Kept From the Deep: Venora Mates Book Two

by Octavia Kore

  “Whatever the humans used in the attack seems to have dissolved,” he murmured.

  “His lifeblood analysis is showing high levels of an unidentified toxin, sir,” an assistant informed him.

  “Begin the flush cycle and get me a break down of this toxin immediately.” His finger swept the inside of the wound. “It seems the humans have been busy. The projectile itself is not meant to kill, but to create a path for this poison.”

  He knew the recording of this conversation, as with all the recordings taken from surgery, would be sent to the Kaia after inspection. He imagined their leader would be very interested in this latest development.

  The more they knew about the advances humanity made, the easier it was to continue their domination of the species.

  There was now a steady supply of humans, both male and female, being sent to different outposts all over the galaxy. The thought made the muscle in his jaw tick, but Nuzal resumed his work. Those humans were beyond any help he could offer.

  The unexpected challenge of solving the toxin’s riddle reminded him of his past lives as a warrior. In those days, there were many more unconquered planets and species, and each new world brought a new set of threats.

  So many of them had come filled with poisonous or venomous plants and animals. That work had once been exhilarating and important to him, but now, looking back, he recognized the emptiness of it all. The Grutex existed until they were no longer able to serve their purpose and then they were rebirthed. He had been made new again so many times that he no longer remembered his start, the very beginning of his story.

  His entire existence had brought him to this moment, to this incarnation of who he had once been and what did he have to show for it? Nothing.

  He spent his waking hours struggling to help his species mate despite the fact that they had gone generation after generation without the need for their females. There was more to it than met the eye, he knew this, but what it was exactly he might never know.

  No matter how far up the ladder he climbed, no matter how far he advanced, Nuzal was still in the dark. He wanted more information on why they wanted to breed now, wanted to know why, after all this time, the incubators were not good enough.

  Most importantly, he wanted to understand the new things he was feeling.

  Nuzal was unhappy with what had been given to him this time around, something he had never been faced with before, but to voice that would be… unwise.

  He knew the consequences of failure, of questioning the system and the orders handed down to him. The thought of losing his privilege to be rebirthed sent a chill down his spine.

  Once the open wounds on the Venium’s chest had been sealed, they injected the formula to counteract the human toxin and waited to see how the male’s body would react.

  Nuzal grinned in satisfaction when his vitals began to stabilize. With the surgery deemed a success, Nuzal removed his gloves and left the clean up to the rest of his team.

  He found Erusha in his office combing over the medical reports sent over from the monitors and scanners within the cells. “The Venium?” he asked, not bothering to look up.

  “Surgery went well and was successful.”

  “Good.”

  Nuzal stepped further into the office. “The human toxin is something we have not encountered before. A counteracting formula produced during the procedure seems to have worked against it, but the male will continue to be monitored until he is stable enough to be brought out of cryosleep.”

  Erusha nodded. “Wonderful. Make sure the Kaia receives word of the toxin.”

  “Already done.”

  “He will want to equip the warriors with the antitoxin.” His superior glanced up with a grin. “Although I personally think letting them suffer a little might do them some good.”

  “After meeting the warrior Raou, I would agree,” Nuzal said. “What are we to do with the bonded pair?”

  “Separate them for now. Let’s see if we can’t get the female to come into this willingly. Experiments are always less stressful on their bodies if they are cooperative.” Erusha’s eyes glinted with excitement. “We will begin the awakening of her DNA as soon as possible.”

  He’d done the procedure more times than he could count, but the idea of awakening her DNA, of preparing her body down to the very last cell to carry Grutex young, sent a thrill through him.

  Nuzal wondered idly, not for the first time, if this new breeding was meant to cure the mutations within his species. Feeling bold and running off of the fumes of his successful surgery, Nuzal decided to do something he had never done before.

  “What is this all for—the breeding?” Erusha looked up at him. “We have the incubators already.”

  “The incubators can only rebirth those of us already in existence. They cannot produce new offspring.” Erusha sat back in his chair, his eyes locked on Nuzal’s. “Perfection comes at a high price, and many of us are paying it.”

  Nuzal opened his mouth to ask what he meant by that, but his wrist comm flashed with a message alerting him that the bonded pair was ready for transport. Erusha’s words made him uneasy. They turned his stomach and set his mind racing.

  His team brought the pods the pair rested in out into the corridor, and he nodded as he stepped out of his superior’s office. A cell had been cleared for the male and Nuzal instructed the team to place the bonded female into the neighboring cell with the darker human she had been brought in with.

  If the bonded chose not to cooperate, she would be able to bear witness to the Venium’s punishment. He watched as the male was placed into the forcefield, his arms and legs extended and spread slightly. They didn’t need him fighting and putting up a struggle when he saw her.

  Nuzal checked in on the female, growling at the young male who handled her. “Gentle!”

  She was placed on the floor of the cell, her dark black hair spread around her head like a halo. The other female crawled out of the corner, glaring at them as she pulled the bonded one into her lap.

