by Anna Hackett
One boy clapped his hands. “Do you have tarnids?”
“Or vicious desert night beasts?” another child called out.
Sage laughed. “No.” Instead she talked about elephants, giraffes, lions, crocodiles, kangaroos, and different species of birds.
The kids’ expressions and comments made her smile. They were so energetic and enthusiastic, and it was hard not to feel good around them.
There was a knock at the door and she looked up. As Acton entered, all the kids’ eyes went wide.
Damn, all that shirtless, golden skin made her mouth go dry.
“Sage.” He gave her a nod.
She cleared her throat. “Acton. Did you need something?”
A groove appeared on his brow. “Just to see you.”
The words made Sage feel warm inside. She knew he didn’t mean them that way, but then she realized that he was checking on her, and in his own way, he did care.
She smiled at him. He looked so cool and remote, and he expected nothing from her. That made her relax.
“Acton, what planet are you from?” she asked.
“Tiarla. A farming world.”
Sage blinked. Acton, a farmer? She could not picture that.
“How did you end up a cyborg?” one curious child asked.
Acton turned. “I was taken from my home by the Metathim and forced into a military program.”
His voice was emotionless, but Sage’s belly curdled. A tiny tick appeared beside his eye. It was all too easy to imagine a young, terrified boy ripped away from his family.
“Okay.” Sage clapped her hands and turned back to the children. “Does anyone have any questions about Earth?”
“Does everyone on Earth look like you, Sage?” a girl asked.
“No!” a boy cried. “Ever’s from Earth, and she has darker hair and darker skin than Sage.”
“Jayna too,” a girl said. “Plus, she has beautiful curls.”
“And Quinn has gold hair and is much taller.”
“Yes, and Sage is short,” Nemma added.
Sage laughed. “Thanks, you guys. No, all humans can look very different, but for all our differences, we’re the same on the inside.” She moved over to the map, scrolling through to the one she wanted.
“Here.” She touched the continent of Africa. “Many people who live here have darker skin and dark hair.” She dragged her finger upward. “Around here, people tend to have paler skin and paler hair. And over here.” She moved across Asia. “People can have brown skin, while over here they often have black hair, paler skin, and eyes that are tilted at the edges. People on Earth come in lots of different shapes and sizes.”
Suddenly, Nemma gasped. The little girl’s brown skin paled, leaving the golden pattern on her cheeks in stark relief.
Sage frowned and flicked a glance at Acton. He was staring at the child.
“Nemma?” Sage asked cautiously. “Are you okay?”
The girl shook her head. Acton pushed away from the wall. “Can you tell us what’s distressing you?”
Sage crouched beside the girl. Nemma’s dark pupils were dilated, her breathing fast.
“You can tell me,” Sage said quietly.
“I saw a girl.” Nemma licked her lips. “Like you described. Pale skin, straight, black hair, and dark eyes that tilted up.”
Sage felt like the air had been sucked out of her and her belly clenched tight.
Nemma pressed a fist to her chest. “She was kept by the Edull, just like me.”
Oh, God. “Do you know her name?”
“Grace. Her name was Grace.”
Sage swiveled and looked at Acton. He held out a cybernetic hand to her. “The lesson is over. We need to talk to Magnus.”
Acton stood behind Sage in Ever’s sitting room. The young girl, Nemma, sat in a chair beside her, fidgeting. He knew enough now to know the girl was nervous.
But Sage held her hand, and murmured to her in a warm, calm voice.
His eyes narrowed on Sage. She looked the most relaxed he’d seen her, and he realized that helping the little girl soothed her.
Ever stood nearby, face serious, leaning against a table. No one was calmed by the airy room and comfortable couches.
Then Magnus, Jax, and Quinn entered. The imperator strode over to his mate, and gently touched her face.
“Asha?” Ever asked.
“With Jayna,” Magnus responded.
“Hey, Nems.” Quinn smiled at the girl.
