Tyree

by Alana Khan

  He doesn’t say a word in protest, just follows me. The female’s nearby, squatting in the corner of her cell, nude. The evil Suratan is in the cell with her.

  “Shadow, keep your gun trained on the male. Shoot him if he moves one muscle.”

  I turn to the female, my voice calm and steady. “We’re here to take you away. You’ll be safe. We won’t harm you.” She looks at us, her eyes wide in fear, yet no questions pass her lips. “You’ll be safe,” I repeat. “Come with us.”

  She doesn’t rise from her crouch. Her face barely registers that we’re speaking to her—offering her freedom. I stay where I am and reach out a hand. I thought this would reassure her, but she flinches backward, crossing her arms at the wrists in front of her face.

  Shadow tries, his tone soft. “You’re from Earth. There are Earth women on the ship. They’ll help you. You’ll have your own room, your own door. With a lock.”

  She blinks rapidly, still fearful, but she lowers her arms to her sides.

  “The Emperor’s dead. He won’t be able to come after you. But we have to hurry. Please,” my tone is urgent.

  She stands but is still huddled in the corner. I think it was the word “please” that penetrated her paralysis.

  “Okay.” She takes a step toward us, but I motion her back.

  “We need to use the laser to break you out.”

  The laser easily cuts through the rusted metal and I reach my hand out again. “Quickly. Please. We’ll all be killed if we don’t hurry.”

  “Yes, I’ll come with you. Only if Devi comes, too.”

  She quit moving; she’s waiting for our agreement.

  “Devi? Another female?”

  Every modicum that passes increases our chances of getting caught. Grace isn’t safe out there. We have to leave in a dracking hurry. If there’s another female we can grab her and run.

  She shakes her head. “Devi.” She points with her chin at the demonic male who shares her cell.

  There he is. The Suratan from my childhood. Standing still as a statue, an unreadable expression on his face.

  “Devolose has to come with us.” This frail, battered female’s voice is firm.

  There’s no time. Absolutely no time to argue. Many people’s lives are at stake. I don’t have one more modicum to argue with her. I either take them both, or rescue neither. I can’t leave her in this cell.

  “I know what you did,” I threaten, my voice low and serious, directed at the demon. “My gun will be pointed at you every step you take. If you so much as go one ince out of line I will kill you without a moment’s hesitation.” I have no idea why she wants him with us. Maybe so she can choke the life from his useless body with her own hands.

  “Not an ince out of line, do you understand?”

  He nods once, his face still completely without expression.

  We head back down the hall, the demon in front of me, my laser on full power. The girl is in Shadow’s arms, one hand under her knees, one around her torso, and her head on his chest.

  The hovercraft is waiting for us at the corner. We quickly squeeze in, the demon across from me, my weapon openly aimed at his chest. I take one moment to glance at Grace, her face is covered in blood, but she’s still in one piece. Then I put my full attention on the devil I was warned about in my childhood.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tyree

  We made it to the ship and left atmo so fast it was almost like a dream. I could feel the vessel lurch into hyperdrive almost immediately. At least Grace’s concerts paid for that. Axxios is an excellent pilot, the Emirusian navy won’t be able to find us, nor will the cartel. We’re safe when we’re flying; it’s just when we land for supplies that we have to worry.

  The rescued female and the devil were taken to medbay by a contingent of five gladiators. I’m with Grace in her room. She’s still in a daze as I peel her filthy blood-soaked dress off her and help her into the shower. I look down and realize I’m nude—it doesn’t matter. I stash the huge red gemstone necklace in a drawer, I’m not sure why, then run the dress to the garbage jettison bay. I know she’ll never want to see that bloody reminder again.

  She’s finishing her shower when I return to her room. I help her into a t-shirt and panties, then jump into the shower. She didn’t want to leave my side, so she’s sitting on the toilet with her head in her hands.

  “That was so terrible,” she tells me when I’m toweling dry. “I couldn’t bear to see Mauritious hit you with that whip. I felt every sting of the lash myself.”

  I startle. Those sound like the words of a truemate. I’m certain it’s just an Earth expression; I caution myself not to get my hopes up.

  When I was under the spray of the water, my pain was deadened. Now that I’m dry, my back is on fire. I glance over my shoulder at the mirror and can’t believe what I see. My skin is shredded. It doesn’t even look humanoid. I do the math; Grace mentioned ten lashes well before the torture was complete. Ten strikes with a whip of ten tails—there are over one hundred slashes on my back, buttocks, and thighs.

  “Tyree, you need to go to medbay. Let’s have Dr. Drayke treat your wounds and give you something for the pain.”

  “Yes, Amara. I’ll go—after you’re asleep.”

  “I’ll be fine. You need to go to medbay now.”

  “Let’s watch that vid of the snow bear of planet Zath you found so boring. As soon as you’re asleep I’ll go. I promise.”

  “No. I’ll go with you so you don’t have to worry about me.”

