"Not her."
"You will feed."
Leecher raised his hand, striking his cheek. Rex's head flung back from the blow. He bent at the waist, his manacled hands propping him upright on the floor so he wouldn't crumple completely. Dirtied locks of hair fell across his face so he could no longer see Lena, until Leecher grabbed the back of Rex's head and pulled him upright, forcing his face against Lena's bloodied arm.
She cried out at the sudden contact.
Rex shut his eyes tightly as Leecher pressed his face against her wound. He clamped his lips closed. The aroma of her blood filled his nostrils. His mouth salivated, his belly tightened, eager to fill with sustenance.
She did not understand how much he desired it. None of them did. They couldn't comprehend the hunger, nor what her blood provided. It was more than mere nourishment. It was strength. Power. The ability to use the many faculties his race was blessed with at birth.
He wanted to open his mouth. Bite open her wound. Welcome the warm, thick liquid onto his tongue. Taste her. Fill his belly with the contents of her veins.
"Rex..." Lena's pained voice whispered across his cheek.
He opened his eyes. The sight of her frightened face gave him the strength he needed to throw an elbow into Leecher's gut. The Skarn released him and Lena simultaneously. From the corner of his vision, he saw her slide to the ground.
Rex yearned to go to her, but he didn't. He took advantage of the stunned expression on the Skarn warriors surrounding him. He used the heavy manacles binding his hands to thrust a blow into Leecher's jaw. The Skarn leader fell back. Another replaced him. Rex fought him, too.
It had been a long time, too long, but the muscle memory of his limbs had not faded. He used his skills, and the lessons taught in combat, to fight the warriors attacking him. He took three more down before one warrior pummeled him with the butt of a weapon. The impact struck him from behind, taking the breath from his lungs as he dropped to the ground.
A booted kick to his jaw sent the lights in the room dimming.
He clung to the sound of Lena's screams.
"Stop! Don't hurt him!"
That she cried out in his defense warmed him. When his vision cleared, he glimpsed her struggling with another Skarn warrior. Her hand was on the Skarn's weapon, trying to hold him back from using it to strike Rex again.
Rex admired her tenacity, but the human was far too slim and light compared to the Skarn. He brushed her off with a quick fist to her face.
Lena dropped to the floor, dazed.
The veil of anger flashed red before Rex's eyes. He renewed his fight, outraged that they would injure her so needlessly.
His second wind didn't last longer than the first. With so many warriors, Rex didn't have much opportunity to fight back. Eventually, he curled into a defensive position and waited out the abuse of his captors.
At one point, another boot slammed into his face. This time the lights dimmed to complete darkness.
Lena called his name. It came from a great distance within the darkness. Rex tried to speak, but a weak groan whispered from his throat instead. He couldn't make his mouth work to say words.
Awareness gradually dawned and with it came pain.
The many years of captivity made him accustomed to the torment the Skarn inflicted. It didn't make it any easier to bear, but he was not surprised when he woke to find himself lying in a small pool of his own blood from a gash on his head.
He pushed away from the floor, hoping to stand, but only managed to roll onto his back. Blinking his eyes open, he found himself in the stark, reptilian-like walls of his cell.
Distantly, he heard movement. At first, he thought the Skarn had put Lena in the cell with him. The thought excited and horrified him equally. He'd want nothing more than to have her closer, but he didn't trust himself not to feed from her. He had resisted when they tried to force him. He'd had the strength to do so because he'd had a taste only hours before. If they kept her imprisoned in the same cell, he doubted he'd have the willpower to resist forever.
He'd grow hungry again, and the madness would take him.
"Rex?" Lena's voice carried through the crack. "Are you awake?"
He didn't answer. He still evaluated the damage done.
His skull pounded. His body ached. It hurt to move, to breathe.
By his estimation, they cracked only two of his ribs this time. Some bruising to his internal organs. His leg pained him greatly. He fared better this time than previous attempts to fight them.
"Rex?" Her voice was closer. She must be pressing her face to the crack again, searching for some visible sign of him.
Earlier, he'd avoided any area where he knew she could view him. He hadn't wanted to frighten her. He'd been so desperate for a voice other than his own. Someone he could speak to. Converse with. Companionship.
Lessons had taught him that humans among other aliens were frightened of his appearance. Terrified of his race. Most alien species were, and rightly so. The Rhan were fierce warriors.
But Rex wasn't with his people any longer. His nest had been eradicated. That's how the Skarn discovered him. Injured and alone. They'd taken him at the moment before his death, preventing him from stepping through the veil to join his loved ones.
He hadn't been able to recapture that moment since.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Lena's voice carried softly into the room. He wasn't sure if she knew that he was conscious or if she spoke to soothe herself. "You were the Rhan that attacked me. All this time..." She hesitated. He thought he heard a sniffle. "I thought you were an Oranian. Of all things!"
Again, another hesitation. This time longer.
Still, he did not speak.
His mouth was dry. His throat burned. One of the booted kicks had struck him in the throat. He wasn't sure if the pain he experienced was from the injury or thirst.
