by Regine Abel
* * *
The sound of the door opening startled me. Ravik had been wise to expect Lorik to come for me two hours before the Fifteen’s agreed upon arrival. A little over thirty minutes ago, we’d both taken one last shot of painkillers before resuming our positions, lying in wait. It had to be only minutes after eight now. If all went well, we’d have plenty of time to escape before the others got here.
“Well, well,” Lorik said, with undisguised admiration, “look who’s still alive. You Braxians sure are made tough. No wonder you used to be such great warriors.”
Turning my head to the side, I observed him through my cell’s bars. My heart pounded when he stopped in front of Ravik, giving him a once over. I addressed a silent prayer to the Goddess that he wouldn’t notice his shackles were no longer secured. Even if he did, Ravik would easily take him down, but we needed him to open my cell first to avoid triggering any alarm.
“When those idiots you call your people are done with their in-fighting, Guldar will swoop back in and put them all to good use. You were born too early, Magnar Ravik. They’re too stupid to understand you were taking them on the right path,” Lorik said, pensively. “You deserve better than what those animals have planned for you. When I’m done securing my future wife, if you wish it, I’ll grant you mercy with a swift, honorable death.”
It didn’t surprise me. Guldans respected strength and despised weakness. Hagan’s obvious lack of spine had earned him Lorik’s contempt.
“I’m touched by your generosity,” Ravik said in a growl.
“I aim to please,” Lorik said with a smirk.
My pulse picked up further when he moved away from Ravik and towards my cell, but this time, due to anticipation and pre-battle adrenalin.
“I have a present for you, dear wife,” Lorik said, waving a pair of gloves in front of him. “I’m still having a hard time believing you have no powers, so I had to improvise.”
Those weren’t the gloves normally imposed on Veredians to stifle their psi ability, not that it would have made any difference. The nanites in the gloves acted as gatekeepers, and nanites were my bitches. No glove had ever worked on me. The only way to block my ability was to deprive me from nanites or any type of software.
I made to rise from the mattress, but he indicated for me to remain still until I had the gloves on. That suited me, reducing the risk of my shackles falling off by accident. At long last, he unlocked the door to my cell and opened it. Lorik took two steps inside and tossed the gloves at me.
“Put these on, quickly,” he said.
I picked them up, examined them, and then looked up at him, pretending not to see Ravik’s massive silhouette rising behind him.
“Hmm, I don’t think so,” I said with disdain. “They’re not my style.”
He recoiled, his eyes widening, first with shock, and then with dread as he finally sensed Ravik’s presence behind him. Lorik only managed to turn halfway, his hand never reaching his blaster, before Ravik caught him by the throat. With the same frightening ease he’d shown in the forest, Ravik lifted Lorik with one hand and slammed him on the floor. Although he’d held back, the shock dazed his victim. He removed Lorik’s blaster and tossed it at me, but found no com device. He then placed the collar he’d worn around the Guldan’s neck. He fought back but Ravik backhanded him hard enough to knock out a couple of teeth, and then punched him in the gut, winding him.
Lorik doubled over, gasping for breath, but Ravik yanked his head back so that I could slap my hand on the collar to lock it.
Pulling on the collar, Ravik drew Lorik’s face to his, forcing him into a half-sitting position. “I hear you like paddling people. Let’s see what’s so fun about it.”
Ravik dragged him by the collar to the center of the room. I rushed to the counter and picked up the remote to lower one of the chains hanging from the ceiling. He punched Lorik in the gut again when he tried to free himself, and then attached the chain to the collar’s hook. I raised the chain back up so that Lorik would need to stand almost on the tip of his toes not to get strangled by the collar.
My mate picked up the paddle and gave it a twirl before looking at Lorik.
“You can’t do this,” the Guldan pleaded. “You need me to get out of here. This place only responds to digital prints and vocal commands.”
I shrugged. “We’ll just cut off your hand. Plus, you were right. Every Veredian has powers,” I said, waving my own hands before him.
“This is for torturing my mate and killing my child,” Ravik said, his voice giving me chills.
Although he somewhat held back so as not to instantly kill Lorik, each of Ravik’s blows broke—or likely fractured—bones. I’d never considered myself a sadistic person, but in this instance, Lorik screeches of agony sounded like the sweetest music to me. My fingers instinctively reached for my braid, only to find the jagged edges of the short, silver locks brushing against my shoulders. Chest constricting, I forced the sorrow away, and placed my hand over my stomach, letting the hatred fill me again.
Yes, I enjoyed every single shred of his pain.
After fifteen blows or so—I’d lost count—Ravik stopped and tossed the paddle to the ground. He walked up to Lorik who was wheezing and gurgling, blood trickling from his mouth. From the sound, I assumed broken ribs had perforated his lungs. If his one ‘good’ leg didn’t give out, sparing him from dying of suffocation, he’d still drown in his own blood long before the others arrived.
“I guess that was fun after all,” Ravik affirmed, inches from Lorik’s face. “I could kill you with the next blow, but that would be cruel considering you offered to grant me mercy earlier. While yours would have been to give me a swift death, mine will be to wish you a long life. Enjoy Ravik’s mercy, Ambassador.”