  I don’t want her anywhere near that devil, so I compromise and tuck her into bed. “I’ll go straight to the doc, Grace. I’ll come back as soon as I’m patched up.”

  I put on a loincloth—even that small scrap of fabric pressed against my flesh feels like needles of fire—then wend my way to medbay.

  Doc’s in a private exam room with the female. Five armed gladiators are squeezed into another room with the devil. I guess I’ll have to wait my turn for the doc to treat my back. I won’t feel comfortable until that animal is locked in the cellblock deep in the belly of the ship.

  Dr. Drayke leaves Tawny’s exam room and steps into the hall with Shadow and me. He is the calmest, most logical male on the ship. I’ve never heard a sharp or unkind word from him. I’ve also never seen this particular expression on his blue face. His lips are pressed together so tightly they’re quivering.

  “I’m just about done here. I just...I just needed…” His words sputter to a stop. He glances at the floor, then whispers, “I may need you to physically restrain me. I’m having very vivid fantasies of killing the male in the next room with my scalpel. That is strictly forbidden by my Lord God Anteros. Why is that devil on board this vessel?”

  “She wouldn’t leave the dungeon without him. We didn’t have time to inquire about her reasons.”

  “I’ve never seen anything this disturbing in my career,” he whispers to us. “Bruises in every stage of healing, from fresh to weeks old, indicating severe and chronic abuse. Particular attention was paid to her...sexual parts.”

  He looks at the door to the devil’s room as if he could stare through it. “She tells me that animal did most of it. And she wouldn’t come here without him?”

  “If you can get her patched up, let’s do it, doc. We’ll get him in a cell and escort her to a cabin near the females where she can heal and feel safe. I plan on speaking with Zar. I think we’ll need to conduct a tribunal. Death doesn’t seem too small a punishment.”

  “Indeed,” the doctor says, lips compressed in a thin line. We accompany him into the room where he finishes applying salve and plas-film to fresh wounds on her back. She’s huddled under a thin blanket covering her chest and legs.

  “We’ll call Anya and Zoey to medbay and have them bring clothes and show you to your new cabin. It’s bright and clean and comfortable. You’ll be safe there,” the doc says in an attempt to sound upbeat and cheery.

  “I won’t go without Devi.” Her jaw is s
tiff. She looks adamant.

  The doc’s eyes widen in shock. Evidently, he didn’t understand the part about “she wouldn’t leave without him” when we told him the story.

  “Surely you know he needs to be locked up,” the doc explains rationally.

  “Okay. I’m used to that. Can you put us in the same cell, though?” Her voice is resigned, almost without hope.

  “Perhaps you don’t understand. You don’t need to be in a cell. Just him. You said he did this to you, correct?”

  “Yes, much of it.”

  “This is illegal and immoral and will require punishment, Tawny. He needs to be locked in a cell. You do not.”

  She shakes her head and lies on her side on the table. “Please don’t separate us,” is all she says, before pulling the covers over her head.

  The doc finishes with her and leaves the room, advising her to get some sleep. “I know your back needs attention, Tyree, and according to the rules of triage, you should be attended to next. But I’d like to give that male a quick exam and get him in a cell, then take care of you. Any objections?”

  “I agree. Get him the drack out of here.”

  Shadow and I squeeze into the small exam room crammed with Devolose and five other gladiators. The doc gives him a perfunctory once-over. Even though I have to peek between two comrades, I can see welts and scars all over the male’s red-and-black flesh. All I can think is, “good, he deserves it. That and more.”

  “Take off your loincloth,” the doctor directs, unable to keep his loathing out of his tone.

  For the first time since I’ve seen this male, I observe something that passes for emotion flit across his impassive face. His hands are slow as he unties the cloth, then pulls it away from his body. Every male in the room flinches.

  “Gods!” Steele hisses as his head jerks back involuntarily.

  There is an ugly, badly-healed wound where his penis has been severed from his body. There is a small hole I assume he pisses out of. To say the appearance is shocking is an understatement. I feel the slightest moment of compassion for the poor bastard, then conjure up images of the things he did to the girl in the next room. He deserved it.

  Dr. Drayke gives the area a cursory examination with his gloved hands. “Having trouble urinating?” he inquires dispassionately.

  The devil shakes his head no.

  “You may put your clothing back on.”

  Shadow and I leave the room and make another attempt to convince Tawny to go to the cabin already prepared for her. She got so upset arguing with us, we finally acquiesced and the gladiators escorted them both to a cell.

  I’m in an exam room with the doc. “Most of these cuts will heal well, Tyree, but there were a few places where the flesh was shredded so badly I needed to apply medskin. It will adhere to your existing flesh and eventually mesh with it.”

  He applies an analgesic salve, which puts an immediate end to the fiery pain, then places a layer of plas-film over the top.

  “You’ll mend fine, Tyree. You’re a good male. You saved Miss Grace. I know it’s none of my business, but...you care for her a great deal, don’t you?”

