by Anna Hackett
He grabbed her hand. He loved wearing her marks. “The frenzy has passed.”
“And Mia got to save you for a change,” Harper added.
Mia tucked her hair back behind her ear. “It wasn’t any great sacrifice.”
There was laughter all around.
“Come and eat,” Galen said.
Thorin grinned. “And I have a shirt you can wear.”
Vek stared at the food cooking over the dying coals of the fire, and hunger exploded inside him. He suddenly realized he was starving.
But first, he needed to care for his mate. After pulling on his borrowed shirt, Vek loaded up a small plate with the most tender, succulent morsels. He filled a second plate for himself, and then sat beside Mia.
She stared at the pile of food with wide eyes. Vek picked up one piece and pressed it to her lips. “Eat. You need to refuel.”
She chewed and Vek took his time feeding her.
Harper sat down beside Mia and lowered her voice. “Some of the screaming had us worried.”
“God.” Mia pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks. “I’m fine. I’m glad I’m not riding a tarnid today, but other than that, I’m fine.”
Harper looked like she was fighting a smile. “I have some med gel, if you need it.”
Mia looked at Vek, smiled, then turned back to Harper. “I’m good. Really good.”
They finished eating, and finally, Corsair stood. “All right, time to pack up and move out.”
The gladiators worked well as a team, getting the last of the gear stowed and loaded into the packs. Soon, their group was striding up the mountain path, heading deeper into the Illusion Mountains.
Vek stayed close to Mia, walking near Corsair as they followed a narrow track. The suns were rising. It would be hot today.
“How is the scent of the Neralla?” Corsair asked.
“Getting stronger. I am certain we are headed in the right direction.”
They kept moving, the ground becoming rockier.
“Look,” Corsair called out.
Vek looked over, and saw a Neralla flower growing out of a crack in a rock. Its petals were pretty, twinkling in the light.
“How can it grow there?” Mia asked. “There’s no soil.”
“Keep moving,” Galen ordered.
Vek could move faster, but he kept himself at Mia’s speed. More Neralla flowers dotted the ground, here and there. They had to be getting close.
They rounded the crest of a hill, and ahead was a narrow valley. Suddenly, Mia stumbled to a stop. “Holy hell.”
Vek followed her gaze across the valley to the next jagged peak. He blinked.
On the next mountain top, he saw a giant structure nestled among the rocks. He’d never seen anything like it. It was made of metal, but dominated by a huge glass dome in the center.
“Drak,” Raiden said. “That’s the wreck of a spaceship.”
“A crashed spaceship,” Harper said. “It looks ancient.”
Vek frowned. He had no experience with spaceships, but since he’d been freed, he’d seen some roar overhead in Kor Magna. This wreck was long, and from what he could tell, the huge dome would have been in the center of the ship.
“How is that dome intact?” Mia asked.
Vek stared at it, aware his vision was better than the others. “I can see something in the dome.”
“What is it?” Galen demanded.
His gaze touched Mia’s. “The dome is filled with green vegetation.”
Chapter Eleven
As they hiked closer, Mia stared up with wonder at the crashed ship.
Some parts of it were long gone—twisted metal consumed by rock and dirt. But the giant glass dome towered upward, seemingly untouched by time.
As they trekked closer, Mia could now see the vines, trees, and plants inside. Most were deep green, but she also saw some splashes of pink, purple, blue, and yellow.
They climbed up the hill directly below the ship. Mia gasped. Ahead, Neralla flowers blanketed the ground.
Vek crouched and sniffed. “These are blocking my senses, but I think I can detect a faint trace of Dayna.”
Mia’s heart leaped. She’d missed Dayna so much, and to get her friend back safely would mean everything to her. Please, they had to be close.
Corsair scanned their surroundings. “No guards or any sort of security system that I can see.”
“They probably don’t need it out here,” Raiden said.
Galen was frowning. “If they have fights or hunts out here, they couldn’t get spectators here very easily. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Let’s get closer,” Corsair said, pulling a large knife from his belt. A blue-green electrical glow lit up the long blade. “Keep it quiet.”
