by Anna Hackett
“The cavern you saw below the Glass House should be just ahead,” Galen said. “Just on the other side of this reservoir.”
Madeline spied a narrow walkway of rock that crossed the center of the lake.
“Let’s go.” Galen went first.
Madeline stepped out on the walkway, trying not to think about slipping into the dark water. The lights they were holding cast only enough light to see a few feet in each direction. She had no idea how big the lake was or how deep. For a second, she wobbled, and Lore grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Careful,” he murmured.
She looked at him for a moment, his handsome face partly hidden by the shadows. Damn him for being so attractive. She was still mad at him for his arrogant, alpha-male behavior earlier. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell him she had that pretty blue gem he’d given her tucked into her pocket for good luck.
Madeline focused on slowly and steadily crossing the lake. Soon, they were all on the other side and passing through another short tunnel.
They came out on a ledge ringing the large sinkhole cavern. They were up much higher than the level where Madeline and Lore had been on their other visit down here.
As Galen and Raiden crouched near the edge, she stared down, noting the cells on the far wall, and the deeper hole that housed the dag’tar.
Voices echoed up from below, and the gladiators all stepped back, pressing their backs to the wall. Lore pulled her close to his side and she elbowed him in response, but she kept her gaze on the guards walking into view below.
She heard a quiet click, and saw that Galen was taking pictures with some sort of device. Dimly, she heard the gladiators’ hushed whispers, as they discussed tactics and numbers. She searched for any sign of Blaine or the women.
“There,” she whispered. “The women.”
The three women were out of their cell, being pushed by guards. One woman—a tall brunette with long, curly hair—spun, and must have said something to the guards. The next instant, one of the guards backhanded her, sending her sprawling.
Madeline gasped and felt all the gladiators around her tense. But she knew that up here, they were too far away to help.
Get up, Madeline mentally urged the woman. Hold on until we come for you.
The woman stood, her two friends moving in close to her.
“My God, there’s Blaine,” Harper whispered.
She saw him now, covered in chains, guards prodding him as they urged him toward a cell. He was covered in blood and gore. Madeline pressed a hand to her chest. She guessed that he had been brought back from some sort of training fight.
Then she heard another noise—a thumping sound of flesh on metal, and the roar of an angry beast.
More guards came into view, dragging a giant metal box behind them. The metal box had several small holes in the side of it.
“Careful,” a guard yelled, his voice echoing upward. “Don’t get too close to the box.”
“He’s just a drakking beast,” another guard answered.
Madeline frowned. Surely the box was too small for a dag’tar?
“He’s not just a beast. He was a man once, but he’s been locked up and made to fight for years. There’s nothing left but a mass of rage, but he’s far smarter than any animal.”
“I don’t think so.” A squat, stocky guard stepped forward and banged his stun baton against the box. Then laughing, he shoved the baton through one of the holes in the box.
An enraged roar echoed from the box, raising goosebumps on Madeline’s arms. Beside her, Lore muttered a curse.
Suddenly, there was a large thump. The box vibrated, rocking to one side. The three guards froze.
“I told you to be careful,” the first guard snapped.
The box jerked again, the side denting outward under the force of a blow.
“Drak!” the stocky guard yelled.
More hits hammered the box, and the guards backed up.
Suddenly, the box burst open, the metal splitting like paper.
A man…creature…alien burst out. He stood for a second, chest heaving. He had a large, powerful body, with dark-blue skin covered in swirls of dark tattoos. Long, dark, tangled hair covered most of his face, but even from a distance, it was easy to tell he was staring at the guards.
The three men took a few halting steps backward.
The beast-man attacked. Screams echoed upward, and with three brutal blows, he took the guards down.
He let out another roar, lifting his head. The sound reverberated deafeningly off the rocks.
What the hell was he? And what had been done to him?
And that’s when Madeline realized something else had caught his attention, his huge body going still.