  He stood there for a moment, his eyes roaming over the softly bronzed skin her attire allowed him to see and the smooth features of her face. What color were her eyes? Were they just as dark and enticing as the rest of her? What would he see when she opened her eyes?

  Horror. Fear. The same thing you see in all of their eyes when they look at you.

  Nuzal stepped back, activating the cell door so that it sealed them inside. He turned on his bare heel and made his way back to his sleeping quarters. This next cycle was important. This next cycle marked the beginning of new discoveries.

  Chapter 12

  Jun

  “Place her in there with the other female,” a deep voice swirled around the inside of her muddled mind, bouncing around and creating a sickening echo.

  Jun was cradled by something soft and warm. She wanted to curl into it and let it pull her back under, but the sudden rush of cooler air against her skin made her shiver.

  Her arms and legs refused to respond to her commands, and her eyes felt as if they had been glued shut. Where the hell was she? Was she at the hospital? Had she passed out at work?

  No, that wasn’t it. She hadn’t been to work for days. The cold, unmistakable feel of metal pressed into her sore muscles as she was lowered onto something—a table or a floor if she had to guess. What had she been doing before the darkness? Where had she been?

  An image of the office swam into her vision, of the crumbling sage green exterior and then men in black suits yelling. Visions of Brin falling…

  “Brin!”

  Her eyes flew open as her body jolted upright. The ache behind her eyes made even the dim lights within the unfamiliar room nearly unbearable, but she searched frantically for the male. Was he dead? What had they done with him?

  There was a thin mattress at her back, and Jun crawled onto it, taking a moment to catch her breath and figure out her surroundings. On the opposite side of the small room was a similar mattress with a curled-up fo
rm. Jun recognized the bright pantsuit and the disheveled black curls.

  The gentle rise and fall of the woman’s sides told Jun she was still alive. She crawled across the floor, her legs still too weak to support her, before placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her.

  Normally she might feel bad for disturbing someone’s rest, but this wasn’t exactly a normal situation they found themselves in.

  “Senator?” Jun whispered, hoping she could hear her over the steady hum that filled the air. “Senator Moore?”

  The senator’s body turned, and red-rimmed honey brown eyes stared back at her. She wiped a tear from her cheek before pushing herself up into a sitting position.

  “It’s just Telisa. I don’t think my political office means anything here.” She looked around the room as if she was reorienting herself. “I guess whatever they gave you finally wore off.”

  There were no noises from outside, no cries, no conversations, no footsteps. The only thing she could hear was the humming. She shouldn’t be here. The Grutex wanted healthy, fit men and women, and Jun was as far from healthy as you could get without being dead.

  Hadn’t they scanned them? Didn’t they know her body was slowly failing? What would happen to her when they found out? Without her medications, Jun wasn’t sure how much longer she could make it.

  “Telisa.” Jun placed her hand on the woman’s hand to get her attention. “I’m Jun. Do you know where we are?”

  The senator shivered, and she shook her head.

  “The Grutex took us, came out of nowhere. There was no time to even defend ourselves.” Her throat worked as she looked at Jun. “I was in here when I woke up, all alone in this cell. There were others, so many of them all around me. We have to get out of her. These monsters… they’re doing things here. They’re doing horrible things to people.”

  “What are they doing? What did you see?”

  She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “You’ll see…” she finally muttered.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely helpful, but she could see that the shock of whatever it was hadn’t worn off. “Do you know how long we’ve been here?”

  “I can’t tell time in here. It couldn’t have been more than a couple hours before they brought you in and laid you on the bed. I slept some, but you kept tossing and turning, talking about someone. You threw yourself onto the floor at some point, and when I got up to help you, I saw them bringing the other girl in.” Fear stole her breath for a moment, and Jun watched the panic return to her eyes. “I saw her, but… I must have been dreaming. They had––” A sob burst from her lips. “It was like a nightmare…”

  “What was?” Jun asked just as the sound of heavy footsteps began to echo down the hall outside the front of the cell.

  Pained moans were barely distinguishable over the hum, but it sent a shiver down her spine all the same. Two Grutex stepped into view, a human woman held between them as they dragged her on the ground.

  Jun frowned, scooting closer to the front. Her eyes widened when she saw the soft shimmer of scales that covered the woman’s back and sides, trailing over her shoulders and the backs of her thighs. No longer completely human. The Grutex were testing on them.

  This was so much worse than Raou had made it sound. They weren’t just trying to breed them here; they were changing them.

  “Have you tried to escape?” Jun asked, moving back toward Telisa as the Grutex passed.

  “No,” Telisa shook her head, making her tangled hair bounce around her face. “They’re watching.” Her chin jutted up toward the wall outside, where a small black device flashed. “I’m positive those are cameras.”

  Jun worried her lip between her teeth as she tried to think. They couldn’t run out there half-cocked with no plan or weapons to defend themselves.

  Outside their cell, Jun could see other humans, each one in a cell just like the one she and Telisa shared. She had overlooked them in her confusion.

  Most of them were curled up on the thin mattresses or huddled together in corners. They looked filthy and malnourished.