Finally, they reached the dome. It looked like a bubble, the glass more clouded at the bottom. The suckers and leaves of a giant plant were pressed to the surface.
“How do we get in?” Thorin said with a frown.
“We’ll find a way.” Corsair led them to the left.
They skirted around the dome, the gladiators searching the glass for any sign of a door or entrance.
There was nothing.
They stopped, the men formulating ideas of what to try next. Out of curiosity, Mia reached out to touch the glass…and her hand passed straight through it like it wasn’t even there.
“What the hell?” She snatched her hand back.
The others crowded around her. Vek, too, held out a hand and it passed through the glass.
Galen frowned. “I haven’t seen anything like this before.”
He clearly wasn’t happy about it. Then, without a hitch in his stride, the imperator stepped through the glass and inside the dome.
Mia grabbed Vek’s hand and tugged him forward.
Inside, a wall of humidity slapped her in the face. The interior of the dome was hot and sticky. The scent of lush plants and green growing things filled her senses. The plants grew thickly around them.
Corsair stepped inside, followed by the others. He crouched, fingering the mulch of rotting leaves on the ground.
Galen looked back at the glass of the dome and lifted his hand. This time, it didn’t pass through. “Drak.”
“We’re trapped in here.” Harper pressed both hands to the glass, pushing on it.
Beside her, Thorin did the same thing, straining as he exerted more force. “It’s too strong to break.”
Galen glanced around. “Let’s find the women first, then we’ll find a way out. Leave the gear here.” He looked at Vek. “Which way?”
Vek sniffed and turned his head. “I can smell the faintest hint of Dayna’s scent. That way.”
Directly toward the center of the dome. Corsair nodded, shrugging off his pack. Then he pushed some branches aside, ducking beneath them. Mia passed through the branches, leaves brushing her skin. It felt as though they’d stepped into a rich, lush rainforest. Gorgeous flowers in every hue bloomed everywhere. She reached out to touch a plant with huge leaves the size of her body. When she made contact with one, the leaf curled in on itself.
“Look.” Raiden had stopped, looking at a single red flower growing in a small clearing.
Galen put his hands on his hips. “An oria.”
Mia looked at the pretty bloom. It had three blood-red petals edged with white, and it smelled divine. “What is it?”
“A very rare flower,” Harper said. “Regan found one in the House of Galen and brought it back to life.”
“It is a flower of the Creators,” Galen said. “The advanced beings who seeded sentient life throughout the galaxy.”
Vek leaned down and picked the flower. As one, the gladiators hissed in sharp breaths.
“Do you know how much that thing is worth?” Thorin said.
Vek turned and offered it to Mia.
She smiled. “Thank you.” She tucked it in the top pocket of her shirt.
“Come on.” Corsair waved them on.
They found a smal
l path that wove through the trees. They moved in single file along it, pushing through the vegetation. They passed a tree with huge, sprawling branches forming a canopy above them. It reminded Mia of an umbrella. Vines dangled down, and the branches were all covered in small puffs of gossamer-like flowers.
As they moved beneath the tree, she saw some of the flowers release, floating through the air around them.
“I’m a man of the sand, but this place is incredible.” Corsair stopped and reached out to touch the trunk of the tree. The vines hanging nearby suddenly moved, snapping out to slap his wrist. “Ow.” He yanked his hand back.
“Watch yourselves,” Galen warned. “I don’t like this place. None of these plants are native to Carthago. We don’t know anything about what they’re capable of.”
Corsair hefted his glowing blade and pushed on. Vek stayed close to Mia, keeping larger branches and vines out of her way. He kept lifting his head, sniffing, his brow creased.
She saw his muscles were strung tight. “What’s wrong?” She stroked her hand down his arm.
“I can’t scent anything. There are too many smells in here.”
“It’s okay. We’ll search this entire place if we have to.” She turned to look back behind them at the path they’d followed. Then she gasped loudly.
