The Chains of Freedom (Starhawke Rising Book 2)

by Audrey Sharpe

  For the next hour and a half, Cade waited on the bridge with Drew and Gonzo while Williams and Reynolds followed the trail. The first rays of dawn were beginning to lighten the sky when they finally reached their destination.

  “You wouldn’t recognize this,” Reynolds said. “The Meer have built a small fortification on the edge of the cliff face. They’ve cleared the surrounding area so there’s no way to approach without being exposed. The aerial view is nearly three hundred sixty degrees.”

  An image appeared on the bridgescreen, revealing a landscape cast in the shadowy light of dawn. The Meer fortress consisted of a block wall topped with sharp wooden spikes that encircled the predominantly stone buildings inside. Five years ago that type of architecture would have been outside the scope of Meer understanding, but clearly necessity had sparked invention. They’d learned a harsh lesson from the Setarips. And they’d adapted to make themselves less vulnerable.

  “How high are those walls?”

  “Five meters, minimum.”

  Gonzo let out a low whistle. “Hard to imagine how long it took them to move that much rock to that location.”

  “They were highly motivated,” Drew murmured, her gaze locked on the image.

  “Something else you should know.” Williams panned away from the fortress. “I found something.” The image shifted to his hand, where a crude arrow lay across his palm, the shaft broken. “They weren’t using bows and arrows before, but it looks like they’ve figured out the concept.”

  And a bow and arrow could be lethal. “Any sign of Justin or the kids?”

  “I’m picking up an electrical signal that indicates the pods are still turned on,” Reynolds said. “But I’m not getting any transmissions from Justin’s comband.”

  Cade paced behind the captain’s chair while he considered his options. He still had no idea why the Meer had taken Justin and the teens captive, but until he knew otherwise, he would act on the assumption that they were alive. The teens could heal their own injuries, and as long as they were in physical contact with Justin, they might be able to help him, too. “Set a transmission booster so that we’ll receive any message Justin is able to send. Then get here as quickly as you can. We’ll have some ideas for our next move ready when you arrive.”

  “Roger that.”

  “At least we know where they are,” Drew said as the transmission ended.

  But not whether they were okay. And that answer was far more critical.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  A NEST OF wasps had taken up residence in Justin’s head. He drew a few slow breaths and waited for the buzzing to settle down. Then he worked on peeling his eyelids open.

  They felt gritty, like they’d been glued together with cement. And he got blasted with a new shot of unpleasant when light pierced into his retinas. Wow. So not the kind of wake-up he would have hoped for.

  He stifled a moan and closed his eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe…wait a minute. Someone was calling his name. A female voice, barely a whisper. Bella? Lifting his head off the floor took a monumental effort, but he finally brought his gaze over to the left far enough to see the speaker.

  Blonde hair framed a pretty face smudged with dirt. Not Bella. Paaw. Her wide blue eyes were shadowed with concern. “Justin?”

  She was seated next to him, but judging from the angle of her shoulders and arms, her hands were bound behind her back. He tried to lick his dry lips but couldn’t quite get his mouth open wide enough to accomplish it. Apparently the cement had been applied there, too. Talking was out of the question, and her image began to waver the longer he kept his head up. He blinked a few times, but that really didn’t help.

  A frown creased her brow and she shifted her body, giving him a view of the leathery ropes that bound her. A moment later her fingers brushed against his calf. A soothing coolness began creeping up his leg to his thigh, but a bright flash of pain caught him off guard, successfully prying his lips apart as he sucked in air.

  He forced his head up higher and gazed down his torso. A nasty wound was visible through a long tear in the fabric covering the back of his thigh, punctuated by a halo of blood. The arrow. Apparently someone had removed it, but without bothering to clean or cover the area.

  The coolness pooled there, and the pain retreated somewhat. But then two more ribbons snaked their way up his back to his right shoulder and down his left arm to his bicep, creating flares of pain at the other impact points, like a hundred red-hot needles being inserted under his skin.

