Hers, Unbroken: A Science Fiction Romance

by Anna Adler

  Holly raised her voice again. “My fellow citizens, this is Chase. He’s a human-Lizardian hybrid, and an amazing fighter, as you all saw. I’m unspeakably proud of him.”

  The audience cheered in agreement. Holly saw the women in the front row gazing at Chase in rapture.

  “He’s intelligent and strong and kind-hearted. In fact, he’s just as intelligent as any one of us and he’s the best man I’ve ever met. But…the sad truth is that he’s a slave. Just because he has alien blood in him, the law states that he is a lesser being than I am, and he has to wear a collar and face the penalty of death if he ever rebels.”

  The applause faded; the audience fell into a puzzled silence.

  “I know you all mean well,” she continued. “We Silenians, we love our pets. We’re proud of our pets. We give them so much of our time and care, we make sure they have the best food and clothes and we want them to be healthy and happy—but on our terms. They’re not free to do as they please. They’re brutally punished or even killed if they misbehave.”

  Disapproving sounds emanated from the audience. Holly pressed on, “And what most of you don’t know is that our pets are kidnapped from space, cruelly imprisoned and broken so they can serve as our pets. They never wanted to come here, but they weren’t given a choice. I know for a fact that you are good people. You don’t want to torture your beloved pets. You don’t want to see this horrible practice continue.”

  The people in the audience were looking at one another, doubtful and confused.

  “No, you don’t want this!” Holly declared. “Not when there’s an alternative.” She turned to Chase. “Chase came to Silenia willingly. He came here because he wanted to become a companion to one of us. And I’m the incredibly lucky woman who met him and became his companion. I don’t want to keep him as if he were a slave. Because this is wrong. This has to change.”

  Holly entered commands on her wristband and Chase’s metal collar was deactivated. It opened with a click and she reached out to remove it from him. A collective gasp emerged from the audience, accompanied by a few screams. Holly let the collar fall to her feet in a clatter, not taking her eyes off Chase.

  “I’m setting you free, Chase. You’re no longer a possession. You can leave Silenia, if you want.”

  Chase blinked. Then he clasped her face and kissed with such vehemence it took her breath away. “I’m never going to leave you,” he said gruffly when he broke away. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow. You’ll always be my Mistress.”

  Holly nodded, her eyes misting. “Anything you want, Chase. Anything. I love you.”

  “I love you, Holly. I’ll never leave you.”

  He crushed his mouth on hers again. Holly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back with everything she had. Her heart glowed. If the world ended now, she would die happy.

  For a few seconds, the arena was so silent she could have heard a pin drop. Then the audience burst into thundering cheers. Ecstatic applause filled the air as Chase squeezed her in his arms. Holly’s heart fluttered.

  They’re cheering at us!

  She could scarcely believe it. Somehow, they had won the Silenian public over. Perhaps this spelled the end to slavery on this planet. Perhaps she and Chase had achieved the impossible. Holly broke the kiss and stood holding Chase, holding his face in her hands and looking into his eyes, smiling. The grin he directed at her was filled with pride.

  “My queen.”

  Then Holly felt someone grab her shoulder and Jacinda Reed spoke into her ear, “The audience loves you, but the security forces, not so much. Look!”

  Holly cast a look around and saw armed security pushing through the crowd toward the wrestling ring.

  “Shit.” She exchanged a look with Ms. Reed and saw the same cold dread in her face that she felt.

  “Run,” Ms. Reed said. “You and Chase, get the hell out of here as fast as you can.”

  Holly put her hand down her shirt and pulled up the data key she had hidden in her bra. She pressed it in Ms. Reed’s hand.

  “Watch this footage. Make it public if you can. Please!”

  Ms. Reed looked down at the data key then at Holly, her expression unreadable. Chase scooped Holly in her arms before she could say anything more. He leaped out of the ring into the audience. Holly gasped and clung to him. He put her on her feet and started pulling her through the throng. The audience noticed the dark-uniformed security guards pouring in through every entrance and the cheers turned into screams.