Nemma managed a small smile. “Hi, Quinn.”
“Sage said you have something to tell us.” Quinn moved closer. “About a human girl.”
Nemma nodded.
Acton knew that they hadn’t pushed the girl about her captivity. The healers had wanted her fully recovered before anyone asked her too many tough questions about her time at Bari Batu.
“I saw a girl. Grace. She was a little bigger than me and she looked Asian. Sage was telling us about different people on Earth and how they looked different on the outside.”
Magnus’ face turned grim, and Jax and Quinn traded a look.
Quinn shifted closer, bending down beside Nemma’s chair. “There was a scientist aboard the Helios. Dr. Simone Li. She was one of the few crew members who had family with her. Her eight-year-old daughter…Grace.”
“Drak,” Jax muttered.
Nemma’s bottom lip trembled and Acton catalogued the movement. Another sign of distress.
“Where did you see Grace, Nemma?” Sage asked.
“She was kept in a cell, like me.”
The thought of this child in a cell caused a spike of emotion against Acton’s emotional dampeners. The Edull were the worst sandsuckers.
For a brief second, he had a flash of a very old memory. Of a cold, empty cell that he’d been thrust into. Bright lights, screams, his own beating heart.
Acton frowned. His memories from his own abduction were little more than a faded blur.
“Sometimes the bad aliens let us out together, to exercise,” Nemma said. “That’s when I saw her.”
“Okay, that’s great, Nemma.” Sage patted the little girl’s shoulder.
“I spoke to her once. She was…fierce. She said she was going to escape and rescue her mother.”
They all froze.
“Did she say that she’d seen her mother?” Quinn asked.
Nemma nodded.
“Where did they take you to exercise?” Magnus asked.
“Mostly, in a yard.” Nemma’s nose wrinkled. “It wasn’t much fun.” Then the girl’s face brightened. “Once, they took us to the lake and we splashed in the water.”
Acton frowned. He saw similar expressions on Magnus and Jax. Carthago was a desert planet.
“Lake?” Magnus said carefully.
Nemma nodded, playing with the hem of her skirt. “We swam and splashed, but I’m not a good swimmer, so I didn’t go in far. The lake was huge, and I couldn’t see the other side.”
“Thank you, Nemma,” Sage said. “You’ve been very helpful.”
“Grace and the others shouldn’t be stuck out there.” Nemma’s dark, pleading eyes took them all in. “They shouldn’t be left alone and scared. I want them to be happy, like I am now.”
Acton watched Sage reach out and hug the girl. Then Ever stepped forward. “Nemma, let’s see if chef is willing to get us some ice cream.” She held out a hand.
Nemma happily left with the woman.
Jax pressed a hand to his hip. “There are no lakes in Carthago’s deserts.”
“Could it have been an oasis?” Quinn suggested.
Magnus shook his head. “I’ve never heard of an oasis where you couldn’t see the other side.”
Acton frowned. “Hologram?”
“Holograms require a lot of energy to power,” Magnus said. “I can’t see the Edull wasting vast amounts of energy to entertain captive children.”
“Assholes,” Sage said. “Keeping kids prisoner.”
“They’ll pay,” Qui
nn said with a growl, her voice ripe with promise.
“What now?” Sage asked.
“We talk with all our contacts and informants,” Magnus said. “Nemma gave us new pieces of information today. Grace and Simone Li have been confirmed to have been at Bari Batu. And the Edull city is close to a lake.”
“We find this lake, then we find Simone and Grace,” Quinn said.
But a heavy pall settled on the room, and even Acton knew why. There were no lakes in the desert.
He looked at Sage and saw her hands twisted together. He thought about touching her, to offer comfort, but he wasn’t exactly sure how. Instead, he leaned down.
“We will find them, Sage.”
She swiveled to look at him, her eyes wide and sad. “I just hope we aren’t too late.”
Chapter Four
Sage paced her room, her chest tight. She could barely breathe.