  The wave continued upward to his head. That’s when a drum line began playing between his ears.

  He moaned out loud this time as his body fell back to rest on the floor. His thoughts scattered like leaves on the wind. He was vaguely aware that his hands were tied behind his back and his feet were bound together, but he just couldn’t summon the energy to care. Tiny gremlins were pushing and pulling him apart, so a little extra tension really didn’t matter.

  He lost track of time, his consciousness of his surroundings fading in and out over what could have been minutes or hours. Eventually he realized his breath was coming easier, and the searing pain in his body had faded to a dull ache. This time when he opened his eyes, the room came into sharp focus almost immediately, and without the resulting discomfort. He glanced over his shoulder and found Paaw facing him again, her expression hopeful.

  “Better?” she asked.

  He frowned as he realized that the skin of his bicep was no longer shredded. It was red and raw, but looked more like a bad burn than a serrated flesh wound. A glance at the rip in his pant leg revealed a similar improvement to the skin underneath. And his shoulder didn’t screech as he levered himself onto his back.

  Best of all, his head had stopped pounding out a Sousa march. When he met Paaw’s gaze, he figured out why. She’d been sending healing energy into his system to help repair the damage inflicted during the attack. Drawing in a steadying breath, he nodded. “Much better. Thank you.”

  Relief flashed in her eyes and her lips tilted in a tiny smile.

  He glanced around the empty room. “Where are Raaveen and Sparw?”

  The smile disappeared. “They took outside.” She nodded toward the wooden planks that covered the low door.

  “Were they hurt?” He had a vague memory of Raaveen being hit with an arrow to her wrist, but he had no idea what had occurred after the Meer had knocked him unconscious.

  Paaw shook her head. “Raaveen heal fine. Sparw okay.”

  That was something. He couldn’t imagine what the Meer wanted with the two teens, but most likely he’d find out soon enough. In the meantime, he had to figure out a way to get them all out of here.

  First things first. He needed to get upright.

  Taking a deep breath, he contracted his abdominal muscles and hauled his torso off the floor. The bindings on his wrists shifted, but remained tight. Okay, he could work with that, especially if some of the rocks that lined the walls were as rough hewn as they appeared.

  He began shuffling backward, but halted when the low door to the room opened. Raaveen and Sparw crawled inside, followed by four male Meer armed with short spears.

  “Justin!” the teens cried in unison.

  Raaveen took a step toward him but stopped abruptly when the Meer brandished their weapons and snarled. Their pointed teeth glittered in the firelight. Justin had no problem picturing them sinking those teeth into anyone who crossed them. Not exactly reassuring.

  “Hey guys. Glad to see you’re okay.”

  Raaveen looked frantic. “We fine. You?”

  “Thanks to Paaw, I’m much better.”

  Raaveen and Sparw shot Paaw a look of gratitude. Obviously they’d all been worried about him.

  The Meer pushed the two teens toward the opposite side of the room, making space for a male who entered with an air of authority. He was taller and stockier than the four guards, the short fur that covered his body blending with the earth tones of the sand on the floor, w
hile the dark patches around his eyes stood out in sharp relief. His gaze focused on Justin, intelligence shining in his black eyes. And anger. Lots and lots of anger. This was a very hostile Meer.

  Four more guards entered behind him, their bodies twisted sideways so they could hold onto the corners of a stretched animal skin. Something heavy weighed down the middle of the skin. As they carefully lowered it to the ground, Justin got a good look.

  A Meer female lay within. Judging from her size, she was an adolescent. And she was in bad shape. A bone protruded from her right leg, the skin and pale gray fur around the wound matted with dried blood and swollen with infection. Her eyes were half-open and glazed with fever, her breath alternating between long, raspy draws and panting.

  That’s why we’re here. Somehow the Meer must have witnessed Paaw’s injury and the resulting healing to repair the broken bone. He glanced at Raaveen. “They want you to heal her, don’t they?”

  Raaveen nodded. “But we say no. Help you first, then her.”

