by Maven, Ella
The Uldani would know something had happened. They’d get a log of nighttime activity at sunup and would then see that the gates had been opened. But they’d get no reports of an immediate breach. They would likely investigate and find the guards missing. They’d raise the alarm then, but with any luck, Justine and I would be on our way to disabling their entire city.
I grabbed Justine’s hand, gave her a grin in the dark, and we took off for the city’s mainframe.
Eight
Justine
This was insane. I wanted to gawk at the sheer gaudiness of this city, but we were running at light speed in the dark. There were a few dim solar lights within the walls, but I still expected to slam into a wall any minute or trip over my own feet.
This place gave me the heebie-jeebies. The floating pods of the elite hovered ominously over the tall buildings, and the smaller huts sat depressingly squat and sad on the ground. From below, I could smell a rank tang of copper and filth, which I assumed came from the mines Nero mentioned.
We reached the large one-story building that housed the hub of the city, the one we had to enter to descend a few floors to the hub. Arriving at a paneled door, Nero flicked a small card between his fingers. That key had been given to Sax by an Uldani who helped him and Val escape when they’d been imprisoned here.
Both Nero and I were skeptical it still worked. I worried it’d been deactivated like a stolen hotel key card. We had a plan B if that were the case, but this would make our lives a helluva lot easier if it worked.
Nero shot me a look and I nodded. Inserting the key card in the slot, I held my breath until a small light appeared. The metal doors flung back, and my heart pounded in my chest like a trapped bird as we stepped into the elevator.
The doors slid closed and before I could say one word to Nero, the entire elevator dropped. I nearly hit the ceiling as it plummeted down. Nero’s hands were the only thing keeping me on the ground since gravity had all but abandoned me. My stomach was in my throat, my head spun, and I was pretty sure I was going to vomit all over the place when the descent into madness slowed then stopped abruptly. I stumbled and nearly landed on my ass if it wasn’t for Nero’s strong grip keeping me upright.
“What the fuck was that?” I gasped. “Christ, you’d think the Uldani could make a better elevator with all their damn technology.”
Nero only stared at me, and I realized he was completely unaffected by the tower of terror. “Whatever,” I muttered, brushing the hair out of my face that had come loose from my tie.
The doors slid open, and with only a few dim solar lights placed at random intervals as our guide, we took off down a dank hallway. The Kulks didn’t start patrolling the halls until sunup, so we had to move, and fast.
I remembered Frankie and Val recounting their imprisonment underground, and it’d sounded like a terrifying experience. But being here was miles worse than I could have imagined. I felt like I was in a horror movie. We passed a few doors and glass-walled rooms full of instruments and tools which seemed designed for nothing short of torture. I had been so big and brave volunteering for this mission but faced with the very real danger of what could happen if we got caught, I could barely breathe.
This wasn’t a movie or a video game. This was real life. These were enemies who wanted to grow their future servants in my womb. They wanted to destroy my friends and the family I’d managed to become a part of on this crazy planet.
That was how I found the strength to continue to run, even as sweat dripped down my temples and my lungs burned. Even as my pack slammed against my back with every stride until I felt like I’d be one massive bruise. I wasn’t confident in many things about myself, but I was stubborn, determined, and knew my way around tech. I could do this. Nero and I could do this. We made it this far. All we had to do was reach the hub. Only a little farther now…
We ran for what felt like hours, but was probably only forty minutes. We descended several stairs plus another elevator. Only then did Nero slow down and pull out his tablet. Consulting a map on the screen, his lips moved as he talked to himself. Then his head shot up and he pointed to a door off to our right. “That’s it.”
The key didn’t work on this door, but Nero pulled a small cylinder out of his pocket and held it up to the lock on the door. He pressed a button along the side. There was a pop, and then the lock started smoking before the latch clicked and the door swung open.
Okay, now that, I didn’t know about. “Seriously?” I whispered in awe. “That’s awesome.”
