by Poppy Rhys
Soren’s brow wrinkled as he frowned. It wasn’t like Lucia. She promised she’d be there when he woke and it didn’t seem likely she would willingly stay away. He staggered to his feet, laying a hand over his forehead while the lingering sting of his migraine continued to ebb away. “Let us look for her then.”
After an hour went by and there was no sign of Lucia in the facility, or back at the hotel, the authorities were called. Security vids showed Lucia leaving the facility, but that was it. She never came back. Her face was plastered across League One when it leaked that a seat holder’s daughter had gone missing. Soren’s patience was wearing thin and his anger was rising. Who had her? Why had she wondered off? Was she hurt? The more questions he asked himself, the more his control slipped past his fingers.
“I’m going to make a call,” he told the Herana family. Soren swiped a comm from the table and left the rooms. Once he was down in a quiet corner of the lobby, he turned the glass comm on, typing in the code that had surfaced in his memory. It was an alert and he wasn’t sure where it was going or who was going to respond.
Soren paced while he waited and when he started drawing attention, he lowered himself into a cushioned chair. More memories flowed in with each passing minute, altering his perception on life and mingling with who he now was. Soren and Val’Ja, twining together, figuring out a way to coexist and which personality was more dominant. Val’Ja was a prince and that part of him was haughty, aggressive and demanding. Soren was a former slave, and he loved a human who knew him as caring, meek and patient. Lucia might not have liked Val’Ja, and that pained him. His people would not like Soren, and he had a duty to them. He didn’t know how he was going to be two people at once.
The comm buzzed.
Soren pressed the sensor and when the vid lit up with a familiar face, his smile grew.
“Val’Ja?” his brother, Gi’Ren, looked closer to the screen. They shared similar features, except Gi’Ren had a broader nose, green eyes and a pale blue scar that started at his right temple and curved to his jaw. “A’Drast’s mane! It is you! Where have you been?”
“We can discuss that later, I have a more pressing matter,” Soren’s smile disappeared. “How far from Dor Nye are you?”
“The human planet?” Gi’Ren scowled. Soren’s ire rose that his people thought humans were lesser, unintelligent creatures. That was also plaguing his mind. “We are in Botru galaxy, maybe an hour away.”
Soren’s eyes closed as he thanked A’Drast for his luck. “We?”
“Yes, Val’Zun and I were here for trade negotiations,” Gi’Ren answered, referring to one of Soren’s other brothers.
“Set coordinates for Dor Nye. I need your help.”
****
Lucia bit into her bottom lip as she refused to scream. Once Ta’Ra’Enn’s craft met up with the main ship, he had hauled her to a large, white, bright room. It was strange, since the rest of the Trepnils ship was dark and dank.
One of Ta’Ra’Enn’s men was stringing her up with lightweight chains. The links looked like they could be easily smashed, but Lucia knew better. They were made of requal, an opaque mineral that could withstand pressure far beyond her capability. A long chain of it hung from the ceiling and he wrapped it around her joined wrists, adding a lock. She hung there, her toes barely holding her up.
They shredded her teyo and skirt with their black talons and she swayed there, bared to every Trep in the room. Fury lit her eyes and her chest rose and fell with each shuttered breath. Lu tried her best to turn her head every which way to count how many were there, circling her; more than ten, less than twenty.
“I have so many plans for you, human,” Ta’Ra’Enn spat and snorted with satisfaction. He stood in front of Lucia, a few feet away, appraising her flesh. “I will not kill you just yet. I will take pleasure in many things before that time comes. First,” he began and his long, purple tongue slid over her right breast, coating it in thick, foul saliva. Lu stuck her nose into her arm, trying not to breathe it in. “We will take our pleasure of your body.”
Lucia’s heart slammed itself against her chest so badly it hurt. She knew Ta’Ra’Enn was trying to psych her out, but she couldn’t tell her brain to ignore it. She was afraid. No one knew where she was. Quinton had won. Lu would suffer defilement at the hands of these Treps that sought revenge.
