by Anna Hackett
Shouts sounded from the start of the convoy. She looked up and saw three guards charging toward them.
“Ready?” she asked.
Blaine spun his blade. “Oh, yeah.”
Saff met the first guard, her sword clanging against his. After three thrusts, she knew he wasn’t very skilled with the weapon. With a thrust through the gut, she took her guard down. She glanced toward Blaine, to see that he had engaged the next two guards.
As she turned to locate the remaining guard, she heard a twang, followed by a whistle of sound. It was all-too-familiar, after their interaction with the Corsair Caravan. She glanced up to see an arrow arching through the sky in their direction.
Damn, the final guard had kept his distance, and he had a bow.
The arrow missed them, landing nearby, but a second later it exploded. Rocks flew in every direction. Saff fell to the ground, throwing her arms over her head. She heard someone cry out.
When the rain of rocks and debris stopped, she raised her head. Blaine was crouched nearby. One of his guards was down and bleeding, the other one had been hit in the head by a large rock.
Another arrow flew through the air, landing with a similar wild explosion. Saff crouched down near the cages. The bastard was using explosive-tipped arrows. The caged women were all crying out in terror.
She had to stop the bowman.
Saff climbed up on top of the closest cage. The guard was firing close to the convoy, but she didn’t think he’d fire on the slaves. Ignoring the frightened faces below, she ran across the cages, keeping her balance.
An arrow flew past her, close enough for her to feel the rush of air, but she kept running. Then she leaped off the cages and slammed into the bowman, before he could fire another arrow.
As they crashed into the ground, the man cursed. A quick scuffle, an elbow to his chin, and he dropped back, dazed. She lifted her sword and slammed the hilt against his head, until his eyes rolled back and he slumped down.
She turned around to see that Blaine was already opening the cages. She joined him and they grinned at each other.
“Three guards apiece,” he said.
She made a scoffing sound. “Three for me, two for you. One of yours got hit by a flying rock.”
He cupped the back of her skull and yanked her in for a quick, hard kiss. “I am crazy about you.”
From the cages, women were calling out. Saff touched a smear of blood on his cheek. “I can’t wait to get back to the House of Galen. I have plans.”
He smiled. “Me too.”
They turned back to the women and soon hurried to Winter’s cage. Blaine reached through the bars. “Are you okay, Winter?”
“Blaine?” The woman let out a small cry, turning her sightless eyes toward them. “I heard the commotion but—” her chest hitched “—I had no idea what was going on.”
“We’re going to get you out of here,” he said. “Saff and I are here. We’ll—”
Suddenly, there were the sounds of galloping hooves. Saff turned her head, her muscles tensing.
“There were more guards riding ahead of the convoy,” Winter said urgently.
Drak. Saff used a few other curses in her head. They should have known. She saw a group of guards riding tarnids appear. An entire armed platoon.
No. Saff scanned the steep walls of the canyon. There was nowhere to go. Some of the freed women starting running, some trying to scale the slopes.
Saff looked at Blaine. They both knew they couldn’t take all these guards. They were outnumbered and outmatched.
The guards thundered in, some snatching up the fleeing women and tossing them across their beasts. They circled around where Blaine and Saff stood. One tarnid moved forward and Saff’s jaw went tight.
“My champion returns.”
She glared at the Srinar from the fortress in Gaia. He was wearing another purple shirt and smiling at Blaine. They should have killed him when they’d had the chance.
She saw her own angry frustration reflected in Blaine’s eyes.
Together, they dropped their swords and raised their hands.
Chapter Twelve
The hard blow slammed into Blaine’s midsection. He jerked against the two Srinar guards holding him upright. Then he turned his head and spat blood out onto the rocky ground.
“Are your reinforcements close?” The Srinar leader asked.
“Fuck you,” Blaine answered.
He got another punch to his gut. The fucking guard had some sort of metal on his knuckles and Blaine was pretty sure he had a few cracked ribs. Pain radiated through him, but he stomped it down, like he had a million times before in the fight rings.
Nearby, Saff jerked against her captors, but then stilled.
“Where is Galen?” the leader asked again.
This time Blaine remained silent.
More punches pummeled into him, and blood pooled in his mouth. He glared at the guards, daring them to do their worst.
“Enough.” The leader stared at Blaine with black eyes. “He’s too drakking tough.” The man spun and strode over to Saff. He stroked a hand down her arm and she raised a brow at him. Looking like a queen staring down at a peasant.
The leader pulled a knife from the scabbard on the belt of one of the nearby guards. He held the blade against the skin of her bicep.
“I applaud your choice of woman,” the leader said to Blaine. “I like a warrior in my bed.”
Fucking asshole. Rage boiled inside Blaine. If the bastard hurt Saff…
“Actually, I picked him,” Saff said. “I like a real man in my bed.” Her tone left no doubt that she found the Srinar man lacking.
Blaine was shocked at the laugh that threatened. God, she was something.
“I’ll ask you again.” The Srinar tugged at his purple shirt, straightening it. “What’s your plan? How many reinforcements do you have coming?”
Blaine just stared at the man.