She didn’t know Simone personally, just knew that she was a scientist aboard the Helios. But knowing that she and her daughter were out there, somewhere… The thought broke Sage’s heart.
Grace. How could a little girl survive the horror of the Edull?
Sage spun, her hands balling into fists. She wanted to destroy the Edull and make them pay for all the horrors they inflicted.
Breathing heavily, she shoved her hands in her hair, tugging on it until it hurt. She needed to get out.
With a sob, she raced to the door. She wrenched it open and gave a start. Acton was standing outside.
He looked at her, his eyes so cool.
“I… I…” Her throat was too tight to talk.
“Come,” he said, turning.
“Where?” she rasped out.
“Out of here.”
She wanted so much to touch him. To feel some warmth, some connection. Instead, she followed him down the corridor, her skin feeling like ice.
“I can’t stay inside, Acton.” The walls were going to swallow her if she didn’t get away.
“We’ll go out.”
He led her out the front doors of the House of Rone, nodding at the two large, silent, cyborg guards. Then, they were in the tunnels beneath the Kor Magna Arena. He moved so fast that she had to hurry to keep up with his long strides
Thankfully, he didn’t ask her any questions. He turned a corner and led her into an area where there were bars and restaurants lining the corridors.
Oh. She looked around with interest.
Acton stopped and motioned to one doorway. She walked inside and straightened. It was a restaurant, with large windows that gave her a view of the stone-lined Kor Magna street outside. A few transports zoomed past, along with some carts drawn by alien animals.
Again, there was that fascinating blend of old and modern that she saw all over Carthago.
The restaurant was dotted with tables—some round, some rectangular, some square. She spotted a few familiar faces, and recognized the people as House of Rone staff members.
“Most of the staff that work at the houses frequent this place,” Acton said.
A young, male server showed them to a table, casting wary looks at Acton. Sage wondered if he noticed, but if he did, he showed no reaction.
As she sat down, another server hurried over. The curvy woman glanced at Acton with a half horrified, half curious look on her face.
Suddenly, Sage felt annoyed. Yes, he had metal on him. Yes, he looked cool and remote, but he was a man as well. There was warm flesh under the metal.
“We’ll have the mixed taster plate,” Acton said. “And some guarda juice.”
Sage looked at the menu, but couldn’t read the alien text. She had a lingual implant that the Thraxians had put in her, so she could understand spoken alien languages, but she couldn’t read the writing.
As the server hurried away, Sage scanned the room, taking in all the people. She saw a woman with green skin and silvery hair. Wow. Several kids ran past, laughing. There were lots of different species in the place.
Her gaze landed on one being, seated across the room, and her muscles tensed. He had a big, muscled body, with a large set of horns. She tried to swallow, her mouth dry. He looked similar to the Thraxian slavers who’d attacked the Helios.
She felt a light brush of a touch on her hand, and jerked her head back. Acton’s metal fingers were brushing hers.
“The man is Begatten. They’re friendly, a distant relative to the Thraxians.”
She nodded. “Right. It’s hard to shake old memories sometimes.”
“Old memories cannot harm you.”
She shot him a sad smile. “It isn’t quite that easy to switch your emotions off.”
It wasn’t long before the server hurried back, setting down the drinks and food. Sage didn’t know what everything was, but she trusted Acton’s judgment and started to eat.
As she enjoyed the different flavors, she noticed he wasn’t touching anything.
“Try this.” She offered up a bit of a yummy item that tasted like a soft cheese. “I know you haven’t eaten since earlier today.”
Dutifully, he took a bite. “It’s very…flavorful.”
She saw things working in his eyes and hid her smile. Calla had told her that Zaden couldn’t handle bold flavors. Sage was suddenly determined to find something that this cyborg liked. She passed him little nibbles of things, watching his face carefully.
“Why are you feeding me?” he asked.
His head was tilted, and she realized that was what he did when he was confused, or trying to work through a problem.
“I want to find something that pleases you.”