One of the Treps was leering closer to her and that’s when she noticed his cock was jutting out, hard and dripping with yellow, thick mucus. Her eyes flitted about the room, seeing more Treps in the same state of arousal. Her throat convulsed with her urge to gag until her stomach crawled from her lips.
“Then, when we have sated ourselves,” Ta’Ra’Enn continued. “We will sate ourselves again, and again. We will keep you alive, cared for just enough to continue to take our flesh. When I grow tired of you,” his tongue slaked across her other breast and over the small swell of her stomach. At that, she did cry out. “I will cut your young from your body and you will watch as I devour every last morsel.”
Lucia screamed and screamed until the taste of blood coated her mouth, and still she couldn’t stop screaming as Ta’Ra’Enn and his men roared with laughter.
****
When a tip came in about Lucia being seen in a deserted part of the capitals port, Soren’s gut twisted with a fear so sharp it felt like a cut from a poisoned blade. There were so many reasons she would’ve been at port, and none of them were thoughts he wanted to entertain.
“I feel like I am sitting on my fucking hands,” Soren growled, stalking back and forth. His brothers, who had been glad to see him but miffed about being on the human trade planet, watched him from their peripherals as they worked their comms. Val’Zun worked over the control tower team with the authorities help to go through records of who had entered and left Dor Nye in the past five hours. It was harder than it seemed, since they had to filter through hundreds of names. Gi’Ren worked his less savory contacts. Soren was thankful to both his brothers for putting aside their prejudice and helping him because he’d asked. That he’d been gone eight years may have had something to do with it too.
Soren’s gaze slipped to the Herana’s who sat together in the lobby. Angus and Grams spoke to officers as they gave them any and all information on Lucia’s job, places she would frequent in the capital, people she may be in contact with, on and on.
Where are you Loo-Sha?
****
Another cough erupted through Lucia’s esophagus, creeping pain the entire way. Blood spattered over her lips and chin, dripping to her chest where Ta’Ra’Enn licked it up. It hurt to breathe; her throat was so raw from the screams. She was dizzy from it all, swaying even more heavily on her toes and rubbing her wrists painfully. She swallowed a mouthful of blood, only to gag it back up, much to the Treps delight. The blood spurred them into higher arousal.
A Trep licked over her stomach, her hips and further as Ta’Ra’Enn watched on, stroking himself. She could barely register the smell of anything over her own panic and sweat and the saliva that coated her body.
When the Trep’s tongue slipped between her thighs, her legs jerked and she kicked at him. She screamed in spite of the pain, but all that came out was hissing and rasping because her vocal cords just wouldn’t work anymore. This made Ta’Ra’Enn chuckle. Another Trep joined in from behind, grasping her ankles so she couldn’t move. The tongue found its way to her pussy again and swiped, tasting her. She flailed in the chains, but her movements were stunted due to her hobbled state. The extremely long, tapered tongue slipped into her channel, its goopy saliva easing its way in.
At that moment, Lucia could only think of one thing to do. She bit down on her bottom lip as she willed her body to listen to her. A small heat trickled from her and then her body let go in a gush, her bladder losing itself all over the Treps tongue and snout. The sounds of surprised disgust and his talons hitting the floor as he scurried away from her had Lucia rasping with hysterical laughter. She didn’t care about the
pain or the blood that splattered past her lips and over her face as she let her head dangle back on her neck. On and on she rasped until her body was weak, but she kept on.
“Enough!” Ta’Ra’Enn roared and the singing whip of a beam lash lit up her back like a firework. She screamed a hiss and then laughed, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as another beam lashed her skin. She laughed through the fire until she couldn’t breathe.
****
“The Trepnils have her,” Gi’Ren said to Soren, his face grim. The Herana’s overheard this and Nova’s sob of disbelief rung his ears. “One of my contacts said they were here to trade today, but they would not say for what, only that the ‘piece of flesh’ was going to cost a small fortune. It was Commander Ta’Ra’Enn.”
Blind rage clouded Soren’s vision as he picked up the chair he’d been sitting in earlier and hurled it into the wall with a roar. The wood shattered and pieces skittered across the floor in jagged shards. His chest heaved with each breath and still he could not get enough oxygen. “Where?” he yelled.
