And instead of heading toward the front, the two men guided her toward the back wall to a door that said Employees Only. Her feet betrayed her and refused to obey her commands, dragging along the floor. Giving her arm a hard jerk, the two men picked her off her feet and quickly ducked through the service door. Once on the other side, they snapped her hands behind her back and tied them with a thin cord.
“Where are you taking me? What do you want?” she tried to demand, embarrassed by the quiver that shook her voice. Her mother would be so disappointed in her right now, strong-willed and stubborn her ass! She was nothing more than a weak and foolish little girl.
Too Tall leaned down and to get face to face with her, his teeth shining with gold and jewels. “Even if you are not who we think you are, a pretty little thing like you is still sure to fetch a good price on the black market, honey.” He leaned in closer, his stinking breath almost knocking her out, “And keep in mind, you will still sell even with a few cuts and bruises. So keep your mouth shut, understand?”
Tattoo was behind her and she felt the wristcom get snapped off her wrist, “Do we head back to the ship?”
Too tall barked, “No, you fool! You know the Captain frowns on this kind of endeavor. Right now we need to verify her identity.” Cadee was beginning to understand Too Tall was the boss, Tattoo was the muscle.
Behind her, Tattoo finished securing her wrists and circled around her, examining her head to toe with a lecherous smirk. Acting on instinct, she tried to dart back through the door into the bar. But Too Tall with his long arms easily reached out and snatched her by her hair, bringing her to a sudden halt. Her face was only a foot from the door, from freedom. Frantically she scanned through the window in the door, trying to catch the eye of anyone who could help her.
Too Tall slipped a hood out of his pocket and the last thing she saw before he tugged it over her head was through the window a flash of Gunn's red hair bobbing through the crowd.
Chapter 16
Blayne and Morgan left the old lady to her ramblings and exited back out onto the bustling street. Morgan wanted to find a public terminal and maybe he could get in touch with a few of his old Intel contacts. As soon as they stepped outside, Blayne groaned. If living this deep in the city wasn’t depressing enough, there was now a heavy rain falling, coating everything in a greasy film.
“What do you think? Should we go to Thyke? Would it be worth it?” he muttered in a low voice to the Knight. “The old lady has a point, they are nothing more than farmers, not soldiers.”
Morgan shielded his eyes with his hand from the heavy rain and shrugged, “As far as I can tell, we have little choice. If we are to get Dunadd back from the Aratan, we need a fighting force.” He turned to Blayne and looked him in the eye, “You get me the men, and I will turn them into an army, don’t you worry about that.”
Nodding, Blayne agreed, even if he was unsure. Morgan’s new attitude toward him the past day was unnerving. As long as he could remember, the Master of Knights had treated him as a kid, always invoking life lessons, training how to fight, telling him what decisions he should have made. But, like now, Morgan had set the bracer down. It was Blayne’s job to get the men. And he guessed it was, with King Lamond unaccounted for, as Prince of Dunadd it fell to him to lead. His stomach flipped-flopped at the thought, all that responsibility was now on his shoulders. Even though not even three days ago he foolishly crashed a skyboard trying to evade the Palace Patrols.
Morgan’s crushing grip on his arm jerked him and his thoughts into a narrow side alley. Morgan held a finger to his lips and pointed back out to the street. Pressing himself up against the wall, Blayne did his best to ignore the freezing water they were standing ankle-deep in and the god awful smell that was assaulting his nose from somewhere down the dingy alley.
It was only a few seconds before he saw what had alerted Morgan. Two men with heavy rifles in their hands were pushing their way through the crowd, eyes scanning every face. Blayne caught Morgan’s eye and raised an eyebrow, to which the Knight whispered, “Bounty Hunters, they have been stalking us for the past three blocks.”
Silently Morgan pointed back down the flooded alley, and they both crept deeper into the blackness. The smell wafting from the darkness became stronger, triggering a gag in the back of Blayne’s throat. Clenching his teeth, he fought the overwhelming urge to cough against the harsh smell.
