by Anna Hackett
“And we haven’t found Sam,” Dayna added.
“We’ll come back,” Galen said darkly. “We know what Zaabha is now. They can’t hide from us.”
The new wave of fighters was pushing the gladiators back toward the ship. The deafening clash of swords, staffs, and axes rang out across the sand.
Dayna looked up and saw they were almost at the ship. They were just meters away, when Rillian’s legs went out from under him.
“Rillian,” Dayna cried.
Galen abruptly hefted Rillian back to his feet and dragged him onto the ship. Dayna thundered up the ramp right behind them, ignoring her own aches and pains. As she reached the top, the ground started to shake and she stumbled. What the hell?
She looked back down the ramp, as several robots began ducking out from under the tunnel entrances. These weren’t the sleek, well-maintained machines she knew the gladiators fought in the Kor Magna Arena. These were robots pieced together with hunks of metal and scrap. They belched smoke, and were covered in sharp spikes, wire, and armor plating.
The first giant robot walked closer, and with each step, the ground shook
“Drak!” Galen urged Rillian into the cockpit. “Fire up the engines. We need to go. Now.”
“Come on.” Dayna moved to the other side of Rillian, helping him down into the pilot’s seat. “Let’s get home.”
Silver eyes met hers. “Home?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “Our home.”
Rillian’s eyes flashed and he smiled back. “Then let’s go.”
Magnus
Magnus’ internal heads-up display streamed with text. It warned him of the number, size, and power of the incoming enemies.
He didn’t panic. He couldn’t panic. He had emotional dampeners that kept him cool and focused. With a simple command, he could compartmentalize any emotions he might feel. Generally, he left his dampeners running all the time.
Life was far more efficient without emotions.
He strode towards the body of the Earth woman. A fighter charged at him with a wild, desperate cry. Magnus simply smacked the man with his cybernetic arm and sent him flying.
Another fighter leaped in front of him, swinging a ragged sword made of scrap metal. He lifted the sword above his head, and thrust it toward Magnus.
Magnus’ cybernetic hand flashed out and he caught the blade in his palm. There was no way the dull sword could penetrate his high-tech metallic skin. As comprehension dawned, the fighter’s eyes opened in shock. With his organic arm, Magnus slammed a hard punch into the man’s face. He collapsed in the sand.
Finally, Magnus reached the woman.
He crouched, ready to pick her up, and suddenly she rolled, throwing sand into his eyes. It had no effect on his artificial eye, but his right eye stung a little. He blocked the pain.
The woman was already launching her attack, her arm swinging in a practiced move.
He caught her fist in his and finally looked at her face.
No. It couldn’t be. He knew this woman.
Shock penetrated through his dampeners. She shifted, bringing her knee up. He deflected the blow and yanked her in close. He catalogued her appearance in a second. Tall, fit, more muscular than her sister. She wore loose-fitting leather armor. Black hair with a slight curl, and eyes the same pale green as her sibling. Although those eyes were currently dull, and under the influence of the silver implant at her temple.
Attractive.
Magnus frowned internally. He was cataloging facts, not constructing a personal opinion about what Ever Haynes looked like. His program must have a glitch.
How did he know her? He was sure he’d only ever seen her picture before. But with her pressed against his body, something whispered through him. A memory. A bone-deep knowledge of her he shouldn’t have.
She shoved against him, and this time, he lifted her off the ground. She made a snarling sound, then slammed her head forward and headbutted him.
Drak. Pain flared.
He dropped her, and took a step back. She came at him again, and he gripped her arms. They scuffled across the sand, and he fought hard to subdue her without hurting her. She was very well-trained.
His gaze moved to the implant embedded at her temple. His systems scanned it, and he knew he needed to short-circuit it to release her from its control.
He touched the implant and shot an electrical impulse through it.
She let out a cry and collapsed. Magnus lowered her to the ground, and this time, when she turned her head, he saw pain-filled eyes.
