by Layla Nash
She looked downright cheerful. “Hey big guy.”
Mrax snarled. “You’ll pay for—”
The Earther flicked a small device at him and a net flew out of it. He wanted to laugh and knock it aside; the puny, pitiful attempt would not save her from—
And then the net hit him and a shock rolled through him. Knocked him to the ground. Pinned him. And he continued to convulse as she adjusted a dial and the electricity ran higher.
Mrax howled and tried to throw the net off, but it tangled around him and somehow locked to the earth beneath him. No matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t get free.
And still that damn information officer stood over him, unblinking. A hint of cruelty lurked in her indifferent expression. She finally dialed it back so he could breathe and think without the spike-melting shocks shorting out his brain. The Earther didn’t blink. “There we are. You back to your right mind, Mrax, or do I need to explore the maximum setting on this thing?”
He growled, too weak to do much else, and Trazzak tackled him, smashing his knee into Mrax’s side as he snarled about threatening his mate.
The Earther sighed and fiddled with the net until both Xaravians flopped around like dying haugmawts.
She stood over them and put her hands on her hips. “You two need to get your shit together. We don’t have much time and we have to prepare to get the hell out of here the moment we have Rowan.”
The name broke through his anger and pain. “Rowan.”
“Yes,” the Earther said. She fiddled with the little pack and the net disengaged, folding itself back into the device with a zip. “Focus on Rowan. The Dablonians have her and we need to get her. Right?”
Trazzak rolled to his feet but kicked Mrax in the ribs. “Don’t ever threaten my mate again or I will end you.”
Mrax focused on breathing and getting his thoughts back into the right time and place. He needed to get Rowan. He’d survived his time in prison, but he didn’t think she would. She was too special, too sweet. And he didn’t want her to carry the scars that he did.
The Dablonians might treat her better than the Alliance treated their prisoners, but she would still lose her freedom. And that did more to change a person than anything else he’d found.
Mrax pushed to his feet and touched the half-made scale she’d left behind. He’d carry it with him until she was free and could attach it to his shoulder herself. He’d make up to her how he’d spoken, how he’d treated her. He would show her what it meant to be a Xaravian’s mate—protected, cherished, sheltered. He would get her the finest clothes, the best delicacies, the most... He shook his head and retreated to the cabin to shake off the vestiges of the net’s shocks.
Rowan wouldn’t care about delicacies and the typical things mates required. He would still provide them, of course, and get her the most beautiful tent in all of Xarav, but for his mate he would find the sleekest fighter ship. The largest lab. The most advanced tools and shields and whatever the hell else an engineer wanted. He could take that enormous transporter at the other end of the boneyard, fill it with all the ship carcasses he could, and deliver it to her to make amends.
He ignored Trazzak’s growling and muttering as he checked over his mate, much to the Earther’s irritation, and headed for the transporter with single-minded focus. He would destroy the Dablonian lab to get Rowan back, and he would get her off the planet so there was no chance of them hurting her. Whatever it took, Rowan would be free.
Chapter 36
Rowan
Rowan kept working, stealing as much of their information as possible, and stockpiled little bits and pieces of advanced tech to fill her pockets. She tried not to look like one of the squirrels on the farm, hoarding nuts for the winter, and periodically asked the servants for more coffee and snacks. She tried to tell herself it was because she needed to stay awake and strong, but part of her missed the taste of Earther drinks and food enough that she didn’t mind taking it from the Dablonians.
She’d fixed the shield arrays and captured the updates on her tablet, pleased with the adjustments that would also benefit the fleet of rebel ships, when a series of alarms sounded throughout the building.
Rowan glanced up and around, frowning at the sounds and the suddenly scattered Dablonians. Maybe something went wrong with those defensive shields. Or maybe... She hid a smile. Maybe Jess came for her. Maybe Mrax and Trazzak tried to break in the front door. Typical Xaravians, to just march up to the front door and try to kick it in.
Yraz reappeared and gestured for her to follow him. “There is a slight problem with the perimeter, Engineer Rowan. Let me show you to your quarters so you can rest without these alarms distracting you.”
She picked up the pot of coffee and juggled it with the tablet and some other doodads, and followed Yraz down the hall just a short distance to where a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows and a wide door led into a reasonably comfortable living area, with curtains there to block off the windows. It looked more like a zoo for captive scientists than any place she’d want to sleep, but she put that aside. She wouldn’t be there long enough for it to cause a problem.
Rowan wandered into the back of the quarters, where a bedroom and water closet offered more comforts than she’d had in years aboard Alliance and even rebel ships. Another room was a small lab and office, filled with still more tech, so if she didn’t want to walk the few feet to the full lab, she could still tinker as much as she wanted.
It was almost enough to tempt her, despite the creepy openness with the windows. And Yraz saw it.
He smiled and bowed. “I will return when the problem is resolved. You have my apologies for the delay. We certainly hope you are comfortable here during the inconvenience.”
Rowan held up the tablet and smiled as she sat on the surprisingly comfortable sofa. “Sure. I’ll just do a little reading. I think I know what the arrays need.”