In the darkness, he heard Morgan step into something soft and squishy, which released a stinking cloud up to their noses. Blayne lost the fight to control his gag reflex and started coughing violently. Immediately the two Bounty Hunters spun toward the alley, shining their torches down into the darkness to see the backs of Morgan and Blayne running down the narrow alley.
Blayne wasn’t sure how he ran while fighting the urge to puke at the same time, but he did. By dodging side to side around crates and dumpsters in the narrow alley, they avoided the blaster fire streaking past them, lighting up the dark.
“There!” shouted Morgan, pointing to a stairwell leading off the alley. With one well-aimed swipe from his heavy rifle, Morgan obliterated the lock on the steel grate protecting the stairs. Racing up the steps three at a time, they followed the steps up and onto the large balcony of a building. Frantically looking around, they were surrounded on three sides by even taller buildings and more balconies above. Morgan ran around the perimeter, pulling on doors and windows, but everything had been locked and secured.
Blayne spotted a familiar shape under a greasy tarp and yanked the covering back to reveal a late model skyboard. “Hey! Over here!” he yelled. Hitting the power button, the board whined and rose a foot off the floor. Morgan, running up beside him, “Uh… please tell me you are not thinking what I think you are thinking?”
“You’ve got a better idea?”
“Possibly, if you will give me a minute.”
They both heard the clang of the steel gate at the bottom of the stairwell, “We don’t have a minute. Don’t think about it, just get on!” Blayne urged as he stepped into the foot locks. “This wasn't made for two people, so you will have to hold on to me, tight!” he bellowed, revving up the engines. He had no clue if this would work. The heavy stomps of armored feet echoed up the stairs behind them as he launched the skyboard over the edge of the roof. The board dropped like a rock before he pumped up the thrust to maximum and they leveled out, streaking away from the balcony and out above the streets below.
A bright blaster bolt zipped past his head as the two bounty hunters raced onto the balcony behind them, sending a steady stream of fire after them.
From below, several other teams of hunters opened fire at them as they flew between the buildings. Morgan shouted above the engine noise, “Any chance that this thing can make it back to the safe house?”
Shaking his head, Blayne pointed to the power levels. Running at max thrust with two occupants was draining the power cells quickly. In fact, if he didn’t land soon they were in danger of running out of power and falling through the crowded traffic lanes below. And that was only if they were lucky and didn’t crash into a flying shuttle or drone.
Dodging and weaving the lumbering skyboard, Blayne did his best to make them a difficult target for the hunters who were still firing at them from behind.
“Hold on!” he shouted and felt Morgan’s steel grip on his shoulders tighten. Pushing the engines for all they were worth, he forced the skyboard to gain altitude until they entered a traffic lane. Using the congested traffic as cover, he zipped between the flying cars and transports until he saw what he was looking for. A large cargo carrier, empty, similar to what they used back on Dunadd to transport stock and grain throughout the city, lumbered along the lane. Dropping down he aimed for the wide-open cargo deck.
“This will be a little bumpy!” he warned Morgan, right before they touched down and skidded across the deck of the cargo ship. Unlocking his feet, Blayne dove off the board, pulling Morgan with him before the board skidded over the side
of the cargo deck and tumbled down into the oblivion below.
Laying on the deck, gasping for air, Blayne started laughing despite himself. Oh, if only Gunn had seen that! His old friend would be so disappointed that he had missed it.
Morgan, on his hands and knees next to him gasping for breath, choked out, “Don’t you ever do anything like that again! I’d rather get into a firefight with the hunters!” he snapped over the roar of the wind and traffic.
By the time the cargo ship had landed, Morgan was over his temper and had even complimented Blayne on his flying. Stopping at a garment store, they both bought a set of generic ponchos that were common wear here in the lower levels of the city. Sticking to side alleys and keeping their heads covered, they worked their way back to the safe house undetected.
Entering the foyer of the old building they were greeted by the sight of Gunn frantically pacing back and forth across the hall, biting his nails and muttering to himself. It took a second before Gunn realized they were there, then he quickly strode up to Blayne. He gripped his friend's shoulders and blurted, “I’m sorry, man! I’m so sorry! She was there one minute and then gone the next! I don’t know what happened!”
