by S. E. Smith
“I hope you are rested,” one of the guards said, stepping up to the door of Dagger’s prison cell. “Eat! You will need every bit of it. You are back in the cage in two hours. I have a lot of money on you to win.”
The guard slid the paper-thin tray of food under the door of the cell before hastily jerking back when Dagger stepped forward, straining to break free. He ignored the food. Instead, he focused on the guard’s face. He was going to kill every single one of them.
“Eat,” the guard ordered before turning.
Dagger waited until the door at the far end of the corridor closed before he bent and picked up several pieces of fruit and the thin slab of barely cooked meat. Drawing back into the shadows in the corner of the cell, he squatted down and bit viciously into the meat. He slowly chewed it before swallowing it. Picking up the dark red fruit, he bit into the soft fruit and drank deeply of the vitamin rich liquid inside it.
Staring up at the surveillance camera, he thought moodily of Kelman and the others. Kelman couldn’t see him in the shadows. It was the only place that he could be in the cell without eyes on him. He hated it. Bending his head, he closed his eyes and tried to bring back the image of Jordan’s face in his mind, but it was like the shadows that surrounded him, dark and fuzzy.
Is she even real? He wondered as he finished the small meal. Maybe she is nothing more than a dream.
Chapter 3
Jordan bowed her head and slipped through the upper door high above the fighting arena, a shadow among the other spectators. She would wait outside for Trig to find her. There was one more event tonight.
Fear and hope gripped her as she hurried down the back staircase. She had stolen one of the worker’s badges as he was leaving through the dirty kitchen area. It had helped that the creature had been drunk and didn’t feel her fingers as they slipped the badge from his waist when she bumped into him in the side alley behind the narrow buildings.
She had used the badge to access the back entrance. Slipping inside, she had made her way to the ticket booth using the map she had on the small tablet in her hand before it opened. It hadn’t taken long for her to hack into their computer system. It was antiquated compared to the Trivator systems. She had wasted no time printing out two tickets to the night’s fights.
Keeping the hood of the cloak over her head, she had grabbed the trash and a broom that was in the corner as the door behind her opened. She softly muttered her apology for her lateness in cleaning the room to the fat, wart-covered female that entered the ticket area. The creature had scowled at her, but didn’t question Jordan when she held up the badge.
Jordan was shaking from the close call, but even more determined than ever that she had made the right decision. She knew Trig, Dagger’s older brother, would be furious about her disappearing on him.
He had kept insisting that she stay locked in the small room he had rented while he searched for Dagger after they had witnessed the brutal slaying of the owner of The Hole almost a week ago. She had spent the time searching any records for Dagger or a Trivator warrior on the Spaceport. A flag had risen when the new owner of The Hole, a Dreluthan, began promoting that he had a fighter unlike any other. He boasted he had a Trivator warrior that would fight at the establishment against creatures large and small. Each show that week had immediately sold out.
Trig had returned, frustrated that not even the ticket brokers could get any passes to the events. The three that had tried to forge tickets had been brutally killed and left on display in front of The Hole as an example of what would happen if any illegal tickets were made.
Trig had explained the Dreluthans were interested in one thing and one thing only, making credits. He wasn’t the only one frustrated, so was Jordan. She had waited until he had gone into the bathroom before she disappeared. It was the only way she could. She discovered the first day that he had locked her inside. But, as long as he was there, she would be able to escape.
Jordan set the broom down at the door leading out of the side of the building. She passed at least eight guards on her way out of the building. She discovered that as long as she held up the badge she had stolen in one gloved-covered hand, no one stopped her. Holding the trash in her other hand, she slipped out of the door in the pretense of disposing of it. She quickly tossed the garbage into the compactor outside and walked to the end of the alley. She hoped that Trig wouldn’t take too long figuring out where she had gone.
It took almost an hour for him to finally appear. Jordan glanced nervously at the long line of creatures waiting to get inside. Moving out of the shadows, she stepped into Trig’s path when he made to move around her.
“Trig,” she murmured in a low voice. “It’s me.”
She glanced up at his face, noting how it turned from a menacing scowl, to surprise, before it turned to fury. She bit her lip when his fingers wrapped around her arm in a bruising grip. He turned her quickly and pulled her into the narrow alley that she had used earlier.
“I ought to whip your ass,” Trig growled in a low, furious voice. “I’m taking you back to Rathon. I swore to Hunter I would keep you safe. I can’t believe you would go off on your own! Do you have any idea of what could happen to you?”
Jordan winced when his hand unconsciously tightened on her arm. “I found him,” she whispered. “I found Dagger.”
Trig’s mouth snapped shut and he released her arm. Staring broodingly down into her wide, pleading hazel eyes, he bit out another low curse. He should have known better than to agree to take her with him on this mission.
Not that I had much choice, he thought ruefully as he gazed down into her haunted eyes. She would have kept her promise of finding another way here.
Running his hands through his hair, he released a long breath. This human female had been a pain in his ass ever since she unexpectedly showed up at Dagger’s house the night after he arrived. He later discovered she had been tracking his whereabouts through Hunter’s computer system.