  Justin stared at Raaveen in shock. She’d successfully negotiated with the Meer despite the language barrier? Impressive. With a few years of training and experience, she would make one hell of an addition to the Elite Unit. That is, if her heritage hadn’t already sentenced her to a life of isolation on the new homeworld.

  The leader barked a command. The words were unintelligible but the demand for silence came through loud and clear. Then the male got right up in Raaveen’s face—or as much as he could considering she was a head taller than he was. Despite his height, the male looked imposing, the brown horizontal bands of fur on his torso making him appear larger. He pointed at Justin and then at the Meer female, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a snarl.

  Raaveen and Sparw stepped forward, settling themselves on either side of the female.

  “Can you save her?” Justin had seen them work wonders on Paaw’s ankle, but healing a compound fracture that had already triggered a raging infection might be asking too much. Especially for a species with such radically different physiology.

  “Nedale could,” Sparw said, referring to the title of respect the Suulh used for Dr. Mya Forrest.

  Justin believed him. He’d heard the stories from Williams about the power of the Starhawke’s physician. But these two didn’t have her talent or experience.

  Raaveen met Justin’s gaze. Worry lines etched her face, but determination, too. “We try.”

  He gave a brief nod. They’d do their best. That was all anyone could ask.

  Paaw shifted next to him, her entire focus on the Meer female. She began using her feet to push herself toward Raaveen and Sparw. “I help,” she said when one of the Meer stopped her. She looked up at the leader, her gaze steady. “I help,” she repeated, nodding toward the female.

  The leader seemed to understand her, but his rigid stance didn’t change. He seemed reluctant to trust her. However, when the Meer female let out a pitiful moan, his concern won out over his fear. He crouched behind Paaw and untied the bindings around her hands and feet.

  She rolled her shoulders and flexed her fingers before moving next to Sparw. She placed one hand on the female’s foot and the other on her knee. Raaveen rested her hand alongside Paaw’s and clasped hands with Sparw over the female’s torso. Sparw placed his other hand alongside Paaw’s, completing the circuit.

  The leader stared down at Justin, his gaze shifting to the locations where the arrows had struck. Then he gestured at the female and barked something that was clearly a question.

  Justin didn’t need his communications training to know what the male was asking. Unfortunately, the leader wouldn’t like the answer.

  Allowing the compassion he felt to show in his voice and eyes, he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t have their abilities.”

  The leader’s dark eyes narrowed.

  Justin worked hard not to focus on the male’s very sharp teeth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t heal myself. She healed me.” He nodded to Paaw. “I would help if I could.”

  The leader growled in warning before glancing at the female. His throat moved in a convulsive swallow, his mask of anger slipping for a moment to reveal the terror and anguish that lay beneath.

  The injured female was his daughter. That explained a lot.

  Raaveen, Paaw and Sparw held their hunched positions for what felt like an hour but might have been half that time, their breathing evening out until it was in perfect sync. Their gazes remained locked on the Meer female as silence hung heavy in the room, broken only by the whimpering and harsh breathing of the female. Then without a word to each other, they pulled on the female’s leg from both ends. The bone disappeared under the pale fur covering her skin as a blood-curdling shriek shot out of her lips.

  The leader swayed and took a lurching step forward, but stopped before he reached them. He stood, trembling, but didn’t attempt to interfere.

  Tears slid down Raaveen’s cheeks and dripped onto the ground. Paaw and Sparw’s hands shook. Clearly the female’s suffering bothered them, but their concentration never waved.

  The female mewled pitifully as the teens continued to work. The shadows cast by the light coming through the slats in the door shifted across the floor, marking time. Eventually the female grew quiet.

  The teens didn’t stop, but they began to show signs of fatigue. Sparw’s entire body trembled, and Raaveen’s skin glistened with sweat. Paaw’s head hung almost to her knees, like the energy had drained right out of her.