He was looking at the women.
The human women were huddled together, watching in horror. Their two guards stood, shaking, beside them.
The blue alien moved fast. He rushed across the space in a charge worthy of a linebacker. He picked up one guard, spun him, and tossed the man through the air. He slammed into a rock wall, before tumbling to the ground. The other guard simply dropped his weapon and ran.
The tall brunette stepped forward and pushed her friends behind her. She lifted her fists, never taking her gaze off the blue beast.
“We have to help them,” Madeline said frantically.
“We can’t get down there from here,” Galen bit out. “We’re too far away.”
Suddenly, Blaine flew into view, dragging his chains behind him. He crashed into the blue alien, knocking the beast-man to the ground.
Soon, both fighters were back on their feet. Blaine swung one of his chains above his head. The alien rose slowly, his black tattoos appearing darker on his blue skin. The beast-man let out a roar.
Blaine let out his own yell and slammed the chain toward the alien. “Get back!”
Madeline realized he was shouting at the women. Protecting them.
Suddenly, there were more shouts. A huge group of guards burst out of a tunnel, heading toward Blaine and the beast.
Blaine dropped his chain and stepped backward, closer to the women.
The blue alien turned, lifting his giant fists. One of the guards tossed a net device.
It exploded, tangling over the beast. Then it lit up, and blue electricity ran over the alien’s skin. The beast roared in pain, his body jerking. Madeline pressed a fist to her mouth, feeling a streak of sympathy for the creature. Whoever he was, he’d never deserved this.
He went down on one knee, and managed to get a fist free, clobbering a nearby guard, knocking him to the ground.
Three guards leaped forward, jamming stun weapons into the alien’s body. He fell facefirst onto the ground.
Madeline forced herself to watch. They didn’t give Blaine a chance to surrender, and they stunned him as well. As he fell, the women screamed.
It only took moments, but soon the guards were dragging the bodies of Blaine and the blue alien into nearby cells. The women were shoved roughly into another.
Galen watched, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “We’ve seen enough. Let’s go.”
They turned to leave, heading back into the sewer tunnels.
Madeline barely noted the stench this time, her thoughts on Blaine, the women, and even that poor alien. What had they done to him to make him like that?
They reached the lake and headed out over the narrow rock path. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and wash off the stink, and then plan the rescue mission. The others moved ahead and Madeline hurried to catch up.
She heard a faint splash and felt something slide along her ankle.
What the hell? She turned to look, and didn’t see anything except a faint ripple in the water. She glanced down at her foot and saw a trail of sludge on the rock path behind her.
Shaking her head, she turned to follow the others. She spotted Lore’s broad back ahead. She took another step, and this time, something wrapped around her ankle with a wet slap.
&nb
sp; She looked up, and saw Lore turn back, a frown on his face. Their gazes locked.
Madeline didn’t have time to say anything or scream. With a violent jerk, she was yanked into the water.
Chapter Thirteen
Unfamiliar emotions slammed into Lore.
As he watched Madeline disappear below the dark water, he realized the main one was fear. He shouted for the others, sprinting back along the pathway.
He’d remembered the whispered rumors of mutated creatures that lived in the sewers. God, even Zhim had warned them.
“Madeline!” Without any conscious thought, Lore went to dive in after her.
Strong hands gripped his arms on either side of him. Galen and Nero flanked him, stopping him from following her.
“Let me go!”
“Wait,” Galen demanded. “You won’t do her any good if you kill yourself.”
The sound of splashing water made all their heads jerk up. Lore’s chest went hard. In the middle of the lake, giant tentacles rose out of the water, waving around the air in a frenzy.
One lifted, wrapped around a screaming Madeline. She was thumping her fists against the creature’s dark, rubbery skin.
It dunked her down into the water, then lifted her up again. Then it dropped lower again, and Madeline disappeared beneath the dark water.
Lore pulled his sword, and beside him he heard his friends doing the same.