  “There has to be some way––” She turned to her right and the words caught in her throat as she gasped. “Brin!”

  His body hung in the air, suspended within something she imagined was similar to the device he had used against Raou.

  His head was lolled to the side, and the blue blood that had spilled from him after the attack still clung to his skin. Before she could think better of it, her feet were carrying her across the floor toward him.

  “Wait!” Telisa gasped.

  Jun stumbled, stopping as the hum in the air became louder. Something just in front of her caught her eye. In the space between them, something shimmered, a soft sheen of light that she hadn’t noticed before.

  With the backs on her fingers, Jun tested the forcefield cautiously. She’d seen far too many unlucky electricians in the ER, and with the way her hair stood at attention as she approached, she was wary. The moment her hand came into contact with it, she yelped, jerking backward at the jolt it had delivered.

  She hissed, rubbing at the spot and cursing herself for a fool. The last time she’d been shocked like that was when she was a child. She hadn’t thought to make sure the lamp she was fixing was unplugged and stuck her finger into the socket. God, had she regretted that one.

  It was obvious they didn’t want her getting to Brin, and she imagined it would be the same if she tried to walk out the front.

  Her heart raced in her chest, and she closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing as she willed the pounding in her ears to cease. She couldn’t risk that again. Her heart was in no condition to take that.

  At her clumsy touch, all of the walls around her had glowed blue. They pulsed, reminding her of Brin’s fushori, before becoming transparent once more.

  Well, they certainly weren’t getting out that way. When the Grutex put you in a cell, they didn’t leave any room for escape. A soft whimper behind her pulled her from her thoughts.

  Telisa was staring wide-eyed at the walls as tears streamed down her face.

  “We won’t ever get out of here, will we?” Her breath hitched. “The only way we get out is when they come for us. They’ll come for us the same way they came for the others!”

  “Stop,” Jun hissed, moving to her side and wrapping her in a tight hug. “This isn’t it. We don’t give up just yet. Brin will wake up, and when he does, we can figure something out. He’s great with technology.” She closed her eyes, smiling as she remembered the improvements to her home. “We’ll find a way.”

  Her words were meant to soothe, but Telisa only cried harder into her chest. Honestly, if she didn’t have Telisa with her, Jun probably would have broken down in tears of her own.

  The senator was giving her the perfect distraction, someone to care for. God knew she wanted to let the panic and fear take over, but what good would it do for both of them to break down now?

  She had once thought Florida was light years away from the Philippines, but she was so much farther from her family than she had ever thought possible. She might never see them again, might never get the chance to tell them she loved them again or that she was sorry for not telling them about her illness.

  She’d been so worried they would panic and try to bring her back home, that they would tell her to forget her dreams and return so that they could care for her. Looking back on it, would that have been so awful?

  Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes and Jun redirected her thoughts away from the things she couldn’t change.

  Her papa had been a police officer when she was growing up, and she would have sworn the man feared nothing, but he’d shared with her once that he was afraid every single night he left them at home that it might be the last time he saw them.

  “Life is unpredictable. Sometimes you have no choice except to set aside the fear and take the gamble. You live whether you win or lose, so make it worth it.”

  He’d taught her how to
handle a gun, how to hunt with a bow, and how to take a gamble. She might be one small person, but sometimes, that’s all it took to start a revolution.

  Jun’s fingers brushed over Telisa’s curls as she trembled. She looked around the barren cell, grimacing at the utter lack of anything useful.

  When the other woman fell into a restless sleep, Jun stood and paced the floor. A curse dirty enough to make her papa blush flew from her mouth when her foot caught on a raised portion of the floor.

  She turned back, glaring at the edge of the panel before it dawned on her that this might be useful.

  The metal was thin, but strong. There were small screws of some sort in each corner of the panel, and she tried her best to use the tip of her nail to loosen one of them. If she was successful, who knew what she might find? Wiring that could disable the forcefield or maybe even some sort of maintenance shaft. Okay, maybe she had watched too many of Amanda’s sci-fi movies, but she didn’t have any other options.

  If Brin woke up, he might be able to help her figure out what to make of her findings.

  They would find a way to get through this. Life certainly was unpredictable, but that didn’t mean it was against her. The Grutex had no idea how resilient humanity was.

  History was full of people who had gambled with their lives, and she was willing to risk it all to see her people set free.

  Chapter 13

  Brin

  The sounds of crying and sniffling nagged at the edges of his dazed mind as he tried to fight his way to consciousness. It was like swimming through a thick black okeanos. Inky waves lapped at his limbs, threatening to pull him back, but he focused on the noise.

  “Keep it up,” he heard a voice whisper. “Louder. Do you think you can sound a little sadder?”

  Memories of long, drawn-out arguments over him. Brega never had liked the fact that Nyissa, Oshen’s dam, stood up to her.

  She never backed down from the warrior’s harsh words and volatile temper, but once she was back in the privacy of her home, the female often let loose what she always called “angry tears” over the way Brega treated him.