At the sound, everyone turned. The gladiators muttered curses.
The path was gone.
It was as though all the trees and plants behind them had shifted and covered up the trail.
Mia looked around. She couldn’t see the tree with the large branches and gossamer flowers anywhere.
A muscle ticked in Galen’s jaw. “We keep moving.”
Vek pushed through some bushes and paused. Mia moved close to him and saw that ahead, the plants were all shades of blue. There were several with long blue leaves, others that looked like large, blue orbs.
“Vek?”
He moved forward and touched a large leaf, his gaze focused. He slipped into the vegetation and Mia gasped. He…disappeared. In the blue vegetation, he was totally camouflaged.
He reappeared and prowled back to Mia’s side.
“These plants are…familiar.” There was confusion in his voice.
Mia wondered if Vek’s homeworld had blue vegetation.
“Everyone, take a quick rest and drink,” Galen ordered.
Mia drank the water Vek passed her and tilted her head back, staring up at the glass dome overhead. The thing was enormous. She couldn’t believe it had been part of a spaceship, or that it had survived a crash. They were getting very close to the center of the dome now.
They set off again and the blue vegetation morphed back to green with a few splashes of red and orange. Mia wiped her arm across her sweaty brow. It felt like it was getting hotter.
Suddenly, Vek stopped, and she bumped into his muscled back. She side-stepped around him and saw a giant tree rising up in the center of a clearing. Its large, gnarled branches were thicker than Mia’s body. Giant, clear pods about the size of a large human were hanging off it.
“Wow,” Harper murmured.
Mia moved closer to the tree, studying one of the pods. They were translucent and there was something inside of them.
She stared, and her heart thudded against her chest. She raced forward. Behind her, she heard Vek growl and his steps slapping on the thick grass as he followed her.
Mia stopped under one pod. She reached up, but Vek grabbed her wrist.
“Mia?”
“Look.” Her voice was choked. “Look inside the pod.” She sensed the others joining them.
She watched as Vek looked up and then went still. He growled.
“What the drak?” Galen stepped beneath the pod.
Inside the pod was a sleeping woman.
Her naked body was curled up in a ball, and Mia could see her face clearly. She had some Japanese heritage, and her dark hair was pressed up against the clear side of the pod.
It was Ryan.
Vek pulled Mia back, and together they watched Raiden draw his sword. Thorin moved beneath the pod, pressing his hands to it. Galen went down on one knee and nodded at Raiden.
The gladiator took a few running steps, pressed a boot to Galen’s raised knee and leaped into the air with a flare of his red cloak.
He sliced his sword through the top of the pod.
It fell, and Thorin caught it with a grunt. He gently lowered it to the ground.
Corsair crouched over it, and using his electro knife, he carefully split the pod open. Ryan slid out, her skin slick with clear fluid and her wet hair stuck to her head. She didn’t wake up.
Galen pressed a finger to her neck. “She’s alive.”
Vek wrinkled his nose. “I smell something in the pod. A poison or drug.”
“Vek, give me your shirt,” Mia said.
He shrugged out of it and she crouched beside the naked woman. “Harper, can you help me get it on her?” After Ryan was clad in the too-large shirt, Mia turned her gaze toward the trees. “What the hell is this place?”
Suddenly, Thorin made a strangled sound, and dropped to his knees. He clawed at his throat with his hands.
“Thorin!” Raiden dropped down beside his friend in shock, but then the other gladiator lifted his hands to his own throat and started coughing.
Vek spun and saw that everyone in his group was doing the same thing. Harper collapsed on the ground, writhing. Corsair fell to the grass with a thud.
Pulse racing, Vek turned to Mia. He didn’t feel any different. Whatever it was, wasn’t affecting him.
“Vek—” Mia was reaching a hand out for him, her face flushed, and her other hand balled at her chest. She tumbled forward and he caught her before she hit the ground.
He lifted his head and saw Galen was the only one still standing. The imperator’s teeth were gritted, and he was clearly fighting the effects. But then he fell to one knee, coughing violently.
