and furious anger fills me—more for Miri than for myself.
She’s just a little girl, but those monsters drugged her too.
I have no doubt that they’ve brought us both back here to try to sell us along with the other women, and I feel a rush of fear wash over me as I remember the last time I woke up in a holding cell like this.
What if they succeed?
The memory of that old terror comes back in a wave as I recall being given to an Orkun warlord who planned to keep me as a sex slave, with no hope of escape. Surely I haven’t come this far just to have that happen to me all over again?
I take a deep breath as Miri burrows deeper into my embrace. I have to be brave. I can’t let myself dwell on what will happen if we’re sold. That won’t do anyone any good now.
The Kalixian warriors are still out there—Druxik is still out there. He loves me, and I have faith in him. I know he’ll do everything he possibly can to get us out of here. He won’t have forgotten the mission, and now he’ll consider it more important than ever for them to succeed. I trust him to rescue us, if there’s even the slightest possibility that they can.
Miri looks up at me, her eyes shining in the dim light. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” she whispers in her tiny voice.
I stroke her hair gently, soothing her. “Why is that?”
“Because… I lose everyone I care about.” She lays her head against my chest, sniffling a little. I’m surprised it’s taken her this long to shed tears. She’s the bravest little girl I’ve ever known. “I’m sorry. You got captured because of me.”
“It’s okay,” I soothe her. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart. We came here to rescue the women who are being held for the auction. So, you see? I would’ve come to this warehouse eventually anyway.”
“Not as a prisoner.” She sniffles again.
“No, maybe not. But it’s just us locked up in here. All those strong men I came with are still out there. And they’re going to save us.”
“Really?” She lifts her head to look at me, and I see a tiny flicker of hope in her eyes. “They’ll… they’ll come for us? They won’t give up?”
“They won’t give up,” I assure her. “No matter what.”
“Just like you didn’t give me up? When the bad men wanted to take me away?”
My heart squeezes in my chest, and I have to blink back tears of my own.
“Just like that,” I tell her, wrapping my arms around her. “I’ll keep you safe, Miri. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. No one will hurt you, I promise.”
I close my eyes as I say the words, praying that I can keep that vow. I can’t bear to let our captors hurt this innocent little girl.
Peering into the darkness as Miri relaxes against me, I look down the row of similar cells. The barracks are dim and grungy, the floors outside my cell stained with the same dark splotches as the floor inside.
“Is anyone there?” I call out softly. “Anyone?”
There’s no response at first. I call out again, hoping to hear someone else, someone who can tell me exactly what’s going on here. After several moments of silence, I finally hear a quiet voice through the darkness. “Hello?”
I feel my heart leap, a tiny spark of hope lighting. “I’m Cora,” I call out, inching closer to the bars. “Who are you? Where are you from?”
There’s a moment’s hesitation.
“Sophie,” the woman finally answers. “I’m Sophie. I’m from Earth. Where are you from?”
Relief washes through me, so powerful that I lean against the bars for a second to catch my breath. So this is the place the other human women are being held, at least. When Druxik and the warriors come to find me, they’ll find all of us. The mission hasn’t been totally lost just because Miri and I were captured.
“I’m from Earth as well,” I say. “I was abducted and captured months ago, but I’ve been free of the Orkun since then. I’ve been safe—until recently, at least. Now it seems I’ve gotten back into the same situation.”
“I was abducted too.” I hear Sophie’s voice become a little more sure, a little more trusting of me. “The rest of the women and I woke up on a ship with those disgusting hunch-backed aliens. The ones that call themselves Orkun. They were going to—” She breaks off, her breath catching a little. “They said that they were going to mate with us. Make us their brides.”
Coppery bile coats the back of my throat, and I swallow. “But it didn’t happen?”
“No. Right before the ceremony, there was some huge disruption. I don’t know what exactly happened, but there was a lot of shouting and everyone was on edge. They changed course, and instead of forcing us into the ‘mating ritual’ they had planned, they threw us all back into a cell on the ship. No one told us what would happen when we got here, but on the first day we arrived, I saw an auction going on. I know they plan to auction us off too. To sell us to the highest bidder.”