Blayne, taken back in surprise, stuttered, “What? What are you talking about? Cadee? Did something happen to Cadee?”
Gunn took a step back, rubbing his hands through his hair back and forth and continued to rant, “I left her at the table for just a minute to grab more food. And when I got back, she was gone!”
Blayne grabbed Gunn’s jacket and shoved him up against the wall, shouting, “Where is my sister? You were supposed to keep an eye on her!”
Morgan quickly pulled Blayne off of Gunn and positioned himself between the two men, “Calm it down! Now!” his commanding voice rang out. “Get a grip! You need to think if you want to help Cadee!” he snapped at Blayne. Turning to Gunn he lowered his voice to a more normal level and asked, “How long has she been missing?”
Gunn groaned, “About 15 minutes. I asked the bouncer at the door and he didn’t see her leave.” Hanging his head, he continued to mutter, “I was only gone a minute.”
The Knight gave Gunn’s shoulder a gently shake, “It is all right, it is not your fault.” Turning to look at Blayne he added, “We must keep our wits about us if we are to find her.”
Blayne nodded and took a deep breath to calm himself before he asked, “Do you know if there is another way out of the bar you were in?”
Gunn shrugged and continued to stare at the floor.
Just then Uta shuffled into the room dragging a hard travel case, “I think you may need these to find the youngin’. They may help.”
Dropping the case on the floor, she activated the lid with her thumbprint. It opened with a hiss to reveal Suuro BlasTek 5 rifles, stun grenades, gag gas sticks, and power packs. Morgan and Blayne exchanged surprised looks at the sudden armory.
Picking up a BlasTek rifle, Blayne examined it with an appreciative eye. He had only seen these in the Promo Videos weapons dealers used to show his father. These were extremely expensive. “Where did you get these?” he asked in wonderment.
Uta smiled sweetly, “A lady never deals and tells. When you smuggle people in and out of Crorix, sometimes you need a little protection.”
Morgan unstrapped his old rifle and exchanged it for a shiny new BlasTek. Popping in the power cell, the rifle whined a gradient frequency as it powered up. “These will do nicely.”
Blayne shoved some grenades and gag sticks in his jacket pockets, “All right, load up.” Turning to Gunn he asked, “Where did you say that bar was?”
Morgan grabbed his arm to halt him, “Hold up. And where do you think you are going?”
Blayne looked at the Knight in confusion, “To look for Cadee. Where else?”
“You won’t find anything, I promise you that. Kidnappers down here know how to cover their tracks.”
In frustration, Blayne asked through clenched teeth, “Then what the hell are we supposed to do? Sit on our ass and twiddle our thumbs?”
“No, I didn’t say that. Just because you won’t find anything at the kidnapping scene doesn’t mean we can’t search for her. This is the real world down here, things work differently than they do back at the Palace. Trust me.”
Uta interjected before Blayne could object, “He is right. Down here there are different rules than in the city levels above. And as far as I know, there are only two places here the kidnappers could have taken her.”
Blayne glared at the old lady, “Where? Where would they have taken Cadee?”
Uta tsked, “Patience, young one. Slow down. If you go in blasting all you will do is get her, and yourself, killed.”
Morgan, snapping the BlasTek rifle to his back added, “Kidnappings down here lead to one of two things. A ransom note, which we didn't get so I am operating under the assumption the kidnappers do not know who Cadee is, thankfully.”
“Thankfully?” Blayne asked in amazement. “How the hell is that a good thing?”
Morgan looked at Blayne solemnly, “Because if they knew who she was, they would ask for a ransom we couldn’t pay.”
Clenching his fists Blayne asked, “And the second option?”
“The Black Market, to be sold into slavery.”
“Or worse,” Uta whispered.
Gunn, leaning against the wall, slowly slid down and collapsed on the floor muttering, “It’s all my fault.”