All of them watched and waited, and a dizzying whirl of thoughts tumbled through Lore’s head. He had to find a way to get Madeline out of there.
“Harper, Thorin, and I will attack it from over there.” Raiden pointed to the edge of the lake closest to the creature. He ran, Harper and Thorin following close behind.
Lore glanced at Kace and Saff. “You two take the other direction. If it gets within reach, slash it.” Hopefully, that would get it to drop her.
The pair nodded and took off at a run. That left Lore with Galen and Nero. They watched as the creature broke the surface of the water again, and this time he saw its yawning mouth in the center of its body. A horrible, round hole ringed with sharp teeth.
“We need to distract it,” Lore snapped. “Keep its attention off Madeline until we can get her out of there.”
Galen nodded, gesturing for Nero to follow him.
Lore’s fighting partner caught his gaze. “We’ll get her out.”
Lore nodded, pulling in a shuddering breath. Then he spotted some old metal-and-wood scaffolding attached to the rocky wall beside the lake. It was rusted and rotten, maybe some sort of long-abandoned maintenance framework. A broken chain dangled off it.
As he ran toward it, he heard his friends shouting at the creature. Heard metal striking flesh.
Without thinking, Lore leaped out toward the chain. He didn’t have time to test it, and he prayed it would hold his weight.
He grabbed the metal, and used his momentum to swing out over the water. Below, he saw the creature splashing. He swung closer to Madeline and caught a glimpse of her terrified face.
Lore slashed with his sword, the blade biting deep into the tentacle. Blood squirted, and the creature let out a high-pitched screech. It thrashed in the water, pulling Madeline away.
The chain swung back. Come on. Lore used his weight to swing back as fast as he could. On the edge of the lake, he spotted Kace and Saff working together, hacking at another tentacle that had landed on the walkway. The tentacle detached, and this time the creature’s screams turned to shrieks, making Lore wince.
As he neared the creature again, he saw the tentacle holding Madeline rise up high. Then he saw it tighten around her. She screamed, but then her cry was cut off as the tentacle continued squeezing her.
Drak. It was going to kill her.
Heart pounding, Lore pulled back and then pushed off to swing out again. At the peak of his swing, he let go and dropped down on the creature’s head. With a roar, he drove his sword into its rubbery skin.
The water creature thrashed, but Lore spread his arms, fighting to keep his balance. He cut at another tentacle, blood splattering.
Suddenly, yet another tentacle sprang up from behind Lore and knocked into him. He was airborne for a moment, before he splashed into the water. It wasn’t very deep, and his head cracked into the rocky bottom. He came up spluttering, heart thundering, blood pouring into his left eye.
He knelt, slightly dazed, pain tearing through his head.
It only took him a second to know that nothing was broken. He pushed up and got one leg beneath him. Madeline needed him. His woman needed him.
Lore fought his way back to the walkway. A second later, another tentacle flopped in front of him, making him leap backward. Quickly, he climbed up, leaped onto the tentacle, and ran along it. It moved beneath him and he moved faster.
He’d lost his sword when he’d fallen. Now, Lore reached for the powders on his belt. He hoped their small, protective pouches had protected them from the water. He grabbed one and tossed it. The smoke exploded right in front of the creature’s face, and it made a sound eerily like a cough. Then it started jerking around wildly.
Lore wrapped an arm around the tentacle, holding on, and yanked out the knife strapped to his thigh.
He heard shouts behind him and glanced back. Galen was also running across another tentacle, headed toward him. As he neared, the imperator leaped into the air. Lore’s breath caught and he watched as Galen raised his sword above his head. Fierce and focused. That was Galen. He crashed down onto the creature and brought his sword down.
Lore lifted his knife and let go of the tentacle. He jumped up and jammed the blade into the creature’s mouth, digging into soft flesh.
The next thing Lore knew, Saff was beside him, running with impeccable balance. She lifted her staff and slammed it down into the creature’s yawning mouth.