“How long ago did you get here?”
“Just a few days.”
Sophie moves closer to the bars, and I can see the outline of her now. She has dark skin and petite features, along with wide, luminous eyes. Her hair is kinky and fairly short, and she grips the bars tightly, her gaze fixed on mine.
“How many are here in the warehouse?” I ask, glancing around the dimly lit space again. “How many are being held captive?”
“About two dozen. Mostly other women from Earth, but there’s another alien here too—a man. I don’t know what the Orkun plan to do with him.” I see her shudder a little at the mention of him. “I don’t really know his story, either, but I think he was a slave who was forced to fight or something. He has scars all over his body, and he seems almost… feral. Dangerous, like a wild animal.”
I frown. “What does he look like?”
“Really tall. Over seven feet, maybe? He’s bigger than any man I’ve ever seen. He has metallic bronze skin, a nose ring, tattoos all over, and… and horns. Even the guards are a bit scared of him, I think. They give him a wide berth, pretty much just leaving him to rot in his cell.” She pauses, biting her full lower lip. “It’s sad, really. I can’t imagine what he’s been through.”
My heart lurches with shock as I take in what she’s just said. It sounds a hell of a lot like she’s describing a Kalixian. Surely there are other horned aliens in the universe, but her description of his skin and stature is too accurate to be a coincidence. I know plenty of Kalixians by now, and she just recited exactly what they look like—minus the piercing.
For a moment, hope swells inside me, but then I process the rest of what she said. The man in the cell may be a Kalixian, but that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll be an ally. If he’s truly as wild and dangerous as Sophie says, will he be a friend?
Or a foe?
23
Druxik
By the grace of the gods, we encounter no other obstacles on our journey to the auction quarter. It’s silent and still for the most part, waiting for the events of the day.
I shudder when we pass the block in the center of the square, with a manacled post in the center of it where they’ll place each slave up for auction. Just the thought of Cora—or any living being, for that matter—forced to stand up there for a crowd to leer at, to stare at and bid on, makes me so angry that I clench my jaw until m
y teeth grind together, my blood boiling.
M’Xelni and Vrexen, as instructed, go to create a diversion at the front of the warehouse. They’ve been instructed to ask about the auction tomorrow, to distract the guards as long as possible with inane questions until we can try to find the spot where Miri slipped out. We slip around the perimeter when the guards are looking away, each of us studying the building for any possible path inside.
At last, after what seems like far too long, I spy a small spot on the far wall where it looks as if a couple of boards have been pried up and then slid back into place to try to disguise the spot. With Zhori keeping watch, two of the other warriors and I move the boards, prying out more of them as quietly as we can. Given how many guards came after one escaped slave—and a child at that—I expect that the warehouse will be heavily guarded both inside and out.
If it comes to an all-out fight, I know there’s a chance we might not win. As much as I’d love to fight these deshing slavers, I don’t want a battle. I want to get these women and my Irisa, and get out as fast as possible. So for as long as we can manage stealth, I know that’s our best option.
When the opening is just large enough for us to wriggle through, we slip into the darkness of the warehouse one by one, leaving one warrior outside to keep watch and listen for the signal to get M’Xelni and Vrexen.
As soon as I make it through the small entrance we’ve created, I glance around to get my bearings. We’ve emerged in what looks like a small storeroom, with a pile of broken shackles on the floor near my feet, and a few shelves lined with supplies.
“We need to search the building. Quietly,” I murmur once everyone is inside.
I lead the way through the shadowy halls, and it doesn’t take us long to reach the main part of the warehouse. In the dim light, I can see one guard at the front of a row of cages, his back turned to us. I gesture to Zhori, who moves forward as silently as a hunter, his feet making no noise as he creeps toward the guard with his long knife out and ready.