Taken by Force

by Anna Argent

  Ava started to open her door, but Radek grabbed her arm before she could. He looked into her eyes, marveling in how pretty they were.

  How much he loved her.

  He wouldn’t say the words. She deserved more than love from a man who wasn’t going to live to see the next week. He couldn’t lay that kind of emotional burden at her feet now—not when there was so much at stake.

  So instead, he held her chin so he could kiss her one more time.

  She responded with sweetness and fire, giving him back everything he gave and more. When the kiss was over, her body was relaxed and soft.

  “Hell of a way to get rid of the pre-combat jitters, Radek. I approve.”

  He smiled and gave her one more quick kiss, just because he couldn’t stand not to. “Let’s go find your family.”

  *****

  Ava’s Spidey sense of impending doom was getting a hell of a workout. From the second the Dregorg had let them slip quietly into the stairwell, all she felt was doom.

  She stood ten feet away from Radek, guarding her own personal WMD. She didn’t know how it worked or whether or not it would explode, but she did know that if he set off one of the eleventy-bazillion traps the Raide had left behind, she didn’t want it to be her fault that Earth became one giant smoking crater.

  They’d been here hours, and had only made it up four flights of stairs.

  Checking every door and floor for Jokey Smurf surprises was a painstaking process made worse by the sheer number of traps Radek had had to disarm.

  She waited until he was done with the latest device before she dared to speak. “Is it just me, or are there more of these things the higher up we go?”

  “It’s not you.”

  “I mean, I get why Dimas wouldn’t want to call attention to his location by surrounding himself with hordes of aliens, but it looks like he doesn’t even need them. This stairway alone would have taken out an entire platoon of soldiers by now if they’d charged up without doing what you’re doing.”

  Radek took two steps up before he found another trap. He squatted in front of it and went to work disarming it as he had dozens of others. “The Raide didn’t get where they are in the universe by being stupid. And they’re far too fragile to fight hand-to-hand.”

  “Then how did they get started in this whole conquer the universe thing? I know they use slaves to fight their wars, but at some point, they had to have done their own combat. Did they defeat a planet of marshmallow monsters or something?”

  “You can ask Dimas when we get to him.”

  If they ever did. Ava didn’t want to voice her impatience, but they were swiftly running out of time—time Radek didn’t have. Not to mention Mom and Emily.

  “Do you think they’re okay?” she asked, her voice wavering with her worry.

  “Dimas wouldn’t kill a lever unless he was done using it.”

  She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse. The idea of her family being used at all bothered her, but having them in the hands of a creature from another world without human emotions or any set of morals she recognized… it was terrifying.

  Ava looked at her phone again for the hundredth time. It was late afternoon and they still had twelve floors to go.

  If something didn’t change soon, Radek was still going to be disarming traps when the antidote wore off and the poison killed him.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Dimas watched the Loriahans struggle with every scrap of ground they gained.

  “Would you like me to see to them?” his son Korlayan asked.

  “Have you ever wondered why it is that Loriah has taken us longer than any other world to conquer?”

  “No, Father.”

  Dimas stood and stared at the young man in front of him. If not for the physical similarities in their appearance, he would have questioned Korlayan’s parentage. The boy was eager to impress, but too stupid to ever accomplish it.

  The top floor of this building was far from complete. The floors were bare, there were wires dangling everywhere, and it reeked of chemicals. However, the walls of windows gave Dimas a good view of the area around him without him being too obvious.

  The displays and portable command equipment set up were adequate for his needs. There was no style or grace to the space, but it was private, functional and quiet.

  Except for the corner where the human women were housed.

  It reeked of filth and fear. The smell of cellular decay coming from the older one was almost unbearable. And the crying….

  Humans were far more emotional than he suspected. From what he could tell, they enjoyed their anger, fear and despair more than any other race he’d ever conquered.

  The soggy sobs coming from the corner were proof of that.

  Dimas turned his back on the ugly display and regarded his son. “The Loriahans have not yet fallen because they are stubborn. Relentless. They refuse to give up despite all proof that there is no hope they can defeat us.” He pointed to the bare-chested Sorican on the largest display. “He will search every molecule between there and here and disable every defense we left behind. He won’t rest or sleep or eat until he reaches his goal.”

  “Then let me kill him,” Korlayan offered.

  “Soon, son. For now I want you to watch these two. Study them. Learn from them. Because as stubborn as the Loriahans are,” he pointed over his shoulder, “humans are far worse. If you’re to lead the invasion here, you’ll need to figure out how to defeat that quality.”

  Korlayan’s armor expanded as his chest puffed with pride. His eyes glittered with greed. “Yes, Father.”

  Dimas wasn’t sure if he was going to gain another world to add to his realm or lose a son incapable of conquest, but either was fine with him.

  It had to be. Victory demanded sacrifice, even from Dimas himself.

  *****

  Alice held Emily through another bout of tears.

  The pain in Alice’s shoulders and hips was almost as unbearable as seeing her daughter writhe in agony at the hands of those two monsters.