“You.” Her voice was low and husky.
“You know me?” he asked, frowning.
“Yes…” Her eyes fluttered, and then her face contorted.
Something was wrong. A red warning flashed on his controls. Her heart rate was decreasing.
Drak. He touched the implant again and her vitals evened out. The Thraxians had tied the implant to her main systems. Magnus cursed again. And he’d just fried it. Without it, she’d die.
His jaw hardened, unfamiliar emotions churning inside him. He had an expert medical team that dealt with cyborg implants. They would find a way to remove it.
“Can’t…breathe.” She tore at the armor on her chest.
Magnus helped her remove it.
She heaved in a breath. “Help me.”
“I will, Ever. Your sister’s here. We’re getting you out of here.”
“Neve.” Her face went pale and she grabbed his organic hand. She pressed it to her abdomen. “Please, help me.”
Magnus went still. Her stomach was swollen and rounded. It had been hidden beneath the armor. His sensors picked up a second, faint heartbeat inside her.
“Please, help the baby.”
Ever Haynes was pregnant.
The words echoed in him. Magnus was unable to procreate and had never given any thought to children. But now that faint heartbeat whispered through him, along with a strange sense of awareness.
The primitive need to protect her slammed into him. Monitoring her implant and vitals, he scooped her carefully into his arms. Whatever had happened to her, he was going to ensure she was safe…and that no one ever harmed her or her child again.
Rillian’s vision wavered, and he fought to clamp down on the pain shooting through his body.
He knew his symbiont was protecting him from the brunt of it…but with the level of pain he was still feeling, it meant his injuries were bad. He moved his hands over the controls, ignoring the blood he smeared all over them.
The engines ignited and the ship vibrated.
He scanned the screens. Thankfully, Galen and Magnus hadn’t done too much damage to his ship. He ran through the checks and his jaw tightened. The engines were running close to critical from the desert sand. They needed maintenance as soon they got back to Kor Magna.
If they got back.
“Oh, God.” Dayna leaned forward, her tone urgent.
He glanced through the cockpit windshield. The robots were headed across the arena, their mechanical gazes locked on the ship.
The Thraxians really didn’t want them to leave.
She leaned forward more. “Can you see Magnus? Did he get Ever?” She gasped. “Oh, no.”
Rillian followed her gaze…and saw Ever attacking the cyborg. Magnus dodged her hits, trying not to hurt her.
Boom. Something hit the ship and sent it rocking. Dayna fell into Rillian’s lap and pain shot through him.
“Sorry!” She jumped up. “Dammit, one of those robots threw something at us.”
“We need to go.” He glanced out of the windshield. Galen and his gladiators were in full retreat, sprinting back to the ship. Faster, Galen.
Vek bounded aboard, followed by Neve and Corsair.
“Any sign of my sister?” Neve asked.
Dayna nodded. “We found her. Um, Magnus is getting her.”
The other gladiators boarded, moving to take their seats.
Come on, Magnus. Rillian revved up the engines.
The robots were getting closer.
“Do you have weapons on this thing?” Dayna asked.
“Yes, but I can’t risk firing here. I’m likely to take the whole of Zaabha down.” And kill all the prisoners.
“Dammit,” she muttered.
The cyborg imperator thundered up the ramp holding an unconscious Ever in his arms.
“Ever!” Neve leaped toward her sister. “Is she okay?”
“She’s alive,” Magnus said in a cool voice. “But I’m keeping her alive. She has some sort of implant and its malfunctioning.”
“Oh, God.” Dayna’s eyes were wide, resting on Ever’s form.
Rillian looked and hissed out a sharp breath. Ever Haynes was clearly pregnant.
Neve made a strangled sound, her hands curling into fists. She stared at her sister’s rounded belly.
“We need to go,” Rillian called out.
“Strap in with her, Magnus.” Galen appeared. “Everyone’s aboard. We have to take off.”
Movement outside the windshield caught Rillian’s eye and he grabbed Dayna. “Watch out!”
