by Kate Rudolph
So not only was he angry at the building for trapping his Match, now he was angry at himself. And the humans were looking at him like he might attack them.
Punt.
“Keep moving,” he said. But he reined in his powers. He didn’t want to fry the keys again.
The chaos that had concealed their entrance to the facility helped with their escape. And though the humans they were transporting weren’t in the best condition, they could all walk and follow instructions.
Fewer people were out loading trucks when they escaped. Oz didn’t know if anyone suspected what was going on, but he didn’t have time to wonder, not when he was focused on getting these humans out so he could get his human back.
Solan, Ax, and Lena were already at the shuttle with their own humans when Oz and his crew arrived. Lena was the first to realize who they were missing.
“Where’s—”
Oz helped load up the humans and then turned around to find Solan. “I’m going back for Emily.”
“We can’t wait,” Solan said. “It’s too risky.” It was true. The Apsyns were bound to be on high alert and patrols would be circling the area soon.
Oz shrugged. “I’m going back for Emily.” There was nothing that would make him leave. He’d rather die than sacrifice her.
Solan’s jaw tightened, but he gave a nod. “Get to Rendezvous 3 by dawn. I’ll have a way back for you.”
Dawn wasn’t as far away as Oz would have liked, but they both knew if he didn’t recover Emily now the odds of getting her back got worse by the minute.
“I’ll go with,” Grace came up next to him. “I know the facility. I can help.” He hadn’t expected the offer, but he’d gladly take it.
Lena seemed ready to offer too, but Solan pushed her back into the ship before she could. He powered it up and lifted off, leaving Oz and Grace alone.
“Let’s go find my Match.”
GUARDS SEEMED TO POP up out of nowhere around the researcher. She couldn’t remember his name. It wasn’t like they’d introduced themselves to their subjects. But she needed to think of him as something.
Ratface.
Yeah, he was a ratface who held people captive and treated them like lab rats. She wished she had some sort of weapon so she could shoot him. Her fists ached to connect with his stupid rat face. He deserved to be punched. He deserved much more than that.
One of the guards pulled out a blaster, and as he was raising it to shoot at her, Emily’s instincts kicked in and her wings flared out, protecting her from the blast.
She didn’t realize her mistake until Ratface let out a sound of absolute glee. “A Matched and bonded human? Just what we need. Incapacitate her, but don’t kill her. I need her.”
Emily tried to get away. She lashed out with her spark and she even hit one of the guards, but it wasn’t enough to take him down. The second she found Oz again they were going to practice for real, and she wasn’t going to let sex distract her this time.
Her wings blunted the shots of the blasters, but it still felt like getting punched every time one of them hit her, and then one got lucky, somehow getting through her wings and striking her leg.
She went down and it wasn’t graceful.
Emily had fallen hundreds, maybe thousands, of times in her life. A person didn’t become a top level gymnast by being afraid of crashing to the mat. But this wasn’t the same, not at all. And before she could get back up, one of the guards jammed his knee into her side to keep her down, and then he clamped something around her wrist.
It wasn’t a pair of handcuffs. It only circled one wrist. But whatever it was, it made her wings sputter out and she couldn’t feel the spark inside of her.
The guard hefted her up and Ratface got close, grinning the whole time. “Dampener cuff,” he explained. “Keeps prisoners and test subjects from getting too rowdy. Never thought I’d need one for a human.”
Then why were the guards carrying them? Emily had thought that the humans were prisoners and the Zulir were volunteers. Had she been wrong? She wouldn’t give Ratface the satisfaction of asking.
She couldn’t hit him. She couldn’t use her spark to blast him with lasers. The guards were holding her too tightly for her to do anything and she knew she was going to have fingerprint bruises on her biceps for weeks.
She spat on the researcher’s stupid rat face.
It was satisfying for a minute, but the hands on her tightened and she braced for consequences. There had to be consequences.
Ratface wiped away her spit with his sleeve, and then he smiled and her blood ran cold. It was devoid of any joy. No, it was a smile full of cruelty and eagerness to see just what vile things he could do to her.
Yes, he needed her alive for now. But once he extracted whatever he wanted from her, he was going to make her end painful.
“Alert your supervisor that we have intruders,” he told one of the guards holding onto her. “I’m guessing that she and her mysterious Zulir Match came back for her friends. The Match will be looking for her.” He turned to the other guard. “Let’s get to the hangar. I’m not waiting to transport this little prize.”
Emily struggled again. If they got her to the desert facility no one would be able to get to her, and she didn’t know how she’d be able to fight her way out. She had to get the cuff off. She wasn’t sure how long her powers would work with her and Oz separated or what their range was, but once she lost those, she was screwed. Even more screwed.
She just wanted to go home.
And the picture of home in her mind no longer featured the skyscrapers dotting the Chicago skyline or her pathetic little apartment. No, now home was made of Oz’s smile and the lightning in his eyes, of the way his arms tightened around her after they made love. She wanted that back. She wanted a lifetime of it.
She wasn’t about to let some stupid Ratface take it away from her.
