I needed to stop worrying about that. It wasn’t going to be my problem because I was going to be getting in a ship and leaving with Vex and Xavier, and we’d find a corner of the galaxy we could call our own.
“Do you have a cat?” Lore asked after a beat of silence.
So, we’d gone full circle back to the original conversation. “I did. His name was Milo.”
“I’m sorry for everything that you went through,” Lore said after a moment.
“Yeah, me too. But I’m not a quitter. I’m a survivor, always have been. That helped a lot.”
“Xavier told us what it was like on Vesper,” Tide said. He sounded reflective. “He told us about Marick and the brutality.”
My body tensed. What Marick had done to me had been common knowledge in House Ryker, but still, to have it brought up now, here in this far-off place, tugged the memories to the surface of my mind in a fresh wave.
“Did he tell you what I did to Marick in return?”
Tide smiled. “Oh, yes.”
“Good.” They needed to know that I’d made him pay for what he’d done. “There was a lot of brutality on Vesper. But you find your tribe, and if you stick with them, you survive. It was the way. We had each other’s back: Marlon, Killion, and Anton. They were my tribe.” My eyes filled with tears. “I’ll never forget them, and what they sacrificed for me. They’re etched into my heart.”
Fuck, I was not going to cry.
Lore’s palm covered the back of my hand, and his fingers closed around mine. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“But you’re safe now,” Tide said.
Lore and Tide locked gazes, and then Lore exhaled through his nose. “Get some rest.” He pulled the sleeping bag up around me and tucked me in.
Lore was tucking me in.
His eyes gleamed in the gloom lit only by the glow of the lamps stationed outside. “Get some sleep.”
I closed my eyes and snuggled down, and then sleep pulled me under.
I surfaced briefly to the rumble of hushed voices, but the words made no sense. They were speaking in their mother tongue, and the tone was argumentative, but sleep wasn’t done with me, and there was no fighting it.
* * *
“Rogue, time to get moving.” Vex’s warm breath tickled my ear.
I stretched and opened my eyes. “Whoa, how long did I sleep?”
“Nine hours,” Xavier said. “The temperature is rising so we should get going.”
Shit, I’d slept a full nine while they did hour shifts. The puffiness of Vex’s eyes told me he was paying for the lack of sleep. I shucked the bag off and rolled it up.
The zip to the tent opened. “Is she awake?” Tide nodded at the sight of me, clearly alert. “We need to get moving.”
His face was drawn too, but his was more than lack of sleep, there was a thrumming tension in the air and the scent of danger.
“What’s happened?” I looked from Tide to Vex then back again.
“Nothing.” Xavier bundled up the bags and began to pack them.
“Don’t lie to her,” Vex said. “She doesn’t need to be coddled.”
Tide ducked out of the tent, and Vex followed. Whoa, he couldn’t drop a sentence like that and then bail.
I crawled out after him. “What is it, Vex?”
“There’s something out there watching us beyond the light,” Vex said. “We think the lamps are keeping it at bay, but we only have a few hours of star power left. Tide says if we move fast, we can make it to the satellite station before we lose power.”
The tent was already down, and Lore was shoving it into a pack. I stood in the corona of light and listened, focusing over the sound of the guys packing up and stretching my senses outward. There was no movement. No sound, but there was definitely a presence. It tingled across my skin in warning, and then the deep shadows to my right shifted.
Okay, yeah, there was something there.
I grabbed a pack, hauled it on, and joined the guys. Xavier and Lore each carried a lamp. Lore at the rear, Xavier up ahead with Vex. Tide and I took the middle.
We began to jog.
I glanced at Tide’s tense profile. “How far to the station?”
“An hour and a half if we move fast,” he said. “Those things, whatever they are, might stop following us soon. We might just have been in their territory. They might not even be dangerous.”
Wishful thinking and too many mights. But my gut knew better, and it was trembling with the knowledge. “No. They’re predators all right, and we’re their prey.”
“How do you know?” Lore asked.
“I feel it.”
There was no other way to explain it. It was a visceral knowledge that nudged my fight-or-flight response. Shadows streaked to our left and right as we jogged.
Time passed with the scrub of our boots on the dirt and the puff of our breath as we jogged. Minutes slipped by as we ate at the distance between the campsite and the station, but the hunters remained with us, loping on either side of us, hidden by darkness so we could only imagine what horror waited for us.
“Fuck!” Xavier said. “They’re not letting up.”
Was it a good thing that we couldn’t see them? Long minutes passed, and the world began to dim.
“Shit, shit,” Xavier cursed.
“The lamps aren’t going to last,” Lore said.
He was right, the star lamps were dimming, but instead of my vision being compromised, it seemed to be sharpening. Strange.
We had minutes of light, and then the world would be plunged into complete darkness, and we’d be helpless.
“Faster,” Tide instructed.
But it didn’t matter how fast we went; we wouldn’t reach the station in time. We were still almost a half hour away. We needed a new plan, and we needed it fast.
“Stop.” I pulled Tide to a halt.
Tide tugged at my arm. “Now isn’t the time to stop.”