One of the robots swung out with a huge fist. It slammed into the ship and sent them skidding sideways through the sand.
There were cries and curses from the back, but Rillian blocked it out. All he could focus on was the ship. One engine had failed, and he worked the controls, trying to get it started again.
“Thraxians,” Dayna said, her voice tight.
He lifted his head and saw a wall of them, all armed. They were moving in formation across the sand.
Rillian worked feverishly trying to get the engine going.
“Rillian?” Galen asked.
“Working as fast as I can. I need a couple of minutes.”
Galen strode to the door, pulling out his sword. “I’ll buy us some time.”
Raiden moved to join his friend and imperator.
Galen shook his head. “Stay here.” He looked past his champion to Harper. “You have more to lose than me.”
“Galen—”
“That was an order, Raiden.” The imperator leaped out of the ship.
Rillian thumbed some controls, watching the system spool up. Ninety seconds. That was all he needed.
“Look at him,” Dayna breathed.
Galen cut a swath through the fighters. He moved with power and skill, and a lot of grace for such a big, muscular man.
Rillian had never seen Galen fight in the arena, but people still talked about the imperator’s fighting days with awe.
“There are too many of them.” Dayna pressed her palms to the console, staring at Galen.
She was right. Even with Galen’s skills, he couldn’t keep the entire crowd of fighters and the robots away from them.
He saw Galen run through the legs of one robot, dodging its stomping feet. He raced out, circling a second robot. The two machines crashed into each other and fell over.
“Yes!” Thorin yelled from the back.
Then the Zaabha fighters started to pull back. Rillian frowned. What were they doing? They formed a loose circle around Galen, and started chanting, some pumping their fists into the air.
“Champ-ion! Champ-ion!”
The crowd parted and a woman strode out.
Rillian stilled. She wore fitted leather armor with blue accents, and leather boots that came up past her knees. Her muscular thighs were bare, except for the armored skirt that draped down to mid-thigh.
She was carrying a sword, and she swung it in a flashy vertical circle. She moved with a fluid grace and power that said she was fully at ease with her body. Had honed it to be a weapon.
The woman’s brown hair was streaked gold by the desert sun, and pulled back from her bold-featured face. Her skin was also tinted gold. Her expressionless gaze took in the ship, before moving back to zero in on Galen.
“My God.” Harper pushed forward, her voice full of shock. “The captain.”
Blaine was at her shoulder. “Samantha,” the man breathed.
The final abducted woman from Earth. Rillian stared. Samantha Santos was the Champion of Zaabha.
She came to a stop, facing Galen across the sand.
Suddenly, she raced forward with a burst of speed. Galen strode forward to meet her. Their swords clashed together, and they stood there, frozen, turning in a slow circle.
Rillian saw the woman say something. Galen inclined his head.
“Anyone read lips?” Blaine asked.
Dayna and Harper shook their heads.
“Let’s hope she didn’t say ‘Prepare to have your guts spilled everywhere.’” Harper looked worried. “Sam is a hell of a fighter.”
“So is Galen,” Blaine countered.
With a brilliant burst of speed, Sam spun away from Galen and ran. She leaped into the air, flying higher than even Harper did in battle. She sailed over the heads of several fighters, and then…attacked the robots.
A second later, Galen was with her. The pair worked together, swords slashing. They whirled and spun, blades hacking through metal. They chopped through the ankle of one robot, and it started to topple over.
Dayna gasped. “I’m guessing they made an alliance.”
Galen and Sam turned, shoulder to shoulder, swords raised.
The Zaabha fighters milled around, confused. Their champion had turned on them. Sam shouted and swung her sword, driving them away from the ship.
Suddenly, the engine flared to life and Rillian let out a breath. “Okay, we’re ready to go.”
He babied the ship, lifting it off the ground.
Raiden leaned out of the open door. “Galen!”