  “What’s going on?” someone cried out.

  “Why’s security here?”

  “I hate those bots, order them away!”

  Next, a severe, official voice echoed in the arena, “Seal all entrances. No one gets in or out.”

  “Shit,” Holly called out to Chase. “They’re sealing the doors. We can’t get out.”

  “It’s just a door,” Chase growled. “I can get through a damn door.”

  They pushed through the crowd, but a desperate glance around told Holly they were surrounded. The guards were coming at them from all sides, and restrainer bots had emerged to guard the exits.

  “Move out of the way!” she heard a guard bark at the spectators. “That’s a dangerous pet on the loose.”

  “How dare you?” a male civilian shouted back. “That’s the new wrestling champion.”

  “Yeah, he’s not dangerous,” a female voice joined in. “He loves her.”

  “Out of the way! Now!”

  Looking over her shoulder, Holly saw a guard take aim at Chase.

  “Chase, get down!” She shoved at Chase and flung her arms wide to shield him. The stun charge hit her left shoulder, throwing her against Chase.

  “Holly!”

  She gasped for breath, her eyes wide with shock. Electric pain radiated from her shoulder and rapidly spread down the left side of her body. She would have fallen if Chase hadn’t swung her in his arms.

  “Hold on, baby,” he growled and resumed plowing through the crowd.

  He tackled a security guard with his shoulder and the man fell with a yelp. Holly saw blue-glowing stun charges whip over Chase’s head. Then he jerked and stiffened. Holly’s heart lurched. He’d been hit. By some miracle, he kept pressing forward, gritting his teeth, his breathing hoarse. He clutched her to him with desperate force. Holly fought to stay awake, but her consciousness was fading. She couldn’t help him.

  Chase jerked twice more and fell to his knees. Holly slid from his grip to land on the floor, after which he collapsed to his side and didn’t move. Holly wanted to scream, but no voice came from her throat. Chase lay on his side next to her, his eyes open, but staring at her unseeing. With her final remaining strength, she reached out and put her hand on his.

  Chapter 24

  Jacinda watched the chaos around her. She was still standing in the wrestling ring with Avalanche by her side, but they had been forgotten as security guards plowed through the crowd, trying to get to Holly and Chase. She had no reason to like Ms. Danek. First, the woman had broken into their suite, manhandled her, and now Holly’s pet had snatched the champion’s title from her precious mate. And yet, seeing Holly and Chase subdued by the guards chilled her. She knew what would happen to the pair, and she felt sorry for them. She was clutching the data key Holly had given her.

  Holly had tried to tell her about its content up in the suite but she was so furious she didn’t want to hear it. Now, Jacinda turned to Avalanche. He met her gaze, wordlessly indicating he was ready to obey her every command, as always. It filled her heart with gratitude and affection. She put her free hand on his bare chest.

  “Is there any truth to what she’s saying?” she asked.

  The commotion and screaming was so loud that only Avalanche could hear her question.

  He returned the caress by putting his hands on her shoulders, but his expression turned reserved. “Mistress?”

  Avalanche’s hesitation made her stomach lurch. She pressed on, “Is it true that you a
nd the other pets were abducted against your will? You don’t actually want to be here?”

  The thought that Avalanche might want to leave pierced her heart like a knife. Have I been abusing my beloved all these years?

  “I’ve always wanted to be here, Mistress,” he replied. “Coming to Silenia was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “I want the truth!”

  His nostrils flared. “I swear on my life.”

  Jacinda exhaled with immense relief. She grabbed his arms to steady herself. “But the other aliens?”

  Avalanche looked down. His grip on her shoulders tightened. After a pained silence, he said, “Don’t send me away.”

  Jacinda’s heart jumped with fear. “What? I would never send you away!”

