Kendra held up her hand and pumped her arm in victory. The crowd went wild. She turned around in a circle and pointed at Skreeta. It was time to put on a show. Skreeta had to be distracted long enough to give Azros the three hours he needed. She refused to think about how long Azros had been out of contact. Faces of the crowd blurred together, but their cheers increased. Wolf whistles and catcalls followed her across the sand.
She brushed her skirt in a show of nerves. The outfit was ridiculous. A few scraps of cloth, some leather straps to keep it together, and bracers that wouldn’t stop a puppy bite, much less a knife blow. The only practical part of the ensemble was the knee-length boots.
“Her opponent is Skreeta, captain of the Calypso.”
Several boos followed the announcement, but most of the crowd cheered.
Skreeta didn’t look at the crowd. She was focused, stalking across the sands, wearing the same assembly of cloth scraps and belts. Her blades were out of the sheaths. The referee eyed her movements as closely as Kendra did.
Skreeta came to a stop by the referee. “Princess,” she sneered. Disgust twisted her features. This close, Kendra could see the bright flames of insanity in her aunt’s eyes. How long had this madness consumed her?
“Captain.” Kendra tilted her head. “I find it interesting that even here in the back reaches of space, they don’t recognize your assumed title.”
Her cheeks flushed pink and she glared at Kendra. “My title as Sheon heir was bestowed upon me by our queen. I will not suffer this insult. You will die today.”
The referee cleared his throat. “Ladies. I must inspect your blades before you begin.”
Skreeta smirked and held out the knives. The referee examined them with a hand scanner, gave an approving nod, and handed them back. Skreeta sheathed them. The smile she sported sent a chill of wariness down Kendra’s spine. Smug amusement cloaked the woman. She was up to something.
Kendra’s weapons were inspected and returned. The referee raised his arm and Skreeta stepped back. Kendra mimicked the action, widening the gap between them. A whistle blew and Skreeta feinted toward her. Kendra jerked back.
Skreeta laughed. “A little jumpy aren’t we, Princess?”
Kendra dragged in a breath, then another. She calmed her breathing. They began circling one another. Each striking and feinting, testing one another’s skills and precision.
“You’re no match for me little lostling. Your stance is sloppy, and you hold your blades wrong.”
Skreeta held the blades in the traditional Sheon way. One blade up, another along her forearm. Kendra had both blades along her forearms. She’d learned her fighting style from a mercenary.
Skreeta thrust. Kendra blocked and Skreeta swirled in, swiping a blade across her side. Kendra’s instinctive jerk saved her life. She brought down her blades and caught air. Kendra shook her head. She needed to focus. Skreeta had already moved out of strike range.
Fire erupted on her side and she stumbled. Kendra shook her head. She clenched her teeth against the pain and glanced down.
“We have first blood!” The announcer’s enthusiastic call sent the crowd into a deafening roar. The stadium erupted in stomps and applause. Kendra checked her side. It was a minor gash. The pain had her a bit worried, but it wouldn’t keep her from fighting.
“What’s the matter, Princess? Miss Mummy and Daddy so much you want to join them?” Skreeta’s smile was too wide, too smug.
“I’m not the one who’s going to die today.” Kendra launched an offensive attack. Skreeta blocked and dodged, staying one step ahead of Kendra’s blades.
Kendra swept Skreeta, knocking her down on the ground. In a heartbeat Kendra launched at her aunt, straddling her upper chest, forcing her arms above her head. Kendra punched her aunt in the face with the pummel of her knife. “You killed my parents, you bitch. Tortured and murdered them.” Skreeta brought her knees up and slammed one against Kendra’s wounded side.
Kendra gasped and punched her again. “Death is too good for you.” Another knee to the side was followed by a twist of her hips, and a countermove that tossed Kendra across the ground. Sand scraped along her side wound, burning and stinging. Her face felt like raw ground meat. Where the hell had she learned that move?