  “I want her to be my mate,” I tell him seriously, looking him in the eye.

  He smiles for the first time today. “You two are good together. I’m so glad for you both.”

  “Don’t get too excited, doc. She’s not on board with the plan.”

  Grace

  I was in a sleep filled with dreams of dark dungeons, pain, and claustrophobia. And blood, rivers of blood. Tyree enters my cabin quietly, but I startle awake, glad to be out of that dreamworld.

  “Tyree, how’s your back?”

  “It will heal. More important, how are you, Grace? You’ve been through so much.”

  I don’t know what to say. I think I’m in shock, and God knows he should be, just look at his back, it’s cut to ribbons.

  “Get some sleep, Tyree. Lie with me.”

  “I’m surprised you’d want a male anywhere near you after…”

  “You used the right word before when you called him a monster. Not all males are like that. You’re not. You saved my life. I don’t know how you did it.”

  “I’ve got more psychic power than I thought. I paralyzed all the guards. Evidently, it didn’t work against the Emperor. For him, I used a different magical ability—you, Grace.”

  I’m quiet for a moment. What happened in that hallway is kind of a blur. I don’t even want to recall everything, but I remember enough. I understand the word “bloodlust” now.

  “Yeah, I don’t know how I feel about that. I killed a person, Tyree. If you’d asked me a few months ago the likelihood of me killing another human being, the answer would have been zero.”

  “He wasn’t a human being, Amara. He was an animal. A feral one. It was kill or be killed. You did what had to be done. Without your quick response, we might all be dead.”

  “Thankfully, I don’t remember exactly what happened after he pulled me out of my seat and dragged me down the hallway. I do remember I couldn’t stop stabbing him.”

  He slides in next to me, smoothes my hair away from my face, then kisses my cheek. “He would have killed you, Grace. You had to kill him first. You did what had to be done. I’m so proud of your strength. To think that a few days ago you were afraid of performing. Now you’re a female to be reckoned with.”

  I feel a chuckle rumble deep in his chest. “The males will be afraid of pissing you off; they’ll avoid you in the hallways. After cursing out the Captain of the MarZan ship, and what you did to the Emperor, your name will be spoken in hushed tones with both fear and admiration.” He tousles my hair. “My Amara. Get some sleep. I’m right here.”

  ~.~

  I awaken with a start the next morning. I was having nightmarish memories of what happened yesterday. I open my eyes to Tyree’s poor, lacerated back. Dear Lord, he went through so much.

  I replay those awful moments yesterday when the captain of the guard was flaying Tyree’s back with that hideous whip. There was so much going on: fear for Tyree, terror for my own life, as well as the Emperor pawing my breasts with that evil look in his eye. But the thought that was uppermost in my mind much of the time?

  My concern for Tyree, more even than for myself.

  I care deeply for Tyree. Why I came to this epiphany a moment away from death in a dungeon, I don’t know. I must be the densest female in the galaxy.

  My stomach feels like it’s eating itself in anxiety as I admit to myself just how deeply I’m connected to him.

  Tyree’s shaggy golden mane calls to me, but I restrain my fingers from combing through his hair. All these tender feelings, all the caring and concern I have for him, and the fact that part of me wants to wake him with kisses—they mean nothing.

  Because the other half of me still pictures my mom watching her boyfriends hurt me, then turning a blind eye in order to keep them in her life. I never want to be that weak. I never want to give that much of myself away, and if I tell Tyree how much I like him it will give him power over me. I’ll never let that happen.

  So I keep my hand at my side. I don’t wake this beautiful man with my kisses. I don’t offer to go get him breakfast because he’s got to be in pain and he just saved my fucking life. I’m having an intense internal argument with myself, taking both sides in a debate about going with my heart or following my better judgment.

  The last time he and I talked, Tyree said he’d never bring up the truemate thing again. Even though we slept in the same bed last night, he’d never presume I’ve changed my mind, he knows me well enough for that. I feel terrible for this, but I’m certain we just need a clean break.

  I’ve never been so happy to hear a knock at the door in my life.

  Thank goodness Callista has perfect timing. I pull the sheet up to Tyree’s waist, tug my t-shirt down, and rush to answer the door.

  “Sorry to bother you, but it’s after lunch…” She’s standing just inside the threshold, an
d by the look on her face, she didn’t expect to see my bed occupied by the hunkiest male on the ship. “I can see you’re busy, I’ll come back later.”

  “No, that’s okay,” listen to how casual I sound. You’d think I’d been a consummate liar my entire life. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve never been a busybody before, but I just can’t sit by and watch this happen.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The girl you two liberated, Tawny. Dr. Drayke says she was badly beaten and abused by that asshole you brought on board. Thank goodness he’s locked up tight in the cell block where we were imprisoned before the rebellion. But are you aware she won’t leave him? She refused to even look at the cabin we prepared for her. Right now she’s sleeping in one of those horrible cells. With him!” She steps farther into the room and paces in tight little circles near the door.