Morgan reached down and gently pulled up the devastated young man, “No, it’s mine. It has always been my job to protect the Royals, not yours. This failure is on me. We had too many things to do, and I let my guard down.” Giving the young man a slap on the back he urged, “Pull yourself together. We’ll find her.”
“But then what?” asked Blayne. “As you said, she is either ransomed or sold on the black market. Neither of which we have the money for.”
Morgan nodded in agreement, “You’re right.” He bent down and picked up a long dagger out of the hard case. With a snap of his wrist, he flung it through the air straight at Blayne's face. Blayne’s hand moved in a blur to catch it out of the air by the handle. “Which is why you will earn us some.”
Chapter 17
The three Dunadds walked side by side up the loading ramp into the abandoned warehouse in the Soilya District, down in the deepest bowels of Crorix. Uta had sent out feelers to her contacts and dug up the location of the next fight club and got them on the docket. Blayne frowned at the crowd gathered in the large empty warehouse. He may have grown up in a Palace, but even he knew about fight clubs. These unsanctioned fights popped up everywhere human civilization existed. One time he and Gunn had snuck down to the streets below the Palace when they had heard rumors that an underground fight was happening. From a precarious vantage point up in the rafters of a barn, they had watched in horror at the brutality of the fight. As young teenagers, they had only thought they knew what fighting was. Until then, their only real exposure to violence was schoolyard fights. They had never seen the utter viciousness of trained fighters fighting for money.
And here in Crorix, the only difference Blayne could see was the clientele observing the fight. Instead of farmers and servants cheering and betting, here were thugs, crime lords, and the upper echelons of Crorix society slumming in the sublevels of the city, complete with a contingent of guards surrounding them.
In the center of the warehouse, bathed in bright lights, a circle had been cordoned off and raised above the floor. A fight was already in progress when they entered, a young athletic woman and a battle-scarred middle-aged man were dancing around each other. The woman radiated youth with her fast movements and lethal strikes. The man, obviously from years of action, moved carefully, relying on his strength and experience to be his advantage in the fight.
Blayne and his friends, looking extremely out of place in the slum fight crowd, moved to the ringside for a better view. Morgan’s voice and large rifle parted the crowd effortlessly. They watched the fight unf
old a few feet away. Blayne had to admit to himself there was a certain beauty in the movements of a truly vicious fight. The dance of the opponents, feinting and testing the other for weaknesses or habits. Back when he was growing up, it didn’t take long for the Palace bullies to learn not to mess with Prince Blayne. Not because he was a Royal, but because of his quick reflexes. Blayne caught himself clenching his fists at the memories of the after school fights he had to endure, to prove himself against the bullies. As a Prince, they had expected him to be soft, always diplomatic and polite. It was a great disappointment to them and his parents to learn their son lacked the ability to be diplomatic. Instead, he had displayed a talent for fighting. That talent, he believed, was the major reason he was now reluctant to fight. He considered his time-sense an unfair advantage. But as a young teenager, he reveled in his ability and abused it. It was then his parents had introduced him to Sir Morgan and his self-defense training had begun.
The Head Knight had been tasked with teaching Blayne how to focus the fight he felt in his blood, and how to take advantage of his quick reflexes. Blayne's jaw ached in remembrance of those lessons from Morgan. He had quick reflexes, an adrenaline spike as Morgan called it, but he was not infallible. Morgan landed some heavy blows on more than one occasion. Those were teaching moments he would call them, laughing.
Studying the fight above, Blayne admired the movements of the woman. They were smooth and calculated; she didn’t tense her muscles before striking, a telling move amateurs always made. Her kicks and punches were strategic, designed to wear down her opponent. And judging by the stagger in the older man’s foot movements, it was working. The man tucked his chin down and jabbed with his left fist, but it was only a feint to draw attention from his right powerhouse punch. But the woman didn’t take the bait. Using the momentum of the man's punch against him, she yanked on his right arm as the punch flew past, pulling him off balance. In a blink of an eye, she was on his shoulders, her leg wrapped around his neck. Flinging her body backward, she used her body mass to flip the man up and over her, slamming him into the floor with a sickening thud and a crack.
Freedom by Fire Page 9