Kendra tried to draw out the mating talents, but nothing happened. She rolled to her feet and eyed her aunt. That smug smile was firmly back in place. Of course, that could also be the swelling from Kendra’s punches. Skreeta spat blood on the ground. Kendra returned the smile.
“Did you like that little ramped-up dose of sex you got from the Valorian?”
Kendra and Skreeta began circling one another. “You’ll never know.”
Skreeta’s laugh scraped along Kendra’s already frayed nerves. “Did it trigger his mating urges? Made him want to constantly fuck your brains out, didn’t it?”
Kendra didn’t want to hear any more. Her aunt was trying to distract her.
“He wasn’t the first one we tried it on, though he was the most resistant.” She laughed. “Made fucking him so much better.”
Kendra’s mind raced. He’d been drugged into mating. Azros was just as trapped by this as she was. She struck a quick slice along the top of Skreeta’s hand. Her other blade caught air as Skreeta managed to move her torso. Kendra kept moving, dodging knees and blades, swiping and stabbing, looking for a weakness.
“Well now, looks like I might have found your hot button.” She spun out of reach and smirked.
Kendra shrugged. “No, I’m bored.” Appeal to her vanity. Kendra looked at her nails. “Maybe it’s your age. You’ve really let yourself go.”
Skreeta’s smirk died. She flung a dagger and Kendra moved. The rush of air past her face told her it had been close.
“What pissed you off the most? The fact that I’m still alive, or that even drugged the Valorian wouldn’t mate with you?”
Skreeta rushed Kendra, knocking them both to the sand. Her aunt punched her in the solar plexus, and Kendra rolled them over.
“He’s so happy to be back in my care.” Skreeta’s voice was poisonous in self-satisfaction. “He bled so well for me.”
Kendra roared and launched at her aunt, slamming her back to the ground. She drew back her fist to punch her, and fire erupted in her side. Kendra screamed against the pain. She looked down. No new wounds. She broke out into a cold sweat.
“You’ll never be queen.” Skreeta shoved her down and stood. She swiped at the sand covering her legs.
Kendra’s breath rushed out in a painful flow. “You think I don’t know your little game?” Her aunt sneered.
Kendra saw the kick coming, but her muscles were locked in spasms. Pain exploded across Kendra’s ribs and she rolled, inhaling sand and fate knew what else in agonizing gasps. Every inhalation ended in gut-wrenching coughs. She couldn’t hear the crowd, only the frantic beat of her heart, the ravaging coughs tearing through her body. Searing pain radiated from the knife wound on her side. Her aunt had been devious.
“Poison.” Kendra spat the word between coughing fits.
Skreeta knelt beside her, brushing tendrils of hair from her face. Kendra weakly pushed at her hands. “It’s Kenda’sha, niece. There is no cure for the Sheon people. It is our Achilles heel.”
Fire pulsed through her veins. The poison was spreading.
Skreeta’s fist clenched in Kendra’s hair. Her cry of pain was instinctive, and Kendra’s hands clenched around her enemy’s forearms. Skreeta dragged her up until they were face-to-face. “What were you trying to do? Undermine my confidence? Work on my paranoia until I snap?” She pressed her other hand against Kendra’s side wound, delving into the split flesh.
White-hot agony speared through her body, forcing her stomach to retch. Kendra slapped her hand against Skreeta’s face, thumb pressing into the eye socket. Skreeta laughed and jerked her face out reach. Her hand twisted in the gash and Kendra screamed. “These are my games, little princess. You and your players are all amateurs.”
She pulled her hand away to smear fluid against Kendra’s cheek.
Kendra tried to swallow the pain. The stench of blood made her gag, and it took a couple of breaths before she could speak. “Then why the poison?”
“I leave nothing to chance, not anymore. Your death was the last unknown.” Skreeta shoved her away.
Something pelted her stomach and Kendra glanced down. Her fingers closed over the familiar curve of the blood jewel. Azros. Her heart clenched in a pain so raw she couldn’t breathe. She looked up at her aunt through a haze of agony.