Equipped with the weapons I had made, Lorik’s blaster, and Hagan’s whip, we cautiously exited the room into a large hallway, followed by the rattling sound of our former captor’s breathing. A series of empty shelves lined the open space right across from the cell room. In the corner, a lift sat with its door open.
“Oh Goddess!” I exclaimed, rushing for it.
It could only go up one floor. I tapped on the console without triggering any reaction.
“What’s wrong?” Ravik asked, after I tried a few times in vain.
I placed my palm over it and pushed my power within. My heart sank as I realized Lorik had not just shut it down, he’d completely disabled it. It made sense with Ravik’s men crawling all over the top floor. I could probably figure out how to get it going again, but it would take far more time than we could spare.
“It’s dead,” I said with a heavy sigh. “We need to find that secret exit.”
He pinched his lips in frustration but gave me a stiff nod. We returned to the hallway. The right side closed on a dead end, with only a couple of doors on each side, whereas the left side stretched beyond the possible length of the hunter’s lodge above.
Desperate for clothes and water, we checked the first couple of rooms at the right: a lab with small animals and animal parts floating in various liquids, and a storage room containing animal food and restraints. I nabbed the taser wand on one of the shelves. Moving to the left side of the hallway, we entered an old office that had been stripped of any equipment. I needed some kind of computer or com device to call for help. The next room turned out to be another empty detention area, this one clearly designed to receive people, with small cots, and shared hygiene rooms.
I thought of using the sink there to clean myself up but decided to keep going. There had to be a proper shower in here… I hoped. The next door opened on a small kitchen facing a large living area. I made a beeline for the replicator on the counter. Top of the line, it contained some of the fanciest recipes available and, thank the Goddess, it was still full. I selected a couple of meals for us and activated the machine, while Ravik rummaged through the cooling unit. He pulled out a couple of cold drinks for us, opened one and extended it to me.
Ravik opened the door next to it, revealing a small hygiene room, complete with shower.
“Go ahead,” Ravik said, indicating the room with his head. “Be quick. I’ll go check the last couple of rooms in the meantime and come right back.”
I hesitated for a second, wondering if it was wise to split up at all. Barely thirty minutes had elapsed since Lorik’s arrival. Technically, we still had plenty of time ahead of us but we couldn’t be sure. Still, I needed to get all this blood off me, especially between my thighs. Ravik could tell I ached to get clean, but I suspected seeing me in this state was also a painful reminder of what I had endured and of what we had lost.
“Okay,” I whispered.
We exchanged a brief kiss, and I hurried into the shower. Even at the lowest setting, the raining water felt punishing on my lacerated back. Despite the pain, I welcomed the cleansing effect, both physical and mental, washing away a hurt that went beyond skin deep. As much as I wanted to linger, I quickly rinsed and stepped out of the shower, less than five minutes after I’d entered. If we survived this—when we survived this—I’d have plenty of time for leisure in Ravik’s pool.
Halfway through drying myself, Ravik’s voice called me out from beyond the door. Excitement, not fear, filled it. Intrigued, I stepped outside while still rubbing the towel over my hair. Fully dressed, a large grin on his face, he held up my Tuurean belt and the clothes I’d been wearing prior to my abduction.
“Fuck yeah!”
I all but threw myself in his arms and crushed his lips with a grateful kiss. He grunted as I stupidly closed my arms around his wounded back, relieved that his own hand rested on my nape. Releasing him with a sheepish look, I stepped back and greedily took the belt from him.
“I found the rest of your clothes as well,” Ravik said, pointing at them lying on the bed where he’d placed them. “Sadly, I didn’t find any com or computer, or that secret exit Lorik talked about.”
I reached for my clothes—black leggings and tank top that fit perfectly beneath my armor—my forehead creasing as I frowned at his words.
“It must be hidden,” I said, stating the obvious. “If Lorik didn’t tamper with it, my armor should be able to detect it. I’ll get on it as soon as I’m dressed.”
“Okay,” Ravik said. “Let’s get you fed while it scans. You need the energy.”
I wanted to argue, but I did feel weak from hunger and blood loss. “Get started,” I said, with a stiff nod. “I’ll catch up in a minute. Don’t argue,” I said, sternly. “You’ve been bleeding through most of the night and overexerting yourself ripping out your restraints. We’ve got fifteen crazies coming after us. I’m relying on your strength to get us through this.”
Yes, I was playing dirty, but we couldn’t afford for him to play tough. From the look on his face, he knew I’d aimed at his sensitive protector chord. Not getting his body in optimal state by feeding it would be a form of neglect.
“Fine,” he said with a growl and walked out of the room. I repressed a smile and hurried into my clothes. The thought of donning my armor over my naked body crossed my mind. The suit would automatically see my wounds and try to mend what it could. Being naked would facilitate healing and reduce the irritation of the fabric against my skin. But clothes offered an extra layer of protection if I had to remove my armor.