The leader shook his head and lifted the knife again. He moved it down Saff’s arm. She hissed but didn’t move. A cut opened up, blood dripping down her glossy skin.
The side of Blaine he’d struggled to control and accept since his captivity roared to life. He heaved in air, fighting for some control. He couldn’t lose it here. He had to stay in control for Saff.
“Hmm, you are a tough one,” the leader said to Saff. “But I’m very good at knowing what can break a man or woman.”
The leader nodded at some other guards, and suddenly Winter’s small body was dropped on the ground in front of them. She fell onto her knees, her face pale and dirty. She moved her head, her milky eyes looking off past them as she strained to hear what was happening.
“Blaine? Saff?”
“We’re here,” Blaine told her.
“Don’t tell them anything,” Winter said bravely.
The leader lifted his sword, standing behind Winter. Blaine’s gut went hard as a rock, his chest constricting.
“Wait.” No fucking way he’d let this woman die here in the dirt on this alien world.
“No, Blaine.” Saff struggled again. “Don’t tell them anything.”
But Blaine looked at Winter. They were going to hurt her, and the woman didn’t deserve any more pain or suffering.
“There are no reinforcements. We escaped from the Gaia Oasis, just the two of us, and we’re alone out here.”
The Srinar leader smiled. “Good. Good. Lock them all up.” He spun, reaching out to stroke Saff’s face. “You’ll make a lovely fight slave in the Zaabha Arena.”
“That’s where you moved your fight rings,” she spat.
“Yes. I lose some of the District visitors, but the most enthusiastic will make the journey into the desert. And there will be no more pesky imperators bothering me.”
“That’s what you think,” Saff bit out.
Blaine growled, watching as Saff kicked out a foot at the leader. He stumbled back, scowling at her. Then the guards dragged her toward a cage.
S
he fought the entire way, her struggles getting wilder and more savage. He saw her face, and it shattered his heart. She hated the idea of being locked up again. Caged like an animal.
Blaine was tossed into a cage, and Winter was forced in after him. After a wild fight, Saff was pushed into the cage beside them. She grabbed the bars, rattling them, trying to stop them from closing the door.
“Saff.” Blaine moved as close as he could. “Saff, it’s okay.”
She didn’t react to his voice, and when the guards slammed her cage door closed, she let out a wild yell that echoed in the canyon.
***
The hot suns beat down on them as the convoy rattled up the rocky path. Saff sat with her knees pressed to her chest, forcing back the ugly panic clawing at her insides.
Her father had liked to cage her when she wasn’t fighting. Keep her mean and hungry.
She’d tested the bars. They were made of metal and a tough bone that was extremely strong.
She heard the quiet murmur of a deep voice. Blaine’s voice. She stared through the bars, watching him trying to comfort Winter. The small human woman had wilted, her face incredibly pale.
His head lifted and their gazes met.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No.” She kicked at the bars. She hated them. But as she looked at Blaine’s tense shoulders and stark face, she could see that being a captive again was hurting him, too. She reached a hand through the bars.
He grabbed it tight, his fingers tangling with hers.
“Not alone, Earth man.” She knew Galen would be tearing Gaia apart, searching for them. She breathed deep. She hoped the imperator could find them.
Finally, the convoy rolled to a halt. Gut tight, she thought they’d reached their destination. But as the guard moved down the row of cages, handing small cups of water to the captives, she realized it was just a short break.
She took the small, beaten cup and gulped the water back. It barely lubricated her dry throat. She watched Blaine help Winter take a cup, and then he reached for one.
Suddenly, two guards gripped Blaine’s arms and yanked him hard against the bars of the cage. Saff moved into a crouch, fighting to control herself. Blaine tried to jerk back, but they held him tight.
“You’ve missed this, haven’t you?” The Srinar leader was back, and he was holding up a pressure injector.
No! Saff bit down on her lip to stop from crying out. She hated feeling helpless.
Blaine roared and struggled. The leader leaned forward and jammed the injector against Blaine’s neck.
“And I’ll just leave this one here for you, too.” The man left a second injector on the floor beside Blaine. “For when you succumb to the need for more.” He turned away, laughing with his men.
Blaine gripped the bars, the muscles in his arms and chest straining. Saff saw he was gritting his teeth, his veins standing out against his skin. She felt an ugly blackness throbbing off him.
Winter scuttled backward, clearly sensing something was wrong.
Saff reached out, her hand brushing Blaine’s skin. It felt burning hot.
“Blaine?”
He tried to pull away, but she wrapped her fingers around his arm and held on. She wouldn’t abandon him.
“You’re okay.” She kept her voice calm. “Winter, stay back.”
The woman nodded, keeping to the far side of the small cage. She was afraid, but there was a determined look on her face. “I could help…”
“It’s okay, he’s beaten this addiction. He’ll get through this.”
His big body trembled, a choked sound escaping his chest.
“He needs to remember who he is,” Winter said. Her calm, sensible words made Saff remember the woman had been a healer back on Earth. “All the reasons he has not to give in to his addiction.”
Saff nodded. “Look at me.” She said the words with the snap of authority in her voice. “Look at me, Earth man.”
His eyes lifted. The deep brown looked paler, wilder.