The water monster made a horrible noise. The agonized noise of a dying creature.
It bucked violently, and it knocked them all off. Lore had the sensation of flying again, before he hit the water. He came up, murky liquid streaming off him, and saw the creature lifting Madeline up high into the air. Then, its tentacles all drooped as it died. Madeline was released, and she hit the water with a splash.
The monster sank back down into the water, leaving only a few ripples on the surface of the pool, almost as though it had never been there.
Lore ran through the water. Madeline was floating facedown, and wasn’t moving.
He reached her, pulling her into his arms and turning her over. He shoved her sodden hair off her pale face.
“Madeline!” His hands were shaking. “Drak, please open your eyes.”
Her eyes opened and inside them, he saw suffering.
“Lore—” It was a harsh, pained whisper, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.
“Hold on!” He moved toward the edge. “I’ve got you, dushla.” Finally, he climbed out onto the walkway, the others there to meet him.
Galen reached for her, laying her out on the ground. Lore swallowed. Her clothing was torn in places, and he could see bruises developing, mottling her body.
Galen pressed his fingers to her neck. His jaw tightened, his icy gaze meeting Lore’s.
“She needs the regen tank. Now!”
Lore lifted her lifeless body into his arms and ran.
***
Lore sat in the infirmary beside the regen tank.
The rectangular glass reservoir was filled with a thick, blue gel that facilitated healing. They were very expensive to buy and maintain, but Galen had invested in three of them, to keep his gladiators in peak condition.
The center tank held a slim, dark-haired body.
Medical was deathly quiet, except for the occasional beep of some equipment nearby.
Madeline had died.
Lore dropped his head into his hands. Only steps away from the House of Galen, he’d felt her heart stutter and her breathing stop.
Drak. She’d been floating in the tank for hours. Th
e healers had assured him that she was alive and healing, but until he heard her voice, he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it.
They’d fought. He’d driven a wedge between them before the mission, and she’d almost lost her life.
He’d almost lost her.
He moved and felt a sting above his eye. He hadn’t let the healers work on him, wanting all their attention on Madeline. Someone had cleaned most of the blood away, at least, and brought him a change of clothes. He still smelled like sewer, though.
Lore turned his gaze to the tank, watching her floating there. She looked peaceful now, but he’d never forget the sight of her caught in that monster’s tentacles. And the sound of her scream as it had crushed her.
Suddenly, her body jerked. He straightened. She jerked again.
Lore raced to the tank, reaching over the edge to pull her out of the blue regen gel.
“Take it easy. I’m here. You’re okay.” He helped her out and into his arms. She looked a bit dazed and confused. He took the clean towel that was ready and waiting for him to use, and gently wiped the gel off her skin. Then, he pulled the blanket off a nearby bunk and wrapped it around her.
He sat back in his chair, pulling her into his lap. “Dushla.” His voice cracked.
“I’m okay.” She shivered.
He pulled her more tightly to his chest. Somewhere, a door whispered open. A Hermia healer appeared.
“Please, put her on the bed so I can examine her.”
Lore just tightened his arms around her, and stared at the healer. He felt Madeline’s fingers clench on his shirt.
The healer gave a quiet sigh. The Hermia were very used to dealing with gladiators. “Very well.” The healer lifted a handheld scanner and ran it over Madeline from head to toe. “Your health is optimal and your injuries are healed. You just need some rest.”
With a nod, the Hermia left, and Lore tucked Madeline’s head under his jaw. “Never again.”
“Not your decision, gladiator,” she said, quietly. “Thank you for saving me.”
They stayed there for a long moment before he picked her up and carried her out of Medical. As he strode down the corridor, he spotted Harper, Regan, and Rory. The women looked like they wanted to talk to them, but he shot them a look, and they backed away. Only Rory’s mechanical dog, Hero, held his ground, growling.