Defender: Galactic Gladiators: House of Rone #2

by Hackett, Anna

  Mace dropped to the floor, catching his breath. He was bleeding and bruised, but he was still upright.

  “Free the others,” he yelled.

  Mace raced down the corridor after Jayna.

  “Mace, wait—”

  He couldn’t. Not when she needed him. The inside of the tower was a maze of tunnels. There was too much interference for him to pick up any sign of Jayna. He kept barreling down the hall, stopping near a doorway.

  He looked in at what seemed to be a storeroom for scrap.

  “Mace.”

  He spun. Magnus and the others were limping down the corridor toward him.

  “We do this together,” Magnus said. “We’ll find Jayna and Sage.”

  Mace nodded.

  Magnus gripped his shoulder. “Together.”

  Mace swallowed. “Together.”

  They kept moving, checking the rooms they passed, until the sound of shouting and moaning caught his ear. The cyborgs stepped into a large room lined with cells. Mace’s gut curdled.

  Drakking Edull. Acton walked forward and raised a hand. The cell doors started flinging open.

  The prisoners poured out, cheering.

  “Find a way out,” Magnus yelled out. “And then get as far from here as you can.”

  “If anyone needs help,” Jax added, “you can find the House of Rone in Kor Magna.”

  With more jubilation, the prisoners rushed out into the corridor.

  Grinding his teeth together, Mace looked at the empty cells. Where was Jayna? Sage? Any other humans?

  The cyborgs moved in the opposite direction, climbing a ramp, heading higher into the tower. The thumping sound of machinery came from the next doorway. Mace shouldered open the door, revealing construction assembly lines like they’d seen in Vron’s factory.

  But in this room, the workers were all slaves, holding tools, or with equipment implanted on their bodies. They all looked downtrodden, too thin, their clothes ragged.

  “You’re free to go,” Mace called out.

  Nearby, a man dropped his tool. “Who are you?”

  “We are the House of Rone,” Mace said.

  “And we are stopping the Edull’s reign of terror here,” Magnus added.

  All around, the slaves set down their tools, looking at each other. They were hesitant, like they couldn’t quite believe what was happening.

  Then the man who’d spoken nodded. “Everyone, go. Now.”

  “The walkway into the tower was destroyed,” Mace said. “You’ll have to find another way across the chasm.”

  The man nodded. “We know of another way. There are cables deep down that snake across the abyss.” The man inclined his head. “Thank you.”

  Mace nodded, scanning the room. No sign of Jayna, or the Edull who’d taken her, here, either.

  Suddenly, there was a touch on his arm. He looked down at a young woman, with straggly hair.

  “You’re searching for someone,” the woman whispered.

  Mace nodded. “My woman.”

  “There’s a lab,” the woman said. “On the upper level.”

  Mace felt his chest clench. “Thank you.”

  Then Magnus touched his shoulder. “Let’s go find her.”

  “If that sandsucker’s hurt her…”

  Mace didn’t need to say the words, since he knew that Magnus would understand. If the Edull had hurt Jayna again, Mace would tear this place apart piece by piece.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The bot dragged Jayna through a doorway and she tried again to kick it. She twisted and squirmed, but the robot held her tight, pulling her up a set of steps. The Edull scientist walked ahead of them. Sauntering like he didn’t have a damn care in the world.

  Asshole.

  They’d gone up a lot of steps, so she knew they had to be high up in the tower. When the Edull pushed through some doors and the bot hauled her into a large room, the breath froze in her lungs.

  It was a lab. Her gut curdled. There were large tanks lining the wall, benches filled with tools, and all sorts of strange equipment.

  Her heart pumped hard, fear trying to take over. She turned her head and her gaze snagged on one of the tanks. There was a woman floating inside.

  Bile filled Jayna’s mouth. God, it was Sage. Copper-colored hair floating up above the woman’s head and a flimsy dress clung to her body. Her chin was resting on her chest.

  There were bubbles rising to the top of the tank where tubes and pipes ran out of the top. One of the tubes was connected to her mouth, clearly allowing her to breathe. Sage was still alive.