“You are Blaine Strong. You’re a man from Earth, a fighter, a survivor, a champion, and a gladiator of the House of Galen.”
He pulled in a deep breath, his chest shuddering.
“You’re my lover, and the man I choose to fight beside.” Emotion made her voice husky. He was hers. Not just for the bed sport, but so much more. Somehow, this tough, stubborn human had burrowed in under her guard and she’d never even noticed. No, that was wrong. She’d noticed and she’d wanted it to happen. Saff realized that for the first time in her life, she was falling in love.
Proper love. Not the twisted travesty her mother had believed was love.
“Hurts,” he choked out.
She reached up, stroking a hand through his hair. “I know.” She ran her fingers along his jaw. “You’re stronger with the drugs in your system.” Drak, she hated to ask this of him, but she knew he could embrace this new part of himself and use it. “You need to embrace it, Blaine. Use the strength and bend the bars. If you can bend them enough, we can get out.”
He nodded, but the movement was slow as he fought through the fog of the drugs.
Then he turned, his broad back blocking the bars from the view of the guards not too far away. He gripped the bars and started to pull them apart. He strained, air whistling between his teeth.
Come on. Saff watched and willed her own strength into him. The bars started to bend and sweat poured down his body.
“I’m out of control.” He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes churning with emotions. “I could hurt someone. I could hurt you.”
“Embrace it, Blaine. Use it.”
His chin dropped to his chest. He pulled against the bars and she saw them move a fraction more.
He kept going, and soon there was enough room for him and Winter to squeeze through.
“You did it,” Saff whispered.
Blaine reached over and grabbed Winter’s arm. “Time to go, Winter.”
The woman nodded, pushing her tangled hair back. She put all her trust in Blaine and let him help her through the bars. Saff felt a stab of admiration. The woman couldn’t see a thing, but she was trusting them with her life.
Blaine climbed out and turned to Saff’s cage.
That’s when she saw him stagger. Drak. The effects of the drug were wearing off.
He grabbed the bars in front of her, and started pulling on them. She saw his muscles straining. The bars only moved the tiniest amount. Saff’s throat went dry. She wanted out.
But when he sagged against her cage, Winter moved in and jammed her shoulder into his side to keep him upright. Now, Saff tasted panic.
Determination made Blaine’s face stark. He grabbed the bars and heaved again and again. They didn’t move. She placed her hands next to his and tried to help. Together they strained, but the metal bars were too strong.
Saff squeezed her eyes closed, but then she felt the crash of Blaine’s chaotic emotions. When she opened them, Blaine had a terrible look on his face.
He was staring at the second injector lying on the floor of his abandoned cage.
“If I take another dose, I’ll have no control,” he said. “A second one always makes it worse. I won’t even remember my name.”
There was so much torment in him, and so many nightmares, in his eyes. His greatest horrors lay in the drugs that had stolen the man he’d once been.
Saff let out a shaky breath. “Don’t take it.” She wrapped her hands around his. “I can sense what you feel, Blaine. Don’t take it.”
A vicious shake of his head. “I won’t leave you.”
“And I won’t risk what a second dose might do to you.”
His face spasmed, then he reached toward the cage and the second injection.
Suddenly, shouts rang from the nearby guards. They’d been spotted.
“There’s no time.” Saff forced herself to find her calm. Even if he took it now, there was no time to bend the bars. “Go! Get Winter to safety.”
“No.”
Saff smacked the bars. “You have to protect her. Now, go!”
Blaine’s tormented eyes met hers through the bars. “Saff—”
Arrows hit the cages near them, and some of the other prisoners screamed.
“Go!” Saff roared at him.
Blaine wrapped an arm around Winter. “I’m coming back for you, Saff.”
Then he turned and half carried the blind woman into the rocks.
***
He was sweltering, his mouth dry as dust, but Blaine kept putting one foot in front of the other.
He was out in the middle of a giant plain of sand dunes. His boots kept slipping on the sand, and with each step, he wondered if he’d finally lose his footing and not get back up.
Winter had collapsed hours ago and he was carrying her in his arms.
But his thoughts were with Saff.
He’d left her. She was somewhere far behind him, still locked away. Still a prisoner.
He’d managed to evade the guards, and hide himself and Winter among the rocks. Eventually, the guards had stopped searching for them, and he’d headed in the opposite direction to the convoy. Every step away from Saff had been like walking on razorblades.
All his fault. He knew what would happen to her. She’d be taken to Zaabha and be forced to fight. Forced to relive her worst nightmares.
He’d left her there.
His hesitation in taking the drugs had lost him the chance to rescue her, his woman. The one woman who challenged and supported him, who’d never seen him as a monster.
Blaine wanted to roar out his pain and frustration, but his mouth was too dry, and the last of his energy was dwindling.
He hadn’t gone much farther when he dropped to his knees. He clutched Winter tightly, so she didn’t tumble to the sand. God, he’d failed to protect her, and he’d failed Saff.
“I’m so sorry, Saff,” he murmured.
As he knelt there, he waited for death to take him. The sunlight stabbed into his eyes and when he saw shimmering shapes ahead, he knew it was a hallucination brought on by the heat.