His mind flickered back to that night almost a month ago when he returned to Rathon after losing Dagger’s trail. He planned to spend the night at Dagger’s place before meeting up with Hunter to go over the little information he had found. He had not been expecting a surprise intruder in the middle of the night or their rapid departure.
*.*.*
Rathon: One month before.
Jordan slipped the tablet she used into the black bag and looked around her bedroom one last time. The note that she had written for Jesse rested against the pillow on her neatly made bed. She adjusted the black cap she was wearing over her sun-streaked brown hair and walked over to the door leading out to the back garden. She would have to be careful not to trip the security grid around Hunter and Jesse’s home.
She glanced at the small wrist-size screen attached to her arm. She could control the home security system software she had downloaded on her tablet using it. Closing the door to her bedroom, she silently crossed the covered porch area and moved down the steps.
Once she had reached the side gate, she glanced over her shoulder one last time before she pressed the remote. Counting under her breath, she waited impatiently for the light at the gate to change colors, indicating that it had disengaged. She would have ten seconds from the time the gate unlocked to get through it and close it again before the alarm sounded.
The second the light changed, she opened the first gate and stepped through. She quickly closed it behind her and moved to the second gate which protected the property from the large creatures that moved through the forests. Slipping through it, she closed the gate and watched as the light turned from green to red again.
The sounds of the night echoed around her. It reminded her a little of what it had sounded like up at the cabin her dad had owned in Wenatchee, Washington. She jumped when she heard a loud crash followed by a snarl.
Well, almost, she thought as she hurried down the softly lit path.
Once she was far enough from the house, she pulled her tablet up and sent
in a request for a transport pick up. There weren’t a lot of houses along the area where Jesse and Hunter lived and because she didn’t want to take a chance of Hunter being woken up, she had sent the request to pick her up outside the small park a mile from the house. If she ran, she could be there by the time the unmanned transport arrived.
Jordan secured the black backpack containing a couple of changes of clothes, food, water, a medical scanner, an emergency medical kit, and her tablet on to her back. Breaking into an easy jog, she breathed in and out evenly as she kept a steady pace. A startled cry escaped her a quarter mile from her destination when a huge, dark shape burst out of the forest.
“Oh shit!” Jordan hissed when she realized that one of the bear-like creatures that lived in the forest had caught scent of her.
She weaved, twisting and almost fell when it charged at her. Pulling the small laser pistol she had taken from Hunter’s office out of the waistband of her pants, she pointed it at the creature with shaking hands. Standing still with her feet apart like her dad had shown her and Jesse, she waited as it suddenly stopped and rose up on its hind legs.
“Oh, double shit,” she whispered as her eyes rose to look up at the creature’s massive head now standing almost three feet higher than her head. “I think I need a bigger gun.”
Hell, she needed a bazooka! Or better yet, a tank. One thing was for sure, she needed something a hell of a lot bigger than what she was holding! Stumbling back a step, she almost sank to her knees when the creature made contact with the fencing lining the walkway.
The moment it did, lights flared and a protective dome appeared over the path she was standing on. Jordan’s nose wrinkled when the scent of burning hair reached her. The creature howled in pain and jerked back down onto all six legs. With one last snarl, it disappeared back into the dark woods.
“And this… is why… you stay on the path,” Jordan muttered in a shaking breath.
She slowly lowered her trembling arms back to her sides. Turning on legs that suddenly felt like rubber, she tucked the weapon back into her waistband and began jogging again, this time keeping a wary eye on the woods along the path. She made it to the park just as the transport arrived.
Crossing the deserted road, Jordan waved her credit chip over the scanner and waited for the door to slide open. Stepping in, she sank back against the plush seat. She set the backpack on the floor in front of her and withdrew her tablet.
“Forest Edge Eight-six-six-four-six, please,” Jordan whispered.
She leaned back, clutching the tablet in her hand as the clear, oval-shaped transport rose into the air. Her eyes glanced down at the picture of Dagger that she had taken before he left. Tears glittered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Instead, she glanced out the window of the transport at the city far below. It appeared darker than the cities back home had because they used a red light that did not interfere with their night vision. Looking down at the array of lights, she could appreciate it even more when she glanced up at the stars. They were brilliant, much like the ones back on Earth after the lights had gone out. Only up at the cabin had she seen the stars this bright.
Somewhere out there was Dagger. Her Amate. He had promised when he finished his last assignment that he would come back to her, but he hadn’t come back.
“I will wait until you are of age,” Dagger’s soft voice echoed through her mind. “But know this, Jordan Sampson, when you are old enough, you will be mine. I will claim you as my Amate. I will watch over you and protect you until then.”
Jordan’s fingers rose to touch her lips as she remembered the one and only kiss he had given her before he had left. He had pressed his lips to hers, and she had known that she was his. The kiss had consumed her and for the first time in her life, she felt… complete.
Looking down at the tablet, she focused on the information she had downloaded. Trig may have lost Dagger’s tracks, but she hadn’t. He had been sold and taken to the Tressalon galaxy. There were only a few Spaceports there, the biggest being Bruttus, which also happened to be the most deadly.