  “You’re worse than a monster,” Jayna spat.

  “I’m driven to create, experiment,” the Edull said. “My research and inventions will benefit all species.”

  She heard the belief in his rapsy voice. The bastard believed his own rhetoric. “You have no right to use others to do it. To experiment on them and take their lives.” Her gaze went back to Sage.

  “I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goals.” He eyed Sage, his gaze free of any concern. “Unfortunately, your fellow human is at the end of her usefulness. Tonight, I will administer the last experiment…which unfortunately will kill her.”

  “Monster.”

  The alien shrugged and yanked her from the bot. She tried to punch him, but he jerked her hard and dragged her over to an empty bench. He pulled her onto the flat surface, and started strapping her legs to the table.

  Jayna fought him, managing to scratch the side of his head.

  With an angry grunt, he thrust her down, a palm pressed to her chest. He wrenched a strap across her torso and tied her arms down.

  “You’re not broken at all, are you? I was wrong to get rid of you before.”

  She managed to smack him with her cybernetic fingers and saw him wince. He let out a raspy growl, his mask askew. He finished strapping down her other arm.

  He straightened his mask. “You humans, you have a very interesting biology, even when you prove annoying to handle. I’d like to get my hands on more of you. My colleague at Bari Batu is reluctant to give up his specimens.”

  “You’re all assholes. The House of Rone will annihilate you.”

  “The cyborgs? Like the ones who came with you? They’re all dead now.”

  Jayna’s heart spasmed. No. “I don’t believe you.”

  The alien’s eyes glittered. “Then you’ll be disappointed when no one comes to rescue you.”

  Mace. His name was a cry inside her head. He couldn’t be gone.

  The Edull scientist moved around her and went to his bench. He started pulling out a selection of tools. Jayna turned her head to glare at his back, and spotted movement.

  She sucked in a breath. An alien woman was crouched under another bench, chained to one of the legs, a length of chain on the ground beside her.

  Jayna ground her teeth together. The poor woman was tied up like a dog. As the Edull walked past the woman, he kicked her, and she curled in on herself even tighter.

  Then she looked up through her lashes, her brown gaze catching Jayna’s.

  A ball lodged in Jayna’s throat. She saw despair, pain, and horror. She saw exactly what Jayna had felt when she’d been trapped.

  Whatever it took, Jayna was getting this woman and Sage out of here. She prayed that Mace and the others were okay, but she knew she had to find the strength to save herself. She wasn’t weak, or worthless. She wasn’t broken. She’d find a way out—and free Sage, this woman, and anyone else she found.

  The Edull stopped in front of Sage’s tank, staring through the glass. “It’ll be a shame to lose this one, but I need to run the tests that will kill her.”

  Jayna glared at him and fought her bindings.

  But they wouldn’t budge. As the Edull started to work, making some sort of grating, raspy sound, she continued to fight the bindings. But as the minutes ticked by, they wouldn’t budge. Tears welled in her eyes.

  Dammit, she wasn’t giving up.

  Sudden
ly, the alien woman crept closer and Jayna froze. She had brown skin, with a pretty, gold pattern that circled her temples and cheeks. Her eyes were dull, haunted, but after a quick glance at the Edull, she reached up and started to undo Jayna’s bindings.

  “Thank you,” Jayna whispered.

  The woman nodded.

  “I’ll get you out,” Jayna promised.

  “Save Sage,” the woman murmured. “She’s been hurt enough.”

  Jayna nodded. “What’s your name?”

  The woman bit her lip. “Calla.”

  “We’ll all get out of here, Calla.”

  Finally, Jayna’s upper body was free. She sat up, careful to ensure that the Edull wasn’t looking in her direction. Spying a knife resting on the bench beside her, she snatched it up. Her legs were still tied down. She’d just hidden the knife by her side when she saw the Edull start to turn.

  Shit. Calla crouched back down under the bench, and Jayna quickly laid back down. Her breathing was too fast, but she tried to look like she was still strapped to the bench.

  Suddenly, an alarm started blaring somewhere and the Edull cursed. “Drakking cyborgs.”