Gi’Ren shared a look with Val’Zun. “We do not know where, just a general direction. It is very unlikely we will find them. At least not before-”
“Say another word and I will rip out your throat,” Soren growled with such menace Gi’Ren stepped back. Rage vibrated through every thread of muscle and Soren shook with the sheer force of it. When he moved toward the entrance, officers stepped far out of his way. “We leave, now.”
****
Lucia sagged against the chains as another tidal wave of yellow mucus splashed across her chest and another across her back as two Treps ejaculated their seed over her body, their guttural mating calls loud and jarring. As those two stepped away, two more came up, repeating the action. They didn’t penetrate her, yet, but she felt violated nonetheless. The rancid mucus slathered over her in waves that burned her skin and she turned her head this way and that to avoid getting hit in the face with it. Lucia’s empty stomach tried so hard to work its way up her throat, but it just wouldn’t come up. Dry heave upon dry heave sapped up most of her energy and burst blood vessels in the whites of her eyes. It put a cramp in her sides that burned with every sway of her body.
Round and round the Treps took turns until her body was dripping with yellow ejaculate and her toes were slipping in seed and her own urine on the floor beneath her. Lucia wasn’t able to get any traction and more weight pulled on her wrists, rubbing them bloody. The ache that started in her arms what felt like hours ago was now a numbness that worried her. She held hope that within a day or two, without the seetkut fruit, her body would begin to reject her youngling and she might bleed out, dying with it and ending their misery.
Soren isn’t coming. No one’s coming.
The Treps left her like that, slipping, sagging and dirtied, for what felt like hours. The welts of the beam lash throbbed with her pulse, the soreness seeping into her brain until it was all she could think about. When she began to slip into unconsciousness, a cold bucket of water rushed over her. Lucia sucked in air and the stings of it made her cough, magnifying the effect. Tiny clots of blood dribbled down her chin as the coughing ripped open her throat again. Another bucket of water sloshed over her and it was so cold she rasped a scream, her chest shaking with a sob. The mess the Treps had made was gone and for once it didn’t burn her sinuses when she breathed.
Lucia’s eyes searched around and she saw the group of Treps were all around her again. They became a blur and she couldn’t tell if it was a new group or the same one. The beam lash sung through the air and across her back as the cycle started over again.
“Please!” Lucia rasped, slipping and shredding the skin of her wrists anew. Thick blood trickled down her wet arms, mingling in with the water droplets to create a collage of color. Ta’Ra’Enn simply laughed and licked her arms, savoring the scarlet tracks like a treat. Another lash welted her skin, tightening her already strained muscles. Treps surrounded her, taking turns emptying themselves upon her skin and once they were done, another bucket was sloshed over her. They left her there, hanging and dripping and shivering and worst of all, Lucia was grateful for the moment of peace.
****
“The scouts in the surrounding galaxies have been notified,” Val’Zun informed Soren. They were already on the craft and heading in a direction, despite not knowing if it would lead them to the Treps or not. Soren’s desperation was gaining new heights as each minute ticked by. Lucia had already been gone for eight hours and the worst possible scenarios swept through his mind. He couldn’t stop shaking with anger and hopelessness. Every time Soren’s mind dipped into the thought of finding Lucia half eaten or in pieces around the Treps ship, he nearly lost his grip on reality.
“Bam!” Gi’Ren whooped and began typing in coordinates on the control dash. “Scouts spotted Trep ship in Tral Mu galaxy. That is only an hour from here in warp. They must be cruising.”
“They think no one will come looking for her,” Soren said evenly. Treps would be much further away if they thought they would be pursued. Ta’Ra’Enn was getting sloppy. Soren strapped in and tried his best to wait.
Soon, Loo-Sha. Just be alive.