He grinned at me. “I’ve been working on this for a full cycle.”
I fanned myself with an exaggerated wave of my hand. “Okay, James Bond. We’ll talk about your gadgets later. Let’s move.”
“James Bond?”
“Just get inside.”
I was still grinning when we pushed open the door. But as soon as I saw what was inside, my smile vanished. White noise roared in my ears, and I had to brace my hand on the doorway, so I didn’t crumble into a pile of despair.
The room was empty. Bare. Not even a chair or a speck of dirt. Just…nothing.
My legs gave out and my knees hit the floor on a thud. Nero didn’t move, his eyes staring blankly into the room as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Nero,” I gasped out. “What... Where is it?”
His chest heaved and he whipped out his tablet. His fingers flew across the screen as he scanned it, nubbed brows lowered over his stormy eyes. I managed to pull myself to my feet and began to walk the perimeter of the room. I ran my hands along the stone walls, hoping for a miracle like a secret passage or something that would take us where we needed to go. But there was nothing. Just blank walls, bare floor, and us.
“I don’t understand.” Nero tore his fingers through his hair. “The signal is coming from this area. None of this makes sense.”
“Is it on another floor?”
“There’s nothing above us. This hallway is a lone offshoot from the main tunnels…” His fang dug into his lip. “We have to get to the surface. We can’t get stuck down here at sunup. If the signal is detectable, it must be somewhere, and so it must be the ground floor of the main building.” He turned to me. “It’s here, Justine. We’ll find it.”
I nodded, unable to speak because I didn’t feel the same confidence he did.
By the time we were out of that room and racing back the way we came, we only had a brief amount of time before the sun rose and the city woke. When they discovered the missing guards and the gate activity … there’d be a lock down, which would severely hamper our efforts.
I tried not to think about that. There was still a chance. Two more elevators and a dizzying amount of stairs later, we reached the ground level. Nero held his tablet in front of him, the light of the screen illuminating his face in the darkness, as he led us to the signal location of the hub. I couldn’t see the horizon over the walls, but dawn felt close, and I could just barely detect a warm orange glow in the sky. Sunup meant waking Uldani. Kulk patrols.
Sunup meant we were fucked.
Sticking to the cover of the buildings, we ran down a side street of small Uldani homes. I thought I saw a little face peeking at me from one of the windows. The farther we ran, the more the condition of the homes deteriorated. Drying rags hung from lines between the houses, and the whole area had a distinct sewage smell. There was no way the hub could be here, could it?
Nero stopped abruptly, staring at his screen, and then at the ground. “It should be…” He swallowed. “Here.”
That one word hung in the air between us like a ghost. We stood in front of a squat hut with a decaying door and cracked window. A clump of food trash sat on the corner of the wooden porch, which was warped and broken. My heart pounded and goosebumps broke out on my arms. We were lost. Exposed. Panic rose up my throat, blocking my airway until I could barely breathe. “There was no way this was the hub.” I gasped. I looked at him helplessly “Nero…”
“Fle
ck,” he cursed under his breath, and for the first time, I saw real worry in Nero’s gaze. He glanced around, a cornered look in his eyes as he clutched my hand.
During our run here, the sun had begun to lighten the sky, and I felt exposed standing there in an Uldani neighborhood. Then shouts rang through the air, growly Kulk voices followed by clanging armor.
“Spread out!” A booming voice called.
Nero grabbed my hand and we bolted. It was clear they’d either discovered the missing guards or knew their city had been breached, because the morning filled with the sounds of armored feet marching through the city. We twisted and turned amid the buildings, venturing deeper into the slums of the city where the air was thick with the smell of the mines.
I concentrated on sucking in oxygen while ignoring the burn in my legs. I was tired, hungry, and thirsty, but there was no time for rest when the city had come alive with one mission—looking for whoever had breached the gates.