  “I kept the truth from you, Mistress. I’m sorry. Mistress Danek…is right about the other aliens. Most of them never wanted to come here. They’ve been broken and enslaved. They’re suffering.”

  Bewildered, Jacinda stared at him.

  Broken and enslaved. Suffering.

  She felt dizzy and sick as the world she had always known suddenly came apart around her and she realized what her society truly looked like beneath its golden façade. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why?”

  Pain shone in his red, alien eyes. “Because I wanted to stay. I was happy here. I love you, Mistress, more than anything in the world.”

  Jacinda let out a sob and hugged him fiercely. “I love you, too. I love you so much. But we have to do something.”

  “Anything, Mistress.”

  Jacinda cast a look around. The cameras had been switched off, the screens all around the arena black. The audience was trampling around, confused and terrified, trying to find an exit. Mr. Chong, the referee, merely stood in shock, gazing at the area where the unconscious Holly and Chase were being dragged away. Jacinda could do nothing now to save them from their fate, but Holly had given her a data key. She clutched it harder in her fist.

  “Come on. It’s over. Soon, they’ll open the doors and let people out. We have to get to my VR terminal upstairs as soon as possible. You and I have an announcement to make.”

  Chapter 25

  Holly woke with a gasp. She scrambled up to a sitting position and threw a look around. She was alone in a small, white room with padded walls and floor. No furniture, only a blanket and a pillow. One of the walls was glass, showing a solid rock wall behind it. At the opposite end of the room was a doorway. She jumped on her feet and dashed to look inside. A toilet seat and a shower stall, nothing else. Holly realized she was barefoot and examined her attire. She wore simple, silver gray pajamas. The sleeve of her pajamas carried a small text saying “Cloverfield Correctional.” She was in prison.

  The horrible truth dawned on her. If they put her in prison, it meant Chase was…

  Oh no. No.

  Pets didn’t go to prison. They were simply killed when they misbehaved. Something inside her shut down. She never should have taken the collar off him in public. She thought she was making a point, but she had signed his death warrant.

  Holly trembled. Her lungs worked to gasp for air. She would never see him again. He was gone. The world swerved violently.

  She screamed and launched herself at the unbreakable glass wall. She beat it and kicked at it as hard as she could. The pain to her fists was nothing compared to the black despair in her heart.

  “You should have killed me, you assholes!” she screamed. “Me! It was my fault! You murderers!”

  He was dead because of her. She should have simply left Silenia with him as he wanted, as soon as possible. He would be alive and they could have been together now, safe, somewhere far away from Silenia. But no. She had to have her crusade, and because of her, Chase was dead.

  Holly wished she was dead too. Her heart was in pieces and the guilt was eating her alive. The finest, bravest man in the world was dead because of her. He had infiltrated the wrestling arena and defeated the champion for her. Because he loved her. And now…

  It was too much. Losing him like this was too much. She could feel her will breaking, crumbling like brittle lace. All she could think about was ending her misery. The cell was too carefully padded to provide any means of suicide, but the glass wall was hard. She launched herself against the glass at full force. The shock of pain felt good. It felt right. She needed more.

  “Stop,” an AI voice said over the loudspeaker. “You are hurting yourself.”

  “Fuck you!” Holly spat at the voice.

  “You need to stop right now,” the voice said sternly. “Self-harm is strictly forbidden in—”

  “Kill me!” Holly screamed. “You’re all murderers, so just go ahead and kill me!”

  She flung herself at the glass again.

  “Your behavior is unacceptable,” the voice said in a soft, patronizing tone. “I have no choice but to sedate you.”

  Holly heard the soft hiss of gas being introduced into the room. Her eyes shot wide.

  “No!”

  She clasped her hands over her mouth and nose. She looked around wildly, but she had nowhere to run. Running out of air, she had no choice but to inhale. Her vision swam and strength escaped her limbs. She sank to the floor.

  “No. No, stop…”

  “It’s for your own good.”