“Sir,” the first guard said as the second and Ratface dragged her down the hall. He had to jog to catch up. “Security reports two dead guards, and our sensors picked up a shuttle takeoff not long ago.”
“A takeoff?” Ratface didn’t bother to hide his grin. “Looks like your Match left you behind.” He looked at the guard. “Go report to your supervisor. We’re fine here.” The guard left her with just Ratface and the other guard.
Emily didn’t want to believe it. Oz wouldn’t.
But her captors didn’t seem to realize that he had a crew with him.
Would Solan leave Oz behind? They were friends, they were crew. It didn’t seem possible.
No matter what, Emily had to get away, and she couldn’t depend on help coming for her. She wasn’t a fighter, but now she had no other choice.
Chapter Twenty-One
SNEAKING IN THE SECOND time was harder, even with Grace using all her tricks and secret passages. The people at the facility were more on edge, as if they could sense that something was wrong. “This entrance is connected to the labs,” she said. “The researchers use it to transport test subjects and other material.”
“It’s a hangar.” They were still outside, but Oz knew a building as big as what they were looking at could only be one thing.
“That it is,” Grace agreed. “Now come on. I’ve got security codes and I’m hoping they haven’t been disabled yet.”
They hadn’t.
The hangar was nearly empty when they got in through a side door. It had clearly housed small vehicles before, but now only two were left, along with several stacks of boxes sitting on palettes.
Oz felt exposed and he wanted to slink along the walls, as if that would disguise his presence. Grace didn’t seem to have the same issues as him. She walked as if she owned the place. But when the door they were heading for opened, she froze.
A man walked out and Oz struck. There was no hiding, no waiting. He pulled on his spark and attacked.
But there was something wrong. His spark felt... muffled. It wasn’t the same as the mission that had seen Cru injured, but
similar. He’d worry about it later. He still had enough power to take out one person.
The man went down, but he wasn’t alone, and another walked through the door, Emily held in front of him like a shield.
“Oz!” she cried out.
He wanted to run to her, but before he could, blasters shot at him and Grace and they had to fall back to one of the stacks of boxes. It wasn’t much cover and the wood started smoking immediately. They wouldn’t last long.
But the guard on the other side had no cover except Emily.
Why wasn’t she using her own spark? She knew how to call it, he’d seen her do it.
Was that why his own was muffled? Had they done something to her?
Beside him Grace cursed. “Can’t hit him without taking out your girl.”
Oz stole a glance and saw the same thing. There were training scenarios for these types of situations, but none of them were palatable.
“If you shoot her I will end you,” he warned.
“Shooting the hostage is a terrible idea,” Grace shot back. “Last resort,” she promised.
“I’ve got a terrible idea of my own. Stay here.” Oz didn’t give her time to argue. He stood tall and raised his hands. “I just want to talk!”
The guard grunted in surprise, but Oz only had eyes for Emily. She seemed unharmed and he was going to do his best to keep it that way.
“I don’t want trouble,” said Oz. “Just want her. Hand her over and we’re gone.”
The guard’s arm tightened around Emily and his blaster didn’t waver. Oz wondered why he wasn’t using his own powers, but that was a question for another time. “You’ve already given us trouble. She’s just a human. Worthless.”
Oz would have struck out at that if it weren’t for the look of terror on Emily’s face. “If she’s worthless, let her go.” The word was ash on his tongue. Emily was everything.
“Not going to happen.” He shot his blaster, but there was no hope of hitting Oz with the way he had to angle his arm around Emily.
She used the opening, jamming her elbow into his side and making him grunt. But the guard got her back, hitting her with the side of his blaster and making her slump forward.
That was the opening Grace needed. She got a shot off, hitting the guard’s neck and sending him crashing to the ground. Oz rushed them, spark ready to lash out if the guard so much as breathed hard. Emily was moaning beside him, but when Oz turned her over her eyes focused on his and she smiled.
“Hey,” she said. “You found me.”
“I’ll always find you.” He held her close and breathed deep, letting her scent envelope him.
Emily pulled away and sat herself up fully. She held up her arm and he saw an ugly black band around her wrist. “He said it would dampen my spark. We need to get this thing off.”
“Who said that?” The guard beside them wouldn’t be getting up again, but Oz would kill him a hundred times over if he’d done more harm to Emily.
“Ratface,” she scowled. “One of the researchers. You took him out.” She nodded to the first man who’d come through the door.
There was no complicated mechanism to remove the dampener, but it did require two hands. Oz slipped it off Emily’s wrist and bashed it until the pieces were unrecognizable. He didn’t want anything like that used against his woman again.
“Okay, he-man, it’s alright.” Emily kissed his cheek and hugged him.
“He-man?” he asked.
“I’ll explain later.
“This is a nice reunion and all,” Grace broke in, “but I’m sure that guard has friends. So let’s get out of here before they find us.”
Oz helped Emily to her feet and she was a little unsteady. He wanted her head checked out quickly, but there was no way that was happening until they got back to the ship. And it would be hours before Solan could send one of the shuttles. But Grace wasn’t heading for the door.