Nero skidded to a halt near a larger warehouse-type building, ducking back into the shadows of an alley as a troop of Kulks jogged by the main street. If we would have been a second later, they would have seen us.
I let out a relieved breath, until the sound of footsteps clomped behind me. I whirled around and pressed my back to Nero as a group of Kulks passed by the other mouth of the alley. A few stopped and began their way toward us. They hadn’t seen us yet as we were still hidden in the long morning shadows of the building at our backs, but it was only a matter of time.
Nero braced, and pushed me behind him. He was going to fight. But no matter how good he was, we were outnumbered. One to … a whole city. We were fucked, and I felt the tears prick the back of my eyes as I thought about Frankie, Val, and the other women. And most of all, I thought about Nero and his kiss. I’d never get to know what it was like to wake up next to him, to tell him how much he’d given me in such a short amount of time. I reached into the pocket of my pants and wrapped my fingers around my knife. If Nero was going to fight, then so was I. They wouldn’t take me alive to be a breeder, that was for sure.
Suddenly the wall at my back gave way and with a clipped yelp, I fell on my ass. Darkness surrounded me as hands grabbed at my shoulders, dragging me farther inside. I went into wildcat survival mode, lashing out with my fists. “Get the fuck off me,” I hissed, kicking and punching. I expected to feel the clang of Kulk armor, but my fists and feet only connected with what felt like soft flesh. Grunts filled the dark space as I fought like a crazy thing until one set of hands grabbed my wrists while another grabbed my feet. I arched my back and opened my mouth to yell for Nero when a hand clamped over my lips, muffling me.
Something heavy hit the ground in front of me, and then a door slammed followed by grunts and the meaty sound of flesh hitting flesh. A lantern light flickered on and for a moment I couldn’t see a damn thing. When my eyes adjusted, I found Nero standing over me, his feet braced on either side of my body with his tail curled protectively around my head. His machets were out on his forearms, head, and all down his back. I craned my neck from my position on the floor to see a dozen Uldani standing in a circle around us. All held makeshift weapons, such as sections of metal piping or crude blades, in their three-fingered hands. Clothes hung off their bodies like rags, many were dirty, and some were a little too thin.
I’d never seen an Uldani in person before, although the girls who’d met them had described them. They weren’t ugly, and if anything, they seemed a little fragile. They walked upright on two legs which reminded me of horses. While their arms were muscles, their silver skin looked as fragile as mine, not the thick-scaled hides of the Drixonians. Their faces were more in line with the drawing of the alien I had on my wall—their ears and noses were slits, and they had large round eyes with sharp cheekbones that cast a sharp shadow on the lower half of their faces.
I scrambled onto my knees, but Nero placed a hand on the top of my head in a silent urge to remain down. I followed his instructions, my nerves making me tremble as I anticipated a bloodbath. Why weren’t they advancing on us? Or calling out the Kulks who searched for us right outside these walls?
One Uldani stepped forward, and Nero braced. The Uldani held up his hands, palms out. He had no weapon and looked mildly cleaner and well-fed than the rest of the bunch. “We don’t want to hurt you or the human, Drix. Please hear me out before you attack. You already laid out my friend Jolo.”
I glanced over to see two males standing over a slumped body of another. He was breathing, but he had a wicked slice under his eye from what I assumed was Nero’s machets.
“What do you want?” Nero growled.
“I want to help you. And in turn, you’ll help us.”
Nero didn’t lower his machets, but his body lost some of his tension. He let out a dry laugh. “Is that so, Uldani?”
He nodded. “My name’s Gram.”
That name meant something to Nero. Probably no one else in the room noticed, but Nero’s tail flexed imperceptibly near my head. He didn’t give himself away yet though. With a dismissive snarl, he said, “Why should that name mean anything to me?”
The Uldani didn’t back down from Nero’s tone. “Because I helped your brother Sax escape with his Val human.”
I gasped as I leapt to my feet. “You’re Gram?”