“He died screaming.” Skreeta’s smile widened.
Kendra’s soul shattered. Another kick to the stomach brought pain screaming back to her body.
“Don’t worry, niece. You’ll get to join him soon.”
Skreeta’s fist slammed into Kendra’s gut. Air whooshed out. Searing heat fired her nerve endings. Skreeta fisted her braid. A blade came down and Kendra brought her arms up. This was it!
The sound of a blade slicing through her hair horrified her. Kendra tried to fend her off, and Skreeta shoved her away. Kendra collapsed in a heap on the ground, her head a much lighter weight. Skreeta held the braid up, stretching it out in victory and the crowd roared, their deafening stomps shaking the arena floor.
Chapter Thirteen
Azros came to in a drug-riddled haze. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and took stock of his situation.
It felt like hundreds of hammers were slamming in his brain. Azros opened one eye and groaned. The ache in his muscles told him he had been out for quite some time.
Bruises and tenderness in his abdomen spoke of Skreeta’s work. He remembered her punches in flashes. Living nightmares.
He blindly reached out to find the cold bars of a cage surrounding him. The familiar hum of a lock panel told him he was right back where he started. His stomach lurched and for a split second he wondered if he’d ever escaped at all. He touched his chest and realized he was wearing a shirt. He opened his eyes and looked down. The same clothes he’d worn when he left Kendra. He wasn’t dreaming…or naked. Running around in the buff on an enemy ship was not his idea of fun.
He tentatively inhaled, surprised that his senses were returning to normal. Based on scent no one else was in the room, though he had no doubts he was being monitored. He hoped that his comm. equipment survived and was active. There was no way he could tell by touch, though Mase had informed him that an EMP pulse or intense shock would disable it. He prayed to the fates Skreeta’s takedown hadn’t compromised the equipment.
“I’m in. Do you copy?”
“We hear you loud and clear, Prime.” Mase’s familiar accent slid over the comm. “About fucking time.”
Stark relief uncoiled the fear in his gut. “How long have I been gone?”
“Too long.”
His mate. If something had happened to her… “Kendra—”
“Stand by for location download.” Mase interrupted his question.
He heard cursing over the comm. “You are near the captain’s suite. Three decks away from where you need to be.”
“Where is Kendra?”
A sigh at the end of the comm echoed in his ears. “By now she would be fighting her aunt in the arena.”
Azros’ heart slammed painfully in his chest. The longer they were here, the more danger Kendra was in. He needed to get to her. Now.
“Why don’t we try getting me out of here, then.”
“Working on it. Don’t be so impatient.”
“Easy for you to say.” Azros’ skin crawled with the need to be free. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He spent weeks at a time in a cage like this…no privacy, no dignity, and no chance for freedom.
The lock disengaged and Azros flung open the door. The moment he crossed the cage’s threshold it became easier to breathe.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Now how about we get you down here so we can get in on the action?” The sound of typing in the background filled a short silence. “It looks like there is a service elevator close by that has direct access to the captain’s quarters. She has the elevator locked down, but there seem to be no mechanical deficiencies. This map you have is awesome, man.”
“There are cameras everywhere.”
“Working on it. Wait for my signal. I’m going to have to disengage the door locks as well.”
The door slid open and Azros dropped to a fighter’s stance.
“There you go. Door should be open. Move into the hallway and turn to your right.”
Azros didn’t hesitate, he checked that the hallways were clear and followed the instructions.
“Get down to the end of the hallway. You’ve got less than a minute, by the way.”
“Now you tell me.” Azros clenched his jaw and sprinted down the corridor, reaching the door as it slid open. He ducked in and rolled away from the door.
“That one was close. Looks like I can only disable the cameras one at a time. The Calypso has a killer reaction time for repair.”
“Are you tracking my movement?” The room was stark, free of any furnishings. A plated door drew his attention. He’d bet that was the elevator.
“Yeah, you’re showing up as a bright blip on my map. The chips work.” Mase referred to the communication chips he’d injected under Azros’ skin, one next to his voice box, and the other behind his ear.