  They’d tortured her baby, and for that alone, they deserved to die.

  Even from this far across the building, Alice could see Ava on the strange mirror-like screen. The sign over her shoulder said they were on the twelfth floor now.

  Getting closer to the monsters.

  It was hard not to pray for a rescue, but she couldn’t lose either of her daughters. There had to be some way to warn Ava that she was walking right into a trap—warn her to go get more help. Something. Anything other than the sequence of events that were unfolding just as the monsters wanted.

  Alice eased her sleeping daughter onto the hard concrete floor. Emily was so exhausted from screaming and torture that she barely even twitched.

  The cage that held them was a single strand of glowing orange wire suspended from the ceiling by almost-invisible strands. She didn’t understand the technology, but she’d tested to see how well the cage worked. The severed section of her wig lying outside of the perimeter was proof enough that it was effective.

  The pain meds her oncologist had prescribed had long since worn off. With no narcotics in her system, it took her several minutes to breathe through the agony of standing, but Alice managed it without letting out a single gasp. No sense in alerting the monsters that she hurt more than they’d already inflicted. She didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.

  Emily’s cell phone was lying on a table a few feet away, along with alien devices she could only guess about. If she could call or text Ava and warn her of the danger, then maybe she’d turn around and go for help.

  As tough as the man with her looked, it was going to take an army of men like that to stop these monsters and the creatures they controlled.

  The older monster, Dimas, turned to face her. Long, white hair swished against the back of his knees. The gold cords laced through it sparkled in the late afternoon sun.

  Immediately, she lowered her gaze. Looking those al
iens in the eyes was a mistake she wouldn’t make twice. Even the cancer eating away at her bones didn’t hurt like that evil red gaze did.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” she said.

  Nearby, several hulking beasts stood, waiting for orders. They had loose gray skin and a musky animal smell strong enough to make her gag. Their strange orange eyes seemed to be set sideways in their heads, but it was their silent obedience that scared her the most.

  They did whatever Dimas ordered them to do, without question or hesitation.

  Dimas flicked a finger at one of the giants. “Take her. If she tries to run, kill her daughter.”

  Alice stifled a whimper of fear. She had no doubt that Dimas would do exactly as he threatened. She didn’t bother to beg for mercy. These monsters had none.

  The younger devil, Korlayan, shoved his hand in the machine that seemed to serve as a control panel. A few seconds later, the orange wire stopped glowing.

  “Crawl out,” said Dimas. “And be quick. If you make me impatient, it will be the child who pays.”

  Alice scurried to obey, despite the grinding pain in her joints. She was wobbly on her feet, so it was easy to bump into the table on her way past, as if she needed to steady herself.

  She used her body to hide what she was doing and prayed that she would get away with it.

  Every step left her tenser than the last, until she was strung so tightly she worried her brittle bones would snap.

  No one stopped her until she was at the stairwell door with her giant escort right at her back.

  She was almost free when Dimas spoke. “Before you make that call, you should turn around.”

  Panic wrapped around her and squeezed the air from her lungs. She came to a dead stop, debating whether she should obey or try to send out a warning text before anyone could stop her.

  The sound of Emily’s fear was the deciding factor.

  Alice turned around to find her daughter dangling over the floor. Dimas had his hand wrapped around her throat, and while he looked far too scrawny for the act, he seemed to have no trouble holding her up and choking her with one hand.

  Emily’s face was turning from red to purple, and she was desperately clawing at his armored hand. As Alice watched, her daughter tore a fingernail and started to bleed.

  “Stop. Please,” begged Alice, holding out the phone. “I’m sorry. Please stop hurting her.”

  “Make your call,” said Dimas, his expression bland.

  “Father,” said the younger monster. “Is that wise?”

  Rage flashed across Dimas’s face as he snarled at his son. “Never question me.” To Alice, he repeated, “Make your call.”

  Emily was running out of air. If Alice didn’t do something soon, her daughter was going to die.

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “Whatever you like,” said Dimas. “I think a goodbye should be on the list though.”

  Emily kicked her legs, trying to get free.

  Dimas gave her a hard shake. “You’re running out of time. She’s getting weaker.”

  With trembling fingers, Alice called Ava.

  “Mom? Are you okay?”

  Alice’s voice was filled with tears. “He knows you’re coming, Ava. You need to leave and get more help.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Upstairs. They’re watching you. You can’t sneak up on them.”

  Emily slumped as she passed out. Alice couldn’t stop the sob from exploding out of her.

  “Just hang tight, Mom. We’re coming.”

  “They’ll kill you,” Alice warned.

  “It’s going to be okay. Just do whatever you have to to stay alive. Understand?”

  Dimas lowered Emily to the floor, but didn’t let go. “Activate the phone so she can hear me.”

  Alice put the phone on speaker mode. “She can hear you.”

  “Avalia, Soricalia of House Soric, I am Dimas.”

  “No matter what you do,” said Ava, “I’m going to kill you. But if you hurt my family, I’ll kill you slowly.”