No, there were two vehicles in the hangar with them, and she was heading for the closest one. “Let’s see if these things work. I don’t want to wait for a rescue.”
“They’ll have tracking software,” Oz warned.
Grace actually laughed at that. “It’s like you don’t even know me.”
He didn’t, not really, but right now he’d gratefully take her help. He and Emily found their seats, and Oz was even able to find a med kit. He applied some healing cream to her wounded temple and hoped it would help with any swelling. In just a few minutes they were off.
He’d never been happier to leave Kilrym behind him.
EMILY AND OZ GOT SEPARATED once they made it back to the ship. She wanted to cling close to him and never let go, but he had duties. The cream he’d slathered on her face when they got in the stolen vehicle seemed to have dealt with the swelling and pain, and she didn’t need more medical treatment, which meant she got to go straight to reuniting with the humans from the lab.
There were mixed responses. Some were upset that she, Lena, Luci, Zac, and Joel had taken off without them. Others were just happy to be rescued. They all had questions about what would happen to them now, and everyone was talking at once, trying to figure out what was going on. Grace sat quietly off to the side, and Emily wasn’t sure if the other humans knew what part Grace had played. She didn’t think it would be right to reveal it. Not yet.
But Grace seemed to be tired of keeping secrets. “Everyone be quiet and I’ll answer your questions!” she yelled over the crowd.
That only made everyone get louder. After all, as far as most of them knew, Grace had been on the side of their captors, earning special favors and alienating the rest of the humans.
Lena, however, had the group’s respect. “Quiet, please,” she said. She didn’t have to yell, and though it wasn’t immediate, the group did calm down. “Please, Grace, talk.”
The two shared a pointed look, and Emily got the sense they didn’t like each other. But that was a worry for later.
“Why should we listen to her?” Julia, the woman who’d wanted a gun when they broke out, asked. Some of the other humans were nodding.
“Because I’m from Osais and I can tell you about your new home and what’s been going on,” Grace said, frustrated.
“New home?” Emily couldn’t see who was speaking, but it sounded like a man. “We want to go back to Earth!”
Did Emily want to go back to Earth? Was she really ready to consider leaving Oz? Would he consider going with her? Her heart hurt to even consider walking away after everything they’d been through, even if it had happened so quickly. She couldn’t even imagine trying to live a normal life back home.
Grace winced. “Of course you all don’t know. Why would you?” She shook her head. The words seemed spoken more for herself than the crowd.
“Don’t know what?” Lena asked.
“There’s no home for you to go back to.” Grace tried to deliver the news gently.
Gasps went up around the room. “What?” someone demanded. “What happened to Earth?” Again they descended into a chaos of sound.
But this time when Grace raised her hands, the room quieted. “I apologize. That was poorly stated. As far as I know, Earth is fine. But you were all put into cryosleep for decades to bring you here. It could have taken anywhere from fifty to eighty years, depending on the speed of the ships. Even if we could afford to send you back, it would take decades. Everyone you know would be dead.”
Bile rose in Emily’s throat, but it wasn’t as strong as she thought it should be. She’d known something was wrong from the second she’d found out that she and the others came from different years. Maybe even before then. But to hear Grace say it like that hurt in a way Emily didn’t know it could.
She couldn’t go home. That associate job she’d worked so hard for was long gone. She’d never know if she’d passed the bar. Whatever friends she had would have thought she’d disappeared, and they would never know the truth.
What did it say about Emily’s life that that was all tha
t mattered? A job? What her friends thought happened to her? Did she really have nothing else back home?
Grace kept speaking, but Emily couldn’t listen. She’d heard enough. And there was someone else she needed answers from.
She snuck out the back and found her way to Oz’s quarters. She wasn’t sure if he would be there, but luckily he was. And when he got a look at her face, his own crumpled.
He knew.
He’d known.
“Were you ever going to tell me that it was impossible to go back to Earth?” She wanted to yell, but her words got caught in her throat and she couldn’t manage more than a harsh whisper.
“I’m sorry.” He sounded physically pained. And under other circumstances Emily might have cared. But not now, not when he’d betrayed her by keeping this truth from her.
“Why?” There was the yell she was looking for. “I talked about going home! You could have said something then. You could have gotten me prepared. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Is it really so bad?” He looked at her before jerking his head away and pacing back and forth, not that there was much room to do so in his small quarters. “Am I really a monster for hoping you’d choose to stay with me?”
“But I didn’t have a choice!” How did he not see it? “It doesn’t matter whether I wanted to stay or not because I couldn’t go home!”
“You want to stay?” That brought him up short.
Did she? Had she? “It doesn’t matter,” she bit out. “You should have told me that I’d have to, no matter what. What other secrets are you keeping from me? How much of that Matching and bonding stuff was lies?”
“None of it, I swear.” He took a step towards her, but Emily did her best to back away. If he touched her, she didn’t know what she would do and she didn’t want to find out. “I didn’t want to hurt you, and everything happened so fast—”