  Apparently the type of injury they were healing made a big difference in how it affected them. The healing session Paaw had done for him hadn’t appeared to cause her any stress, and the teens had all been fine after healing Paaw’s ankle. Then again, her break had been clean and they’d worked on it immediately. Here they were dealing with a major trauma that had festered, as well as an unfamiliar species. Judging by the toll it was taking on them, that increased the difficulty exponentially.

  The teens weren’t giving up, though. And when they did finally stop, it wasn’t by choice. Paaw simply slumped backward, sinking to the floor in a prone position with her arms and legs akimbo. Raaveen and Sparw toppled over a moment later, lying motionless on the floor.

  Justin got his first good view of the female since the healing had begun. The results were astounding. Her leg lay in perfect position. The skin and fur had knit back together to form a seal over the wound, although the surrounding tissue was still livid and swollen.

  But the most telling sign of the teens’ success was the female’s expression. Her mouth had relaxed, eliminating the permanent grimace of pain, and her eyes were closed in sleep, her breathing slow and steady.

  The leader knelt and touched his child’s face, stroking her dark gray fur with reverence.

  It was a poignant moment. But Justin was concerned about the toll the healing had taken on Raaveen, Paaw and Sparw. He used his bound feet to push his body toward them. One of the guards brandished a weapon, stopping him.

  Justin frowned. “I need to make sure they’re okay.” He nodded at the teens.

  The guard lifted the blunt weapon and snarled, the crescent moon scar that cut along his muzzle and cheek giving him a particularly vicious appearance.

  Justin glared, refusing to back down.

  A sharp command echoed in the chamber. One of the other Meer, this one as tall as the leader but lighter in coloring, stepped forward. He made a chittering sound and flashed his teeth.

  Bowing slightly, the hostile guard retreated to the far side of the room, where he glowered in Justin’s direction.

  Interesting. Justin made a mental note to keep an eye on that one. Thankfully, the scar made him easy to identify.

  Judging by the exchange, Justin pegged the other Meer as the captain of the guard. The captain sat on his haunches in front of Justin, his expression wary. He glanced at the teens and the leader, who still hadn’t left his daughter’s side, and then at Justin.

  Justin gazed back, his expression as c
alm and unthreatening as he could make it.

  The guard pulled his lips upward ever so slightly, revealing the tips of his teeth in a subtle warning. Then he stepped behind Justin and removed his bindings.

  Justin’s shoulder and forearm let out a loud protest, the dull ache that he’d been able to ignore ratcheting up a notch now that the muscles were back in motion. He slowly stretched his shoulders as the blood started circulating through his arms and fingers, making them tingle and throb.

  He shifted onto all fours and crept to where Paaw and Sparw lay side by side, their eyes closed. He touched their wrists to check for a pulse. That became redundant as both teens gazed up at him.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Tired,” Paaw whispered.

  “Thirsty,” Sparw added.

  Justin nodded. He was thirsty, too. They had water in the stealth pods, but he had no idea where those were. He glanced at the captain. “Water?” He cupped his hands and lifted them to his lips to mime drinking.

  The captain immediately issued a command to one of the guards, who left the room and returned a few moments later with a bowl. The captain took the bowl and approached Justin cautiously, placing the container on the ground and then stepping back. Apparently Meer physiology precluded drinking from cups. They probably lapped like cats.

  Justin started with Paaw, slipping a hand under her neck and lifting her up so that she could sip from the edge of the bowl. After a couple swallows, he did the same thing with Sparw before moving over to check on Raaveen.

  She was slower to respond, and when she finally opened her eyes, she seemed to be having trouble focusing on him. “Here, drink this. It should help.” He lifted her torso off the ground and held her against him so he could support her weight. She felt like a ragdoll, but at least she was able to take in some of the cool liquid.

  Seeing how much the healing had drained the teens gave him a whole new appreciation for the abilities of Dr. Forrest. He had little doubt she could have fixed the child’s injury without breaking a sweat. No wonder the Suulh held her family in such high esteem. She was, quite literally, a lifesaver.