The imperator was heading back toward the ship and shouting at Sam to follow him. She moved in behind him, but at that moment, the wall of Thraxians broke into a run, rushing at them.
Sam’s gaze met Galen’s for a brief second, then she waved at him. She veered off and spun, facing the incoming Thraxians.
Galen cursed. His face contorted as he shouted at her.
“Now!” Rillian yelled. The longer they took, the greater the risk the ship would fail before they reached the city. Or he finally lost too much blood and passed out.
“Galen. Now!” Raiden shouted.
The imperator’s mouth moved in what looked like a string of curses and he ran for the ship. As he neared, he jumped and landed inside.
He strode into the cabin, face grimmer than usual. “Get us back to Kor Magna.”
Harper pushed forward. “Sam—”
The imperator’s icy eye flashed, his hands balling into fists. “The fool sacrificed her chance to escape so we could get out of here. Let’s honor her for that.” He dropped into a seat. “And the sooner we get home, the sooner we can come back for her.”
Chapter Seventeen
Dayna stood in the stone-lined corridor outside of Medical, in the House of Galen, waiting with the others. Neve was pacing so hard that Dayna kept waiting for a groove to appear in the stone floor.
“The healers will help her,” Regan said to Neve quietly. “And Magnus is helping to keep her alive.”
Neve turned, her lips trembling before she firmed them. “She’s pregnant. Someone hurt her!”
Dayna watched Corsair wrap his arms around his woman.
Dayna clasped her hands together. Her belly was fluttering, waiting for Rillian to be finished with the healers. She’d already had her own injuries treated, and she’d stayed with him until Galen’s Hermia healers had assured her that he was going to be okay.
Still, after everything, she wouldn’t quite believe it until she saw him herself.
Nearby, Harper and Blaine sat on low stools. The two human gladiators were tense, and she knew they were thinking of Sam.
Suddenly, the doors opened, and she caught a glimpse of Magnus standing beside Ever’s bed, before Rillian stepped out into the hall.
Relief filled Dayna and she walked straight to him. He looked his usual self, his skin bronze again, a faint smile on his lips. Except for his
borrowed clothes. She hid a smile. She was certain the simple pants and shirt were not up to Rillian’s stylish standards.
She wrapped her arms around him and dropped her head against his chest. As his arms closed around her, she slid one hand under his shirt. She stroked the smooth skin beside his symbiont, and felt a pulse of warmth. Something tight inside her relaxed.
He leaned down and pressed his face to her hair. “Dayna.”
She lifted her face. “You’re okay?”
“Fully healed, and my symbiont is functioning in top form.” He lifted his hand, brushing his knuckles over her cheekbone. “You?”
“I’m fine, better now that I can see you’re okay.”
“Always thinking of others.”
The doors whispered open again and Winter stepped out.
“How is she?” Neve demanded.
“She woke up for a bit.” The doctor clutched her hands together, a pained look on her face. “The implant embedded in her temple extends deep into her brain. Right now, it’s requiring regular electrical impulses from Magnus to keep it functioning and to keep Ever alive.”
God. Dayna leaned into Rillian. Poor Ever.
Neve closed her eyes. “Can you remove it?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Winter said. “We’ll need to analyze it, and this isn’t an area of expertise for the Hermia healers.”
“But it is for my healers.”
Dayna looked up. Magnus had stepped out of the room. He looked tall and imposing, his face like granite.
“Your healers can remove it safely?” Neve asked.
A single nod. “It will take time. She’ll need to stay at the House of Rone.”
Winter was studiously avoiding looking at the cyborg. “There’s…more.”
“The baby,” Neve whispered. “Is…is it Thraxian?”
Winter cleared her throat. “No. The baby is a genetic mix of several species, including human.”
“She was experimented on?” Angry color flushed Neve’s face.
“Ah, no. But the father is a genetically-engineered mix.” Winter twisted her hands together.
“Wait.” Corsair kept a tight arm on Neve. “You know who the father is?”
Magnus shifted. “I’m the father.”