****
Lucia moaned as she tried to lift herself and her toes gave out again, the chains yanking on her wrists. Again, she slowly attempted to carry her weight on her toes and failed; the small, strained muscles too weak. Ta’Ra’Enn was the only one in the room with her and he stood a distance away, watching her with curiosity. Her head dangled back on her neck after her third failed attempt. Lucia’s sides ached so fiercely she thought her ribs were trying to rip through her skin.
Warmth tickled her inner thigh and Lucia took what strength she had to lift her head and look down. A thick trail of dark blood rolled slowly down her leg. It was happening much sooner than she thought it might.
It’s the stress.
One sob shook her body, bloodying her mouth again as it mixed with sticky saliva and drooled through the side of her lips, drizzling onto the ground below her. She just couldn’t be bothered to muster up the strength to swallow or spit the syrupy, metallic tasting fluid. Her damp curls dangled past her shoulders as she lifted her head again and let it fall back. Salty tears burned the corners of her eyes while she stared blankly at the brightly lit ceiling and let her mind go vacant.
Chapter 16
Soren led the way through the Treps ship, just him and his two brothers. He lengthened his claws to dangerous curves, ready for shredding. The Treps were conceited and never guarded their bays because they thought no one would dare board. They were right; most would not. They had someone Soren wanted back, though.
It was a different ship than he’d been enslaved upon, but all Trep ships had similar layouts. After years of slaving on them, Soren could figure out where they might be holding Lucia. The only problem was security vids. The Treps would soon know they had boarded-
Alarms started bleating.
That was quick.
Immediately three Treps hurled upon them, cutting off their path and the fight began. Soren pulled back his arm in a snap and stabbed his claws straight forward into the throat of the first one, catching him off guard. Warmth coated his fingers as the Trep dropped and he launched himself at the second one while a blast from Gi’Ren’s weapon blew a hole in the third. Soren’s black orbs were pits of rage as he snapped bones in his hands and squeezed through tendons, ripping the Treps head clear off his body.
On they moved, quickly and stealthily, with rippling anger simmering just below the surface. They came upon another group and Soren’s large teeth sunk through scales, ripping chunks of flesh and scraping bone as his claws shred and pummeled. The stench and taste of Trep blood enraged him further.
Soren roared out Lucia’s name, calling for her. Their cover was already blown and he didn’t care. He just needed to find her. The trio continued to search the ship, killing anything that got in their way. Over and over he roared her name and no one called
back. No screams, no shouts, nothing. His desperation was on overdrive and his thrashing and ripping and need to feel bones crack beneath his bare hands turned him into his baser, primitive self.
****
Lucia’s bloodshot eyes stared into the light as she continued to hang there, shutting out the pain that was threatening to overtake her consciousness.
Not too long now.
She felt the warmth continue to leak from her body. When a sharp cramp spread its way across her abdomen, all she could muster was a slight wheeze of air as it passed through her open mouth. And when the alarms started going off, she closed her eyes and let the sound drown out everything else.
****
“Where is she?” Soren roared into the face of a Trep he’d spared, saliva and blood curling from his long, thick teeth. The creature’s pupils kept shrinking and blowing up with fear as he debated if he was more afraid of Soren or Ta’Ra’Enn’s wrath. He chose Soren.
The Trep led the way to a room close to the command center. The door slid open to a white room bereft of anything except Ta’Ra’Enn and Lucia. Not needing the Trep anymore, he quickly snapped his neck and stepped over his dropped body.
Soren’s whole being shuddered violently and he couldn’t stop it as he saw Lucia hanging there with Ta’Ra’Enn tracing a talon across the flesh of her stomach. Blood streaked her arms and thighs and tracks of crimson formed jagged paths around her face and throat. She didn’t even lift her head to see it was him.
Instantly going on the defense, Ta’Ra’Enn sprinted and swiped at him, talons nearly shredding Soren’s face in his moment of frozen shock. Val’Zun and Gi’Ren pulled him back in the nick of time and descended upon Ta’Ra’Enn, wrestling him to the ground in a snarling, thrashing heap of teeth and claws.
Soren stalked to Lucia, carefully lifting her into his arms. She was cold, wet and limp. For a sliver of time he thought she was dead until he detected the slight pulse with his hearing.