“We’re not going to make it, and when the lights go out, we’ll be blind. We could get separated. We need to pair up. Who has a compass?”
“Lore, Xavier, and I have compasses,” Tide said.
“Fine, so I’ll stick with you. Vex, stick with Xavier. Do not get separated.” I grabbed Tide’s hand. “Link hands if you need to.”
Tide tensed and then relaxed and curled his long fingers around mine. His grip was firm and secure.
“Use the lanterns as weapons if needed. If those things attack you, run. If you can’t run, you fight.”
There was nothing else for it.
And then the lights went out.
7
The world went black, and then the strangest thing happened. My vision bloomed red and gray. Shapes moved around us—huge, hulking figures. Fucking hell, I could see in the dark. My vision snapped, and then I was seeing gray outlines against black.
There were three hulking shapes several meters away, and they were stationed one behind us and two on either side of our group. No one moved. Not us. Not them.
Tide squeezed my hand.
My voice was a whisper. “There are three of them.”
“How can you know that?” Lore asked.
“You can see them, can’t you?” Vex asked. “Shit, how can you see in this?”
“Yes, and I have no idea. Probably another side-effect of the drug.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Xavier said softly.
As if prompted by the questions, the monsters lunged.
“Watch out.” I shoved Xavier away and tugged Tide toward me as one of the beasts ran straight between us.
“Run!”
Boots pounded earth as we ran through the darkness. The beasts followed, snapping at our heels.
They were fast, but we were slightly faster. However, their stamina was probably better, and if we didn’t act soon, we’d flag and go down. They were a pack, and we were a pack, and predators picked off the weak, the stragglers. There was only one thing for it.
I had a fuck
ed-up plan. “Are there weapons and lamps at the base?”
“Yes,” Xavier puffed.
“Then get some weapons, new lamps, and come back and find me.”
“What?”
“I can see them, you can’t. I’m faster than you guys. I can divert them and give you a chance to get to base.”
“Like hell,” Vex growled. “I’m coming with you.”
“You’re powerful, but you’re too big. You’ll just slow me down.”
“I won’t,” Tide said.
He was lithe and faster than the others, and honestly, the thought of not doing this alone had appeal.
I handed Vex my pack, never breaking stride, then squeezed Tide’s hand. “Fine. Ready? On the count of three.”
“Rogue …” Vex sounded torn, but this was the way it had to be.
“One. Two. Three.” Tide and I broke away from the others and veered to the right.
The creatures howled, and the sound bounced between them, and then all three were hot on our tail.
* * *
Tide and I sprinted, hands linked, me leading the way. The terrain up ahead was hilly and rocky. Yes. We could climb. Maybe it would deter the creatures, maybe they couldn’t climb? God, please make them unable to climb. It would waste some of their time and hopefully give the others a chance to cover serious ground.
“Rocks up ahead. We have to climb.” I tugged Tide. He was fast, but not as fast as me. Shit, I should have done this alone.
And then he tripped and fell.
I lost my grip on him, my momentum taking me several feet before my brain caught up and had me swerving back toward him.
“Tide!”
One of the monsters was almost on him. Claws slashed, and Tide’s bellow lit up the night. There was no time to think. As the beast went in for a chomp, I brought my fist down and smashed it in the head. Its neck snapped to the side, and it swayed, stunned. I hauled Tide up, and we ran. But he was limping. He was hurt.
“Where did it get you?”
“My leg.”
The rock face loomed. “Get on my back.”
“What?”
I shoved my back to his chest. “Do it, or we both die.”
He locked on, his weight dragging me down for a moment, but then a surge of adrenaline shot through me, and I began to climb. Thank you, arsehole Jamie, for the rock-climbing lessons. My boyfriend had sold me to the Tradacyh, but he’d given me this extra survival skill.
“Shit.” Tide said another few words in his language, probably curses. “I’m too heavy.”
“You’re heavier when you talk.”
The monsters were at the base of the rise. I glanced down to see them leap up and then slide, leap up and slide again. The scrape of claws on the rocks was like nails on a chalkboard, like fuel to my fluttery pulse. Fear and desperation needed to take a backseat right now. I had a job to do.
From my vantage point, it was clear they were reptilian creatures, not big cats. Not accustomed to climbing at this angle. They looked like a cross between a crocodile and a chameleon, but faster than both. Still, fast wasn’t getting them up the rock face.
Hope had another surge of adrenaline pulsing through me, and I picked up speed, barely registering Tide’s weight even with the pack on his back. There was a plateau above. Maybe a platform we could rest on.
He hissed in pain when I lost my footing and knocked into his injured leg. “Almost there.”
“Where?”
“There’s a ledge. Just hold on.”
And then I was scrambling over it, onto flat ground. “Okay, we made it, but don’t move. It’s a narrow ledge. There’s a cave, though. I’ll get us in there.” With Tide hugging my back, I crawled into the cave then fell onto my side. “You can let go now.”
He rolled away from me.
I lay panting for a moment, wallowing in the ache in my chest from the exertion and the lack of oxygen, and the fact this damn planet could go suck it. “Just stay still, I need to go check on the creatures.”