With my clothes and sandals on, I tied the belt around my waist and activated it. In seconds, the black, celesium suit wrapped around me. As I reached the bedroom door, the visor of my armor finished forming, the computer going online. The warning on the internal display of the visor indicated that Lorik had tried to mess with it but had been unsuccessful in hacking it open. Moments later, the nanites went to work on my wounds. I nearly moaned with relief. It couldn’t fully heal me, but their job was to maintain the body in as functional and healthy a manner as possible, especially in a combat situation.
On my way to the kitchen, I performed a wide range scan. Once again, it didn’t detect the presence of another floor. I would need to find out what technology was so efficiently fooling my scanner. Aside from Ravik, it also didn’t detect the presence of any other lifeform in the vicinity.
I took from the replicator one of the two freshly prepared meals Ravik had made while waiting for me. He’d already wolfed down one of the now cold or lukewarm plates I’d prepared earlier and was starting on the second one. I didn’t hide my smile this time. He’d been starving but would have endured through it. However, it made no sense not to fuel up considering we still hadn’t found a way out and my suit would be doing the search for us while we ate.
I set the computer to scan every com frequency to try to reach one of our allies. But the same dampening field that prevented me from seeing the floor above us blocked my attempts to communicate with the outside world. At the same time, it analyzed the structure of the basement. After a few minutes, it revealed two flimsier sections that could correspond to doorways. One matched the location of the lift. The other matched the dead-end on the right side of the corridor, near the cell room.
“Got it,” I said, breaking the silence otherwise only disturbed by us making quick work of our food.
“Let’s go,” Ravik said, swallowing his last mouthful.
I armed myself with my makeshift blade, secured Lorik’s blaster to the right side of my belt and the taser wand to the left. Ravik held the other dagger I’d made, as well as the whip Hagan had used on us. As we reached the end wall of the corridor, I ran my palm over it, pushing in my power. It took mere moments to find the hidden switch. I didn’t need my power to activate it, but without my suit to narrow down its general location, we probably never would have found it.
The entire back wall slid open, revealing a wide corridor which stretched far into the distance. My stomach knotted. I still couldn’t see any incoming threat on my scan, but there would be no hiding if they entered the other end before we made it out.
We went in at a slow jog, my suit helping numb the pain from my wounds. I cast a furtive glance at Ravik, his face a pure mask of savage determination. Hurt or not, I felt sorry for any man who would face his wrath. After nearly fifteen minutes, I thanked the Goddess when my radar finally indicated a lift ahead. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t have set up some kind of fast transportation to exit that tunnel, considering its length. We must have missed it on our way out.
As I still couldn’t detect anything above us, we had no idea what we would be facing. From the distance we’d crossed, it had to be somewhere deep within the forest behind the hunter’s lodge. I reached for the switch, but Ravik’s massive hand on my wrist stopped me. Surprised, I looked up at him. The intensity of the emotion in his eyes melted my insides.
“I love you, Mercy,” he said, drawing me into his arms. “If we survive this day, I would have you as my Dagna, if you would have me as your husband.”
I wrapped my arms around him and looked at him with adoration. We still had our problems, but if this nightmare had taught me anything, it was that I’d fight Gharah himself to be with this man.
“I love you, too, Ravik. I am yours, and you are mine, now and always.”
He smiled and kissed me, pouring all his feelings into the far too brief moment of intimacy. However, as soon as he released me, a severe expression took over any signs of tenderness. I braced, already knowing I wouldn’t like his next words.
“If things go bad, promise me you will run for safety,” Ravik said. “I need to know you will make it.”
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“You know I won’t,” I said, giving him the ‘are you shitting me?’ look. “Don’t even waste your time arguing with me about this,” I continued when he opened his mouth to insist. “You are my soulmate, Ravik. Do you expect me to go on living, knowing that I just ran off and left the other half of me to be massacred by our enemies? We stand or fall together, Ravik Xeldar. But if you want me to lie to you, I can.”
“Mercy…” Ravik pleaded.
I covered his lips with my fingers. “There’s no time for this. You know I won’t leave, anyway. Your son asked me once if I would stand by you. The answer is yes.”
“Keran?” he asked, stunned.
I nodded. “You raised a fine heir.”
Without giving him time to respond, I pressed the button, and the platform lift took off. As soon as it began the short ride up, a panel opened above us, letting in the morning light of the sun. I set the long-range scan to run in a continuous loop. It showed nothing until we cleared the edges of the shaft. My com immediately went online and my radar, silent up to now, showed a couple of cloaked shuttles nearby and eighteen men closing in on our location.
“Incoming,” I said as we both stepped off the platform.
It immediately flew back down the shaft, a thick metal panel closing over it and a second one with dirt and grass sliding seamlessly back on top. As suspected, we had emerged in the middle of the forest. The thick trees could hide us from view, but if they ran a scanner, it would give away Ravik’s presence. My suit’s camouflage would keep me undetectable. While we ran for cover, I opened a com link to Krygor.
“Ravena?” he asked, answering within seconds of my system establishing the connection.
“We’re in the woods, about one kilometer radius from the cabin, due north,” I said without preamble. Typing frantically on the armband of my suit, that had also gone online once we’d cleared the shaft, I sent him the coordinates. “Hostiles incoming. Hagan is leading them.”