Eventually, she continued, filling the silence with her gentle voice. "When I saw you... When I realized who you were, I was angry. Frightened. You scared me. You hurt me. God, you drank my blood! I mean... I've heard stories about the Rhan. Horrible stories. But then it doesn't match up with whom I've been talking to this whole time. You gave me your jacket to help me stay warm. I want to understand. I need to understand. And you've been unconscious for so long, I've had time to think. Are... Are you still sleeping? Rex? Are you okay?"
Part of the wall crumbled. Was she trying to widen the gap?
He was yet shocked the Skarn hadn't repaired the damage he'd done to the wall. It had been in the early days of his captivity. After they'd been assured he wouldn't cross the veil to follow his departed family, they'd locked him within this room. He hadn't been strong in his weakened state, but he'd tried several methods to escape. He'd used his body to repeatedly crush the wall, cracking it until it split open. Once he discovered the metal bars hidden within, he had stopped. It was pointless to exert such energy if it wouldn't provide a means of escape.
But they'd left the crack. A window created by his desperation to flee. Perhaps it amused the Skarn when they tossed in another captive. Once the prisoner discovered a Rhan shared the adjoining cell, the terrified screams and cries kept him awake when he wished to sleep. To make matters worse, the scent of their blood aroused the madness within him. The Skarn enjoyed starving him. Watching him go mad with hunger. They knew the Rhan didn’t die of starvation, but it would drive them to become savage beasts.
Rex had been hungry so often, the madness had become a part of him. He couldn't remember when he wasn't hungry. Perhaps that was what also gave him the strength to resist Lena's blood offering a second time. He knew it would merely be a taste, and then he'd be hungry again. They wouldn't allow him to satiate himself.
"Rex," Lena said, her voice softer. "Please wake up. Please be okay. They beat you... so badly. I tried to stop them. I couldn't. Please, don't be dead."
Again, he heard her sniffle. He'd seen other aliens cry. It was a distasteful act. He couldn't bear for Lena
to put herself through it.
It was one reason she intrigued him. After the Skarn had brought her aboard and she woke to discover she'd been abducted, she didn't become a sobbing mess. She didn't rant or pray or beg for freedom. Instead, she'd begun planning her escape. Searching for a way out. He'd never met a prisoner who had behaved in such a confident, resilient way.
Even after his first feeding from her, when she woke knowing there was a Rhan aboard and what the Skarn had planned for her, she didn't give up hope of escape. Somewhat subdued, but not defeated.
She had a strength of spirit that he admired.
Now, hearing the hope fade in her voice, pained him more than the vicious kicks of the Skarn.
"Human," he said, his voice grating to his ears. Yes, they'd damaged his throat.
"Oh, thank God!" He heard her gasp. She moved again and more of the crack crumbled. "I can only see your feet. I couldn't even tell if you were breathing."
"I yet draw breath, human." His voice croaked. He lifted a hand to his throat, rubbing the tenderness there. He swallowed hard but stopped when pain flared.
"How badly are you hurt? They did quite a number on you."
"I know not the number of injuries done. I have not counted." Although he'd learned English long ago, she still baffled him with some of her human words and expressions. He attempted to sit, but his cracked ribs protested. He returned to rest on the floor. It was as good a place as any. The metal bench that served as his sleeping mat wasn't much better. Especially now that he'd given Lena his jackar skin, the only material he had that served to cushion his body as he slept.
"You don't sound so good."
He grunted in response. It didn't hurt as much as speaking.
"I need your help, Rex." Lena continued. More of the wall crumbled as her fingers dug. "Do you think you're able to stand? Walk? I might have a way for us to get out of here."
"And what way would that be?"
"During the fight, when they were..." She paused with difficulty. "When they were distracted with you, I grabbed a device from one of the Skarn's belts. I saw them use it to open the door to your room before they took me to see my father. I thought it might be a key. You know? Maybe it would open our doors. But I don't know how to work it."
He knew the device she spoke of. It was used to lock and unlock the prisoner's cells.
Rex took a deep breath, gathering his courage to face the pain of movement. It had to be done. If Lena had gotten the device to unlock their cell doors, he could get them off this ship. He knew the way to the shuttles.
He stifled a moan as he struggled to sit, his ribs protesting mightily. A burning sensation flared along his left side. He stopped moving to lean against the wall near the crack, closing his eyes as the pain blazed along his leg.
He hadn't even been able to get to his feet.
This did not bode well for escape.
"Rex?" Lena's voice wasn't muffled. He glanced at the crack to see her worried eyes peering at him. She'd widened the crack considerably. Enough to see him unimpeded. How long had he been unconscious?
"More damage has been done than I first surmised."
He breathed heavily, withstanding the pain. Since his capture, he'd learned quickly the Skarn enjoyed hearing the screams of their prisoners. He removed that pleasure by training himself not to vocalize his agony.
"How bad?"
"Significant enough that I fear you must take this journey alone."
"No." Her voice rose.
"I will teach you what you need to know to escape." Rex continued, ignoring her response. "It will not be difficult to get to the bay where the shuttles are housed. From there, you will be able to navigate from the ship easily enough. You must move with great speed. Once the Skarn are aware of your departure, they will give chase."