He stilled, staring at her. She couldn’t quite tell why, but she thought he might have been startled.
“Here.” It was a piece of a cake that would probably be too sweet for him.
He dipped his head and, as he took the item, his lips brushed her fingers.
Oh. Electricity tingled up her arm. She stilled, and Acton sat back, eating the sweet treat. He got a contemplative look on his face.
Sage hid her smile. He liked it. She wanted to do a victory dance. “You like that.”
“It is…satisfactory.”
She fought a smile, and kept testing the other foods. She found another sweet item, and handed it to him.
“I’m uncertain of the nutritional value of these,” he said.
He still ate it. Her cyborg had a sweet tooth.
A tiny feeling of something that felt like contentment filled Sage as she sat there, in the busy restaurant, watching this fascinating cyborg—part man, part machine. He had so many hidden facets, and she really wanted to know him better. She was starting to realize that not many people took the time to get to know Acton.
She also really wanted to touch him. Bad idea, Sage. She set her hands in her lap.
All of a sudden, screams broke out on the other side of the restaurant.
Acton’s head snapped up.
With a gasp, she turned and watched people leaping to their feet. She froze. “What’s happening?”
At that moment, a spider-like robot leaped onto a table. It was the size of a small dog, with six, powerful, jointed legs.
A shiver ran down her spine and her chest tightened. The bot was made of scrap metal—some pieces shiny, others rusted and old. It was a style that was very familiar to her.
Sage leaped to her feet, knocking her chair over. “Acton, those bots are Edull.”
He rose, his face sharpening. As they watched, other bots started to jump on people, and more screams broke out.
“Stay back,” Acton ordered.
Then he strode toward the fight.
Acton shoved people out of the way.
“Get to the door,” he yelled. “Get out of here!”
He’d already sent a call to the House of Rone for assistance through his comm system.
A spider-like bot leaped at him, its legs spread wide. He grabbed it out of the air, wrestling with it. The construct was strong.
But Acton used his c
ybernetic arms and his increased strength. The bot’s legs crumpled, and then he tore it apart. He threw the pieces onto the ground, watching as they jerked and twitched.
He circled a table and saw a woman on the ground, kicking her legs, her feet hammering against the floor. A spider was attached to her face.
Acton tore it off, revealing blood streaking down her cheeks. She sat up with a sob, and glanced around in shock.
“Go,” he ordered, pulling her up.
More shouts and screams echoed off the walls. Nearby, a woman in long skirts was running with her two children. They were being chased by several spider bots.
Acton activated his powers, pumping energy into the air. The bots rose from the ground. He waved his arms, and the bots flew through the air and crashed into the wall with a crunch of metal.
More spider bots poured out of the kitchen.
Acton sucked in a breath. There were too many, but he had to hold them off until help arrived.
He snatched up some plates off the nearest table, throwing them at the spiders.
Several men and women had grabbed makeshift weapons, and were also trying to fight the bots off. One man went down with a scream, several bots scratching at his skin.
Acton jumped, clearing a table and landing with a bend of his knees. He had to wait for the power in his arms to recharge. He kicked one bot off the man and snatched another off.
“Thanks,” the man choked out. He staggered to his feet.
Turning, Acton felt energy filling him. He raised his hands and lifted several more bots into the air. They swirled around like a storm and then he slammed them up into the ceiling.
He looked at the dazed, injured people nearby. “Go! Run!”
A heavily bleeding man swiped at his injured chest, but turned, herding people toward the restaurant doors.
Across the room, Acton spotted Sage, and he felt an unfamiliar knock in his chest. She hadn’t left. Drak. She was in the thick of things, helping an injured family toward the door. A small boy was clutched in her arms, and she reached over, pressing some wadded fabric to an injured woman’s face.
Suddenly, a weight hit Acton’s back.
He lurched forward, feeling metal claws slashing at his skin. Pain flared, but he blocked it. Reaching over his shoulder, he tried to grip the bot.