  Jayna’s pulse leaped. So they weren’t dead.

  “Let’s see how they like my latest creations.” The Edull’s hoarse laugh was grating.

  He spun, his gaze narrowing on Jayna. “And I’m going to make you watch, human.”

  He swiveled a screen off the wall so she could see it. On it, she saw the House of Rone cyborgs moving down a corridor, fighting through several guards.

  They’d gotten free. Her heart swelled. They were coming for her.

  Her gaze went straight to Mace, drinking him in.

  Then she saw the cyborgs tense.

  Her belly clenched and she saw several wheel-shaped machines roll into view. They looked to be about waist high, and she knew they couldn’t be anything good.

  As the Edull laughed again, dread filled her veins.

  * * *

  Mace powered down the hall. When several Edull guards came into view, he smashed through them, his gaze covered in a haze of anger.

  Jax surged past him, ramming his electrified arm against another Edull. The alien shuddered and dropped to the floor.

  Just ahead of them, Magnus punched another guard. The Edull fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his abdomen.

  The grinding sound of rolling metal caught Mace’s ear.

  He lifted his head as a number of spinning wheels came into view.

  Jax frowned. “What now?”

  Toren stepped forward and fired his weapon.

  Suddenly, shields rose up in front of the wheel machines, the blue energy shimmering as they absorbed Toren’s ricochet bolts.

  “Drak,” Toren muttered.

  There were several snick sounds, as panels opened on the wheels. Projectiles—long, ragged, pieces of metal—flew out of the bots.

  The shards rained down on the cyborgs. One cut into Mace’s shoulder, slicing through his metal skin. Drak.

  He dived to the floor and heard the machines rolling forward.

  Nearby, Magnus was shouting and pressing a hand to his gut. Blood was oozing through the imperator’s fingers. Magnus grabbed the projectile lodged in his stomach and ripped it out, tossing it on the ground.

  Jax sprinted forward, dodging projectiles. He had several cuts on his arms and face. Acton strode forward, throwing his arms up—metal shards stuck out of the metal of his cybernetic arms.

  Acton managed to toss several of the wheel bots into the wall, but more were coming down the corridor. A never-ending wave.

  “Down,” Toren bellowed.

  Suddenly, fire exploded from Toren’s shoulder weapon. Mace dropped, along with the other cyborgs. Large laser bolts exploded above the wheel bots, the searing light forcing Mace to close his eyes.

  When he finally opened his eyes, several of the bots were completely destroyed. Metal pieces were strewn around the corridor, one bot still burning, the metal glowing red hot.

  Mace jumped up, racing toward the remaining machines. Projectiles flew at him, hitting his skin, but he ignored the pain. He’d walk through fire to get to Jayna.

  He reached the nearest bot, tearing it apart with his bare hands. With a roar, he ripped the metal open.

  The other cyborgs leaped into the fray. Magnus and Jax electrified several bots, Acton was punching into another with his cybernetic fist, and Toren was firing his ricochet bolts.

  Soon, all the bots were down, the hall littered with scrap metal.

  “Mace?” Magnus said.

  Mace wobbled on his feet. He’d lost a lot of blood, even though his body was working hard to stem the flow. He dropped down to one knee, his vision turning blurry.

  No. Jayna needed him. He pictured her face in his head, and that gave him the strength to push back up to standing.

  “Have you stopped the bleeding?” Magnus asked.

  Mace nodded.

  Jax appeared, yanking some small adhesive med patches off his belt. He slapped them over the worst of Mace’s lacerations.

  “We keep moving,” Mace said.

  Magnus nodded. As a group, they turned and stepped over the destroyed wheel bots.

  Toren was limping, and one of Acton’s arms hung uselessly by his side. Magnus’ gut was still bleeding sullenly, and Jax’s cheek was gashed open.

  They turned a corner, and the ominous sound of more wheels rolling forward rumbled down the hall. Drak, there were more wheel bots inbound.

  When he raised his head, he saw them. But this time, behind them were a row of humanoid bots holding weapons.