Nero pulled me back against him with an arm across my chest, his machets nearly poking through my shirt. “Careful, Justine.”
I knew about Gram. Val told us that if it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t have gotten free. Sax would likely be dead, and she’d still be under this hellhole… a breeder for these shitheads… “Prove it,” I said. “Prove you’re Gram.”
“I was there when they escaped. I gave them a key to his collar. I saw when their mating bands appeared on their wrists.” He swallowed and looked me straight in the eye. “I know he calls her his lioness.”
My eyes went wide. This had to be him. “Gram,” I whispered.
He smiled and nodded. “That’s me. How is Val and that big Drix of hers?”
“They’re good,” I said excitedly. “In fact, she’s—”
“What do you want?” Nero cut me off. A flash of irritation hit me, but I let it go. Nero didn’t want Gram to know more than he had to, which was probably a good thing.
Suddenly, a fist pounded the door and a Kulk called out through the thin wood. “Search!”
The dozen of Uldani were suddenly in motion. One pulled on a loose board in the dirty floor and a trapdoor opened leading underground. Some Uldani flew down the now visible stairs while Gram pointed. “You have to hide.”
Nero’s eyes darted from the door to the stairs, but he didn’t move. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”
Gram’s eyes narrowed. “It’s time to make a decision, Drix. Trust me, even just a little bit, or take on the army of Kulks searching this city. They have orders to kill any Drixonians on site, but to keep any humans alive.”
With a growl, Nero hoisted me in the air and trudged down the steps. Gram followed and the door closed behind us. We were only in darkness for a few seconds before someone ahead lit a lantern, lighting up a dank, dirty tunnel. Heavy footsteps sounded above us, and the vibrations sent a shower of dust and dirt down on our heads.
After Nero placed me on my feet, we were led through a few more tunnels, away from those footsteps that meant nothing but pain and imprisonment. I wanted to trust Gram, but I understood Nero’s hesitation. We were at their mercy now. This was not in his control or mine. But it had to mean something that Gram didn’t turn us over to the Kulk guards. He knew Sax and Val. He’d helped them escape, even though he’d made a deal with them too—Sax had to kill the head medic and Gram would get them to safety. The only thing keeping me going was knowing Gram had held up his end of the bargain.
We entered a cavernous room which was occupied by more Uldani. With a start, I realized some were women. They looked nothing like what Val described when she’d seen a royal female, but these Uldani we
re nonetheless female with breasts and petite facial features. A few had scrawny Uldani children clinging to their legs. All looked at us with alarm while some females hissed at the sight of Nero, baring teeth that would do about as much damage as mine. I didn’t blame them. He stood a full head taller than the largest Uldani male, and his machets were still out, the black glistening with a sharp threat in the flickering lantern light.
There looked to be around fifty Uldani in this room, about the size of half a football field. Some were eating, others were washing clothes, and behind them I saw a few other tunnels branching out from this main room. I could only assume there were more Uldani than this down here.
The male Uldani who’d came with us fanned out, standing between us and the families while Gram once again approached us. He stood in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest. “Ready to hear me out now, Drix?”
Nine
Nero
I glared at the Uldani. He was smaller than the others, which surprised me as he spoke up as their leader, but his eyes were cunning. While he put on a brave front, I detected a hint of fear behind his words. He was scared of me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I’d learned long ago that the Uldani were good manipulators.
I raised my brows. “You trust me down here with your females? Your young? This line of six Uldani is nothing for me.”
“I know that. This is my show of faith.” He gestured around the small cavern. “I have no doubt if you gained a whiff of betrayal you wouldn’t hesitate to take my head off. You have to remember; I saw what Sax could do. I was there. I slipped in the blood from the bodies he left behind.”
He was genuine. I didn’t sense deception, but I kept my guard up. “How do you think you can help me?”
“There’s only one reason the Drix would send in one warrior. You’re looking to gain access to the mainframe to shut down our security so you can attack, right?”