  “Empty threats will earn you nothing. I suggest you use your energy for better things.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I’m tired of waiting for you. If you don’t get here soon, I will begin dismembering the woman you call mother.”

  Ava’s voice shook with fear and rage. “If you wanted me up there, then why did you set all of these traps? I gladly would have come up there and kicked your ass hours ago if you hadn’t tried to stop me.”

  “If you are the woman you’re reputed to be and house the knowledge of a dozen brilliant strategic minds, then a few traps won’t stop you.”

  “So this is another test?”

  “It is.”

  “And if I refuse to take it?”

  “Then you should tell your mother goodbye.” He nodded toward the phone. “Hang up now.”

  Alice did as he ordered.

  “Now snap a photo of your daughter and send it to her.”

  Again, Alice complied. She held the camera as still as she could while she took a picture of a monster choking the life from her daughter.

  Once it was sent, he lowered Emily to the floor and walked away. “Now, get back in your cage. And the next time you get some brilliant idea about calling for help, just remember that in order to get what I want, I only need one of you alive.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Ava sprinted up the stairs, but didn’t get far. Radek caught her before she made it two steps. He grabbed her around the waist and took her down to the last landing where he pinned her against a wall.

  Rage and fear spurred her on as she fought against his hold. “Let me go! He’s hurting them.”

  Radek held on, absorbing her struggles as if she were no stronger than a child. “If you rush up there, you won’t make it to the next floor before you’re blown up. Now settle down.” He gave her a hard squeeze to punctuate his order.

  As the truth of his words hit her, she had to fight the urge to melt into a sobbing mess. “He’s going to kill them, isn’t he?”

  “No. Dimas will keep them alive.”

  “He said I had to hurry. If that means making a run for it, then so be it.”

  “He’s bluffing.”

  “What if he isn’t?” she asked.

  “You can’t charge through several stories of traps and expect to survive. My guess is that he’s trying to test you. If you rush ahead without finding a way to evade his traps, then you’re not the brilliant mind he was hoping for. Maybe it’s his way of testing you.”

  “Maybe he’s just trying to kill me.”

  Radek stroked her wrists with his thumbs. “Either way, our path is the same. We can’t let him win. We have to take the slow-and-steady route like we planned.”

  “You heard Mom. He can see us. He knows we’re coming.”

  “Then we use that to our advantage.”

  “How?”

  “One step at a time, Ava. You need to find a way to calm down enough to think straight.”

  She couldn’t take all of this pressure. It was too much. The fear, the rage, the waiting…. It was going to kill her.

  “I have to do something. I can’t just stand around and hope that Dimas won’t do what he said he would.”

  “Then do something, but stay behind me while you do. I’ve got to keep clearing a path so we can get up there and kill him.”

  He was right. Unless she had a better plan, he had to keep going. If she kept distracting Radek from doing what only he could do—namely disarming the traps—then her family was as good as dead.

  So was Radek.

  “I’ll be good,” she promised. “You can let me go.”

  He nodded. “I’ll work as fast as I can. I know this is torture for you.”

  “I just wish there was something I could do to help.”

  “I know, sweetheart. But the best thing you can do now is put that strategic mind to use on what we’re going to do once we get up t
here. Dimas isn’t going to let us just walk in and take your family back. We’re going to have to fight for them.”

  Ava was ready for it. Eager, even.

  Radek went back to work. She pulled up the photo of her sister being strangled by Dimas and forced herself to look at it.

  Emily was in horrible danger. Even a static image was enough to prove that. It wasn’t just that her air was being cut off.

  Dimas was in complete control of the situation. There was no doubt in Ava’s mind that Mom had been forced to make the call and take the photo. Whatever Mom had said was what Dimas had wanted Ava to hear. And this photo was exactly what he wanted her to see.

  At least the part of it where he was hurting her sister. Maybe there was something else here—something she could use against him.

  She scanned the image, zooming in on the background as much as she could.

  There were several Dregorgs present, as well as at least one Cytur. Korlayan was there too. She could see just the side of his face along the edge of the photo.

  He was standing in front of a bank of instruments she didn’t recognize. Above him was a screen, and on that screen was a partial image of Radek bent over a device to disarm it.

  She found the angle that the image should have come from, but there was no sign of a camera of any sort. All she could see was a single tube that looked like it was made out of blue glass.

  She hadn’t noticed it before, but as she followed it back down the staircase, she saw that it ran high along the wall for as far as she could see.

  Ava thought about interrupting Radek enough to ask him about it, but he was busy, and she didn’t want to distract him—not when he was dealing with possible explosive devices.

  Her first instinct was to break the tube, but she held off while she studied the photo some more.

  There was some kind of wire running around the area where Emily was being dangled. It didn’t look substantial enough to keep anyone in, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t.

  Lying on the ground was a section of fabric from Emily’s favorite shirt—a pink-checkered button-up with silver buttons. The piece was cut neatly and singed at the edge, as if it had been sliced off by red-hot scissors.