“Yeah, well, they itch.” The awesome thing about the comm device was that he could speak at a level beneath a whisper and Mase could hear him.
“You’re just jealous because I am an evil genius.” Mase was growing on him. “There should be a door to your right.”
“Roger that.” He reached out and placed his hand on the door, palm first. “What is this?”
“It’s the elevator shaft.” The door slid open and Azros jerked his hand away. Stale, recycled air rushed out and Azros covered his nose. He stared down the shaft into the inky blackness below.
“It seems to be missing something.”
Mase cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, I can’t move the elevator without triggering an alarm. So it looks like you’re on your own. Three floors down, buddy. Good luck.”
He changed his mind. Mase was a pain in the ass. Time was a luxury they didn’t have. He looked inside. Gouges in the metal walls showed where a maintenance ladder used to be. The cable looked sturdy enough. Old grease and dust permeated the space. This elevator hadn’t been used in a very long time.
“If I die, I’m going to come back and haunt you.”
“If you die, Kendra is going to flay my hide.”
Azros chuckled and jumped. His hands grabbed the cable and his feet locked him in place. He breathed a sigh of relief that it held. The cable didn’t seem to be attached to anything at the bottom. He slowly inched down.
He reached the bottom and wiped his hands against his pants. “Okay, now what?”
“Just follow the open doors, buddy.”
Azros growled. “Can you stop calling me buddy?”
“Ease up on the growling. It’s interfering with the equipment.”
The door opened.
“Move straight ahead to the end of the hallway.”
Azros moved down the corridor. His hands itched to hold a weapon. The sound of talking sent chills down his spine. “Company.”
“Door to your right.”
It slid open and Azros ducked in. The door slid shut and he held his breath until the sound grew distant. He palmed open the door and sniffed. Azros clenched his jaw. “We must be close to the cages.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I can smell my men’s blood on them.” Azros’ fists clenched. Rage was a powerful beast inside him.
“Don’t do anything stupid. Follow the plan.”
He controlled his breathing. “Don’t worry about my end. I’ll do what needs to be done.”
He continued down the path.
“When you reach the end of the corridor, turn left. I can’t see the mo
vement of personnel on my map, so keep alert.”
Azros moved quickly.
“You have got to be one of the craziest bastards I’ve ever met.” Shyla’s voice rang behind him. Azros’ muscles bunched. His hands clenched at his sides.
“Don’t even think about it. There are three guards with me who’d love nothing more than to kill you. Of course that goes against mother’s orders.”
Azros crept forward. The sound of four weapons charging froze him in place.
“You may be fast, but you’re not that fast.”
“What are your orders?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
Shyla laughed. “Tranquilize and recage him.”
“Shit. I didn’t want to believe it.” Mase’s voice came over the line. “We’ll get you out of there.”
A shot fired and Azros was hit in the shoulder. He rounded on her and made it one step before his muscles stopped supporting him. Azros slid to the floor. Shyla knelt by him, and he could see the smirk on her lips. “I guess we’re going to have to give you some gravity cuffs. That sound like fun, kitty cat?”
Azros growled and she patted his face. “So fierce.” She looked back at her people. “Let’s see how deadly he is when we declaw him.” Laughter rang out.
“I will kill you.” Azros forced the words out of numb lips.
“Maybe.” Shyla sighed. “Not today, I’m afraid. Pick him up before he passes out!”
* * * * *
Rage thundered blood through Kendra’s veins. She tightened her grip on the bloodstone, welcoming the bite of metal into her palm. Azros. Her soul screamed his name. He wasn’t dead. She would know if he was. Her heart hung on to that like a lifeline. A growl rumbled in her throat, and her skin grew tight. Hot. Her vision blurred from the poison’s effects. She needed her knives. Where were they? Her hands slid through the sand.
Kendra’s ears captured the sound of air moving. She rolled away, narrowly avoiding her aunt’s aimed kick. The sound of every move thundered in her ears.
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