Gathering up her backpack, she watched as Dagger’s home came into view. “You can stop here,” she ordered. “I will walk the rest of the way.”
“Please note the lighted pathways and remain on them,” the transports automated voice replied. “Have a pleasant evening.”
“I will, thank you,” Jordan replied, stepping out of the clear transport once the door opened. “Please keep my destination private.”
“Affirmative,” the voice replied.
Jordan watched as the transport lifted off the ground again. Only when it was out of sight did she move down the path. Dagger’s house was set several hundred feet back into the wooded area. There was a winding path leading to the front of it.
Walking along the soft surface of the path, she paused when she reached the outer security fence and saw the red glow of the security system. There were benefits to being the sister-in-law to one of the most powerful men in the city. One of them was hacking into his system at home without him knowing it.
Stepping up to the front gate, she laid her palm against the screen and anxiously waited while scanner read it. She had programmed her palm print into Dagger's security system not long after he was declared dead.
She had refused to believe that he wasn’t coming back, and in her grief, had come to his house many times those first few months to be alone. A small part of her always hoped that he would somehow walk through the door. As the long weeks turned to months, she found refuge using his home as a place to quietly search for his location without fear of being interrupted.
She released a sigh of relief when the light turned green. The last two years of intensive studying were finally paying off, she thought.
Jordan pushed the gate open and stepped inside the courtyard. Shutting the gate, she waited for the security to reactivate. Now, she had one last major hurdle to conquer. She had to convince Dagger’s older brother to take her along with him.
“No,” she whispered. “It isn’t the last one, but the beginning if… when he does.”
Jordan straightened her shoulders and adjusted the backpack. She slowly walked up to the steps leading up to the front door. Her foot froze on the first step when a voice called out of the shadows to the left of her. A shiver ran through her body as she slowly turned to face the man she had come looking for. The man that could help her… if he believed her.
“Go home,” Trig ordered, stepping out of the shadows.
Jordan’s chin rose as she stared back at him. “No,” she replied in a low voice.
“Go home, female,” Trig said, walking past Jordan and climbing the steps toward the front door.
“I know where he is,” she said, staring at Trig’s stiff back.
She watched as he slowly turned to look at her with a dark scowl. For a moment, he looked so much like Dagger that pain pierced her. He must have smelled it, because he took a step toward her.
“Where?” He demanded, looking down at her.
Jordan returned the huge Trivator’s stare with a cold determination. She would not allow Dagger to slip through her fingers. Slowly climbing the steps until she was just a couple of feet from him, Jordan pressed her lips together.
“I want to go with you to get him,” she stated. “I will go with you.”
Trig shook his head at her and started to turn away again. “Go home, female,” he ordered. “This is no concern of yours.”
“Yes, it is,” Jordan retorted, grabbing his arm in desperation.
A low cry escaped her when he suddenly twisted. Jordan found herself pressed up against the wall next to the door, Trig’s large hand curled around her throat. His eyes glowed a dark, menacing yellow as he leaned closer to her.
“I won’t tell you again,” he snarled under his breath. “Hunter needs to lock you up.”
Jordan held still, refusing to look away from his intense gaze. “He’s my Amate,” she whispered. �
�He promised me he would come back, but he didn’t. You had your chance and you lost him. The others gave up on him, but I never did. I know where Dagger is, Trig. I won’t lose him again. Please,” she begged quietly. “I can’t lose. He… I can’t lose him,” she repeated.
The hand around her throat slowly moved away as he straightened and stepped back. Jordan refused to rub it. She wouldn’t show any weakness that might cause Dagger’s brother to change his mind about her going with him.
“Where is he?” Trig demanded in a rough voice.
Jordan stepped forward and kept her chin raised and her gaze steady. She had learned a lot over the last six years. First, how to survive back on Earth after the Trivator warriors appeared, and then more after Hunter brought her, Jesse, and Taylor to Rathon.
She had always been good with computers, mostly with gaming design, but that had changed after the Trivators appeared. After that, she studied programming and coding in case she ever needed it to protect her and her sisters. It had come in handy when Jesse needed to go after Hunter.
Once they were on Rathon, she had decided to continue her education. She used every ounce of the knowledge and skills she had learned over the past two years to locate Dagger after she read the reports from his crash. In her heart, she just couldn’t accept that he was gone.
“Swear on your life that you will take me with you,” Jordan forced out, ignoring the fierce scowl that darkened his face again. “I have to come with you. I can find him if they try to move him again. I know I can.”
She knew she had won when Trig released a bitter curse and ran his hand down his face. With a grunt, he pushed past her and into Dagger’s home. Jordan didn’t wait, she turned and followed as he walked through the foyer to the living area.
Setting her backpack down on the floor next to the couch, she watched as he poured a drink from the small bar off to the side. He drained two small glasses of the brilliant amber liquor before he set the glass on the bar and turned to glare at her. Jordan bit her bottom lip, but couldn’t quite keep the smile from curving her lips.