I crawled back out and peered over the edge of the ledge. The area below the ledge was clear.
The creatures were gone.
All I could do was hope I’d bought the guys enough time.
* * *
Tide was breathing fast and shallow. Not a good sign. He clutched at his thigh, but the wound was farther down his leg, in his calf. I tore at the fabric of his pants. Shit, the material was tough, but it ripped when I applied my teeth to it.
“Argh!” Tide clutched his thigh.
The wound was puffy and smelled off. It was difficult to see detail even with my special vision, but there was no doubt the wound was infected with a toxin that was probably in his blood now. The torn fabric could act as a tourniquet. I tied it as tight as possible high on his thigh, ignoring his yelp of pain.
“Poison,” Tide said. “I won’t last long.”
“You’ll be fine. It’s probably a toxin to incapacitate, not kill.” I hoped.
His teeth began to chatter.
Okay, his body was going into shock. I needed to keep him warm. The rock he was leaning up against was probably making it worse, but what if I slipped between him and the rock?
I maneuvered behind him.
“What are you doing?” he gasped when I jostled him.
“Getting between you and the rock.” I positioned myself so my legs were straddling him from behind. “I need to keep you warm.”
He didn’t protest but let me hug him from behind while rubbing his arms and chest with brisk movements. How long before the guys came looking for us? Had they gotten to the base yet? Oh, God, please let it be soon, because Tide’s heartbeat was galloping, and the faster it beat, the faster the toxin would spread. There was only the hope that Athion physiology might be different from human physiology, and that the toxin wasn’t lethal.
His head drooped.
“Hey, Tide. What’s it like being the oldest of five?”
“Huh?”
“Did you have to play big brother often?”
“I … I’m fine, Rogue. I’m awake.”
“I know, but if you talk to me, then we can make sure you stay alert.”
“Oh … Okay. Um … My father died a few months after the virus took our mother. I raised the boys. I was more father than brother to them. I held off on taking a government position until they were all out of the junior academy.”
A raspy cough wracked his body, and I held him through it. Shit, he was getting worse.
I held him tighter. “How many hours till light?”
“Predawn will be here soon. When it comes, take the compass and head north. Just keep walking. The station is on a rise, you won’t be able to miss the antennas and the dish.”
“I’m not going to leave you.”
“You have to. I won’t make it.” He sounded so matter-of-fact.
Anger burned away my fear. “Fucking no. You don’t get to quit on me. I did not carry you up that rock face just for you to check out on me.”
“Rogue.”
“No.”
I leaned over, grabbed the pack he’d been carrying, and opened it up. There was a thermo-blanket inside. Of course. I shook it out and pulled it over him before sliding out from behind him and tucking the blanket around him.
“This will keep you warm. As soon as it gets light, we leave.” I headed for the ledge. “I’ll keep watch for the guys.”
He didn’t answer, and a quick look showed he’d slipped into unconsciousness.
Fuck.
Come on, predawn. Where the fuck are you?
8
XAVIER
Every part of me wants to run after her, but instead, I run for the station. The station holds weapons and light and hope. She’s right, so damn right—she is the fastest of us all. She can see in the dark. She’s our only hope, and we can’t let her down. I can’t let her down.
We should be coming up to the station soon. Even in the dark, we should see the blinking lights of
the satellite tower. The world is a blanket of black around us, and if the others are like me, then we’ve been running with our arms outstretched. Lore hit the ground twice, and we hauled him up.
“You there?” Lore cries.
“Here,” Vex replies.
“Here.” I’m the last because I’m at the front. This is our mantra, so we don’t lose one another.
“How much farther?” Vex asks.
“Up ahead. Can you see it?”
I feel Lore brush past me and then see him in the light cast from the satellite tower. Vex and I break into a sprint behind him. The blinking lights cast enough illumination for our night vision to kick into gear, and the satellite hub comes into view fully, rising above us.
Lore is at the huge metal doors fiddling with the casing on the access panel. The code is the same for all the stations, and one that we’ve been forced to memorize, but it also comes with a biometric test. Only Athions can access the hubs. Lore presses his palm to the scanner and then taps in the code. The huge metal doors grumble and groan and then slide open. Lights flare to life as we step into the air-lock chamber. The doors close, and then we’re blasted with decontaminants before the next set of doors lead us into the quad.
“Where are the weapons?” Vex strides forward and then stops because he has no idea where anything is.
“Follow me.” Lore leads the way to the metal tower, up the steps, and into the watchtower. It’s a two-man cabin, and it’s a squeeze for all three of us, but none of us care because Lore is unlocking the cabinet under the control bay and pulling out laser guns.
“Let’s grab some lamps and get back out there,” Lore says.
But Vex is already out the door and clambering down the metal stairs. I don’t wait any longer.
Rogue is out there with Tide. They’re running for their lives, and my heart is in my mouth because if anything happens to either one of them, I’ll never forgive myself.
This is my fault.
Everything is my fault.
Rebel: Survivors Heart book 2: Planet Athion Page 4