  “No.”

  The last thing she wanted was to be sedated, reduced to a docile husk who’s too weak to fight her enemies. The pain of loss remained inside her. She wanted the pain to stop. Permanently. She didn’t want to dull the pain; she wanted to end it.

  She tried to fight the drug, but it was already in her lungs, in her bloodstream, making her limp. Her vision grew ever darker. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “Chase…”

  I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, my love.

  Darkness swallowed her.

  Chapter 26

  Chase snarled and struggled against the grip of the two restrainer bots that hauled him along, down the hallway. Blood and saliva dripped from his mouth. His head ached from where he’d banged it against the glass. The bots came to a halt in front of a door.

  “What the hell is this?” Chase demanded. “Another torture chamber?”

  He had woken up in a tiny cell, alone. No Holly. A quick glance around was enough to confirm that his Mistress had been taken from him, and something in his head simply snapped. He screamed and launched himself at the walls, ready to tear the building apart with his bare hands. An AI voice tried to order him to settle down, but he ignored it. He merely roared and tried to punch his fists through the walls. He didn’t know how long it went on before something made him dizzy. The bastards had drugged him. It wasn’t enough to knock him out, but it dropped him to his knees, and he realized his prison was moving, being pulled up from the depths of a deep chute. And once it reached the building above, the glass wall slid aside and two restrainer bots were waiting for him.

  They dragged him out and along the hallway. Chase tried to fight, but he was disoriented from the drug and the bots were unyielding. Fury burned in his veins.

  What have they done to Holly? Where is she?

  Being separated from her was driving him insane. He knew he should focus, but he couldn’t. He always used to keep a cool head, even in the deadliest situations, but losing Holly sent him into a rage.

  The door in front of him slid open, revealing another cell and his beloved female, lying motionless on the floor.

  “Holly!” he roared.

  The bots flung him into the cell. Chase dropped next to her and clasped her in his arms, cradling her body to him. She was limp. Her eyes were closed. He couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. He saw red marks on her skin as if she’d been beaten and his blood boiled. He dropped her and spun around with a vicious snarl, launching himself at the bots. The closing wall saved them from his wrath and he could only slam his fists against the glass.

  “I’m gonna kill the fuckers who did this!” he bellowed.

  No one r
esponded. He felt the cell moving downwards, the rock wall sliding past the glass. Chase’s thoughts returned to Holly and he dropped beside her, his heart hammering from dread.

  Is she dead? What did they do to her?

  Shit, he shouldn’t have manhandled her. He was fucking up at every turn.

  “Holly.”

  She didn’t react. Carefully, he felt for a pulse on her throat. He couldn’t find it and panic thrummed in his chest. His thick, calloused fingers weren’t good for finding something as thin as an artery. But then he felt it, and putting his cheek over her mouth, he detected a slow, steady breath. Relief flooded him and he pulled back. His hands looked enormous compared to her delicate features. She looked so frail. He knew she was tough, but seeing her in this condition brought home how easily someone could end her life. She needed someone like him to protect her. Someone like him to take the blows meant for her.

  He wanted to clasp her into his arms and squeeze, but he resisted. She might be injured. He had to wait until she woke up. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently.

  “Holly. Holly!”

  No reaction. Chase ran his fingers through his hair. Holly’s feet were bare. She wore only light gray pajamas. He touched her chin and realized her skin felt cold. He needed to keep her warm. A blanket lay on the floor. He grabbed it and pulled it over her. He lay down next to her and pulled her carefully against him. But she was limp, like a rag doll, and it made his heart ache with fear. He cursed under his breath.

  “Mistress, please wake up. I know you’re not sleeping. This isn’t sleep. What did they do to you?”

  He could only hope she would come to, soon. He had no idea what the Silenians planned to do with them. He knew the law well enough to know he was a dead man. It was a miracle they had let him live this long.

  What will they do with Holly? Will she be killed too? How much time do we have?