Vek realized it had to be the tree. He scooped Mia up and carried her away from it. He set her down on a patch of grass.
He hated to leave her, but he knew the others needed him. He ran back, and leaned down and scooped up Harper. He threw the woman over his shoulder. Then he stooped down awkwardly, and grabbed Ryan. He managed to get her on his other shoulder. Carrying both women, he trotted back to Mia. He laid the women down beside her.
Raiden was next. The gladiator was solid muscle and heavy. By the time that Vek had moved the man out of range of the tree, he was sweating.
He carried Galen, and then went back for Corsair. That’s when Vek noticed his skin was turning pink, obliterating the blue. It stung, and in places, his skin was blistering.
He grabbed the caravan master and turned. He forced his feet to move, pain coming alive inside him. His muscles were burning and his skin felt like it was on fire.
He placed Corsair beside Galen’s motionless body, and went back for Thorin.
Grimly, Vek studied Thorin’s large form. There was no way he’d be able to lift the man. Instead, he hooked his hands under Thorin’s arms, and started dragging the gladiator. Vek gritted his teeth and heaved. Aches bloomed in him, and his skin was burning in agony.
It was only minutes, but it felt like days by the time he got Thorin back to the others. Vek collapsed down beside Mia, panting. Nausea rose, bile stinging his throat. He pushed it down, then reached out and stroked Mia’s hair.
Her delicate eyelashes rested against her pale cheeks. He willed her to wake up.
Minutes ticked past, then he heard her breathing change. Behind him, he heard some of the gladiators stirring, but he stayed focused on his Mia. Her eyes flickered open.
“Vek?”
“Stay still.” He stroked her cheek, and then heard someone retching.
“Your skin.” She hissed. “It looks burned.”
“It’ll heal.”
“Drakking hell,” someone groaned.
Galen staggered to his feet. “What happened?”
“The tr
ee,” Vek said. “It released something that affected you all.”
The imperator looked back toward the large tree, then back at Vek. “You carried us?”
Vek nodded.
Galen’s single eye flashed. “Thank you.”
Mia got to her knees, wavering a little. “How’s Ryan? Did she wake up—”
Beneath them, the ground rumbled.
Vek crouched, his palm pressed to the grass. He felt the vibrations.
“What now?” Galen drew his sword.
“Something is…moving,” Vek said.
Vines shot out of the ground. Dirt and grass sprayed into the air, and Mia screamed. Vek leaped to his feet and yanked out his forks. One vine wrapped around his forearm. He slashed at it with his other hand, the sharp edge of his fork slicing it away.
But before he could move, more vines rushed at him, wrapping around his ankles, and then his wrists. No. He let out a roar.
He was jerked into the air, his forks landing harmlessly on the ground.
He saw Mia struggling against the vines that had wrapped around her. Around them, the others were all constrained by the thick, green vines. He saw one vine slither around Mia’s neck and tighten.
“Mia!” He struggled, but the vines held him in place.
Her eyes bulged and she fought, but slowly, her struggles turned sluggish. Helpless, all Vek could do was watch. He roared again. Whoever was responsible would die.
Mia slumped and instantly, he saw the vines loosen. She fell face first onto the grass. The rock that had lodged in his chest loosened. She was alive, just unconscious. He glanced around, and saw the others were all unconscious, as well.
Vek growled, straining against the plants. Then he heard a noise.
He lifted his head, and saw the bushes nearby rustling.
Someone was coming.
Chapter Twelve
Mia stirred. Her head felt fuzzy and her nose was tingling. She grimaced, and felt grass prickling her cheek.
That’s when she heard footsteps and the murmur of voices. It was followed by one of Vek’s fierce growls.
She lay still, her cheek to the grass, and opened her eyes to slits.
She saw tall, green-skinned aliens emerge from the vegetation. Their skin was thick and cracked, almost like the bark of a tree. Their hair was brown, and resembled a tangle of tree roots.