  Double drak. He and his fellow cyborgs were in no shape to take them on.

  Jayna. Her name was a pained cry in his head.

  A muscle ticked in Magnus’ jaw and Jax shook his head.

  “The odds are not in our favor,” Acton said coolly.

  Mace’s hands curled into fists, his knuckles bleaching white. He couldn’t get to her. He’d die here in this corridor trying to rescue her.

  All of a sudden, several of the wheel bots rose up in the air and then smashed violently into the ceiling. They came down again, crashing into the floor, before they twisted together into one hunk of ruined metal.

  Mace stiffened. What the drak?

  “Thought you guys might need some backup.”

  The female voice had Mace turning around. His eyes widened. Quinn, wearing a blue House of Rone cloak, stood behind them, her staff in hand. With her were Zaden, Xias, and the female cyborg, Seren.

  “Quinn.” Jax’s face was a mixture of pride, annoyance, and worry. He moved to his woman, sweeping her in for a kiss.

  Zaden stepped forward, raising his hand. The rest of the bots flew into the wall. Seren moved forward, and suddenly she winked out of existence. Mace turned and saw her appear right near the bots, fighting like a vicious storm with her dual swords.

  Mace smiled ferociously. I’m coming, Jayna.

  Chapter Nineteen

  A huge explosion lit up the screen, blinding Jayna. She blinked, desperate to see how Mace and the other Rone cyborgs were holding out against the wheel bots.

  But the Edull cut the screen off.

  Jayna swallowed. Mace had been bleeding. They were all hurt and badly injured. She tried to calm her breathing. Mace was tough. He’d be okay and he’d keep fighting. He’d keep coming for her.

  But she also knew that this Edull would keep trying to hurt him. Heat flooded her. She was going to stop the asshole.

  The Edull scientist came closer. Calla tried to skitter out of his way, but he grabbed a handful of her dark hair and yanked.

  As the alien woman cried out, Jayna reared up, lifting the knife. She stabbed the Edull in the neck and bright-red blood splattered.

  The Edull gave a raspy cry and staggered, clutching at his neck. He collapsed to the floor, blood flowing everywhere. Jayna quickly tore at the bindings on her feet.

  Then she was free.

 
; Sliding off the bench, she went straight to Calla. She yanked on the chain, and saw it was just looped around the bench leg. She gave the bench a hard kick and the chain came loose.

  “Come on.” She pulled the woman to her feet and tugged her over to Sage. “We have to get her out.”

  Seeing Sage floating in that tank, so still and lifeless, made Jayna want to cry.

  “It has an opening at the top,” Calla said.

  Jayna saw where the pipes connected to Sage ran out of the top of the tank. She dragged in a breath. There was no way she was strong enough to haul Sage out the top of the tank.

  Dammit, think, Jayna.

  Looking around, she spotted a stool made from scrap metal. She hefted it up, realizing with satisfaction that it was heavier than it looked.

  “Step back, Calla.”

  Then Jayna spun, whirling the stool, and whacked it against the glass. Nothing happened. Taking a breath, she lifted it and swung again. And again and again.

  Her arms started to ache, but the tiniest crack appeared in the glass.

  Jayna bit her lip. It was working. She just had to keep going.

  “Jayna!” Calla cried.

  Suddenly, the blood-covered Edull reared up. He dived, tackling Jayna around the waist.

  They hit the ground and they slid together across the tiles. The stool slipped from her hands and clattered away. Grunting, she wrestled the alien, trying to knee him in the gut. They rolled into the leg of a bench, knocking items off the counter. Glass and metal rained down around them.

  The Edull managed to get on top of Jayna. He lifted a hand and slapped her in the face. Pain exploded along her cheekbone and her ears rang.

  Calla appeared, clutching a metal tool from the bench. She whacked the Edull in the head and he flew sideways.

  Jayna scrambled up, stepping in front of Calla.

  The Edull laughed, harsh and rasping. He dragged himself over to a comp control panel, smearing blood across the floor. He hit the controls.

  “She’ll be dead before you get her out,” he rasped.

  In the tank, Sage started jerking.