"I can't fly a shuttle." Lena's protest stopped him. "I don't know how."
This was a complication he did not foresee. "No matter. I will instruct you. These ships are simple shuttles. The most rudimentary species could operate one."
"I'm not going without you." Lena's forehead pressed against the wall, her green eyes filled with determination.
"It cannot be helped, human. My injuries are more substantial than I expected. I cannot walk."
"What?"
Rex's hand touched his left leg, which burned with the fire of pain.
"My leg is broken in two places." He sighed, watching her eyes widen with the knowledge. "I cannot stand beside you. Walking, even running, will also be necessary to escape. I do not have the means to accomplish this."
"You can lean on me."
He smiled yet awed by her perseverance.
"I admire your willingness to assist me, Lena. But I have long ago released my expectations of escape."
"I'll carry you." Her voice rose again, refusing to listen. "I don't care. I won't leave you. I told you, Rex. We're getting out of here. Together."
"You must go, human. Do not be frightened. I have no doubt of your success. I will give you the information you require."
"I'm not going without you." This time she stated it slowly, with determined speech patterns that convinced him she intended to remain true to her word. She would not leave this place without him.
"Lena..."
What could he say to convince her? With his injuries, they had little hope of getting past the first corridor. There was only one thing he knew, a possibility that seemed unattainable.
"There is a way..." Rex swallowed past the burning in his throat. "The Rhan have abilities to heal rapidly, but I fear you will not approve of this method."
"What is it?"
"Blood."
One word.
It took one word to silence her. She leaned back, away from his view, so he couldn't see the emotions on her face.
He did not expect her willingness to offer what she so desperately needed to live. Blood. He had taken from her. Stolen without permission. It was a great transgression among his kind. Only enemies were treated as such, and Lena MacDonald was not his enemy.
"I have resigned myself to my fate, human. I will die here. I have accepted that long ago. But you must live. You have family, your people. I have no one. Let me give you my knowledge to escape so you may see them again—"
"I'll do it."
"Good. I'll teach you—"
"No, I mean, I'll do it. I'll give you my blood."
Chapter 4
Her declaration silenced him. He had expected much of this little human with the astounding spirit of determination, but he had never expected her willingness to give him what he needed most.
Blood.
To heal. To survive. Strength.
"I cannot ask this of you, Lena." Her face came within view again as she pressed close to the gap in the wall. The green of her eyes flashed in the subdued light in the cell, increasing his conviction that she was serious about his request.
He was not so willing to sacrifice her.
"I am severely injured. The amount of blood I require would drain you. I fear..." He swallowed past the hard lump forming in his throat at the thought of her dying. "You would not survive."
"Can't you take only a little?" Her fingers curled around the broken wall, flexing. "Just enough to heal so we can get out of here."
Still, she refused to give up. Rex couldn't stop the small smile of admiration curling his lips upward.
"I fear I lack the willpower to restrain myself, Lena. The taste..." He closed his eyes briefly at the memory of her blood pooling into his mouth. Like the finest Mangillian wine, the sweetest and most alluring liquid he'd ever consumed.
"You resisted when the Skarn tried to force you." Again, her fingers flexed on the wall as she pressed her face forward. "You could've done it then. What made you stop?"
He shut his eyes, turning his face away from her inquiring gaze. "The knowledge that I would kill you."
"Won't that be enough for you to stop when you need to?"
He shook his he
ad, his eyes opening. "I was not injured then as I am now. It takes all of my willpower to withstand the pain."
She leveled her gaze with his, staring with that determination he heard so clearly in her voice.
"I'm not leaving without you, Rex. We're going to have to try."
"Lena--"
She removed her face from the gap. A moment later, her hand appeared as she shoved her arm through the crack, exposing the torn and reddened flesh of his bite.
"Take only what you need." Her voice was muffled with her face pressed against the wall, not able to view him. "I trust you not to kill me, Rex."
"Why do you trust me?" It amazed him to witness such courage. It sickened him to recognize such foolhardiness mixed with bravery. This female needed someone to protect her. Even from herself.
"Because I have to," she said. "And if you kill me, I won't be able to give you this device that unlocks the door. It'll be left in here with my body. So, please, for both our sake's, don't take too much."
He grinned. She was more intelligent than he'd given her credit for, but she still did not understand the lust for blood that overwhelmed the Rhan in great times of need.
Yet... there were few options available.
If he sipped a small amount, enough to focus on healing his leg so he might walk...
That would give them the chance they needed to escape. Afterward, he would find a meal worthy of devouring. They might locate a planet where there were creatures he could drain dry to meet his needs.
Her arm protruded invitingly. His mouth watered with the desire to feel his mouth press against her, his teeth sink into her flesh, to taste the blood that would nourish him.
Rex leaned closer, her scent tantalizing him. He touched her clenched hand, cradling it in his, supporting her arm as she strained to hold it in offering.
He took several deep breaths, staring at the wound. Regretful of the damage the Skarn's blade had done and the vicious tearing of his own teeth. If he had not suffered the madness, if the Skarn had allowed, he would have used his saliva to heal her wound so that there would be no scarring, no sign of penetration.
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