“Wonderful,” the Dablonian said, then retreated into the hall.
It didn’t escape her notice that he hustled out of there and a few others dressed like security officers ran by. She left the curtains open so she could ponder and observe the foot traffic, despite pretending to review the documents on the tablet. When the halls went quiet and even the alarms silenced, she slid into the office-lab and searched for a pack or bag that would carry the pieces of metal and tech she’d pilfered from the big lab so her pants pockets didn’t clank and rattle with each step. She finally rigged something up from a pillowcase, a couple of belts, and a leather roll of really nice picks and pliers. She would have packed up the whole office if she could have carried it out of there.
She had it ready to go, along with another tablet in the lab, and hidden behind one of the sofa cushions when roaring filled the entire building. It shook the walls and rattled the windows in their frames. Rowan went to the door and peered into the hall, hope growing in her chest. It sounded like...
Mrax.
She held her breath and gripped the door handle until her knuckles ached. He couldn’t have been captured by the Dablonians. He was easily twice their height and a hundred times stronger despite having one less arm. How could he possibly have been defeated? She shook her head and dismissed it as her own wishful thinking.
But she stayed in the hall and listened with all of her heart. Maybe he came for her. Maybe he’d tried to get to her. It made her feel better, even if the problem of getting two people out of the building was suddenly a hell of a lot more complex than just getting herself out.
Chapter 37
Mrax
Mrax went in low and slow, avoiding the radar and shields, as Trazzak and Jess flew aggressively right at the building. Their battle with the shields and smaller defensive ships sent lightning arcing through the night sky, lighting everything up until he feared being spotted as he crept through the desert landscape and past the small coils of metal that kept wildlife and other trespassers out.
He even managed to get inside the building before anyone spotted hi
m. He killed three Dablonians and moved quickly through the halls, searching for a hint of Rowan’s scent. Mrax moved faster, into a near-run, and was quickly turned around in the maze-like halls. Everything looked the same. He couldn’t orient to anything because nothing looked familiar. They must have used some kind of camouflage inside the facility to disorient would-be intruders. It was damn clever, if he hadn’t been caught up in it.
Mrax thought he found her. He thought he saw a trace of her dark hair flicked over her shoulder, and the delicate trace of her hand around the corner of a hall, and took off at a run. He could still get her. He could save her and everything would be fine.
Except he ran straight into a wall. He slammed into an invisible barrier and staggered back, and a trio of Dablonians dropped out of the ceiling. They threw something like a net around him, though it wasn’t as painful as Jess’s contraption, and dragged him to the ground.
Mrax fought harder than he had in his entire life. He managed to throw them off at least twice before half a dozen other guards arrived to swarm him. He roared and wrenched at the net, bashing the Dablonians against each other, and staggered down the hall. He knew Rowan was close, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried so hard to keep him down. She had to be close. Maybe if she heard him, she would come to his aid.
Which was the opposite of how he’d envisioned her rescue, but Mrax was learning those Earther women weren’t helpless and didn’t usually wait around to be rescued. As infuriating as it was... it could also be helpful.
Nothing else stirred in the halls, and even the alarms quieted. He hoped that Trazzak and Jess escaped. They would get to the Galaxos and come for them in two days. He just had to survive two days.
One of the Dablonians threw a hood over his head and the beating started as they bound his arms and legs. They took his knife and Mrax drowned in memories once more. He could survive it. He had to survive it.
For Rowan.
He repeated her name like a talisman, fixing her smile and wide eyes in his mind, and his hearts calmed. He could breathe, even as they dragged him to the moon only knew where, and Mrax knew it would be okay. He hadn’t had someone like Rowan in his heart when the Alliance held him. He could survive whatever the Dablonians did. Rowan had already saved him.
Chapter 38
Rowan
Rowan knew it was Mrax when they dragged him past her room. She stood in the windows and stared, then hauled the door open to ask what the hell was going on. Yraz appeared as if by a transporter and shook his head regretfully. “We caught him trying to steal from us. It is a pity that those Xaravians are so inclined to crime and larceny. There is no telling what other behaviors they will use to harm themselves and others.”
She blinked and frowned a bit more when she saw that one of the scales she’d made hung from Mrax’s bloodied shoulder. “Well, I have a use for him.”
Yraz’s eyebrows rose politely. “A use? For a barbarian such as him?”
Her thoughts whirled. She couldn’t tell the Dablonian why she really wanted Mrax with her, since she needed his muscle to break out—and he was a reassuring presence to have around. And she didn’t want him to disappear or die in that building. “Well, yes. But it is difficult to explain.”
Yraz inclined his head, his attention on Mrax as the rest of the team dragged him away. The Xaravian left a trail of greenish blood on the otherwise spotless white floors. “Perhaps you can try? I would regret doing anything to make your stay here more difficult.”
Which was what Rowan hoped. If they really wanted to keep her there in the labs, happy and content, then she had a few aces in her back pocket. She folded her arms over her chest and tried to blush, pretending to flustered. “He is a useful... companion.”
“Companion?”
“Yes.” She cleared her throat, shifting her feet, and prayed the Dablonian understood without her flat-out having to say she used Mrax for sex. The dirty-minded Dablonians would jump to conclusions sooner rather than later, hopefully. “It can be very stressful, working where I did, and so... he was convenient. For stress release.”
She gestured and suddenly didn’t have to pretend to blush as the Dablonian’s toothy smile turned to a grin.
Yraz peered at where Mrax had disappeared down the hall. “Indeed. Such a thing is possible?”
“Yes,” she said. Her head started to ache with the embarrassment of sharing even a hint of her intimate relationship. She didn’t want the alien even thinking about her and Mrax together. “We…fit well. I would be very pleased to keep him here. It was only the thought of not having such... stress relief that gave me pause about staying to work for you.”
“I do not know if he can be made compliant,” Yraz said. “He is a fighter.”
“I can make him compliant.” Rowan didn’t even hesitate; she knew it as truth, all the way to her bones. Mrax would do what she asked. They could work out what happened in the boneyard later—she just hoped he didn’t gloat over being just a little right about the Dablonians saying one thing and doing something far more nefarious. “He’ll obey. They are driven by instinct, the Xaravians. Easy to manipulate, if I have the time and the... bedroom.”
She’d die of embarrassment if she had to say another word. Her cheeks tightened and her hands shook, but she concentrated on what it meant for saving herself as well as Mrax. If he had to endure the beating he’d received, then she could endure a little discomfort talking to Yraz.
The Dablonian chuckled and gestured at her quarters. “You would like him brought to you? I would have to leave guards here, of course, for your safety. But if you are in need of ... stress relief... then perhaps you can have him tonight and we will place him in the holding cell while you are working tomorrow.”
Rowan shrugged, as if it did not matter to her, and went back into her quarters to resume her place on the sofa. “I will not be able to sleep tonight unless... well, unless I am able to work off some of the excitement at all you have offered me. Unless you have a treadmill apparatus, he may be my only option.”
She couldn’t even see the tablet in front of her as she pretended to read and waited for Yraz to make his decision. The Dablonian chuckled and slunk away. Rowan had no idea what to do if they wouldn’t let her have Mrax in her quarters. She couldn’t escape without him. Which meant another day or so among the Dablonians, with more opportunities for them to build their defenses and prepare for the inevitable attack from the Galaxos and the rebellion. Her stomach turned over at the thought of anyone else being hurt trying to help her. She’d never forgive herself if she caused more injuries with her stupid decisions.
Rowan gnawed the inside of her cheek to keep from freezing with regret as the time ticked away and Yraz hadn’t reappeared with Mrax in tow. If she needed to find him and haul him out herself... She started searching the tablet for any signs the Dablonians developed super-advanced hover dollies for moving heavy equipment. She might need it just to pick Mrax up if he couldn’t walk on his own.
Chapter 39
Mrax
He came awake suddenly and fighting. He threw off half a dozen Dablonians and tried to lurch upright, ready to find Rowan.
They hit him with some kind of stunner, just as powerful as Jess’s had been, and he twitched in misery. That obsequious salesman glided into the blank cell where they held him, but he brought a hint of Rowan’s scent with him. Mrax went still. The son of a bitch knew where Rowan was. Before Mrax could threaten him, Yraz bent at the waist and fixed him with a creepy stare. “The Earther has requested the use of you. I am inclined to give her what she wants, as she has already proven valuable in the short time we’ve had her. Can you behave yourself, barbarian?”
Mrax growled. Barbarian? He couldn’t form words and just clenched his hands into fists.
Yraz glanced around and the Dablonians retreated, along with their stunners, and left Mrax restrained but no longer tormented. Yraz’s eyes narrowed. “I would much rather simply... dispose of you, and that remains a valid optio
n. But so long as the Earther wishes your presence, we will deal with it as we must.”
Mrax sat up and struggled to understand what the hell the Dablonian meant. Rowan asked the Dablonian to keep him around? She requested his presence? While he still fought to respond, something sharp jabbed into his neck and Mrax lashed out at the Dablonian who’d stuck him with some kind of injector.
Numbness spread through him, followed quickly by fire, and Mrax felt like he moved at half-speed. Yraz gestured and the rest of his crew shoved Mrax upright and hauled him to his feet. He swayed and nearly fell flat on his face, and the halls blurred around him as they moved. Time skipped and rushed in on him until Mrax couldn’t have said how long the hallway was or how long he’d been walking. Maybe hours, maybe just the time it took to inhale and exhale.
He staggered through a door into what looked like a living room, and sucked in a breath when Rowan rose from a chair where she’d been reading. Reading? Relaxed, like she wanted to be there? He stared at her as his thoughts scattered and fought to keep up.
Without the Dablonians holding him up, Mrax went to his knees. Rowan rushed to him and he couldn’t control himself. Mrax dragged her close so he could wrap his arms around her and press his face against her soft, sweet-smelling middle. Her hands rested on his head and she said something to the Dablonians to get them to back off.
Mrax exhaled and refused to release her. Finally. He had her. And even if they weren’t safe yet, at least he could touch her. He could defend her. Fight for her.